World History this day

1859 – Spain declared war on Morocco.
1866 – A plebiscite ratifies the 3 day previous annexion of Veneto and Mantua to Italy
1943 – The RAF launched a firestorm air raid on Kassel, killing 10,000
1947 – The Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan began
2013 – The Australian Capital Territory legalized same sex marriage

US History this day

1907 – A run on shares of the Knickerbocker Trust Company caused a panic, then a depression
1934 – The Feebs shot bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd for using a gun instead of a pen
1957 – The first admitted US casualties in Vietnam.
1962 – JFK announced the discovery of Russian weapons in Cuba and a naval blockade of Cuba
1981 – The US government decertified PATCO for daring to strike

Science & Technology this day

1797 – Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first recorded parachute jump
1875 – The first telegraph connection in Argentina.
1879 – Thomas Edison tested the first practical incandescent electric light
1884 – The British Royal Observatory was adopted as the prime meridian Greenwich)
1927 – Nikola Tesla introduced six inventions including single-phase electric power
1976 – Red Dye No. 4 was banned by the FDA even though it was made by US corporations

The Arts this day

1883 – The New York Metropolitan Opera House opened
1964 – Jean-Paul Sartre won the Nobel Prize in Literature but turned it down
1966 – The Supremes were the first all-female group to have a No. 1 selling music album

Misc. this day

4004 BC – The world was created at 6 pm (Ussher chronology)
451 – The Council of Chalcedon adopted the Chalcedonian Creed about a supernatural being they had never met
1844 – Millerites spent the day anticipating the end of the world

Birthdays of Note this day

1734 – Daniel Boone, hunter and explorer
1811 – Franz Liszt, pianist and composer
1844 – Louis Riel, politician, activist, rebel, Metis' leader
1865 – Kristjan Raud, painter
1870 – Lord Alfred Douglas, author and poet
1882 – N. C. Wyeth, painter
1885 – Giovanni Martinelli, operatic tenor
1903 – Curly Howard, stooge
1913 – Bo Dai, Vietnamese emperor
1919 – Doris Lessing, novelist, poet, playwright and librettist
1920 – Timothy Leary, psychologist
1921 – Georges Brassens, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1928 – Clare Fischer, pianist, composer, and arranger
1929 – Dory Previn, lyricist, singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
1931 – Ann Rule, cop and author
1934 – Donald McIntyre, operatic bass-baritone
1942 – Annette Funicello, mousketeer, actress and singer
1943 – Catherine Deneuve, actress and singer
1945 – Leslie West, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Eddie Brigati, singer and songwriter
1949 – Stiv Bators, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1949 – Manfred Trojahn, flautist, composer and condustor
1960 – Darryl Jenifer, bassist
1960 – Cris Kirkwood, singer, songwriter, bassist
1965 – John Wesley Harding, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1967 – Salvatore Di Vittorio, composer and conductor
1967 – Rita Guerra, singer
1968 – Shelby Lynne, singer and songwriter
1969 – Helmut Lotti, singer and songwriter
1985 – Hadise, singer, songwriter, dancer

Deaths of Note this day

741 – Charles Martel, the hammer.
1859 – Louis Spohr, violinist and composer
1906 – Paul Cezanne, painter
1934 – Pretty Boy Floyd, businessman
1969 – Tommy Edwards, singer and songwriter
1973 – Pablo Casals, cellist and conductor ("Pau" in Catalan)
1986 – Jane Dornacker, actress and singer
1989 – Ewan MacColl, singer, songwriter actor, playwright and producer
1995 – Kingsley Amis, novelist and poet
1998 – Eric Ambler, author
2002 – Richard Helms, spook, liar, criminal