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1957–The Quarry Men perform at New Clubmoor Hall (Conservative Club), Norris Green, Liverpool, England. This is Paul McCartney’s first appearance with the group. That night, Paul shows John Lennon a song he had written, and John then shows Paul some songs that he has composed. The two start writing songs together from that moment, which marks the birth of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership.



320–Greek philosopher, Pappus of Alexandria, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest).

325–Emperor Ming of Jin dies in China, at age 26.

614–King Chlothar II promulgates the Edict of Paris (Edictum Chlotacharii), a sort of Frankish Magna Carta that defend the rights of the Frankish nobles, while it excludes Jews from all civil employment in the Frankish Kingdom.

629–Dagobert I is crowned King of the Franks.

707–Pope John VII dies at age 57.

1009–The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock.

1016–The Danes defeat the English in the Battle of Assandun.

1081–The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium.

1127–Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan is born Masahito-shinno in Japan. He was father or grandfather to five emperors: Nijo, the 78th emperor; Rokujo, the 79th emperor; Takakura, the 80th emperor; Antoku, the 81st emperor; and Go-Toba, the 82nd emperor.

1130–Philosopher, Zhu Xi, is born in Youxi, Fujian Province, China. He was a Song dynasty Confucian scholar who was the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. He has been called the second most influential thinker in Chinese history, after Confucius himself.

1356–An earthquake, north of the Alps, destroys the town of Basel, Switzerland.

1386–Heidelberg University opens its doors in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

1405–Pope Pius II is born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini in Corsignano, Republic of Siena.

1417–Pope Gregory XII dies in peaceful obscurity in Recanati, Marche, Papal States, at age 91.

1503–Pope Pius III dies in Rome, Papal States, at age 64. It was rumored that he was poisoned.

1540–Forces led by Spanish conquistador, Hernando de Soto, destroy the fortified town of Mabila in present-day Alabama, killing Tuskaloosa.

1561–In Japan the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima is fought between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen.

1565–Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture the Portuguese trading carrack in the Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval battle between Japan and the West.

1599–Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Selimbar, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people.

1648–Shoemakers in Boston, Massachusetts, form the first American labor organization.

1663–Prince Eugene of Savoy is born Principe Eugenio di Savoia-Carignano at Hôtel de Soissons in Paris, France.

1748–The signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.

1775–African-American poet, Phillis Wheatley, is freed from slavery.

1775–The Burning of Falmouth (present-day Portland, Maine) takes place during the American Revolutionary War.

1779–In the American Revolutionary War, the Franco-American Siege of Savannah is lifted.

1785–Romantic author, Thomas Love Peacock, is born in Weymouth, Dorset, England. He was a novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work. Peacock wrote satirical novels, each with the same basic setting: characters at a table discussing and criticising the philosophical opinions of the day. His most notable works are Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle.

1797–The Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria.

1804–Thai King Mongkut is born Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha Mongkut Phra Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua at Thonburi Palace, Bangkok Yai, Bangkok, Kingdom of Siam. Outside Thailand, he is best known as the king in the 1951 musical and 1956 film, The King and I, based on the 1946 film Anna and the King of Siam. All of the above are based on a 1944 novel by an American missionary about Anna Leonowens' years at his court (from 1862 to 1867). King Monkut has 82 sons and daughters.

1818–The University of Bonn is founded in Bonn, Germany.

1831–German Emperor, Frederick III, is born Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl in Neues Palais, Potsdam, Prussia. Frederick married Princess Victoria, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

1836–Businessman, Frederick August Otto Schwarz, is born in Herford, Westphalia, Germany. He founded the retail toy store FAO Schwarz.

1851–Herman Melville's Moby Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London, England.

1860–The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking, with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin.

1867–The U.S. takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.

1878–Thomas Edison makes electricity available for household usage.

1893–George Ohsawa, originator of the Macrobiotic diet, is born Nyoichi Sakurazawa in Shingu City, Wakayama, Japan.

1898–The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico (from Spain).

1898–Singer, Lotte Lenya, is born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. She appeared in the films The Threepenny Opera, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, From Russia with Love, The Appointment, and Semi-Tough. She was married to composer, Kurt Weill.

1902–Actress, (Ellen) Miriam Hopkins, is born in Savannah, Georgia. She appeared in the films Becky Sharp, Barbary Coast, These Three, The Old Maid, Old Acquaintance, The Heiress, The Outcasts of Poker Flat, The Children’s Hour, and Fanny Hill.

1907–Philosopher, Henri Bergson, is born in Paris, France. He coined the term "Élan vital" or the vital impulse, the spirit of life, in his most famous work, Creative Evolution in 1907. The élan vital is at work everywhere in the world, in all forms of life.

1912–King Peter I of Serbia issues a declaration to the Serbian people, as his country joins the First Balkan War.

1914–The Schoenstatt Movement is founded in by Germany Father Joseph Kentenich. It is a Roman Catholic Marian Movement toward a means of spiritual renewal in the Catholic Church.

1919–Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada, is born Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is the third longest-serving Prime Minister in Canadian history (behind William Lyon Mackenzie King and John A. Macdonald), having served for 15 years and 164 days. His son is politician, Justin Trudeau.

1921–The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

1922–The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) is formed.

1925–Politician, Ramiz (Tafe) Alia, is born in Shkodër, Albanian Republic (present-day Albania). He was the first President of Albania. He was the last communist leader of the country.

1926–Rock ‘n’ roller, Chuck Berry, is born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. His hits include Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, Rock and Roll Music, No Psrticular Place to Go, Carol, School Days, You Can’t Catch Me, Sweet Little Sixteen, Little Queenie, Johnny B. Goode, and Memphis, Tennessee. He was a huge influence on The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

1927–Actor, George C. Scott, is born George Campbell Scott in Wise, Virginia. He was the first actor to refuse the Academy Award for Best Actor (for Patton in 1970), having warned the academy months in advance that he would do so on philosophical grounds if he won. He appeared in the films The Hanging Tree, Anatomy of a Murder, The Hustler, The List of Adrian Messenger, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Flim Flam Man, Petulia, Patton, The Hospital, The New Centurions, Oklahoma Crude, The Day of the Dolphin, The Hindenburg, Hardcore, Taps, Firestarter, and Malice. He was married to actresses, Coleen Dewhurst and Trish Van Devere.

1929–Women are are considered “persons” under Canadian law.

1931–American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, dies in West Orange, New Jersey, at age 84. In his lifetime he held over 1,000 patents, the most famous being the electric lamp, the phonograph, and the motion picture projector.

1934–Actress, Inger Stevens, is born Ingrid Stensland in Stockholm, Sweden. She appeared in the films Cry Terror!, The Buccaneer, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, The New Interns, A Guide for the Married Man, A Time for Killing, Firecreek, Madigan, 5 Card Stud, and Hang 'Em High.

1935–Actor, Peter (Lawrence) Boyle, is born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his role on the TV series Everybody Love Raymond. He appeared in the films Joe, Diary of a Mad Housewife, The Candidate, Slither, Kid Blue, Young Frankenstein, Crazy Joe, Taxi Driver, Hardcore, Where the Buffalo Roam, Yellowbeard, Johnny Dangerously, Turk 182!, Malcolm X, and While You Were Sleeping.

1939–Lee Harvey Oswald is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He assassinated President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Oswald denied shooting anybody, saying that he was a "patsy." Two days later, while being transferred from the city jail to the county jail, Oswald was fatally shot by Dallas nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, in full view of television cameras that were broadcasting live. In September 1964, the Warren Commission released it findings and concluded that Oswald acted alone in assassinating Kennedy by firing three shots from the Texas School Book Depository. Despite forensic, ballistic, and eyewitness evidence supporting the lone gunman theory, public opinion polls taken over the years have shown that most Americans believe that Oswald did not act alone, but conspired with others to kill the president. The assassination has spawned numerous conspiracy theories.

1944–The Soviet Union begins the liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany.

1944–Hoppy Jones, of The Ink Spots, dies in New York. New York, at age 42. The pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style led to the rhythm & blues and rock ‘n’ roll musical genres, by singing what is known as “doo-wop.”

1945–The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

1945–A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against President Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.

1945–Argentine military officer and politician, Juan Perón, marries actress, Eva "Evita" Duarte.

1946–Businessman, John T. Walton, is born John Thomas Walton in Newport, Arkansas. He was the son of Walmart founder, Sam Walton.

1947–Singer-songwriter, Laura Nyro, is born Laura Nigro in the Bronx, New York. Her songs include Stoned Soul Picnic, And When I Die, Stoney End, Sweet Blindness, Wedding Bell Blues, and Eli's Comin'.

1950–Actor, Om (Prakesh) Puri, is born in Ambala, East Punjab, India (present-day Haryana). He appeared in mainstream commercial Indian, British, American, and Pakistani films, as well as independent films and art films.

1951–The Studio for Electronic Music is established at the West German Broadcasting facility in Cologne, Germany, creating the first modern music studio.

1951–Actress, Pam Dawber, is born Pamela Dawber in Detroit, Michigan. She is best known for her co-starring role in the sitcom Mork & Mindy. She appeared in the films A Wedding, The Girl the Gold Watch & Everything, Do You Know the Muffin Man?, Stay Tuned, The Man with Three Wives, and A Stranger to Love. She was married to actor, Mark Harmon.

1954–Texas Instruments announces the first “transistor” radio.

1957–The Quarry Men perform at New Clubmoor Hall (Conservative Club), Norris Green, Liverpool, England. This is Paul McCartney’s first appearance with the group. That night, Paul shows John Lennon a song he had written, and John then shows Paul some songs that he has composed. The two start writing songs together from that moment, which marks the birth of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership.

1960–In Britain, The News Chronicle and The Daily Mail merge, while The London Evening Star merges with The Evening News.

1960–Child actress, Erin (Marie) Moran, is born in Burbank, California. She is best known for the role of Joanie Cunningham on the hit TV series Happy Days. She appeared in the films How Sweet It Is, 80 Steps to Jonah, The Happy Ending, and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.

1961–Henri Matisse's, Le Bateau, goes on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Forty six days later, it will be discovered that the painting had been hanging upside down.

1961–Classical and jazz trumpeter, Wynton (Learson) Marsalis, is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1963–Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat becomes the first cat launched into space.

1964–The Animals begin their first headlining tour in Manchester, England. Supporting them are Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Tommy Tucker, and The Nashville Teens.

1966–Businesswoman, Elizabeth Arden, dies in Manhattan, New York, at age 87. She founded Elizabeth Arden, Inc. In her salons and through her marketing campaigns, she stressed teaching women how to apply makeup, and pioneered such concepts as scientific formulation of cosmetics, beauty makeovers, and coordinating colors of eye, lip, and facial makeup. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.

1967–The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.

1967–The world premiere of the Richard Lester film, How I Won the War, takes place at the London Pavilion in London, England.

1968–John Lennon and Yoko Ono are arrested for possession of cannabis resin. They are also charged with obstructing police in the execution of a search warrant. The arrest takes place at 11:30 a.m. at John and Yoko’s flat (who they are leasing from Ringo Starr), at Montague Square, and they are taken to the Marylebone Lane Police Station.

1969–The Jackson 5 make their U.S. television debut on ABC-TV’s Hollywood Palace.

1971–After 34 years, the final issue of Look magazine is published.

1977–A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.

1979–The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.

1979–The stage show, Beatlemania, opens in London, England. It had played on Broadway in the U.S. for two years.

1982–Bess Truman, wife of President Harry S. Truman, dies of congestive heart failure in Independence, Missouri, at age 97. She was the 35th First Lady of the United States. She holds the record of longest-lived First Lady.

1991–The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

2000–Singer and actress, Julie London, dies from a stroke in Encino, California, at age 74. She released 32 albums of pop and jazz standards during the 1950s and 1960s. She is best known for the role of nurse Dixie McCall on the TV series Emergency!

2000–Actress and dancer, Gwen Verdon, dies of a heart attack in Woodstock, Vermont, at age 75. At the start of her career, she taught dance to stars such as Jane Russell, Fernando Lamas, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, and Marilyn Monroe. On the stage she appeared in Show Boat, Can-Can, Damn Yankees, and Sweet Charity. She appeared in the films The Cotton Club, Cocoon, Nadine, Alice, and Marvin’s Room.

2003–Bolivian President, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.

2004–Myanmar Prime Minister, Khin Nyunt, is ousted and placed under house arrest by the State Peace and Development Council on charges of corruption.

2007–A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, kills 139 people and wounds 450 others in Karachi. Bhutto herself is uninjured.

2012–Actress, Sylvia Kristel, dies of lung cancer in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at age 60. She appeared in the films Emmanuelle, Goodbye Emmanuelle, The Fifth Musketeer, The Concorde... Airport '79, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Private Lessons, Private School, and Red Heat.

2016–While attempting to create a nanotechnology-based, catalyst-mediated series of chemical reactions to turn carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) into a usable fuel, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory instead discover a single-step process using the surface area of tiny spikes of copper and carbon as a catalyst to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol.

2016–UNESCO's executive board approves the "Occupied Palestine" resolution, which reaffirms the cultural heritage of Palestine, especially East Jerusalem, and criticizes certain Israeli actions regarding the Palestinian territories. For the land in Jerusalem where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands, the board uses only Islamic naming terms with no mention of Jewish or Christian historical references.

2016–Clashes between Pygmy and Bantu tribes in the Tanganyika region of Democratic Republic of Congo, leave 20 people dead.

2016–Record executive, Phil Chess, dies in Tucson, Arizona, at age 95. He was the co-founder (with his brother, Leonard) of Chess Records. The label signed and recorded artists such as Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, Etta James, Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf, and Chuck Berry.

2017–Party leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses more than 2,000 delegates in Beijing, China.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Dagobert I, King of the Franks; Thomas Love Peacock; Miriam Hopkins; Chuck Berry; Lee Harvey Osward; The Quarry Men; Elizabeth Arden; Bess Truman; and Sylvia Kristel.

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