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1965–The Beatles receive their Member of the British Empire (MBE) medals from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London, England. The media gives extensive coverage to the event, with the Beatles conducting a press conference at the Saville Theatre. John Lennon will return his medal four years later, in protest of Britain’s involvement in the Nigerian Civil War.


306–Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki is martyred.

740–An earthquake strikes Constantinople and the surrounding countryside, causing destruction to the city's land walls and buildings.

899–Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, dies in Winchester, England, at age 50. How he died is unknown, although he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness. It is thought that he had either Crohn's disease or haemorrhoidal disease. In 2002, Alfred was ranked number 14 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

1185–The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire, ruled by the Asen dynasty.

1341–The Byzantine civil war formally begins with the proclamation of John VI Kantakouzenos as Byzantine Emperor at Didymoteicho.

1377–Tvrtko I is crowned the first king of Bosnia.

1473–Friedrich of Saxony, 36th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, is born Friedrich von Sachsen in Torgau, Saxony, Germany.

1491–Emperor Zhengde of China is born Zhu Houzhao in the Ming dynasty.

1520–Charles V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

1580–Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain, dies of heart failure in Badajoz, Spain, at age 30. She was the eldest daughter of Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian II, and Maria of Spain. Her maternal grandparents were Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and Isabella of Portugal, and her paternal grandparents were Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.

1597–Admiral Yi Sun-sin routs the Japanese Navy of 300 ships, with only 13 ships at the Battle of Myeongnyang.

1640–The Treaty of Ripon is signed, restoring peace between Scotland and Charles I of England.

1685–Composer, (Giuseppe) Domenico Scarlatti, is born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples. Like his renowned father, Alessandro Scarlatti, he composed in a variety of musical forms, although today he is known mainly for his 555 keyboard sonatas.

1689–General Piccolomini of Austria burns down Skopje to prevent the spread of cholera. He dies of cholera himself soon after.

1774–The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1775–King George III of Great Britain goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorizes a military response to quell the American Revolution.

1776–Benjamin Franklin departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.

1802–Miguel I of Portugal is born Miguel Maria do Patrocínio João Carlos Francisco de Assis Xavier de Paula Pedro de Alcântara António Rafael Gabriel Joaquim José Gonzaga Evaristo in Lisbon, Portugal.

1811–The Argentine government declares the freedom of expression for the press by decree.

1813–In the War of 1812, a combined force of British regulars, Canadian militia, and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of the Chateauguay.

1825–The Erie Canal opens with passage from Albany, New York, to Lake Erie.

1854–Businessman, C.W. Post, is born Charles William Post in Springfield, Illinois. He founded Post Foods, maker of breakfast cereal and pioneer in the prepared-food industry. Among the company’s products are Postum, Grape-Nuts, and Post Toasties.

1859–The Royal Charter is wrecked on the coast of Anglesey, north Wales, killing 459 people.

1860–Giuseppe Garibaldi, conqueror of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, gives it to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.

1861–The Pony Express passes into history, as a transcontinental telegraph line is completed near Salt Lake City, Utah.

1863–The Football Association is formed in London, England.

1865–Businessman, Benjamin Guggenheim, is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the fifth of seven sons of the wealthy mining magnate Meyer Guggenheim and his wife, Barbara Myers. He died aboard the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

1874–Socialite and philanthropist, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, is born Abigail Greene Aldrich in Providence, Rhode Island. She founded the Museum of Modern Art. Through her marriage to financier and philanthropistk John D. Rockefeller Jr., she was a prominent member of the Rockefeller family.

1881–Doc Holliday joins the Earp brothers, Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan, in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. They go up against members of the Clanton gang of suspected cattle rustlers.

1883–Philosopher and author, (Oliver) Napoleon Hill, is born in Pound, Virginia. He is best known for his book Think and Grow Rich (1937), which is among the 10 best-selling self-help books of all time. Hill openly described visits from spirits in Chapter 12 of his book, Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind (1967). He described them as unseen friends, unseen watchers, strange beings, and the “Great School of Masters” that had been guarding him, and who maintain a "school of wisdom."

1905–Sweden accepts the independence of Norway.

1909–Ito Hirobumi, four-time Prime Minister of Japan and Resident-General of Korea, is assassinated by An Jung-geun at the Harbin train station in Manchuria.

1912–The Ottoman occupied city of Thessaloniki, is liberated and unified with Greece on the feast day of its patron saint Demetrius. On the same day, Serbian troops captured Skopje.

1912–Film director, Don Siegel, is born in Chicago, Illinois. His films include The Verdict, The Big Steal, Riot in Cell Block 11, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Crime in the Streets, Houng-Dog Man, Flaming Star, Hell is for Heroes, Coogan’s Bluff, Madigan, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiled, Dirty Harry, The Shootist, and Escape from Alcatraz. He was married to actress, Viveca Lindfors.

1913–Jazz saxophonist and bandleader, Charlie Barnet, is born in New York, New York. In 1932, he became the leader of the band at the Paramount Hotel in New York City, and soon began hiring black musicians; one of the first white bandleaders to do so. Lena Horne was an early vocalist with his band, which was also one of the few predominantly white bands to play the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

1917–In the Battle of Caporetto, Italy suffers a catastrophic defeat to the forces of Austria-Hungary and Germany. The young, unknown Oberleutnant Erwin Rommel captures Mount Matajur with only 100 Germans against a force of over 7,000 Italians.

1917–Brazil declares war on the Central Powers.

1918 – Erich Ludendorff, Quartermaster-General of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.

1921–The Chicago Theatre opens in Chicago, Illinois.

1922–Madelyn Dunham, maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, is born Madelyn Lee Payne in Peru, Kansas.

1929–Neal Matthews Jr., of The Jordanaires. is born in in Nashville, Tennessee. As a member of The Jordanaires, he worked with artists such as Patsy Cline, Red Foley, Johnny Horton, Ferlin Husky, Jim Reeves, and George Jones. The group also served as backup vocalists for pop music artists such as Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Connie Francis, and Julie Andrews. They are best known, however, as the backup vocalists for Elvis Presley for 15 years.

1936–The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation.

1940–The P-51 Mustang makes its maiden flight.

1940–Keith Hopwood, of Herman’s Hermits, is born in Davyhulme, Manchester, England.

1942–Actor, Bob Hoskins, is born Robert William Hoskins in Bury St. Edmunds, West Suffolk, England. He appeared in the films Up the Front, The National Health, Royal Flash, Inserts, Pink Floyd The Wall, Lassiter, The Cotton Club, Brazil, Sweet Liberty, Mona Lisa, A Prayer for the Dying, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mermaids, Shattered, Hook, The Inner Circle, Nixon, Michael, Last Orders, Maid in Manhattan, Vanity Fair, Beyond the Sea, Mrs. Henderson Presents, and Hollywoodland.

1944–Alan Henderson, bass player for Them, is born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1944–Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom dies in her sleep at Brantridge Park, Sussex, England, at age 87. She was the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

1945–Writer, Pat Conroy, is born Donald Patrick Conroy in Atlanta, Georgia. His novels include The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides. The film, Conrack, is based on his book, The Water Is Wide, about a period of his life when he was hired to teach black children in a one-room schoolhouse on remote Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.

1947–The Maharaja of Kashmir and Jammu agrees to allow his kingdom to join India.

1947–Politician, Hillary Clinton, is born Hillary Diane Rodham in Chicago, Illinois. She was the First Lady of the United States (as the wife of President Bill Clinton) from 1993 to 2001, U.S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, 67th U.S. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, and the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election.

1951–Singer-songwriter, Maggie Roche, is born in Park Ridge, New Jersey. She was a member of The Roches, along with her sisters, Terre and Suzzy Roche. The trio are known for their unusual and rich harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.

1952–Actress, Hattie McDaniel, dies of breast cancer in Woodland Hills, California, at age 57. She was the first African American actress to receive an Oscar, winning for her role in Gone with the Wind. During her career, McDaniel appeared in over 300 films, although she received screen credits for only 80 of them. She appeared in the films Little Men, Alice Adams, Show Boat, Libeled Lady, Stella Dallas, Nothing Sacred, The Shopworn Angel, They Died with Their Boots On, Thank Your Lucky Stars, Margie, and Song of the South.

1955–After the last Allied troops have left the country, and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares permanent neutrality.

1955–Ngo Dinh Diem declares himself Premier of South Vietnam.

1955–The Village Voice is published for the first time. It will serve as New York City’s underground (alternative) newspaper.

1958–Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France.

1958–Bill Haley & His Coments play their first German rock concert, in West Berlin.

1959–The Everly Brothers say they’re thinking of leaving their record label, Cadence, for a deal with RCA or Warner Bros.

1961–Bob Dylan signs with Columbia Records after attracting the notice of the A&R man, John Hammond.

1964–Eric Edgar Cooke becomes last person to be executed in Western Australia.

1965–The Beatles receive their Member of the British Empire (MBE) medals from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London, England. The media gives extensive coverage to the event, with the Beatles conducting a press conference at the Saville Theatre. John Lennon will return his medal four years later, in protest of Britain’s involvement in the Nigerian Civil War.

1966–A chart topper: Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke.

1966–Singer, Alma Cogan, dies of ovarian cancer at Middlesex Hospital in London, England, at age 34. Cogan lived with her widowed mother in Kensington High Street in a lavishly decorated ground-floor flat, which became a legendary party venue. Regular visitors included Princess Margaret, Noel Coward, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Michael Caine, Frankie Vaughan, Roger Moore, The Beatles, and a host of other celebrities. She became a close friend of John Lennon, who was eight years younger, and later they carried on a secret romance.

1967–Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran and then crowns his wife Farah Empress of Iran.

1968–Soviet cosmonaut, Georgy Beregovoy, pilots Soyuz 3 into space for a four-day mission.

1970–Boxer, Muhammad Ali, faces off against Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, Georgia, for the first time after Ali's three-year hiatus from evading to be drafted in the Vietnam War.

1973–The John Lennon single, Mind Games, is released in the U.S.

1977–Ali Maow Maalin has the last natural case of smallpox in Merca district, Somalia. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success in the history of vaccination.

1978–The Police play their first U.S. show at The Rat Club in Boston, Massachusetts.

1979–Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea, is assassinated by Korean Central Intelligence Agency head, Kim Jae-gyu. Choi Kyu-hah becomes the acting president.

1980–Belle Vue Amusement Park closes in Manchester, England. It opened in 1936, and featured popular rides such as the Bobs Roller Coaster and the Scenic Railway. Other entertainments were grand firework displays and an annual Christmas Circus. Music and dancing were popular attractions in Belle Vue's various ballrooms. All that remains of Belle Vue is the greyhound stadium and the snooker club. The original gardens and amusement park are now an industrial and residential area.

1981–Queen and David Bowie record Under Pressure in Montreaux, Switzerland.

1984–"Baby Fae" receives a heart transplant from a baboon.

1985–The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aborigines.

1988–President Ronald Reagan decides to tear down the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia, because of Soviet listening devices in the building’s structure.

1990–William S. Paley, founder and Chairman of the CBS Television Network, dies of kidney failure in New York, New York, at age 89.

1991–Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia.

1992–The London Ambulance Service is thrown into chaos after the implementation of a new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system that fails.

1994–Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.

1995–During the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mossad agents assassinate Islamic Jihad leader, Fathi Shaqaqi, in his hotel in Malta.

1998–A U.S. federal judge refuses to issue an injunction against the sale of MP3s, music files that can be downloaded from the Internet. The Recording Industry Association of America had brought the case to court.

1999–Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.

1999–Musician and actor, Hoyt Axton, dies of a heart attack in Victor, Montana, at age 61. He had been confined to a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 1996. He wrote the Three Dog Night hit Joy to the World. His other songs include Greenback Dollar, Boney Fingers, Snowblind Friend, The Pusher, and Never Been to Spain. He appeared in the films The Black Stallion, Heart Like a Wheel, Gremlins, We’re No Angels, and Endangered Species.

2000–Laurent Gbagbo takes over as president of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), following a popular uprising against President Robert Guei.

2001–The United States passes the USA Patriot Act into law.

2002–Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian Spetsnaz storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.

2003–The Cedar Fire, the second-largest fire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres, and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego, California.

2004–Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, an action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, makes its debut.

2008–Author, Tony Hillerman, dies of pulmonary failure in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 83. He is best known for his award-winning detective novels and non-fiction works, especially the Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels. His works include Dance Hall of the Dead, People of Darkness, The Dark Wind, Skinwalkers, The Wailing Wind, and The Shape Shifter.

2009–Businessman, Troy Smith, dies of Alzheimer's disease in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at age 87. He founded Sonic Drive-In. By the time of his death, the chain operated in 42 states at 3,600 locations.

2012–Entrepreneur, Arnold Greenberg, dies of cancer in New York, New York, at age 80. In the 1970s, he co-founded Snapple, a brand of tea and juice drinks, with Hyman Golden and Leonard Marsh.

2015–A 7.5 earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in northeastern Afghanistan, killing 398 people and injuring 2,536 others.

2016–A 6.6 earthquake strikes central Italy.

2017–President Donald Trump orders the release of nearly 3,000 files related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but withholds the release of others citing national security concerns.

2017–Astronomers spy Comet C/2017 U1, an interstellar comet, which most likely came from an unknown solar system, as it is not gravitationally bound to our Sun.

2017–An explosion in a fireworks plant in Jakarta, Indonesia, kills at least 47 people and injures 35 others.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Anna of Austria; the Erie Canal; Don Siegel; Keith Hopwood; the first issue of The Village Voice; Alma Cogan; an ad for Belle Vue Amusement Park; Hoyt Axton; a Sonic Drive-In.
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