- 1492: Columbus discovered Hispaniola Island, now home to Haiti and
the Dominican Republic.
- 1766: London auctioneers Christie's held their first sale.
- 1776: The first U.S. Greek-letter scholastic fraternity, Phi Beta
Kappa, was founded at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Va.
- 1782: Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States,
(1837-41), was born.
- 1791: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and performer,
died under mysterious circumstances.
- 1792: George Washington was re-elected president of the United
States and John Adams was re-elected vice president.
- 1848: President James Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by
confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
- 1854: Aaron Allen of Boston patented a folding theater chair.
- 1868: The first American bicycle school opened in New York City.
- 1893: The first electric car hit the streets, built by a Toronto
firm. It could go 15 miles between charges.
- 1901: Walt Disney, film producer and animation pioneer, was born.
- 1908: Numerals were first used on football uniforms worn by college
football players in a game between the University of Pittsburgh and
Washington and Jefferson.
- 1926: "Battleship Potemkin," Sergei Eisenstein's famous film about
a mutiny on a Russian ship, debuted.
- 1929: The first nudist organization in the U.S., the American
League for Physical Culture, opened in New York City.
- 1932: German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa, making
it possible for him to travel to the United States.
- 1933: The 21st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified,
thus ending Prohibition.
- 1945: The "Lost Squadron," five U.S. Navy Avenger bombers carrying
14 Navy flyers, took off on a training mission from the Fort
Lauderdale Naval Air Station and were never seen again. They were
popularly believed to have vanished in the Bermuda Triangle.
- 1955: The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of
Industrial Organizations joined to form the AFL-CIO.
- 1955: The black community of Montgomery, Ala., launched its boycott
of the city's bus system in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks,
who refused to give up her seat for a white man.
- 1957: New York City became the first city to legislate against
racial or religious discrimination in the housing market.
- 1973: Chicago Cubs' Ron Santo became the first baseball player to
veto his trade.
- 1974: "Monty Python's Flying Circus" was last shown on BBC.
- 1988: A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted PTL founder
Jim Bakker on fraud and conspiracy charges.
- 1990: British author Salman Rushdie, who had been in hiding since
Iran ordered his death for blasphemy, appeared in public for the
first time for nearly two years.
- 1991: Richard Speck, who murdered eight student nurses in Chicago
in 1966, died in prison one day short of his 50th birthday.
- 1996: Portland's Jermaine O'Neal, 18, became the youngest player
ever to participate in an NBA game.
*Happy Birthday*
----------------
- Morgan Brittany, 47, actress, "Melrose Place"
- Jose Carreras, 52, opera tenor
- Margaret Cho, 30, actress/comedienne
- Little Richard, 66, R&B singer
- Jim Messina, 51, musician/producer
- Art Monk, 41, NFL wide receiver
- Jim Plunkett, 51, NFL quarterback
- Steve James "Strom" Thurmond, 96, Senator
- Calvin Trillin, 63, author