Historical Events
- 845 Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving
- 1549 The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded
- 1901 Edmund Barton is elected Prime Minister in Australia's first parliamentary election
- 1912 Captain Robert Falcon Scott, storm-bound in a tent near the South Pole, makes last entry in his diary "the end cannot be far"
- 1961 After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria
- 1974 Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi'an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China's 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang
- 1999 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 - above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever
- 2022 In a major victory for Ukraine, Russia announces it is withdrawing its badly mauled forces from around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv
- Historical Events Today Events in 2024
Today in Film & TV
- 1959 "Some Like It Hot", American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, premieres at Loew’s Capital Theatre, NYC
Today in Music
- 1795 Ludwig van Beethoven (24) has his debut performance as a pianist in Vienna
Today in Sport
- 1994 Coach Jimmy Johnson quits Dallas Cowboys
Did You Know?
Movie star James Stewart promoted to full colonel, one of the few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years
Famous Birthdays
- John Tyler
1790 - 1862 - Edward Smith-Stanley
1799 - 1869 - Cy Young
1867 - 1955 - Lavrentiy Beria
1899 - 1953 - Sam Walton
1918 - 1992 - John Major
81st Birthday
Celebrity Birthdays
- Denny McLain
80th Birthday - Brendan Gleeson
69th Birthday - Marina Sirtis
69th Birthday - Elle MacPherson
60th Birthday - Lucy Lawless
56th Birthday - Jennifer Capriati
48th Birthday
Famous Weddings
- 1797 Writer Mary Wollstonecraft marries philosopher and journalist William Godwin
- 1813 John Tyler (23) later 10th US President, marries 1st wife Letitia Christian Tyler (22)
- 1860 Willie Park Sr. marries Susanna Law in Inveresk, Scotland