1538: Henry VIII is excommunicated.
1577: Sir Francis Drake sets sail on a voyage to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas.
1619: Prince Rupert is born. He was King Charles I's nephew and a commander for the Royalists during the English civil war. He carried a toy poodle named Boy with him into battle.
1778: Sir Humphry Davy is born. He was an early titan in the field of chemistry and discovered iodine and chlorine. He was also the first subject of a clerihew:Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
Abominated gravy
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
1862: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. It was rescinded three days later.1903: The Wright Brothers make the first powered, heavier-than-air flight.
1929: Jacqueline Hill is born. She played one of my all-time favorite Doctor Who companions, Barbara Wright, the prim-and-proper history teacher with a fiery passion burning within.
1929: William Safire, the writer of the New York Times column "On Language" is born.1930: Bob Guccione, pornographer is born.
1935: George "Goober" Lindsey is born.
1937: John Kennedy Toole is born. I think A Confederacy of Dunces is overrated, but many other people liked it.
1939: The Graf Spee is scuttled to prevent it from falling into British hands.
1944: The Malmedy Massacre. American POWs are executed by the SS.
1944: Bernard Hill is born. He played King Theodan of Rohan in the Lord of the Rings movies.
1946: Eugene Levy is born.
1947: Wes Studi is born. He played The Sphinx in Mystery Men.
1953: Bill Pullman is born.
1969: Tiny Tim marries Miss Vicky on The Tonight Show.
1975: Milla Jovovich is born.
1975: Bree Sharp is born.
1989: The Simpsons premieres.
Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.
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