1561: An 18-year-old Mary Queen of Scots returns to Scotland, after spending 13 years in France.
1692: In Salem, Massachusetts, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
1745: Prince Charles Edward Stuart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie) lands from a French warship in Glenfinnan, Scotland, raises his standard and marches on London - the start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion known as "the 45".
1768: Saint Isaac's Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
1782: The last major engagement of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Blue Licks takes place almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Lord Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown.1812: During the War of 1812, American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerrière off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning her nickname "Old Ironsides".
1839: Jacque Daguerre presents his new photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences.1848: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).
1862: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
1871: Orville Wright is born.
1883: Coco Chanel is born.1902: Ogden Nash is born.
1906: Philo Farnsworth, inventor of modern television, is born. I wouldn't go saying that too loudly in certain circles unless you're spoiling for a fight. Much like powered flight, there are a slew of people who claim to have been the real inventor.
1921: Gene Roddenberry "The Great Bird of the Galaxy" is born.
1895: American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.1919: Afghanistan gains full independence from the United Kingdom.
1932: Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, is born.
1934: The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.1934: The creation of the position Führer approved by the German electorate with 89.9% of the popular vote.
1928: Diana Muldaur is born. She had was a guest star in a couple of classic Star Trek episodes ("Return to Tomorrow" and "Is The in Truth No Beauty?") and she also played the Bones McCoy pastiche Dr. Kate Pulaski on Star Trek: TNG.
1929: The comedy "Amos 'n' Andy" makes its network radio debut on NBC1939: Ginger Baker, drummer for Cream, is born.
1940: Jill St. John, Bond girl, is born.
1942: About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launch a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering about 50 percent casualties.1944: Paris rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
1945: Ian Gillan, singer for Deep Purple, is born.
1946: Bill Clinton is born.
1945: The Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh take power in Hanoi, Vietnam.1952: Jonathan Frakes is born. He is most famous for playing Commander Riker on Star Trek: TNG, but has also found success as a director where his nickname is "Two Takes Frakes" indicating the speed at which he moves productions along.
1960: In Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
1960: The Soviet Union launches the Sputnik 5 with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants.
1977: Groucho Marx dies at age 86. Here he is doing one of his signature tunes on The Dick Cavett show.
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.
