Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1512

Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public.

1604

William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Othello'' was first presented, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1755

At least 60,000 people were killed in Lisbon, Portugal by an earthquake, its aftershocks and the ensuing tsunami.

1765

The British Parliament enacted The Stamp Act in the American colonies prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.

1800

U.S. President John Adams became the first president to live in the White House when he moved in.

1848

The first medical school for women, founded by Samuel Gregory, opened in Boston, MA. The Boston Female Medical School later merged with Boston University School of Medicine.

1856

The first photography magazine, Daguerreian Journal, was published in New York City, NY.

1861

Gen. George B. McClellan was made general-in-chief of the Union armies.

1864

The U.S. Post Office started selling money orders. The money orders provided a safe way to payments by mail.

1870

The U.S. Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations, using reports gathered by telegraph from 24 locations.

1879

Thomas Edison executed his first patent application for a high-resistance carbon filament (U.S. Pat. 223,898).

1904

The Army War College in Washington, DC, enrolled the first class.

1911

Italy used planes to drop bombs on the Tanguira oasis in Libya. It was the first aerial bombing.

1936

In a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an ''axis'' running between Rome and Berlin.

1937

"Terry and the Pirates" debuted on NBC Radio.

1940

"A Night in the Tropics" was released. It was the first movie for Abbott and Costello.

1949

In Washington, 55 people were killed when a fighter plane hit an airliner.

1950

Two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Truman. The attempt failed, and one of the pair was killed.

1950

Charles Cooper became the first black man to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

1952

The United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.

1954

The western African nation of Algeria began its rebellion against French rule.

1959

Jacques Plante, of the Montreal Canadiens, became the first goalie in the NHL to wear a mask.

1963

The USSR launched Polyot I. It was the first satellite capable of maneuvering in all directions and able to change its orbit.

1968

The movie rating system of G, M, R, X, followed by PG-13 and NC-17 went into effect.

1973

In the wake of the Saturday Night Massacre, Acting Attorney General Robert H. Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new Watergate special prosecutor, succeeding Archibald Cox.

1981

The U.S. Postal Service raised the first-class letter rate to 20 cents.

1985

In the village of Ignacio Aldama, 22 members of a Mexican anti-narcotics squad were killed by alleged drug traffickers.

1987

Deng Xiaoping retired from China's Communist Party's Central Committee.

1989

Tens of thousands of refugees to fled to the West when East Germany reopened its border with Czechoslovakia.

1989

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced the end of a cease-fire with the Contra rebels.

1993

The European Community's treaty on European unity took effect.

1995

In Dayton, OH, the Bosnian peace talks opened with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia present.

1998

Nicaraguan Vice President Enrique Bolanos announced that between 1,000 and 1,500 people were buried in a 32-square mile area below the slopes of the Casita volcano in northern Nicaragua by a mudslide caused by Hurricane Mitch.

1998

Iridium inaugurated the first handheld, global satellite phone and paging system.

1894

Russian Emperor Alexander III died.

1947

The famous racehorse Man o' War died.

1999

Former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, died of bile duct cancer at age 45.