Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1542

The fifth wife of England's King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.

1633

Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before the Inquisition.

1635

The oldest public school in the United States, the Boston Public Latin School, was founded.

1914

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known as ASCAP, was founded in New York City.

1920

The League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland.

1935

A jury in Flemington, N.J., found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-death of the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed.

1945

During World War II, the Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans.

1945

Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden.

1960

France exploded its first atomic bomb.

1980

Opening ceremonies were held in Lake Placid, N.Y., for the 13th Winter Olympics.

1984

Konstantin Chernenko was chosen to be general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Yuri Andropov.

1990

At a conference in Ottawa, the United States and its European allies forged agreement with the Soviet Union and East Germany on a two-stage formula to reunite Germany.