Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1607

Indian chief Powhatan spared John Smith's life because of the pleas of Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas.

1813

The British burned Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812.

1837

Canadian militiamen destroyed the Caroline, a U.S. steamboat docked at Buffalo, New York.

1845

exas (comprised of the present state of Texas and part of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming) was admitted as the 28th state of the Union, with the provision that the area should be divided into no more than five states.

1851

The first American Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was organized in Boston. The organization started in London in 1844.

1890

A massacre took place at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, as up to 400 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them. It was the last major conflict between Indians and U.S. troops.

1934

Japan renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

1940

London suffered its most devastating air raid, and approximately 1,500 fires were started, when Germany started dropping incendiary bombs on it during World War II.

1975

A bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people.

1984

Rajiv Gandhi claims a massive victory for his assassinated mother's Congress Party in the Indian general election.

1996

The Guatemalan government and leaders of the leftist Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union signed a peace accord in Guatemala City, ending a war that lasted 36 years.

1998

Khmer Rouge leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives.

1998

Six people have died after mountainous seas smashed into yachts taking part in the prestigious Sydney to Hobart race.

1999

The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.

1800

Charles Goodyear, American inventor of vulcanization process for rubber.

1808

Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States (1865-1869), was born in Raleigh, North Carolina.

1809

William Gladstone, English statesman and four-time Prime Minister.

1876

Pablo Casals, Spanish cellist.

1907

Robert C. Weaver, the first African-American to serve on a President's cabinet (Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development).

1917

Thomas Bradley, American, mayor of Los Angeles, California.

1937

American actress and comedian Mary Tyler Moore.

1170

Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.

1919

Sir William Osler, Canadian physician considered one of the greatest icons of modern medicine.

1986

Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963, dies aged 92.