What Happened On This Day In History?

1419

Rouen surrendered to Henry V, completing his conquest of Normandy.

1783

William Pitt became the youngest Prime Minister of England at age 24.

1793

King Louis XVI was tried by the French Convention, found guilty of treason and sentenced to the guillotine.

1825

Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett patented a process for canning food in tin containers.

1840

United States explorer Charles Wilkes claims part of Antarctica for the United States.

1853

Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" premiered in Rome.

1861

Georgia seceded from the Union.

1915

During World War I, Britain was hit by an air attack when two German zeppelins drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn.

1918

The Bolsheviks dissolved the Russian Constitutional Assembly.

1937

Millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

1944

The federal government relinquished control of the nation's railroads after settling a wage dispute.

1949

Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians signs a contract worth $30,000, making him the highest paid pitcher in the big leagues to date.

1953

Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) gives birth to little Ricky. More viewers tuned in to watch that blessed event than the following day's inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1955

A presidential news conference was filmed for television for the first time, with permission from President Eisenhower.

1963

The first disco, called "Whiskey-a-go-go," opened in Los Angeles.

1966

Indira Gandhi, daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, becomes prime minister of India.

1970

President Nixon nominated G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court, but the nomination was later defeated because of controversy over Carswell's past racial views.

1979

Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell was released on parole after serving 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama.

1981

The United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months.

1983

Klaus Barbie, the Nazi Gestapo chief of Lyons, France, during the German occupation, was arrested in Bolivia for his crimes against humanity.

1997

Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron for the first time in more than 30 years, joining 60,000 Palestinians in celebrating the handover of the last West Bank city in Israeli control.

1999

At the president's impeachment trial in the Senate, White House Counsel Charles Ruff opened the defense with ringing statements of Clinton's innocence.

2000

Michael Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy, surrendered to police in Greenwich, Conn., to face charges in the 1975 death of a 15-year-old girl.

1736

James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, was born in Scotland.

1807

Robert E. Lee, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies, was born in Stratford, Va.

1809

Edgar Allan Poe, American poet, author.

1839

Paul Cézanne, painter.

1908

Ish Kabibble (Merwyn Bogue), American comic singer.

1943

Janis Joplin, singer.

1946

Dolly Parton, singer, actor.

1955

Paul Rodriguez, Hispanic-American comedian.

1990

Bhagwam Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru.

1998

Carl Perkins, American pioneer of rockabilly music, a mix of rhythm and blues and country western music died in Jackson, Tennessee, at age 65.

2006

Wilson Pickett, American R&B and soul singer.