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1960–Actor, Clark Gable, dies of coronary thrombosis in West Hollywood, California, at age 59. He is best known for he role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. He appeared in the films It Happened One Night, The Call of the Wild, Mutiny on the Bounty, San Francisco, Mogambo, Betrayed, The Tall Men, Teacher’s Pet, and The Misfits.


1093–Saint Margaret of Scotland dies.

1272–Henry III of England dies in Westminster, London, England, at age 65. Prince Edward becomes King of England, upon the death of Henry III, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.

1491–An auto-da-fé, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ávila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.

1532–Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca.

1632–In the Thirty Years' War, the Battle of Lützen is fought: the Swedes are victorious, but King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden dies in the battle.

1776–In the American Revolutionary War, British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.

1776–The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States.

1793–During the French Revolution, 90 dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes.

1797–The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III.

1822–Missouri trader, William Becknell, arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that will become known as the Santa Fe Trail.

1828–The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades.

1849–A Russian court sentences writer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group. His sentence is later commuted to hard labor.

1852–English astronomer, John Russell Hind, discovers the asteroid 22 Kalliope.

1855–David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe.

1857–In Second relief of Lucknow, 24 Victoria Crosses are awarded, the most in a single day.

1873–Composer, W.C. Handy, is born William Christopher Handy in Florence, Alabama. He is best known for having brought the blues idiom into ragtime, which was popular in the first decade of the 20th century. His songs include Memphis Blues and St. Louis Blues.

1889–Playwright, George S. Kaufman, is born George Simon Kaufman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His works include The Front Page, Strike Up the Band, The Band Wagon, Of Thee I Sing, Dinner at Eight, You Can’t Take It With You, Of Mice and Men, The Man Who Came to Dinner, My Sister Eileen, Guys and Dolls, The Solid Gold Cadillac, and Silk Stockings.

1899–Radio hostess, Mary Margaret McBride, is born in Paris, Missouri. Her popular radio shows spanned more than 40 years. In the 1940s, the daily audience for her housewife-oriented program numbered from six to eight million listeners. She was called "The First Lady of Radio."

1904–English engineer, John Ambrose Fleming, receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).

1907–Oklahoma becomes the 46th state of the United States of America.

1907–Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania, sister ship of RMS Lusitania, sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City.

1908–Politician, Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, dies in Quebec City, Canada, at age 78. He was the fourth Premier of Quebec, Canada.

1914–The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.

1915–Creole accordionist, Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin, is born in Duralde, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. He was instrumental in the development of Zydeco music. As a child, he played triangle with his cousin, Amédé Ardoin, and fiddler, Dennis McGee, taking up the traditional Cajun accordion at age 12. In 1948, he started playing with The Duralde Ramblers, along with his longtime partner, Canray Fontenot. They performed to an enthusiastic audience at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966, followed by their first album Les Blues Du Bayou. Later in life, Ardoin joined Balfa Toujours. Some of his best work can be heard on their album Allons Danser.

1920–Qantas, Australia's national airline, is founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited.

1922–Actress, Patricia Barry, is born Patricia Allen White in Davenport, Iowa. She was seen on dozens of TV shows, including Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Rifleman, The Donna Reed Show, My Three Sons, Route 66, Rawhide, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Columbo, and Charlie’s Angels. She appeared in the films The Beast with Five Fingers, Humoresque, Send Me No Flowers, Kitten with a Whip, Dear Heart, For Keeps, and Sea of Love.

1928–Actor, Clu Gulager, is born William Martin Gulager in Holdenville, Hughes County, Oklahoma. He was seen in many TV shows, including Wanted: Dead or Alive, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Tall Man, Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Mod Squad, Kung Fu, The Streets of San Francisco, The Fall Guy, and Murder She Wrote. He appeared in the films The Killers, The Last Picture Show, McQ, The Other Side of Midnight, Into the Night, The Return of the Living Dead, Tapeheads, and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

1932–The Palace Theatre in New York City closes its doors to Vaudeville.

1938–LSD is first synthesized by Swiss chemist, Dr. Albert Hofmann, at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland.

1940–During World War II, in response to the leveling of Coventry by the German Luftwaffe two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany.

1940–In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.

1940–"Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at an office building used by Consolidated Edison in Manhattan, New York.

1943–In World War II, American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.

1944–Operation Queen, the costly Allied thrust to the Rur, is launched.

1944–Düren, Germany, is destroyed by Allied bombers.

1945–The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is founded.

1946–Writer and philosopher, Terence (Kemp) McKenna, is born in Paonia, Colorado. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, culture, technology, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the "Timothy Leary of the 1990s," and the "intellectual voice of rave culture."

1958–Actress, Marg Helgenberger, is born.

1960–Actor, Clark Gable, dies of coronary thrombosis in West Hollywood, California, at age 59. He is best known for he role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. He appeared in the films It Happened One Night, The Call of the Wild, Mutiny on the Bounty, San Francisco, Mogambo, Betrayed, The Tall Men, Teacher’s Pet, and The Misfits.

1961–Chris Pitman, of Guns N' Roses, is born.

1964–Jazz singer, Diana Krall, is born.

1965–The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, which will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.

1967–Actress, Lisa (Michelle) Bonet, is born is born in San Francisco, California. She is best known for the role of Denise Huxtable on the TV series The Cosby Show. She was married to rock musician, Lenny Kravitz.

1970–Actress, Martha (Campbell) Plimpton, is born in New York, New York. He appeared in the films Rollover, The River Rat, The Goonies, The Mosquito Coast, Shy People, Running on Empty, Another Woman, Parenthood, Stanley & Iris, Samantha, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, and I Shot Andy Warhol. Her father is actor, Keith Carradine; her grandfather is actor, John Carradine; and her uncles are actors, Robert Carradine and David Carradine.

1971–Model and actress, Edie Sedgwick, dies.

1973–NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for an 84-day mission.

1973–President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.

1974–The Arecibo message is broadcast from the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico. It was aimed at the current location of the globular star cluster, Messier 13, 25,000 light years away. The message will reach empty space by the time it finally arrives, because the cluster will have changed position.

1974–George Harrison, on tour of North America, performs at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1976–American Rodeo champion, Trevor Brazile, is born in Amarillo, Texas. He is a 20-time world champion with 12 PRCA All-Around Cowboy World Champion titles, three in tie-down roping, four in steer roping, and one in team roping.

1979–The first line of the Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea in Bucharest, Romania.

1988–The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic declares that Estonia is "sovereign," but stops short of declaring independence.

1988–In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate, Benazir Bhutto, as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

1988–Stan Love, former Beach Boys manager and the brother of lead singer Mike Love, is sentenced to five years probation for embezzling more than $300,000 from the band.

1989–A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops kills six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.

1990–Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It's True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.

1992–The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist, Eric Lawes, in Hoxne, Suffolk. It is the largest hoard of late Roman silver and gold discovered in Britain, and the largest collection of gold and silver coins of the fourth and fifth century found anywhere within the Roman Empire.

1994–Chet Powers, of Quicksilver Messenger Service, dies suddenly in Santa Rosa, California, at age 57. He had undergone brain surgery for an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the late 1980s.

1997–After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.

2005–Radio and TV host, Ralph Edwards, dies of heart failure in Los Angeles, California, at age 92. Shortly before his death, he released a selection of his This Is Your Life programs on DVD.

2009–Actor, Edward Woodward, dies of cancer in Truro, Cornwall, England, at age 79. He appeared in the films Becket, Young Winston, The Wicker Man, Breaker Morant, The Appointment, Champions, A Christmas Carol, and King David.

2014–Film critic and writer, Charles Champlin, dies of Alzheimer's disease in Los Angeles, California, at age 88.

2015–Actor, Charlie Sheen goes on The Today Show to discuss his being HIV-positive. The actor had known of his condition for several years.

2015–Actor, Charlie Sheen, goes on the Today Show to discuss his being HIV-positive. The actor had known of his condition for several years.

2015–President Francois Hollande, of France, called on the United States and Russia to join forces to destroy the Islamic State in the wake of the attacks across Paris on November 13th. He also announced a wave of measures to combat terror in France.

2016–Russian President Vladimir Putin signs an order to withdraw Russia's signature from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), amid calls for an investigation into potential Russian war crimes in Syria.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Saint Margaret of Scotland; Mary Margaret McBride; Clu Gulager; Clark Gable; Martha Plimpton; Trevor Brazile; and Edward Woodward.
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