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1980–In a legal deposition, John Lennon states that he and the other ex-Beatles are planning a reunion concert, to be recorded and filmed. The deposition is being given in a lawsuit against the stage show Beatlemania. The suit will be settled on June 4, 1986, with Apple being awarded $10.5 million. Regardless, Beatlemania was filmed in 1981, for release as a movie. It was called Beatlemania: The Movie, and starred David Leon (John), Mitch Weissman (Paul), Tom Teeley (George), and Ralph Castelli (Ringo). Although The Beatles never reunited, Beatlemania shows are still being performed in various incarnations all over the world to this day.


587–King Guntram of Burgundy recognizes Childebert II as his heir.

936–Shi Jingtang is enthroned as the first emperor of the Later Jin by Emperor Taizong of Liao, following a revolt against Emperor Fei of Later Tang.

1443–Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in central Albania and raise the Albanian flag.

1520–An expedition under the command of Ferdinand Magellan passes through the Strait of Magellan.

1582–A bond is entered to secure the marriage of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway at Stratford-upon-Avon, England. The groom is barely 18 years old, and the bride is six month’s pregnant.

1627–The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy has its greatest and last victory in the Battle of Oliwa.

1660–At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray, decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.

1666–At least 3,000 men of the Royal Scots Army, led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns, defeat about 900 Covenanter rebels in the Battle of Rullion Green.

1680–Italian architect and the most important sculptor of his time, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, dies of unknown causes in Rome, Italy, at age 81. Bernini was buried in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Metropolitan City of Rome.

1757–Poet, William Blake, is born in London, England. Blake was a Romantic poet, a painter, an engraver, and a visionary mystic. He was educated in school long enough only to learn to read and write; after that, his father noticed his knack for drawing and arranged for him to be an engraver's apprentice. He married Catherine Boucher, an illiterate woman, at the age of 25, and taught her to read, write, and help him in his printing work. The two collaborated on his most famous works, his hand-illustrated poetry books Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Blake engraved his words and pictures into copper printing plates, and Catherine printed them and painted the illustrations with watercolor. When Blake was nine years old, he said he'd seen a tree full of angels, and in his adult life he often said that spirits would visit his studio to sit for portraits. He was never rich; he died in poverty and neglect, unnoticed for his work until after his passing.

1763–Burmese King, Naungdawgyi, dies of scrofula in Sagaing, Myanmar, at age 29.

1785–The first Treaty of Hopewell is signed between the Confederation Congress of the United States of America and the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples.

1811–Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premieres at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany.

1814–The Times of London becomes the first newspaper to be produced on a steam-powered printing press, built by the German team of Koenig & Bauer.

1821–Panama separates from Spain and joins Gran Colombia.

1829–Russian composer and piano virtuoso, Anton Rubenstein, is born.

1843–The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.

1885–Bulgarian victory in the Serbo-Bulgarian War preserves the Unification of Bulgaria.

1893–Women's suffrage in New Zealand concludes with the New Zealand general election.

1895–The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.

1905–Irish nationalist, Arthur Griffith, founds Sinn Féin as a political party, with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.

1908–A mine explosion in Marianna, Pennsylvania, kills 154 men, leaving only one survivor.

1909–Sergei Rachmaninoff makes the debut performance of his Piano Concerto No. 3, considered to be one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.

1910–The Liberal Party, led by Eleftherios Venizelos, wins the second Greek general election of the year.

1912–Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire.

1914–Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.

1917–The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia.

1919–Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit in the House of Commons.

1920–The Irish Republican Army ambushes a convoy of British Auxiliaries, killing 17 people.

1923–Actress, Gloria Grahame, is born Gloria Grahame Hallward in Los Angeles, California. She appeared in the films Crossfire, The Greatest Show on Earth, Macao, Sudden Fear, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Big Heat, The Cobweb, Not as a Stranger, Oklahoma!, Head Over Heels, and Melvin and Howard. She was married to film director, Nicholas Ray.

1925–The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee, as the WSM Barn Dance.

1929–Berry Gordy, Jr., founder of Motown Records, is born in Detroit, Michigan.

1933–Actress, Hope Lange, is born Hope Elise Ross Lange in Redding, Connecticut. She starred in the TV sitcoms The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and The New Dick Van Dyke Show. She appeared in the films Bus Stop, Peyton Place, The Young Lions, The Best of Everything, Wild in the Country, Pocketful of Miracles, Death Wish, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Blue Velvet, and Clear and Present Danger. She was married to actor, Don Murray, and film director, Alan J. Pakula.

1938–Producer, director and screenwriter, Michael (Brunswick) Ritchie, is born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. His films include Downhill Racer, The Candidate, Prime Cut, The Bad News Bears, Semi-Tough, Divine Madness!, Student Bodies, The Survivors, Fletch, Wildcats, The Couch Trip, and The Scout.

1940–Singer Bruce Channel, is born in Jacksonville, Texas. He had a hit with Hey Baby.

1942–In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub kills 492 people.

1943–President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, meet in Tehran, Iran, to discuss war strategy.

1943–Singer-songwriter, Randy Newman, is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1948–Edward Land’s Polaroid instant camera goes on sale.

1948–The Hopalong Cassidy Show premieres on American TV.

1949–Rock bandleader, Paul Shaffer, is born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

1952–Actress, S. Epatha Merkerson, is born Sharon Epatha Merkerson in Saginaw, Michigan. She is best known for her debut role as Reba the Mail Lady on Pee-wee's Playhouse, and for the long-standing role of Lieutenant Anita Van Buren in the TV series Law & Order. She has appeared in the films She’s Gotta Have It, Loose Cannons, Jacob’s Ladder, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Radio, and Lincoln.

1958–Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.

1960–Mauritania becomes independent of France.

1962–Avant garde artist, Yoko Ono, marries film producer, Anthony Cox.

1962–Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark dies in Lausanne, Switzerland, at age 86.

1962–Wilhelmina of the Netherlands dies at Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn, Netherlands, at age 82. Her funeral was, at her request and contrary to protocol, completely in white to give expression to her belief that earthly death was the beginning of eternal life.

1963–President Lyndon Johnson announces that Cape Canaveral will be renamed Cape Kennedy in honor of President John F. Kennedy.

1964–NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.

1964–National Security Council members agree to recommend that President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.

1964–Country singer, Willie Nelson, makes his debut on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

1965–In response to President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippine President-elect, Ferdinand Marcos, announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.

1966–Michel Micombero overthrows the monarchy of Burundi and makes himself its first president.

1967–The first pulsar, known as PSR B1919+21 in the constellation of Vulpecula, is discovered by astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.

1967–The Beatles record their fifth Fan Club Christmas record, titled “Christmas Time (Is Here Again).” This is the last Christmas record that The Beatles will record together.

1968–John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear before Marylebone Magistrates Court on charges of possession of cannabis resin (for which they had been arrested on October 18th). John pleads guilty in exchange for the charges against Yoko being dropped: he is fined £150 plus court costs. Both John and Yoko are found not guilty on the charge of obstructing police during the execution of a search warrant. This drug conviction will cause John immigration problems when he moves to New York and tries to seek permanent residency. John was certain that the drugs “found” by police had been planted deliberately, that he had been framed by a notorious Scotland Yard detective, Norman Pilcher, who was later removed from his position on the police force for improper behavior as a police officer.

1971–Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan, is assassinated by the Black September unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

1972–In the last executions in Paris, France, Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems are guillotined at La Santé Prison.

1974–John Lennon performs live with Elton John, keeping a promise he’d made to Elton that he would appear on stage with him if Whatever Gets You Through the Night made it to #1 on the charts. They perform three songs at Elton’s Thanksgiving Day concert at Madison Square Garden: Whatever Gets You Through the Night, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, and I Saw Her Standing There. Lennon also participates in the encore, playing tambourine on The Bitch Is Back. Yoko Ono, who is still separated from John, is in the audience. John and Yoko meet up backstage after the concert, beginning the process that will result in their eventual reunion.

1975–East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.

1976–Actress, (Catherine) Rosalind Russell, dies of breast cancer in Beverly Hills, California, at age 69. She appeared in the films The Women, His Girl Friday, The Feminine Touch, My Sister Eileen, Sister Kenny, Mourning Becomes Electra, Picnic, Auntie Mame, A Majority of One, Five Finger Exercise, Gypsy, The Trouble with Angels, Oh Dad Poor Dad Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad, Rosie!, and Mrs. Pollifax–Spy.

1979–Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.

1979–Ringo Starr’s home in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, is destroyed by fire. Ringo is not injured, but sadly, many of his most prized Beatles momentos are destroyed.

1980–In Operation Morvarid the bulk of the Iraqi Navy is destroyed by the Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf.

1980–In a legal deposition, John Lennon states that he and the other ex-Beatles are planning a reunion concert, to be recorded and filmed. The deposition is being given in a lawsuit against the stage show Beatlemania. The suit will be settled on June 4, 1986, with Apple being awarded $10.5 million. Regardless, Beatlemania was filmed in 1981, for release as a movie. It was called Beatlemania: The Movie, and starred David Leon (John), Mitch Weissman (Paul), Tom Teeley (George), and Ralph Castelli (Ringo). Although The Beatles never reunited, "Beatlemania" shows are still being performed in various incarnations all over the world to this day.

1981–School children in Kibeho, Rwanda, experience the first of a series of Marian apparitions.

1983–Actor, Christopher George, dies of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, at age 52. He was best known for his starring role in the TV series The Rat Patrol. He appeared in the films Project X, The Delta Factor, Chisum, Midway, and The Exterminator. He was married to actress, Lynda Day George.

1987–South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on board.

1989–In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.

1991–South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.

1993–Jerry Edmonton, drummer for Steppenwolf, dies in a car accident in Santa Barbara, California, at age 47.

1993–TV personality and game show host, Garry Moore, dies of emphysema in Hilton Head, South Carolina, at age 78. He hosted The Garry Moore Show, and the game shows I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth.

1994–Serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, dies from extreme head and facial wounds while incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, at age 34. He committed the rape, murder, and dismemberment of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

1994–Anti-war activist, Jerry Rubin, dies of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, at age 56. Two weeks earlier, he had been hit by oncoming traffic while crossing the street near his penthouse apartment in Westwood. He was a counterculture icon during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman and multi-millionaire.

1997–The Kosovo Liberation Army emerges publicly for the first time.

2002–Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, but their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air missiles.

2005–Tony Meehan, drummer for The Shadows, dies of head injuries following a fall down the main staircase at his Maida Vale flat in Paddington, London, England, at age 62. Meehan was nicknamed "The Baron" by his many admirers and friends within the British pop/rock music industry. He has influenced many thousands of teenage boys and adolescents to take up music as a career as a result of his iconic performance in Cliff Richard's film The Young Ones.

2010–Actor, Leslie Nielsen, dies of pneumonia in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at age 84. Nielsen appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs over the span of his career. He was seen on the TV shows Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, The Fugitive, Peyton Place, Bonanza, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Streets of San Francisco, Kojak, and Police Squad! He appeared in the films Forbidden Planet, The Opposite Sex, Tammy and the Bachelor, Harlow, The Poseidon Adventure, Airplane!, Nuts, and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

2013–A 5.6 earthquake in Iran kills seven people and injures 45 others.

2014–Gunmen set off three bombs at the central mosque in the northern city of Kano, Nigeria, killing at least 120 people.

2015–At least four Egyptian police officers are killed in a drive-by shooting in Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt. An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) affiliate claims responsibility.

2015–Egyptologists announce that radar scans indicate an empty space behind King Tutankhamun's tomb. British archaeologist, Dr. Nicholas Reeves, speculates if a second chamber exists, it could be Queen Nefertiti's long-lost burial place.

2015–Macedonia's Army begins erecting a metal fence on its southern border with Greece. Around 250 Middle Eastern migrants later clash with Macedonian police on the border.

2015–Tyson Fury of the United Kingdom defeats Ukrainian boxer, Wladimir Klitschko, in a title fight in Dusseldorf, Germany, winning the WBA Super, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles.

2015–Actress, Marjorie Lord, dies of natural causes in Beverly Hills, California, at age 97. She is best known for the role of Kathy "Clancy" Williams on the TV sitcom Make Room for Daddy.

2016–Paul Nuttall wins overall majority of a vote to become the U.K. Independence Party's (UKIP) leader, succeeding Nigel Farage.

2016–Ten people are hospitalized, one in critical condition, after a stabbing attack at Ohio State University. The suspect, a refugee from Somalia and Ohio State University student, is killed.

2016–Entreprenuer, Jim Delligatti, dies in Fox Chapel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at age 98. He was the creator of McDonald’s iconic burger, the Big Mac. It was advertised as “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun.”

2016–Television executive, Grant Tinker, dies at his home in Los Angeles, California, at age 90. With his wife, Mary Tyler Moore, he co-founded the production company M-T-M Enterprises which produced The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He became the Chairman and CEO of NBC-TV from 1981 to 1986. During his tenure, the network produced popular shows such as The Cosby Show, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, Cheers, Night Court, and Hill Street Blues.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: The Strait of Magellan; William Blake; Anton Rubinstein; Gloria Grahame; Randy Newman; Wilhelmina of the Netherlands; John Lennon and Yoko Ono at Marylebone Magistrates Court in London, England; Rosalind Russell; Christopher George; Jerry Rubin; Leslie Nielsen; and Marjorie Lord.
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