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1965–At 5:16 p.m. a massive blackout hits the northeast U.S., leaving millions without electricity. About 800,000 people are trapped in New York subways, elevators, and skyscrapers. Rioting breaks out in New York City. Dramatic photos showed the eery sight of a moonlit, but lightless, Manhattan skyline. Power is not restored until the next morning.


694–At the Seventeenth Council of Toledo, Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims, sentencing all Jews to slavery.

1187–Emperor Gaozong of Song dies in China, at age 80.

1312–Otto III, Duke of Bavaria, dies in Landshut, Germany, at age 51. He was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was the Duke of Lower Bavaria from 1290 to 1312, and the King of Hungary and Croatia between 1305 and 1307.

1313–Louis the Bavarian defeats his cousin, Frederick I of Austria, at the Battle of Gammelsdorf.

1330–At the Battle of Posada, Basarab I of Wallachia defeats the Hungarian army of Charles I Robert.

1456–Ulrich II, Count of Celje, last ruler of the County of Cilli, is assassinated in Belgrade, Serbia.

1520–More than 50 people are sentenced and executed during the Stockholm Bloodbath. This was the result of a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under the command of King Christian II.

1620–Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1688–William of Orange captures Exeter.

1697–Pope Innocent XII founds the city of Cervia.

1720–The synagogue of Judah HeHasid is burned down by Arab creditors, leading to the expulsion of the Ashkenazim from Jerusalem.

1729–Spain, France, and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Seville.

1791–The Foundation of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen is formed.

1799–Napoleon becomes the dictator of France.

1841–King Edward VII is born Albert Edward at Buckingham Palace in London, England. He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband (and first cousin) Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political power, and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He traveled throughout Britain, performing ceremonial public duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad.

1851–Kentucky marshals abduct abolitionist minister, Calvin Fairbank, from Jeffersonville, Indiana, taking him to Kentucky to stand trial for helping a slave escape.

1853–Architect, Stanford White, is born in New York, New York. He was a partner in the firm of McKim, Mead & White, one of the premier Beaux-Arts firms of the day. White designed a number of public buildings and churches, as well as many homes for the wealthy. His best known designs are The Washington Square Arch, the New York Herald Building, the Savoyard Center in Detroit, Michigan, and the Rosecliff Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

1857–The Atlantic is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

1861–The first documented football match in Canada is played at University College in Toronto.

1867–Tokugawa shogunate hands power back to the Emperor of Japan, starting the Meiji Restoration.

1872–The Great Boston Fire of 1872 breaks out.

1877–Journalist and politician, Enrico De Nicola, is born in Naples, Campania, Kingdom of Italy. He was the first President of Italy.

1883–The Royal Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Armed Forces (known then as the "90th Winnipeg Battalion of Rifles") is founded.

1886–Actor, Ed Wynn, is born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was seen in many TV shows including Playhouse 90, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Twilight Zone, and The Red Skelton Hour. He appeared in the films Stage Door Canteen, Marjorie Morningstar, The Diary of Ann Frank, Cinderfella, The Absent-Minded Professor, Babes in Toyland, Son of Flubber, Mary Poppins, Dear Brigitte, The Greatest Story Ever Told, That Darn Cat!, and The Gnome-Mobile. His son is actor, Keenan Wynn.

1887–The United States receives rights to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1888–Mary Jane Kelly is murdered in London, England. She is widely believed to be the fifth and final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

1906–Theodore Roosevelt is the first sitting U.S. President to make an official trip outside the country. He does so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.

1907–The Cullinan Diamond is presented to King Edward VII on his birthday.

1913–The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the lakes, destroys 19 ships and kills more than 250 people.

1914–SMS Emden is sunk by HMAS Sydney in the Battle of Cocos.

1918–Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates after the German Revolution, and Germany is proclaimed a Republic.

1921–The Italian National Fascist Party comes into existence.

1923–In Munich, Germany, police and government troops crush the Beer Hall Putsch in Bavaria. The failed coup is the work of the Nazis.

1924–U.S. statesman, Henry Cabot Lodge, dies after a severe stroke in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at age 74. He was a Republican Senator from Massachusetts and a long-time friend and confidant of Theodore Roosevelt.

1928–Poet, Anne Sexton, is born in Newton, Massachusetts. Her best known work is Live or Die, which earned her the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

1934–Carl (Edward) Sagan, astronomer, author, and professor, is born in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for his popular science books The Dragons of Eden, Broca's Brain, and Pale Blue Dot; and for the award-winning 1980 TV series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which he narrated and co-wrote.

1935–The Congress of Industrial Organizations is founded in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by eight trade unions belonging to the American Federation of Labor.

1936–Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul & Mary, is born in Louisville, Kentucky. The trio’s biggest hit was Puff The Magic Dragon. She was married to photographer, Barry Feinstein, and National Lapoon publisher, Gerald Taylor.

1937–The Chinese Army withdraws from the Battle of Shanghai.

1938–The Nazi German diplomat, Ernst vom Rath, dies from gunshot wounds by Herschel Grynszpan: an act that the Nazis used as an excuse to instigate the 1938 national pogrom, also known as Kristallnacht.

1940–Warsaw is awarded the Virtuti Militari.

1941–Tom Fogerty, of Creedence Clearwater Revival, is born in Berkeley, California. He is the brother of musician, John Fogerty.

1949–Tommy Caldwell, of The Marshall Tucker Band, is born Thomas Michael Caldwell in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

1953–Cambodia gains independence from France.

1953–Dylan Thomas dies after being in a six-day coma in New York, New York, at 39. Thomas had been living at the Chelsea Hotel.

1956–After a three-year absence, Billie Holiday returns to the stage at New York City's Carnegie Hall. The concert has been called one of the high points of music history.

1960–Robert McNamara is named president of Ford Motor Company, the first non-Ford to serve in that post. A month later, he will resign to join the administration of newly elected president, John F. Kennedy.

1961–The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, for a lunchtime show. This is a major day for The Beatles, although they are unaware of it at the time: in the audience is Brian Epstein, dressed in his pinstripe suit, seeing The Beatles for the first time. Accompanying Epstein is his assistant, Alistair Taylor. Over the next few weeks, Epstein becomes more and more interested in possibly managing The Beatles, and he does a lot of research into just exactly what that would entail.

1962–Motown Records releases You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me by The Miracles.

1963–At Miike coal mine, Miike, Japan, an explosion kills 458 people and hospitalises 839 others with carbon monoxide poisoning.

1963–The song, Louie, Louie by The Kingsmen, is released.

1964–A chart topper: Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las.

1965–At 5:16 p.m. a massive blackout hits the northeast U.S., leaving millions without electricity. About 800,000 people are trapped in New York subways, elevators, and skyscrapers. Rioting breaks out in New York City. Dramatic photos showed the eery sight of a moonlit, but lightless, Manhattan skyline. Power is not restored until the next morning.

1965–A Catholic Worker Movement member, Roger Allen LaPorte, protesting against the Vietnam War, sets himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in New York City.

1966–John Lennon attends a special preview of an exhibition by artist Yoko Ono, that is about to open at the Indica Gallery in London, England. The exhibition’s title is “Unfinished Painting and Objects by Yoko Ono.” John and Yoko meet for the first time, being introduced by gallery owner, John Dunbar.

1967–NASA launches the unmanned Apollo 4 test spacecraft atop the first Saturn V rocket from Cape Kennedy, Florida.

1967–Rolling Stone magazine publishes its first issue. On the cover is a photo of John Lennon costumed for his film role as Private Gripweed in the movie How I Won the War.

1969–Jim Morrison turns himself in to the Dade County Public Safety Department and is arrested at 9:50 p.m. He posts the pre-set bail of $5,000 and is released. A formal “not guilty” plea is entered.

1970–The U.S. Supreme Court votes 6-3 against hearing a case to allow Massachusetts to enforce its law granting residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.

1979–In a nuclear false alarm, the NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, detect a purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early-warning radars, the alert is cancelled.

1985–Garry Kasparov, 22, of the Soviet Union becomes the youngest World Chess Champion by beating Anatoly Karpov, also of the Soviet Union.

1989–Communist-controlled East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall allowing its citizens to travel to West Germany. This key event led to the eventual reunification of East and West Germany, and fall of communism in Russia and eastern Europe.

1993–Stari Most, the "old bridge" in Bosnian Mostar built in 1566, collapses after several days of bombing.

1994–The chemical element darmstadtium is discovered.

1998–A U.S. Federal Judge orders 37 U.S. brokerage houses to pay $1.03 billion to cheated NASDAQ investors, to compensate for price fixing. This is the largest civil settlement in U.S. history.

1998–Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offenses.

2003–Actor, Art Carney, dies in his sleep of natural causes in Chester, Connecticut, at age 86. He is best known for the role of Ed Norton on The Jackie Gleason Show and The Honeymooners. He appeared in the films The Yellow Rolls-Royce, A Guide for the Married Man, Harry and Tonto, The Late Show, Movie Movie, House Calls, Going in Style, Take This Job and Shove It, Firestarter, and Izzy and Moe.

2005–The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

2005–Suicide bombers attack three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing at least 60 people.

2007–The German Bundestag passes the controversial data retention bill, mandating storage of citizens' telecommunications traffic data for six months without probable cause.

2008–Singer, Miriam Makeba, dies of a heart attack in Castel Volturno, Italy, at age 76. In the 1960s, she was the first artist from Africa to popularize African music around the world.

2012–A train carrying liquid fuel crashes and bursts into flames in northern Myanmar, Burma, killing 27 people and injuring 80 others.

2012–At least 27 people are killed and dozens are wounded in conflicts between inmates and guards at Welikada prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2012–Major Harris, of The Delfonics, dies congestive heart and lung failure in Richmond, Virginia, at age 65.

2015–Exotic dancer, Carol Doda, dies of kidney failure in San Francisco, California, at age 78. She was the first public topless dancer.

2015–Drummer, Andy White, dies from a stroke in Caldwell, New Jersey, at age 85. He is best known as the drummer who replaced Ringo Starr on The Beatles first single Love Me Do. He was featured on the American single release of the song, which also appeared on the band’s first LP Please Please Me. He also played on P.S. I Love You.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Napoleon; Ed Wynn; Carl Sagan; Brian Epstein at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England; Yoko Ono at her exhibition “Unfinished Painting and Objects by Yoko Ono”; Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov; Art Carney; and Andy White.
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