Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1694

The Bank of England received a royal charter as a commercial institution.

1789

Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs, the forerunner of the Department of State.

1794

Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 "enemies of the Revolution".

1816

The Battle of Negro Fort ends when a hot shot cannonball fired by US Navy Gunboat No. 154 explodes the fort's Powder Magazine, killing approximately 275. It is considered the deadliest single cannon shot in US history.

1861

Union Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac.

1866

After two failures, Cyrus W. Field succeeded in laying the first underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.

1890

Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.

1900

Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns, for years afterwards, "Hun" would be a disparaging name for Germans.

1919

The Chicago Race Riot erupts after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five-day period.

1921

Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, prove that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.

1929

The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, is signed by 53 nations.

1940

Bugs Bunny made his debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon ''A Wild Hare.''

1949

Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner.

1953

Cessation of hostilities is achieved in the Korean War when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.

1955

El Al Flight 402 is shot down by two fighter jets after straying into Bulgarian air space. All 58 people on board are killed.

1955

The Austrian State Treaty restores Austrian sovereignty.

1964

Five thousand more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.

1967

In the wake of urban rioting, President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of the violence. The same day, black militant H. Rap Brown said violence was ''as American as cherry pie.''

1974

The House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to recommend President Nixon's impeachment on a charge that he had personally engaged in a ''course of conduct'' designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case.

1989

While attempting to land at Tripoli International Airport in Libya, Korean Air Flight 803 crashes just short of the runway. Seventy-five of the 199 passengers and crew and four people on the ground are killed.

1995

The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., by President Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.

1996

Terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at the public Centennial Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring more than 100.

1997

About 50 people are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.

1999

In an overwhelming defeat for major league umpires, their threatened walkout collapsed when all the umpires withdrew their resignations; about one-third ended up losing their jobs anyway.

2002

A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 and injuring more than 500 others, making it the deadliest air show disaster in history.

2005

After an incident during STS-114, NASA grounds the Space Shuttle, pending an investigation of the continuing problem with the shedding of foam insulation from the external fuel tank.

1905

Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)

1922

Norman Lear is an American screenwriter and producer who has produced, written, created or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for creating and producing numerous popular 1970s sitcoms.

1931

Jerry Van Dyke was an American actor and comedian. He was the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke.

1942

Bobbie Gentry is a retired American singer-songwriter. She was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material.

1964

Rex Brown is an American musician. He is best known as the longtime bassist for heavy metal band Pantera, having joined the band in 1982. Following the band's reunion in 2022, Brown is the longest-serving member of the band.

1969

Paul Michael Levesque, better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler.

1972

Maya Rudolph is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. In 2000, Rudolph became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL).

1975

Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez, nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist.

1844

John Dalton was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his research into color blindness, which he had.

1963

Garrett Morgan was an American inventor, businessman, and community leader. His most notable inventions were a traffic light which was the first three-way traffic signal.

1980

The deposed Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60.

1992

Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis died after collapsing on a Brandeis University basketball court during practice; he was 27.

2001

Leon Wilkeson was an American musician. He was the bassist of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2001.

2003

Bob Hope, English-American actor, comedian, television personality, and businessman (b. 1903)

2017

Sam Shepard was an American actor, playwright, author, director and screenwriter whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any writer or director.

2022

Tony Dow was an American actor, film producer, director and sculptor. He portrayed Wally Cleaver in the iconic television sitcom Leave It to Beaver from 1957 to 1963.