Historical Events
- 1611 Establishment of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, oldest existing university in Asia and largest Catholic university in the world
- 1770 British Captain James Cook, aboard HMS Endeavour, first lands in Australia at Botany Bay
- 1789 Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on HMS Bounty against its captain William Bligh in the South Pacific
- 1910 First night air flight by Claude Grahame-White takes place in England
- 1937 First commercial flight across the Pacific, operated by Pan Am
- 1977 Andreas Baader and members of terrorist group the Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Gang) are jailed for life after a trial lasting nearly two years in Stuttgart, Germany
- Historical Events Today Events in 2024
Today in Film & TV
- 1928 RCA and GE install three test television sets in homes in Schenectady, New York, allowing trials of inventor E.F.W. Alexanderson's first home television receiver; a poor and unsteady 1.5 square inch picture was received from radio transmitter
- 1965 "My Name is Barbra", Barbra Streisand's first television special, premieres on CBS
Today in Music
- 1940 Glenn Miller records "Pennsylvania 6-5000"
Today in Sport
- 1887 "Europe's first motoring competition" is 'won' by The Marquis de Dion on a steam-powered quadricycle built by French toymaker and engineer Georges Bouton; French newspaper Le Velocipede organized the 'test', and Bouton was the only participant
- 2003 Andre Agassi recaptures the world no. 1 ranking to become the oldest top-ranked male in the history of the ATP rankings (33 years, 13 days)
Did You Know?
Using the ISO 8601 standard Year Zero definition for the Gregorian calendar preceded by the Julian calendar, the one billionth minute since the start of January 1 Year Zero occurs at 10:40 AM on this date
Famous Birthdays
Edward IV
1442 - 1483
James Monroe
1758 - 1831
Lionel Barrymore
1878 - 1954
António de Oliveira Salazar
1889 - 1970
Harper Lee
1926 - 2016
Saddam Hussein
1937 - 2006
Celebrity Birthdays
Carolyn Jones
1930 - 1983
Jay Leno
74th Birthday
Too Short
58th Birthday
Penélope Cruz
50th Birthday
Jessica Alba
43rd Birthday
Melanie Martinez
29th Birthday
Fun Fact About Today
Shrek the sheep from Tarras, Central Otago, New Zealand, is finally shorn live on TV after 6 years avoidance; the fleece weighed 27 kg (60 lb)
Famous Weddings
- 1774 Chief Justice John Jay (28) weds Sarah Van Brugh Livingston (17)
- 1886 Painter Paul Cézanne (47) weds Marie-Hortense Fiquet (36)
- 1903 Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (40) weds Millicent Veronica Willson (21) in New York City
Famous Divorces
- 1994 "Princess of Rock and Roll" Lisa Marie Presley separates from musician Danny Keough
Mary Read
Gavrilo Princip
Benito Mussolini
Clas Thunberg
Arthur Leonard Schawlow
Lou Thesz
American
British
Canadian
French
German
Russian