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* 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.
* 1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
* 1547 – Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.
* 1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
* 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
* 1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
* 1754 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity.
* 1760 – Pownal, Vermont is created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants.
* 1813 – Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
* 1820 – Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent approaching the Antarctic coast.
* 1846 – Battle of Aliwal, India is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
* 1855 – The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.
* 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: the Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
* 1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.
* 1887 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
* 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined 1 shilling plus costs for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
* 1902 – The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
* 1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War.
* 1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.
* 1916 – Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
* 1917 – Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco, California.
* 1918 – Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
* 1921 – A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I.
* 1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses.
* 1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
* 1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
* 1934 – The first ski tow in the United States begins operation in Vermont.
* 1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
* 1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
* 1941 – French-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
* 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
* 1958 – The Lego company patented their design of Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
* 1964 – A U.S. Air Force jet training plane that strays into East Germany is shot down by Soviet fighters near Erfurt; all 3 crew men are killed.
* 1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
* 1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which severely affected and crippled much of Upstate New York, but Buffalo, NY, Syracuse, NY, Watertown, NY, and surrounding areas are most affected, each area accumulating close to 10 feet of snow on this one day.
Disintegration of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
* 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391) collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa Florida and capsizes killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
* 1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
* 1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity under the Red Brigades.
* 1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
* 1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission (Space Shuttle Challenger disaster) – Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.
* 1990 – Birth of the prophet to the cybernets, Format Cassius Illidan Lolodinchegsky C, the freedom bringer of teh internets
* 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92.
Births
* 1225 – Saint Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)
* 1312 – Queen Joan II of Navarre (d. 1349)
* 1457 – King Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
* 1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610)
* 1582 – John Barclay, Scottish writer (d. 1621)
* 1600 – Pope Clement IX (d. 1669)
* 1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
* 1611 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish-born astronomer (d. 1687)
* 1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer (d. 1691)
* 1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
* 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer (d. 1775)
* 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (d. 1761)
* 1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1774)
* 1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and poet (d. 1749)
* 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmering, German physician (d. 1830)
* 1784 – George Hamilton Gordon Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the UK (d. 1860)
* 1818 – George S. Boutwell, 20th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1905)
* 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
* 1833 – Charles George 'Chinese' Gordon, British soldier and administrator (d. 1885)
* 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-born explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
* 1853 – José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)
* 1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American inventor (d. 1898)
* 1861 – Julian Felipe, Filipino musician (d. 1944)
* 1863 – Ernst William Christmas, Australian painter (d. 1918)
* 1864 – Charles W. Nash, American automobile entrepreneur (d. 1948)
* 1864 – Herbert Akroyd Stuart, English inventor (d. 1927)
* 1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1928)
* 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, first president of Finland (d. 1952)
* 1873 – Colette, French writer (d. 1954)
* 1874 – Vsevolod Meyerhold, Russian theatre director (d. 1940)
* 1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (d. 1970)
* 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist (d. 1962)
* 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian writer (d. 1973)
* 1886 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese electrical engineer (d. 1976)
* 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist (d. 1982)
* 1890 – Robert Stroud, American convict, the Birdman of Alcatraz (d. 1963)
* 1891 – Bill Doak, American baseball player (d. 1954)
* 1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German-born film director (d. 1947)
* 1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (d. 1986)
* 1899 – Elias Simojoki, Finnish clergyman and politician (d. 1940)
* 1900 – Alice Neel, American artist (d. 1984)
* 1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish writer (d. 1978)
* 1904 – Canuplin, Filipino magician and bodabil entertainer (d. 1979)
* 1908 – Paul Misraki, French composer and songwriter (d. 1998)
* 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
* 1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
* 1910 – Arnold Moss, American actor (d. 1989)
* 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
* 1915 – Nien Cheng, Chinese-born American writer (d. 2009)
* 1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer (Sooty) (d. 1989)
* 1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-born British politician (d. 2004)
* 1919 – Francis Gabreski, American fighter pilot (d. 2002)
* 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1993)
* 1924 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter (d. 1976)
* 1925 – Scotty Bloch, American stage and television actress
* 1927 – Ronnie Scott, British tenor saxophonist and club owner (d. 1996)
* 1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director (d. 2001)
* 1929 – Acker Bilk, English jazz clarinetist
* 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-born artist
* 1933 – Jack Hill, American film director
* 1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentine racing driver (d. 1990)
* 1934 – Mitr Chaibancha, Thai actor (d. 1970)
* 1935 – David Lodge, English author
* 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, writer, and director
* 1936 – Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer
* 1938 – Leonid Zhabotynsky, Ukrainian weightlifter
* 1939 – John M. Fabian, NASA astronaut
* 1940 – Carlos Slim Helú, Mexican businessman
* 1941 – Joel Crothers, American actor (d. 1985)
* 1943 – Paul Henderson, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1943 – Dick Taylor, English musician (The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things)
* 1944 – Susan Howard, American actress
* 1944 – John Tavener, English composer
* 1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist
* 1945 – Robert Wyatt, English musician
* 1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American politician
* 1948 – Charles Taylor, President of Liberia
* 1949 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball coach
* 1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress
* 1950 – David C. Hilmers, NASA astronaut
* 1950 – Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah, King of Bahrain
* 1950 – Bob Hay, American songwriter and musician
* 1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
* 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian cosmonaut
* 1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and executive
* 1953 – Chris Carter, English musician (Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey)
* 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
* 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France
* 1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1959 – Burkhard Dallwitz, German-born composer
* 1959 – Frank Darabont, American filmmaker
* 1959 – Randi Rhodes, radio personality
* 1959 – Dave Sharp, Welsh guitarist (The Alarm)
* 1960 – Robert von Dassanowsky, American historian, writer, and producer
* 1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1961 – Arnaldur Indridason, Icelandic writer
* 1962 – Keith Hamilton Cobb, American actor
* 1962 – Creflo Dollar, American televangelist
* 1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer
* 1963 – Dan Spitz, American musician, guitarist (Anthrax)
* 1965 – Lynda Boyd, American actress
* 1967 – Jan Lamb, Chinese disc jockey & comedian
* 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer and songwriter
* 1968 – DJ Muggs, American musician (Cypress Hill)
* 1968 – Rakim (William Michael Griffin Jr.), American rapper
* 1969 – Kathryn Morris, American actress
* 1969 – Mo Rocca, American writer and comedian
* 1969 – Linda Sanchez, American politician
* 1971 – Anthony Hamilton, American soul singer
* 1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer
* 1973 – Rick Houghton, English Radio/TV Presenter
* 1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player
* 1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
* 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player
* 1975 – Terri Colombino, American Actress
* 1975 – Tanya Chua, Singaporean singer
* 1975 – Lee Latchford-Evans, English singer
* 1975 – Anne Montminy, Canadian Olympic diver
* 1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player
* 1975 – David Zingler, American writer
* 1976 – Lee Ingleby, British actor
* 1976 – Emiko Kado, Japanese wrestler (d. 1999)
* 1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player
* 1976 – Jarrod Montague, American drummer (Taproot)
* 1976 – Rick Ross (rapper), Rapper
* 1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
* 1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
* 1977 – Matt DeVries, American guitarist (Chimaira)
* 1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer (*NSYNC)
* 1977 – Lyle Overbay, American baseball player
* 1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese Formula One driver
* 1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
* 1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer
* 1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
* 1979 – Ali Boulala, Swedish skateboarder
* 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
* 1980 – Jesse James Hollywood, American drug dealer and fugitive
* 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor
* 1984 – Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
* 1984 – Stephen Gostkowski, American football player
* 1985 – Daniel Carcillo, Canadian hockey player
* 1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
* 1985 – Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
* 1986 – Jessica Ennis, British athlete
* 1986 – Shruti Haasan, Indian actress
* 1987 – Chelsea Brummet, American actress
* 1990 – Format C, Canadian Paladin
* 1991 – Calum Worthy, Canadian actor and musician.
