538 – Witiges, King of the Ostrogoths, ends his siege of Rome, retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of victorious Byzantine General Belisarius. 1455 – First record of Johannes Gutenberg’s Bible, letter dated this day by Enea Silvio Piccolomini refers to the bible printed a year before. 1860 – Congress accepts Pre-emption Bill: free land in West for colonists. 930 – Mohandas Gandhi begins 200m (300km) march protesting British salt tax. 1912 – Juliette Gordon Low formed the first troop of American Girl Guides (later Girl Scouts), in Savannah, Georgia. 1947 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman articulated what became known as the Truman Doctrine when he asked Congress to appropriate aid for Greece and Turkey, both of which were facing communist threats. 1994 – Church of England ordains 1st 33 women priests. 2003 – The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a worldwide health alert, one of the first in a decade, regarding an illness it later called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that struck hundreds of people in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
Births & Deaths: 1948 – American singer, songwriter, and guitarist James Taylor was born.
Sport: 1972 – NHL great Gordie Howe retires after 26 seasons.
Music: 1832 – The ballet La Sylphide first premieres at the Opéra de Paris.
TV & Film: 1973 – Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In last airs on NBC-TV.
