1522 – Suleiman the Magnificent accepts surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle in Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
1803 – French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA for $27M
1812 – “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” or “Children’s and Household Tales” by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm is first published
1917 – Cheka formed – Soviet state security force and forerunner to the KGB, under Felix Dzerzhinsky after decree by Lenin
1974 – Ethiopia was declared a socialist state under the leadership of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
1989 – The United States launched Operation Just Cause, a military invasion of Panama, the initial attack focusing primarily on the Panama City headquarters of leader Manuel Noriega.
1960 – The National Liberation Front, better known as the Viet Cong, is officially formed in South Vietnam
1971 – Pakistan president Yahya Khan resigns
1996 – The horror classic Scream, directed by Wes Craven, was released in American theatres; it became especially known for using the genre’s clichés for comic effect.
1999 – 12 years after an agreement was reached between China and Portugal, several centuries of Portuguese rule ended in Macau when it became a special administrative region under Chinese sovereignty.
2007 – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
2007 – The painting Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, along with O Lavrador de Café, by the major Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari.
2009 – US President Barack Obama receives his vaccine jab against swine flu
2012 – Apple is denied a patent for mobile pinch-to-zoom gestures by the US patent authorities
2012 – Intercontinental Exchange purchases the New York Stock Exchange, the largest in the world, for $8 billion
2014 – Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley kills 2 NYPD officers in Brooklyn, New York, supposedly in revenge for the killing of Eric Garner, before killing himself
2015 – Landslide from construction waste in Shenzhen, China leaves 74 dead or missing and buries 30 buildings
2017 – European Commission triggers first step of its article 7 procedure issuing Poland with formal warning of risk to voting rights
2018 – New figures show average US male weighs 198 pounds and stands 5 feet 9 inches, women 171 pounds and 5 feet 4 inches
2019 – United States Space Force founded, an armed forces branch dedicated to space warfare
Births & Deaths:
1968 – The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
2008 – American director Robert Mulligan, whose credits most notably include the classic film To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), died at age 83.
Film & TV:
1946 – Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” film premieres in New York, directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore
1974 – “The Godfather Part II”, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1975)
Music:
1823 – Play “Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus” by Helmina von Chézy with incidental music by Franz Schubert premieres in Vienna
Sport:
1894 – England beat Australia by 10 runs in the 1st six-day Test Cricket, Australia needed 177 to win, all out at 166 on 6th day
