1581 – Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford.
1655 – Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet beats Barbary pirates.
1789 – 1st US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington’s presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ending 1791).
1949 – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed in Washington, D.C.
1968 -US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
1973 – World Trade Center, then the world’s tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories)
1975 – Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800.
1980 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1988 – Eddie Hill becomes the world’s first driver to cover the quarter mile in under 5 seconds
1988 – Mets set Opening Day record with 6 HRs
1992 – Jury deliberations begin in Noriega case
1994 – Tony Curtis undergoes heart-bypass surgery
2000 – The government of South Korea ordered some 85 percent of the country’s livestock markets closed in an attempt to end an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that had struck Asian livestock.
2008 – Raid on Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints owned YFZ Ranch in Texas; 401 children and 133 women taken into state custody
2010 – Africa’s tallest monument, the African Renaissance Monument, dedicated outside Dakar, Senegal, designed by Pierre Goudiaby to commemorate Senegal’s 50th anniversary of independence
2012 – German Nobel Laureate, Günter Grass, publishes controversial poem that claims Israel is plotting to wipe out Iran
2017 – Chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhoun, Syria by Syrian government forces kills more than 80 civilians
2019 – US Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pledges to roll back anti-LGBT policies, including not baptizing children of gay parents
Births & Deaths:
1913 – Muddy Waters, an American blues guitarist and singer who played a major role in creating the modern rhythm-and-blues style, was born.
1979 – Heath Ledger, an Australian actor renowned for his moving and intense performances in diverse roles, was born.
Film: 1 914 – Film serial “Perils of Pauline” shown for the first time in Los Angeles.
Music:
1971 – Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 524 performances, then most expensive broadway musical.
Sport:
1974 – Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth’s home-run record by hitting his 714th.
