1813 – Battle of Leipzig, largest battle in Europe prior to WWI, Napoleon’s forces defeated by Prussia, Austria and Russia
1847 – English novelist Charlotte Brontë (under the pseudonym Currer Bell) published Jane Eyre, which became a classic noted for giving new truthfulness to the Victorian novel.
1900 – Great Britain and Germany sign the Anglo-German Treaty, agreeing to maintain territorial integrity of China and support ‘open door’ policy called for by US Secretary of State
1934 – Mao Zedong and 25,000 troops begin their 6,000 mile Long March from the south of China to the north and west
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis begins as JFK is shown photos confirming the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba
1964 – China, eager to join the nuclear race, successfully detonated its first atomic bomb.
1978 – Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla elected Pope John Paul II
1998 – Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is arrested in London on a Spanish warrant requesting his extradition on murder charges
2004 – Lionel Messi, aged 17, makes his league debut for Barcelona against Espanyol
2017 – Panama Papers Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia killed in a suspicious car bomb in Malta
2018 – Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex begin their first royal tour visiting Australia and New Zealand
2019 – Egyptian archaeologists announce discovery of more than 20 painted wooden coffins from Theban necropolis of Asasif
2020 – French teacher Samuel Paty beheaded by 18 year-old Islamist militant in Paris suburb of Éragny
Film & TV:
1923 – Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio founded
Music:
1912 – Arnold Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire,” premieres at the Berlin Choralion-Saal sung by Albertine Zehme
Sport:
1968 – Americans Tommie Smith (gold 19.83 WR) and John Carlos (bronze) famously give the Black Power Salute on the 200m medal podium during the Mexico City Olympics to protest racism and injustice against African-Americans
