1492 – Christopher Columbus notes 1st recorded reference to tobacco.
1884 – European Colonization and trade in Africa is officially regulated at the international Berlin Conference, formalizing European powers “Scramble for Africa”.
1859 – Charles Dickens’ serialized novel, A Tale of Two Cities, comes to a close, as the final chapter is published in Dickens’ circular, All the Year Round.
1887 – American painter Georgia O’Keeffe is born.
1904 King C. Gillette patents the Gillette razor blade.
1943 – Heinrich Himmler makes public an order that Gypsies and those of mixed Gypsy blood are to be put on “the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps.”
1948 – Mackenzie King retires after 22 years as Prime Minister of Canada.
1956 – Love Me Tender, featuring the singer Elvis Presley in his big-screen debut, premieres in New York City at the Paramount Theatre.
1969 – An estimated 2 million people take part in the Demonstration across the United States.
1988 – Palestinian statehood proclaimed by Yasser Arafat Meeting at Algiers, the Palestine National Council, at the urging of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, issued a declaration of independence for a state of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
2001 – Microsoft released Xbox, a video game console system.
Radio: 1926 – 1st formal radio network, RCA takes over AT&T 25 station Network (NBC).
Music: 1986 – Beastie Boys release their debut album “Licensed to Ill” – 1st No. 1 rap album on Billboard charts.
