1512– Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regards to native Indians in the New World. 1657– “Flushing Remonstrance” petition signed in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, protesting the ban on Quaker worship. 1831 – Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle, beginning the voyage on which he would formulate his theory of evolution. 1904 – The play Peter Pan, by James Barrie, opens at the Duke of York’s Theater in London. 1939– Between 20,000 & 40,000 die in magnitude 8 quake in Erzincam, Turkey. 1945– International Monetary Fund formally established by 29 member .countries based on ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes 1949– Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants independence to Indonesia. 1968 – Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, returns safely to Earth after an historic six-day journey. 1979 – After invading Afghanistan two days earlier Soviet forces pull off a coup in Kabul, killing President Hafizullah Amin 2007 – Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto, the first woman leader of a Muslim nation in modern history, was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, while campaigning for upcoming parliamentary elections. 2015 – American paintor, sculptor, and printmaker Ellsworth Kelly—who was a leading exponent of the hard-edge style, in which abstract contours are sharply and precisely defined—died in Spencertown, New York.
Music: 1932– Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City
