1460 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield (Northern England), Duke of York killed and his forces soundly defeated by forces for King Henry VI. 1703 – Tokyo hit by Earthquake; about 37,000 die. 1803 – The Maratha chief Daulat Rao Sindhia and the British signed the Treaty of Surji-Arjungaon during the Maratha Wars in India. 1896 – Philippine nationalist José Rizal was publicly executed, enraging and uniting Filipinos. 1902 – A new southing record was set by Robert Falcon Scott, in company with Ernest Henry Shackleton and E.A. Wilson, as they reached the Ross Ice Shelf at the head of the Ross Sea in Antarctica. 1916 – GrigoryYefimovich Rasputin was murdered by Russian conservatives—who reportedly poisoned, shot, and then drowned the Siberian mystic—in an effort to halt his influence over Empress Alexandra and the royal family. 1918 – The Spartacus League was transformed into the Communist Party of Germany at a party congress. 1922 – Creation of the USSR formally proclaimed in Moscow from the Bolshoi Theatre, Soviet Union organized as a federation of RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Belorussian SSR and Transcaucasian SSR. 1924 – Astronomer Edwin Hubble formally announces existence of other galactic systems at meeting of the American Astronomical Society. 1950 – Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia become Independent states within the French Union. 2006 – Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, was executed after being convicted of crimes against humanity.
Births & Deaths: 1865 – British writer, Rudyard Kipling, best known for works like ‘Just So Stories’ and ‘The Jungle Book’, was born. 1975 – American golfer Tiger Woods—the first player to win consecutively the game’s four major tournaments (the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship)—was born. 1984 – American basketball player LeBron James, who was one of the NBA‘s superstars, was born.
Sport: 1939 – Bradman scores 267 South Australia v Vic, world record 34th double cricket century.
Music: 1968 – Frank Sinatra first records “My Way” with lyrics were written by Paul Anka and based on the French song “Comme d’habitude“.
Via Britannica / On This Day
