588 BC – Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah’s reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC.
1535 – Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in England.
1559 – Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey.
1759 – British Museum opens in Montague House, London.
1902 – Abdulaziz Ibn Saud leads 40 men over the walls of Riyadh and takes the city, marking the beginning of the Third Saudi State.
2001 – Wikipedia a free Wiki or content encyclopedia is launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger.
2009 – US Airways flight 1549, piloted by Capt. Chesley (“Sully”) Sullenberger III, landed in the Hudson River after the plane flew into a flock of Canada geese shortly after takeoff, resulting in severe damage to the plane’s engines; there were no fatalities.
Births & Deaths:1842 – St. Mary MacKillop, who was the first Australian beatified by the Roman Catholic Church and the first Australian to be recognized as one of its saints, was born in Melbourne.
1929 – Martin Luther King, an American religious leader and civil-rights activist, was born.
Sport:1892 – Basketball rules first published in Triangle Magazine, written by James Naismith
Music: 1895 – Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” premieres, St Petersburg (1/27 NS)
TV & Film: 1981 – “Hill Street Blues” premieres on NBC-TV
1974 – The American television series Happy Days, a nostalgic comedy set during the 1950s and ’60s, premiered on ABC.
Via Britannica / On This Day
