1568– Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II agrees to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire for peace. 1865– Columbia, South Carolina, burns down during American Civil War. 1876– Sardines first canned by Julius Wolff in Eastport, Maine. 1969– Golda Meir sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Israel. 1972– British Parliament votes to join the European Common Market. 1979 – After the Vietnam War, Vietnam bolstered its ties with the Soviet Union rather than with China, and, following a series of anti-Chinese, pro-Soviet maneuvers by Vietnam, China invaded its southern neighbour this day in 1979. 2008 – Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, though a number of countries refused to recognize the new republic; the International Court of Justice later ruled that Kosovo had not violated international law, but Serbia rejected that decision. 2017– Discovery of a new mostly underwater continent Zealandia in the South Pacific announced in research journal “GSA Today.
Birth & Deaths: 1963 – Michael Jordan, American Basketball Hall of Fame forward, owner (5-time NBA MVP, 6-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls), born in Brooklyn, New York. 1991– Bonnie Wright, British actress (Ginny Weasley in “Harry Potter” franchise), born in London, England. 1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter (Shape of You, Thinking Out Loud), born in Halifax, England. 2017– Alan Aldridge, British artist, graphic designer and illustrator whose artwork was used in record covers for The Beatles and The Who, dies at 73.
Music: 1904– Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly” premieres in Milan.
