1490 – 1st dated edition of Maimonides “Mishneh Torah”, a code of Jewish religious law is published. 1775 – Patrick Henry proclaims “Give me liberty or give me death” in speech in favour of Virginian troops joining US Revolutionary war. 1806 – Having completed the first U.S. overland expedition to the Pacific coast, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their return to St. Louis, Missouri, where their journey had begun in May 1804. 1919 – 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party re-establishes a five-member Politburo which becomes the center of political power in the Soviet Union. Original members Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev and Nikolai Krestinsky. 1933 – Enabling Act: German Reichstag grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers. 1945 – Battle of Okinawa: US Navy ships bomb the Japanese island of Okinawa in preparation for the Allied invasion; it would become the largest battle of the Pacific War in World War II. 1976 – The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights entered into force, incorporating almost all the international human rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. 1983 – In a nationwide television address, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars, a proposed strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks. 2019 – Syrian Democratic Forces announce that the last Islamic State territory has been retaken raising flags in Baghuz, Syria and ending the five-year Islamic State “caliphate”.
Births & Deaths: 2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, an American actress best known for having starred in films like ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ and ‘Butterfield 8’,as well as her violet eyes, died.
Sport: 1980 – Australian cricketer Allan Border becomes the first and only batsman to reach 150 in each innings of a test, in the 3rd test vs Pakistan in Lahore.
Music: 1743 – George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” premieres in London.
TV & Film: 1940 – 1st radio broadcast of “Truth or Consequences” on CBS. 1998 – James Cameron’s epic drama Titanic (1997) won 11 Academy Awards, tying the record set by Ben-Hur (1959).
