1242– Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice. 1614 – Powhatan Indian Pocahontas married Virginia planter and colonial official John Rolfe. 1722– Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island. 1818– In the Battle of Maipú, Chile’s independence movement – led by Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín - win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead. 1874– Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, opens in Birkenhead, England, designed by Joseph Paxton. 1879 – Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific. 1955 – Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, retires as prime minister of Great Britain.
Births & Deaths: 1951 – Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, atomic spies, sentenced to death. 1994 – American grunge rocker Kurt Cobain, leader of the band Nirvana, committed suicide. 2008 – American actor Charlton Heston, who possessed a commanding screen presence and was best known for such films as The Ten Commandments (1956) and Planet of the Apes (1968), died in California.
TV & Film: 1997 - Steve Irwin’s “The Crocodile Hunter” debuts.
Sport: 1984– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time career scoring record of 31,419 points (31,421).
Music: 1874– Johann Strauss Jr’s opera “Die Fledermaus” premieres in Vienna.
