1478 – Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo de’Medici and kill Giuliano de’Medici in Florence 1920 – Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis hold “great debate” on the nature of nebulae, galaxies and size of the universe at US National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. 1937 – During the Spanish Civil War, the Condor Legion of the German air force, supporting the Nationalists, bombed the Basque city of Guernica, an event memorialized in Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica. 1945 – Marshal Philippe Pétain, leader of France’s Vichy collaborationist regime during World War II, arrested for treason 1956 – First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas 1986 – World’s worst nuclear disaster: 4th reactor at Chernobyl nuclear power station in USSR explodes, 31 die, radioactive contamination reaches much of Western Europe 2005 – Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country. 2018 – Amid numerous allegations of sexual assault, American comedian and actor Bill Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, and he later received a sentence of 3 to 10 years in prison.
Births & Deaths: 2007 – Jack Valenti—the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America who created the film-rating system that assigns labels for audience suitability (G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17)—died at age 85.
Sport: 1941 – A tradition begins, 1st organ at a baseball stadium (Chicago Cubs).
Music: 1965 – Charles Ives’ 4th Symphony premieres at Carnegie Hall, New York, 11 years after the composer’s death.
TV & Film: 1954 – “Seven Samurai”, Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, is released.
