612 BC – Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire. Destruction of Nineveh.
610– In Islam, the traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad began to receive the Qur’an
1497– John Cabot tells King Henry VII of his trip to “Asia”
1675 – King Charles II and John Flamsteed lay the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London
1792 – As the French Revolution (1787–99) continued, the country’s monarchy was effectively overthrown on this day in 1792 when King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie-Antoinette, were imprisoned (they were eventually guillotined).
1793 – After more than two centuries as a royal palace, the Louvre is opened as a public museum in Paris by the French revolutionary government.
1846– US Act of Congress passes establishing the Smithsonian Institution, now world’s largest museum and research complex
1914 – France declared war on Austria-Hungary in World War I.
1977 – 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz is arrested and charged with being the “Son of Sam,” the serial killer who terrorized New York City for more than a year, killing six young people and wounding seven others with a .44-caliber revolver.
2006 Scotland Yard disrupts major terrorist plot to destroy aircraft travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States. All toiletries are banned from commercial aircraft. Music: 1787– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his chamber piece “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” (A Little Serenade)
TV & Film: 1950 – Sunset Boulevard, considered one of Hollywood’s greatest films, had its world premiere; the film noir is especially noted for Gloria Swanson‘s portrayal of a fading movie star. Births & Deaths: 2008 – American singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes—a pioneering figure in soul music whose recordings influenced the development of such musical genres as disco, rap, and urban-contemporary—died at age 65.
