644 – Umar ibn al-Khattab, second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina
1534 – English parliament passes Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII and subsequent monarchs become Head of Church of England
1620 – Great Patent granted to Plymouth Colony
1640 – English Long Parliament forms
1906 – International Radiotelegraph Conference in Berlin selects “SOS” (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal as the worldwide standard for help
1941 – Hirohito’s accord on Yamamoto’s attack plan on Pearl Harbor fails
1957 – Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2 with space dog Laika aboard, a mostly-Siberian husky, the 1st animal in space
1970 – US President Richard Nixon promises gradual troop removal of Vietnam
1978 – Dominica achieved full independence, with Patrick Roland John as its first prime minister.
1992 – Democratic politician Carol Moseley Braun became the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
2014 – New York’s 104-storey One World Trade Center officially opens 13 years after the September 11 attacks
2014 – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for global action on climate change after warning from scientists
2017 – Pakistani woman charged with poisoning 17 members of husband’s family in attempt to escape forced marriage in Punjab Province
2019 – Delhi reaches worst pollution levels of the year, over 900 AQI, with authorities declaring public health emergency
2019 – Olivia Newton-John’s black leather outfit from the film “Grease” sells for $405,700 at auction in Beverly Hills, California
Births & Deaths:
1949 – British editor Anna Wintour—who, as the longtime editor of American Vogue, became one of the most powerful figures in fashion—was born.
1994 – American cartoonist Bob Kane, who created (with Bill Finger) the comic-book characters Batman and Robin, died in Los Angeles.
Film & TV:
1953 – “Tokyo Story”, Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Chishū Ryū, Chieko Higashiyama and Setsuko Hara, is released
1998 – “Shakespeare in Love” directed by John Madden and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes premieres in New York (Best Picture 1999)
Music:
1992 – “I Will Always Love You” (Dolly Parton cover) single released by Whitney Houston (Billboard Song of the Year 1993)
Sport:
1991 – Ayrton Senna wins Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide; shortest F1 race ever run (14 laps) because of wet conditions; Senna retains his 3rd World Drivers Championship by 24 points from Nigel Mansell
Via Britannica / On This Day
