1790 – 1st US President George Washington delivers 1st state of the union address
1835 – US national debt is $0 for the first and only time in history
1912 – Chiefs, representatives of people’s and church organisations, and other prominent individuals form the African National Congress and declare its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms
1916 – WWI: ANZAC forces withdraw from the Gallipoli Peninsula after Ottoman forces successfully defend access to Constantinople
1926 – Abdulaziz Ibn Saud becomes King of Nejd and Hejaz; forerunner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
1959 – Charles de Gaulle was inaugurated as president of France’s Fifth Republic.
1978 – Harvey Milk becomes the 1st openly gay person elected to public office in California
1981 – Isabel Allende begins a letter to her dying grandfather that will become her first novel “The House of the Spirits”
1993 – Elvis Presley Commemorative Postage Stamp goes on sale
1997 – The principality of Monaco began a yearlong celebration in honour of the 700th anniversary of the rule of the Grimaldi family, who seized power in 1297 and gained firm possession of Monaco in 1419.
1998 – Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, convicted of plotting the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, was sentenced to life in prison.
1999 – Tree planting protest against the privatisation of Karura Forest, including Wangari Maathai, attacked in Kenya prompting outrage
2002 – President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
2004 – RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II
2011 – U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords was shot during an assassination attempt; although she survived, six others were killed.
2013 – 130 wildfires across Australia’s east coast force thousands to evacuate their homes
2013 – 2,130 prisoners held by the Syrian government are exchanged for 48 Iranians kidnapped by Syrian rebels
2016 – Mexican criminal Joaquín Guzmán (“El Chapo”), head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was captured in Los Mochis after escaping prison some six months earlier; he was later extradited to the United States, where he was convicted of various crimes.
2018 – Self-declared republic of Somaliland passes its first ever law against rape
2020 – Iran launches missile strike on Irbil and Al Asad bases in Iraqi housing some American troops in retaliation to assassination of General Qasem Soleimani
2020 – US singer Justin Bieber reveals he has Lyme disease, an infectious disease spread by ticks
2020 – Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they are stepping back as “senior” royals, will work towards becoming financially independent
Births & Deaths:
1942 – English theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking was born.
Film & TV:
1978 – TV series “All Creatures Great and Small” debuts on BBC TV, based on the books by James Herriot, starring Robert hardy and Christopher Timothy
Music:
1956 – Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” single goes #1 and stays #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single)
Sport:
1993 – Michael Jordan’s game-high 35 points leads Chicago to 120-95 win over Milwaukee; gives him exactly 20,000 points in 620th game of his NBA career; 2nd-fastest to reach milestone after Wilt Chamberlain (499)
