1009 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock
1685 – French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants
1867 -Alaska Purchase: US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million
1922– The British Broadcasting Company, Ltd., was established, to be replaced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1927.
1931 – American gangster Al Capone convicted of tax evasion
1962 – James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA
1979 -“Beatlemania” opens in London
2012 – Syrian military airstrikes kill 40 people in Maaret al-Numan
2019 – 1st all-female spacewalk by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir outside the International Space Station
Births & Deaths:
1926 – American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Chuck Berry—who was one of the most popular and influential performers in rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll music in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s—was born.
1939 – Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was born in New Orleans.
1956– Tennis player Martina Navratilova—who dominated the sport in the late 20th century, winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles—was born in Prague.
2007 – After eight years of self-imposed exile, Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan, and hours later she was nearly killed when her motorcade was bombed in Karāchi; she was assassinated in December.
Film & TV:
1922 – British Broadcasting Company (BBC) founded, later called British Broadcasting Corporation
