Nothingandall: On this day in History

0106 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero was born (d. 43 BC). Roman statesman and philosopher.
0236 - St Anterus ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
0269 - St Felix I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
1098 - Walkelin dies. First Norman bishop of Winchester.
1196 - Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan was born (d. 1231).
1290 - Nascimento de D. Constança de Portugal, infanta de Portugal e rainha de Castela (d. 18 Nov 1313).
1322 - Philip V dies (b. 1923). King of France.
1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
1437 - Catherine of Valois dies (b. 1401). Wife of Henry V of England.
1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
1521 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
1543 - João Rodrigues Cabrilho dies (b. 1499). Portuguese explorer.
1552 - Henry II of Bavaria dies at 64. Bishop of Utrecht (1524-29).
1641 - Jeremiah Horrocks dies (b. 1618). English astronomer.
1656 - Mathieu Molé dies (b. 1584). French statesman.
1667 - Russia & Poland sign Truce of Androsovo.
1670 - George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle dies (b. 1608). English soldier.
1690 - Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi dies (b. 1615). Lithuanian rabbi.
1698 - Pietro Metastasio was born (d. 1782). Italian poet.

1710 - Richard Gridley was born (d. 1796). American Revolutionary soldier.

1719 - Francisco José Freire was born (d. 1773). Portuguese historian and philologist.

1722 - Fredric Hasselquist was born (d. 1752). Swedish naturalist.

1733 - Sir Richard Arkwright was born (d. 1792). English industrialist and inventor.

1743 - Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena dies (b. 1657). Italian architect and designer.

1749 - Benning Wentworth issued the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.

1759 - Marquis & Marquess of Tavora dies executed. Portugese nobles.

1760 - John Storm was born (d. 1835). American Revolutionary soldier.

1766 - Robert Bloomfield was born. English poet.

1777 - American general George Washington defeated Cornwallis's forces at the Battle of Princeton.

1778 - Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski was born (d. 1861). Polish bishop.

1779 - Claude Bourgelat dies (b. 1712). French veterinary surgeon.

1782 – Sylhet District is established.

1785 - Baldassare Galuppi dies (b. 1706). Italian composer.

1787 - É inaugurado o Observatório Astronómico da Academia de Ciências de Lisboa, instalado no Castelo de São Jorge.

1793 - Lucretia Mott was born (d. 1880). American women's rights activist and abolitionist.

1795 - Josiah Wedgwood dies (b. 1730). English potter.

1802 - Charles Pelham Villiers was born (d. 1898). British House of Commons member.

1803 - Douglas William Jerrold was born (d. 1857). British dramatic playwright and political satirist.

1803 - Clement Attlee was born (d. 1857). English prime minister.

1806 - Henriette Sontag was born (d. 1854). German soprano.

1810 - Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie was born (d. 1897). French geographer, born with his brother Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie (1815-93) in Ireland, who were notable for their extensive travels in Ethiopia where they studied its geology, natural history and archaeology.

1815 - Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.

1819 - Charles Piazzi Smyth was born (d. 1900). Astronomer Royal for Scotland.

1823 - Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.

1823 - Robert Whitehead was born (d. 1905). British engineer who invented the modern torpedo .

1825 - Rensselaer School, the first engineering college in the U.S. is opened in Troy, New York. It is now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

1826 - Louis Gabriel Suchet dies (b. 1770). French marshal.

1829 - Konrad Duden was born (d. 1911). Philologist.

1833 - Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

1834 - The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City.

1836 - Sakamoto Ryoma was born (d. 1867). Japanese revolutionary.

1840 - One of the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers The Port Phillip Herald is founded by George Cavanaugh.

1840 - Father Damien was born (d. 1889). Flemish missionary in Hawaii.

1848 - Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Republic of Liberia.

1852 - First Chinese arrive in Hawaii.

1855 - Hubert Bland was born (d. 1914). English socialist and co-founder of Fabian Society

1861 - American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.

1861 - William Renshaw was born (d. 1904). British champion tennis player.

1862 - Sir Matthew Nathan was born (d. 1939). British Governor of Queensland and other places.

1865 - Henry Lytton was born (d. 1936). British actor and opera singer.

1867 - Domitila de Castro Canto e Melo dies (Marquess of Santos - Brazil).

1868 - Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.

1868 - Franz Cumont was born (d. 1947). Belgian archaeologist and philologist who strongly influenced the modern Protestant school of the history of religions through his fundamental studies, particularly on Roman pagan cults.

1870 - The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins. It would be completed on May 24, 1883

1870 - Henry Handel Richardson was born (d. 1946). Australian author.

1871 - Oleomargarine was patented by Henry Bradley in Binghamton, NY. A "compound for culinary use" called margarine.

1873 - Ichizo Kobayashi was born (d. 1957). Japanese businessman.

1875 - Pierre Larousse dies (b. 1817). French editor and encyclopedist.

1876 - Wilhelm Pieck was born (d. 1960). Co-founder of the German Communist Party andfirst President of East Germany (1949-60).

1879 - Grace Coolidge was born (d. 1957). First Lady of the United States.

1882 - William Harrison Ainsworth dies (b. 1805). English novelist.

1883 - Clement Attlee was born (d. 1967). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1884 - Raoul von Koczalski was born (d. 1948). Polish pianist and composer.

1886 - Josephine Hull was born (d. 1957). American actress.

1887 - August Macke was born (d. 1914). German painter.

1888 - The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.

1888 - Marvin C. Stone patents the drinking straw.

1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien was born in South African (d. 1973). English writer and philologist -"The Lord of the Rings" creator.

1894 - ZaSu Pitts was born (d. 1963). American actress.

1895 - Borys Lyatoshynsky was born. Ukrainian composer.

1895 - Hudson Fysh was born (d. 1974). Australian aviator and businessman.

1897 - Marion Davies was born (d. 1961). American actress.

1898 - Carlos Keller was born (d. 1974). Chilean fascist politician.

1898 - Luís Carlos Prestes was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Brazilian politician, communist.

1899 - The first known use of the word automobile, in an editorial in the New York Times.

1900 - Robert Adair was born in San Francisco. American actor.

1901 - Ngo Dinh Diem was born (d. 1963). President of South Vietnam.

1903 - Joe Donahue was born in Boston.

1903 - Donald Soper was born (d. 1998). English methodist minister.

1903 - Alois Hitler dies (b. 1837). Father of Adolf Hilter.

1905 - Anna May Wong was born (d. 1961). Chinese-American actress.

1905 - Ray Milland was born at Neath, Glamorganshire (d. 1986). Welsh actor - Oscar awarded.

1906 - William Wilson Morgan was born (d. 1994). American astronomer who, in 1951, provided the first evidence that the Milky Way Galaxy has spiral arms. He spent his entire career at the Yerkes Observatory, including three years as director.

1909 - Victor Borge was born (d. 2000). Danish entertainer and humorist.

1910 - Frenchy Bordagaray was born (d. 2000). American baseball player.

1911 - John Sturges was born. American film director (Old Man and Sea, Magnificent 7).

1911 - Alexandros Papadiamantis dies (b. 1851). Greek author.

1912 - Armand Lohikoski was born (d. 2005). Finnish director.

1912 - Renaude Lapointe was born (d. 2002). Canadian journalist and senator.

1915 - Foundation of Club Atlético Lanús - Argentina.

1915 - James Elroy Flecker dies (b. 1884). English author.

1916 - Bernard Greenhouse was born. American cellist.

1916 - Betty Furness was born (d. 1994). American actress and consumer activist.

1916 - Maxene Andrews was born (d. 1995). American singer (The Andrews Sisters).

1916 - Grenville M. Dodge dies (b. 1831). American Civil War Union Army Major General.

1917 - Assinada uma Convenção com a Grã-bretanha para regulamentação da participação portuguesa na frente europeia, durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial. O Corpo Expedicionário Português (CEP) ficará subordinado ao BEF (British Expeditionary Force).

1917 - General Vernon Walters was born (d. 2002). U.S. military officer, diplomat.

1917 - Roger W. Straus, Jr. was born (d. 2004). American publisher.

1920 - Terremotos y volcanes en erupción destruyeron varias ciudades mexicanas y ocasionaron más de 7.000 víctimas.

1920 - Renato Carosone was born (d. 2001). Italian musician and singer.

1920 - The New York Yankees acquired Babe Ruth and so began the "curse of the Bambino" that haunted the Boston Red Sox until 2004.

1921 - Turkey makes peace with Armenia.

1921 - John Russell was born (d. 1991). American actor.

1922 - Bill Travers was born (d. 1994). English actor and director.

1922 - Morten Nielsen was born. Danish poet and resistance fighter.

1922 - Ronald Smith was born (d. 2004). British pianist.

1923 - Charles Tingwell was born. Australian actor.

1923 - Hank Stram was born (d. 2005). American football coach.

1923 - Jaroslav Hasek dies (b. 1883). Czech novelist (Brave soldaat Schweik).

1924 - English explorer Howard Carter discovers the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt.

1924 - André Franquin was born (d. 1997). Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe).

1924 - Doug Ellis was born. British entrepreneur.

1924 - Nell Rankin was born (d. 2005). American singer.

1925 - Benito Mussolini dissolves Italian Parliament and announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.

1926 - George Martin was born. British producer of The Beatles' records .

1926 - Theodorus Pángulos names himself dictator of Greece.

1927 - Carle David Tolmé Runge dies (b. 1856). German physicist.

1929 - Ernst Mahle was born. Brazilian composer.

1929 - Sergio Leone was born in Rome (d. 1989). Italian director (Fist Full of Dollars, Once Upon a Time in America).

1930 - Marcel Dubé was born. Quebec playwright.

1930 - Robert Loggia was born. American actor.

1931 - Joseph Joffre dies (b. 1852). French general.

1932 - Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop revolt by banana workers fired by United Fruit.

1932 - Coo Coo Marlin was born (d. 2005). American race car driver.

1932 - Dabney Coleman was born. American actor.

1932 - Tongolele was born. US-born dancer in Mexican movies.

1933 - Minnie D. Craig becomes the first woman to be elected Speaker of a legislative body in the USA.

1933 - Wilhelm Cuno dies (b. 1876). 6th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (Germany).

1933 - Jack Pickford dies (b. 1896). Canadian actor.

1935 - Raymond Garneau was born. French Canadian politician and businessman.

1936 - Georgina Spelvin was born. American pornographic actress.

1936 - Artur da Távola was born. Brazilian politician.

1936 - David Vine was born. British sports commentator.

1937 - Seri Wangnaitham was born (d. 2007). Thai dancer and choreographer.

1938 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1938 - Woman in White is first broadcast on the NBC Red network. The program remains on the radio for the next ten years.

1939 - Bobby Hull was born. Canadian ice hockey player.

1939 - Janice Crosio was born. Australian politician.

1939 - Nikos Alefantos was born. Greek football manager.

1939 - Ruben Reyes was born. Filipino Supreme Court jurist.

1941 - World War II: North Africa 5,000 Prisoners are taken by Australian troops during a major assault on Italian forces at Bardia.

1941 - Van Dyke Parks was born. American musician.

1942 - John Marsden was born (d. 2006). Australian lawyer, gay activist.

1942 - John Thaw was born (d. 2002). British actor.

1942 - Vasco da Graça Moura was born in Foz do Douro. Portuguese writer, poet, essayst and poliglot translator.

1944 - World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.

1944 - Morrem mais de 500 pessoas em um choque entre um trem de viajantes e uma locomotiva em um túnel, sendo o maior desastre ferroviário espanhol.

1944 - Blanche d'Alpuget was born. Australian novelist, biographer and second wife of Bob Hawke.

1944 - David Atherton was born. English conductor.

1944 - Jurgis Baltrušaitis dies (b. 1873). Lithuanian poet.

1945 - Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself.

1945 - Stephen Stills was born. American singer, songwriter, and guitarist .

1945 - Edgar Cayce dies (b. 1877). American psychic.

1945 - Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski dies (b. 1879). Polish writer.

1946 - Cissy King was born. American entertainer.

1946 - John Paul Jones was born. English bassist from Led Zeppelin.

1946 - William Joyce dies executed (b. 1906). American Nazi propagandist.

1947 - Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.

1947 - Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time.

1949 - Sylvia Likens was born (d. 1965). American torture victim.

1950 - Victoria Principal was born in Fukuoka, Japan. American actress (Earthquake, Pamela - Dallas).

1950 - Emil Jannings dies (b. 1884). Swiss actor.

1951 - Dragnet is first broadcast on NBC-TV.

1951 - Gary Nairn was born. Australian politician.

1952 - Jim Ross was born. American wrestling announcer.

1953 - Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.

1954 - Dean Hart was born (d. 1990). Canadian wrestler.

1954 - Ned Lamont was born. American businessman.

1954 - Jim Ross was born. American wrestling announcer.

1954 - Ross the Boss was born. American guitarist.

1955 - Jose Ramon Guizado becomes President of Panama.

1955 - Palmolive was born. English musician (The Slits, The Raincoats).

1956 - A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.

1956 - Mel Gibson was born. Australian actor and director. (Mad Max, Mrs. Soffel, Lethal...).

1956 - Willy T. Ribbs was born. American race car driver.

1956 - Arturo Tosi dies. Italian painter.

1956 - Alexander Gretchaninov dies (b. 1864). Russian composer.

1956 - Joseph Wirth dies (b. 1876). 5th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (Germany).

1957 - The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.

1957 - Bojan Križ was born. Slovenian skier.

1958 - The West Indies Federation formed.

1958 - Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole overland.

1958 - Shim Hyung-rae was born. South Korean filmmaker.

1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.

1959 - Rafael Arráiz Lucca was born. Venezuelan writer.

1960 - Álvaro Cunhal fugiu do Forte de Peniche, com mais 9 presos, tendo sido auxiliado por alguns pescadores.

1960 - Joan Chen was born. Chinese actress.

1960 - Sandeep Marwah was born. Founder of Film City, Noida, India.

1961 - The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba.

1961 - The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho leaks radiation, killing three workers at the installation. The radiation is contained.

1962 - Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.

1962 - Francesca Lia Block was born. American author.

1963 - University of Telaviv is officialy founded.

1963 - Alex Wheatle was born. British novelist.

1963 - Jerome Young was born. American professional wrestler.

1963 - Vic Grimes was born. American professional wrestler.

1963 - Jack Carson dies (b. 1910). Canadian actor.

1964 - Bruce LaBruce was born. Canadian filmmaker.

1965 - Ricardo Prado was born. Brazilian swimmer: world recordist 400 m Medley (1982): 4'18"45, in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

1966 - First Acid Test at the Fillmore, San Francisco, California.

1966 - Martin Galway was born. Northern Ireland composer.

1966 - Robert Stanek was born. American author.

1967 - Magnus Gustafsson was born. Swedish tennis star.

1967 - Mary Garden dies (b. 1874). Scottish singer.

1967 - Jack Ruby dies (b. 1911). American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of John Kennedy.

1969 - Gerda Weissensteiner was born. Italian bobsledder and luger.

1969 - Michael Schumacher was born. German race car driver.

1969 - Matheus Nachtergaele was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actor.

1969 - Jean Focas dies (b. 1909). Greco-French astronomer.

1969 - Howard McNear dies (b. 1905). American actor.

1970 - Marxist government takes over in Congo.

1970 - Christian Duguay was born. American comic actor.

1970 - Mahaya Petrosian was born. Iranian actress.

1970 - Matt Ross was born. American actor.

1971 - Cave paintings, dated to 6,000 BC, are discovered in the Uweinat Mountains, Egypt.

1971 - Cory Cross was born. Canadian ice hockey player.

1972 - Nichole Nordeman was born. American singer.

1972 - Yoon Chan was born. South Korean actor.

1972 - Frans Masereel dies at 82. Flem WWII resistance fighter (Le Soleil).

1973 - George Steinbrenner buys the New York Yankees from CBS for 3.2 million dollars

1973 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner.

1974 - Arias Navarro succeeds Carrero Blanco as Premier of Spain.

1974 - Burma accepts its constitution.

1974 - Alessandro Petacchi was born. Italian cyclist.

1974 - Gino Cervi dies (b. 1901). Italian actor (Becket, Don Camillo).

1975 - Danica McKellar was born. American actress.

1975 - Jason Marsden was born. American actor.

1975 - Thomas Bangalter was born. French DJ (Daft Punk).

1975 - Milton J Cross dies at 87. TV announcer (Met Opera Auditions).

1975 - Robert Neumann dies at 77. Austrian/British author (False Flag).

1975 - Walter Linck dies at 71. Swiss sculptor.

1976 - Alisen Down was born. Canadian actress

1976 - Angelos Basinas was born. Greek footballer.

1976 - Dinara Drukarova was born. Russian actress.

1976 - Nicholas Gonzalez was born. American actor.

1976 - Mal Evans dies. Beatles' roadie.

1976 - Mateusz Glinski dies at 83. Composer.

1977 - Apple Computer is incorporated.

1977 - Avraham Ofer commits suicide. Israeli minister of housing.

1977 - A.J. Burnett was born. American baseball player.

1977 - Lee Bowyer was born. English footballer.

1977 - Mayumi Iizuka was born. Japanese voice actress (seiyū).

1977 - Michelle Stephenson was born., English singer (The Spice Girls).

1977 - Benno Stokvis dies at 75. Dutch attorney/politician.

1978 - Dominic Wood was born. English children's television presenter and magician.

1978 - Kimberley Locke was born. American singer.

1978 - Mike York was born. American ice hockey player.

1978 - Park Sol-mi was born. South Korean actress.

1979 - Francesco Bellissimo was born. Italian mangaka.

1979 - Conrad Hilton dies (b. 1887). American hotelier (Hilton Hotels).

1980 - Francisco Sá Carneiro toma posse como primeiro-ministro de Portugal, substituindo Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo.

1980 - Gold hits record $634 an ounce.

1980 - Amos Milburn dies at 52. Rocker.

1980 - Axel Springer Jr commits suicide at 38. German photographer.

1980 - Angela Ruggiero was born. American ice hockey player.

1980 – Bryan Clay was born. American decathlete.

1980 - David Tyree was born. American football player.

1980 - Liya Kebede was born. Ethiopian model.

1980 - Rob Arnold was born. American guitarist (Chimaira).

1980 - Ivan Triesault dies at 81. Actor (Von Ryan's Express, Desert Fox).

1980 - Joy Adamson dies killed by his servant (b. 1910). Czech conservationist (author of Born Free).

1980 - Lucien Buysse dies (b. 1892). Belgian cyclist.

1981 - Chris Blais was born. California racecar driver.

1981 - Eli Manning was born. American football player.

1981 - Princess Alice of Albany dies (b. 1883).

1982 - Derek Sealy dies. Cricketer (West Indies 1930-39).

1983 - CiTV launches on ITV in the UK.

1984 – Billy Mehmet was born. Irish footballer.

1985 - Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews.

1985 - Lucien Cailliet dies at 93. Composer.

1985 - John David Booty was born. American football player.

1985 - Linas Kleiza was born. Lithuanian basketball player for the Denver Nuggets.

1986 - Jacob Timpano was born. Australian soccer player.

1986 – Jessica O'Rourke was born. American footballer.

1986 – Lloyd Polite was born. American R&B singer.

1986 - Jens Bjerre dies (b. 1903). Dannish composer and organist.

1986 - Michael V Love dies in F-4 crash at 37. US test pilot (X-24).

1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1987 - Anchal Joseph was born. Indian-American fashion model and reality show contestant.

1987 – Leonidas Panagopoulos was born. Greek footballer.

1988 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century.

1988 – Rodrigo de la Cadena was born. Mexican artist and performer.

1988 - Gaston Eyskens dies at 82. PM of Belgium (1949, 1958-61, 1968-72).

1988 - Rose Ausländer dies (b. 1901). German poet.

1988 - Joie Chitwood dies (b. 1912). American racedriver & Daredevil.

1988 - William Cagney dies of a heart attack at 82. Actor (Torrid Zone).

1989 - Russian newspaper Izvestia gets its 1st commercial advertisement.

1989 - Alex D. Linz was born in Santa Barbara, California. American actor.

1989 - Anya Rozoba was born. Russian model and America's Next Top Model contestant.

1989 – Julia Nunes was born. American singer and ukulele player.

1989 - Mustapha Hussein was born (d. 2003). Saddam Hussein's grandson, Qusay Hussein's son.

1989 - Sergei Lvovich Sobolev dies (b. 1909). Russian mathematician.

1990 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to U.S. forces.

1990 - Ken Hill dies. Actor (Cobra, Protocol).

1990 - Zita Seabra, uma figura importante do PCP posterior ao 25 de Abril, é expulsa do partido.

1990 - Arthur Gold dies (b. 1917). American pianist, half of Gold and Fizdale duo.

1991 - Israel reopens consulate in USSR after 23 years.

1991 - Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky scores his 700th goal.

1992 - Radomiro Tomic dies (b. 7 May 1914). Chilean President (1970).

1992 - Anthony Del Casino dies at 79. Band leader (Charlie Barnet Band).

1992 - Judith Anderson dies of pneumonia at 93. Actress (Star Trek 3).

1992 - Ken Grieves dies. Cricketer (NSW & Lancashire leg-spin all-rounder).

1992 - Dame Judith Anderson dies (b. 1897). Australian actress.

1992 - Lewis Michael Friedman dies at 47 of AIDS. Pianist.

1993 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START2).

1993 - Johnny Most dies (b. 1923). American sports announcer.

1994 - An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkhutsk, Russia killing 125 including 1 on the ground.

1994 – More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receives South African citizenship.

1994 - 100s killed in Venezuela in prison revolt.

1994 - Heather Sears dies (b. 1935). British actress.

1995 - Sri Lanka: Cease-fire agreement between government and Tamil rebels.

1997 - The People's Republic of China announces it will spend $27.7 billion to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.

1997 - Burton Lane dies at 84. Composer.

1998 - El presidente de México Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León acepta la denuncia formal de su ministro del Interior, acusado de ser el máximo responsable de la matanza de 45 indígenas en Chiapas.

1999 - The Mars Polar Lander launched.

1999 - Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.

2000 - No estado norte-americano de West Virginia, são iniciadas as negociações de paz entre Israel e Síria.

2000 - The last Peanuts comic strip was created by Charles Schulz.

2002 - Israeli commandos seize Iranian ship Karim A. in international waters in the Red Sea some 500 km south of Elat. The ship is captained by a Palestinian and carries 50 tons of mainly Iranian-manufactured arms and munitions, including mortars and anti-tank missiles.

2002 - Juan Esquivel dies (b. 20 Jan 1918). Mexican musician (pianist and bandleader).

2002 - Freddy Heineken dies (b. 1923). Dutch beer executive.

2003 - O empresário Jair Ruvieri, sequestrado há 92 dias em Mato Grosso, é encontrado e resgatado pela Divisão Anti Sequestro.

2003 - José María Gironella dies from a blood clot on the brain. Catalan author, born on 31 December 1917 [Los Cipreses Creen en Dios (1953), Un Millón de Muertos (1961), Ha Estallado la Paz (1966), Los Hombres Lloran Solos (1986), Se Hace Camino al Andar (1997)...]

2003 - Sid Gillman dies (b. 1911). American football coach.

2004 - Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 aboard.

2004 - Des Corcoran dies (b. 1928). Premier of South Australia.

2004 - Leon Wagner dies (b. 1934). American baseball player.

2005 - Koo Chen-fu dies (b. 1917). Chinese negotiator.

2005 - JN Dixit dies (b. 1936). Indian government official.

2005 - Will Eisner dies (b. 06 Mar 1917). American comic book artis.

2006 - Bill Skate dies (b. 1954). Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.

2006 - Steve Rogers dies (b. 1954). Australian rugby league footballer.

2006 - Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954).

2006 - Cáceres Monteiro dies (b. 1948). Portuguese journalist.

2007 - National Express has its worst ever coach crash just outside Heathrow Airport.