On this day in History - Jan. 30

• 58 BC Livia Drusilla (d. AD 29). Political wife of Emperor Augustus.
• 0133 - Marcus Severus Didius Julianus was born (d. 0193). Roman Emperor.
• 1030 - William V, Duke of Aquitaine dies (b. 0969).
• 1077 - Pope Gregory VII pardons German emperor Henry IV.
• 1181 - Emperor Takakura of Japan dies (b. 1161).
• 1384 - Louis II of Flanders dies (b. 1330).
• 1505 - Thomas Tallis was born (d. 1585). English composer.
• 1563 - Franciscus Gomarus was born (d. 1641). Dutch theologian.
• 1566 - Alessandro Piccinini was born. Composer.
• 1574 - Damião de Góis dies (b. 1502). Portuguese philosopher.
• 1580 - Maria de Aragão dies (b. 1482). Second wife of King of Portugal D. Manuel I.
• 1592 - Ippolito Aldobrandini elected Pope Clement VIII.
• 1606 - Everard Digby dies (b. 1578). English conspirator.
• 1615 - Thomas Rolfe was born (d. 1675). American colonial settler.
• 1648 - The Treaty of Münster is signed, ending the Eighty Years' War between the Netherlands and Spain.
• 1649 - King Charles I of England dies beheaded (b. 1600).
• 1661 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is formally executed - after having been dead for two years.
• 1661 - Charles Rollin was born (d. 1741). French historian.
• 1667 - Treaty of Andrussovo: Russia and Poland sign peace treaty.
• 1687 - Johann Balthasar Neumann was born (d. 1753). German architect.
• 1697 - Johann Joachim Quantz was born (d. 1773). German flutist and composer.
• 1720 - Charles De Geer was born (d. 1778). Swedish industrialist and entomologist.
• 1726 - Se funda la ciudad de Montevideo por el general español Bruno Mauricio de Zabala.
• 1730 - Tsar Peter II of Russia dies at 14. Emperor of Russia (1727-30).
• 1754 - John Lansing, Jr. was born (d. 1829). American statesman.
• 1774 - Jean-Pierre Guignon dies at 71. Composer.
• 1781 - Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland.
• 1781 - Adelbert von Chamisso was born (d. 1838). German poet.
• 1790 - The first boat specialized as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
• 1806 - The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, was open.
• 1814 - Jean-Baptist Capronnier was born. French/Belgian glass painter.
• 1816 - Nathaniel Prentice Banks was born (d. 1894). 24th Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1820 - Edward Bransfield lands on the Antarctic mainland.
• 1822 - Franz Ritter von Hauer was born (d. 1899). Austrian geologist.
• 1826 - The Menai Suspension Bridge connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales was opened. The bridge was not the first suspension bridge, but was so much larger than anything previously built that it is considered the world's first modern suspension bridge.
• 1832 - Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier was born (d. 1897).
• 1835 - In the first assassination attempt against an USA President, a mentally ill man named Richard Lawrence attempts to assassinate President Andrew Jackson in the United States Capitol. Both of Lawrence's pistols misfire, and Jackson proceeds to beat his would-be assassin with his cane.
• 1836 - Betsy Ross dies (b. 1752). American seamstress.
• 1839 - Samuel Armstrong was born (11 May 1893). American founder of Hampton Institute.
• 1841 - A fire destroys two-thirds of the then villa (now city) of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
• 1841 - Félix Faure was born (d. 1899). 6th President of France.
• 1847 - Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
• 1858 - The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of the Hallé Orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
• 1858 - Coenraad Jacob Temminck dies (b. 1778). Dutch zoologist.
• 1859 - Edward Martyn was born (d. 5 Dec 1923). Irish dramatist.
• 1859 - Tony Mullane was born (d. 1944). Irish-born American baseball player.
• 1860 - Francesco Antonio Norberto Pinto dies at 44. Composer.
• 1861 - Charles Martin Loeffler was born (d. 1935). American composer.
• 1862 - The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
• 1867 - Emperor Komei of Japan dies (b. 1831).
• 1869 - William Carleton dies (b. 1794). Irish novelist.
• 1873 - Georges Ricard-Cordingley was born in Lyon (d. 1939). French painter.
• 1878 - Anton Hansen Tammsaare was born (d. 1940). Estonian author.
• 1879 - French President MacMahon resigns.
• 1882 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, N. Y. (d. 1945). President of the United States.
• 1889 - Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (b. 1858), heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, was found dead with his mistress Baroness Marie Vetsera in Mayerling. How they died remains a mystery.
• 1889 - Jaishankar Prasad was born (d. 1937). Hindi poet, dramatist and novelist.
• 1894 - Charles B. King of Detroit, earned himself a patent for the pneumatic hammer.
• 1894 - Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria was born (d. 1943).
• 1899 - Max Theiler was born (d. 11 Aug 1972). South-African microbiologist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his research on yellow fever.
• 1900 - United Kingdom forces fighting Boers in South Africa ask for reinforcements.
• 1901 - Rudolf Caracciola was born (d. 1959). German driver of racing cars.
• 1902 - Nikolaus Pevsner was born (d. 1983). German-born art historian.
• 1908 - José Manuel Soares Louro (Pepe) was born in Lisbon (d. 24 Oct. 1931). Portuguese football player. One of the best football players of his time, Pepe represented the colours of Belenenses.
• 1910 - C Subramaniam was born (d. 2000). Indian politician.
• 1911 - The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.
• 1911 - The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy.
• 1911 - Roy Eldridge was born (d. 1989). American jazz musician.
• 1912 - Barbara W. Tuchman was born (b. 1989). American historian.
• 1912 - Francis Schaeffer was born (d. 1984). American Evangelical theologian and pastor.
  
• 1912 - Werner Hartmann was born (d. 1988). German physicist.
  
• 1913 - The United Kingdom's House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill.
• 1913 - Percy Thrower was born (d. 1988). British television gardener.
• 1914 - David Wayne was born (d. 1995). American actor.
• 1914 - John Ireland was born (d. 1992). Canadian actor (Gunfight at the OK Corral [1957], Little Big Horn, Spartacus, All the King’s Men, Marilyn: The Untold Story, Messenger of Death).
• 1915 - Joachim Peiper was born (d. 1976). German military leader.
• 1915 - John Profumo was born. British cabinet minister.
• 1917 - The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded a classic for Columbia Records titled, The Darktown Strutters’ Ball. It was one of the first jazz compositions recorded.
• 1917 - Paul Frère was born. Belgian racing driver.
• 1918 - David Opatoshu was born (d. 1996). American television actor.
• 1919 - Nikolay Glazkov was born (d. 1979). Russian poet.
• 1920 - Carwood Lipton was born (d. 2001). American WWII veteran.
  
• 1920 - Delbert Mann was born. American film director.
• 1922 - Nuno Teotónio Pereira was born. Portuguese architect.
• 1922 - Dick Martin was born. American Emmy Award-winning comedian.
• 1924 - Jayme Caetano Braun was born (d. 1999). Brazilian poet.
• 1924 - Lloyd Alexander was born. American writer.
• 1925 - The Government of Turkey throws Patriarch Constantine VI out of Istanbul.
• 1925 - Dorothy Malone was born. American actress (Written on the Wind, Beach Party, Basic Instinct, Battle Cry, Man of a Thousand Faces).
• 1925 - Douglas Engelbart was born. American computer scientist.
• 1926 - Barbara La Marr dies (b. 1896). American actress.
• 1927 - Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana was born (d. 2005). Indian dermatologist.
  
• 1927 - Olof Palme was born (d. 1986). Prime Minister of Sweden (1969-76 and 1982-86).
• 1928 - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger dies (b. 1867). Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
  
• 1928 - Hal Prince was born. American stage producer, director (West Side Story, Evita).
• 1928 - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger dies (b. 1867). Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 1929 - Lucille Teasdale-Corti was born (d. 1996). Canadian surgeon and international aid worker.
  
• 1929 - Roger Newland Shepard was born. American psychologist who was awarded the National Medal of Science (1995) for his research work that provided major new insights into the nature of mental processes, previously considered impossible to study.
• 1929 - La Goulue dies (b. 1866). French Cancan dancer.
• 1930 - The world's first radiosonde is launched in Pavlovsk, USSR.
• 1930 - Gene Hackman was born. American Academy Award-winning actor (The French Connection [1971], Bonnie and Clyde, Hawaii, Mississippi Burning, The Poseidon Adventure, Postcards from the Edge, Superman, The Firm, Crimson Tide).
• 1930 - Magnus Malan was born. South African politician.
• 1930 - Samuel J. Byck was born (d. 1974). American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon.
• 1930 - Sandy Amorós was born (d. 1992). Cuban baseball player.
  
• 1931 - Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" premieres at Los Angeles Theater.
• 1931 - Allan W. Eckert was born. American historian, naturalist and author.
• 1931 - John Crosbie was born. Canadian politician.
• 1931 - Shirley Hazzard was born. Australian-American author.
• 1932 - Knock Yokoyama was born. Japanese comedian and politician .
• 1933 - Adolf Hitler sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
• 1933 - The first of 2,956 episodes of The Lone Ranger airs on the radio for the first time.
• 1933 - Louis Rukeyser was born (d. 2006). American journalist.
• 1934 - Frank Nelson Doubleday dies (b. 1862). American publisher.
• 1935 - Richard Brautigan was born (d. 1984). American writer and poet.
• 1936 - F. Vernon Boozer was born. American politician.
• 1936 - Horst Jankowski was born (d. 1998). German popular pianist.
• 1936 - Patrick Caulfield was born (d. 2005). British painter and printmaker.
  
• 1937 - Boris Spassky was born. Russian chess player.
• 1937 - Ed Hansen was born (d. 2005). American film director and editor.
• 1937 - Vanessa Redgrave was born. English actress.
• 1938 - Islom Karimov was born. President of Uzbekistan.
• 1938 - Norma Jean was born. American country singer.
• 1939 - Alejandro Toledo was born. President of Peru.
  
• 1941 - Dick Cheney was born. Politician, 46th Vice President of the United States.
• 1941 - Gregory Benford was born. American author and scientist.
• 1941 - Tineke Lagerberg was born. Dutch swimmer.
• 1941 - World War II: North AfricaThe 6th Australian Division, of Lieutenant-General Dick O'Connor's XIII Corps, takes Derna, Libya, after three days of fierce fighting.
• 1942 - Marty Balin was born. American musician.
• 1943 - Second day of the Battle of Rennell Island. U.S. cruiser Chicago is sunk and a U.S. destroyer is heavily damaged by Japanese torpedo bombers.
• 1943 - Holocaust in Letychiv, Ukraine: German Gestapo organises mass shootings of Jews from Letychiv Ghetto. 200 surviving Jews from Letychiv slave labor camp were ordered to undress and were shot with machine-gun into a ravine. Some 7.000 Jews were murdered in Letychiv.
• 1943 - Davey Johnson was born. American baseball player and manager.
• 1944 - World War II: United States troops invade Majuro, Marshall Islands.
• 1945 - The Wilhelm Gustloff sinks in the Baltic Sea in the deadliest maritime disaster in known history, killing roughly 9,000.
• 1945 - World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: 126 American Rangers and Filipino resistance liberate 500 prisoners from the Cabanatuan POW camp.
• 1945 - World War II: Hitler gives his last ever public address, a radio address on the 12th anniversary of his coming to power. (A subsequent address on February 24 was not read by Hitler).
• 1945 - Michael Dorris was born (d. 1997). American writer.
• 1947 - Les Barker was born. English poet.
• 1947 - Steve Marriott was born (d. 1991). English musician (The Small Faces).
• 1948 - Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Gandhi (b. 1869) is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist.
• 1948 - Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz.
• 1948 - Nick Broomfield was born. English film- and documentary-maker.
• 1948 - Paul Magee was born. Provisional Irish Republican Army member.
• 1948 - Júlio Mário Salusse dies in Rio de aneiro (b. in Bom Jardim on 30 Mar. 1872). Brazilian poet.
• 1948 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi dies (b. 1869). Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter.
  
• 1948 - Orville Wright dies (b. 1871). American aviation pioneer.
• 1949 - Peter Agre was born. American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1950 - Trinidad Silva was born (d. 1988). American actor.
  
• 1951 - Bobby Stokes was born (d. 1995). English former footballer.
  
• 1951 - Charles S. Dutton was born. American actor.
• 1951 - Phil Collins was born in London. English musician (Genesis).
• 1951 - Ferdinand Porsche dies (b. 1875). Austrian automotive engineer.
• 1952 - Martial law is imposed in Egypt as King Farouk dismisses the premier Nahas Pasha and his Wafdist government.
• 1952 - Doug Falconer was born. Canadian football player.
• 1955 - Curtis Strange was born. American golfer.
• 1955 - John Baldacci was born. American politician, governor of Maine.
  
• 1955 - Judith Tarr was born. American author.
• 1956 - American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• 1956 - Jeremy Gittins was born. British actor.
• 1956 - Keiichi Tsuchiya was born. Japanese racing driver.
• 1956 - Jane Seymour dies at 56. Actress (Young Mr Bobbin).
• 1957 - Payne Stewart was born (d. 1999). American golfer.
• 1958 - Brett Butler was born. American actress and comedian.
• 1958 - Ernst Heinkel dies (b. 24 Jan 1888). German aircraft engineer who built the first rocket-powered aircraft .
• 1958 - Jean Crotti dies (b. 1878). Swiss artist.
• 1959 - Jody Watley was born. American singer.
• 1959 - Mark Eitzel was born. American singer and musician (American Music Club).
• 1960 - The women’s singles U.S. figure skating championship was won by Carol Heiss.
• 1960 - The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
• 1960 - Clara Pinto Correia was born in Lisbon. Portuguese investigator and writer.
• 1961 - Dexter Scott King was born. American actor and son of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
• 1962 - Two of the high-wire Flying Wallendas are killed when their famous seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1962 - UN General Assembly censures Portugal (because of Angola).
• 1962 - King Abdullah II of Jordan was born.
• 1962 - Mary Kay Letourneau was born. American convicted statutory rapist.
• 1962 - Manuel de Abreu dies (b. 1894). Brazilian physician.
• 1963 - Tina Malone was born. English actress.
• 1963 - Francis Poulenc dies (b. 1899). French composer.
• 1964 - Ranger 6 is launched by NASA. Its mission is it to carry television cameras and to crash-land on the moon.
• 1965 - Julie McCullough was born. American model and actress.
• 1965 - Marcelo Bonfá was born. Brazilian musician (Legião Urbana).
• 1966 - Danielle Goyette was born. Quebec female ice hockey player.
• 1967 - Jay Gordon was born. American musician.
• 1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins when Viet Cong forces launch series of a surprise attacks in South Vietnam.
• 1968 - Prince Felipe of Spain was born.
• 1968 - Trevor Dunn was born. American musician (Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Secret Chiefs3).
• 1969 - The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records. The impromptu concert was broken up by the police.
• 1969 - Carolyn Kepcher was born. American businesswoman and reality TV show star.
• 1969 - Georges Pire dies (b. 1910). Belgian monk, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1970 - Hans Spark was born. Football (soccer) player (RKC).
• 1970 - Maria Luísa Mendonça was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1971 - Darren Boyd was born. British actor.
• 1971 - Kimo von Oelhoffen was born. American football player.
• 1972 - Bloody Sunday: United Kingdom forces kill thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland.
• 1972 - Pakistan withdraws from the British Commonwealth. The Iranian civilian government announced that the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini would be allowed to return.
• 1972 - Chris Simon was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1972 - Lupillo Rivera was born. Mexican singer.
• 1973 - Jalen Rose was born. American basketball player.
• 1973 - Holly Noelle Roehl was born. Miss Indiana USA (1996).
• 1973 - Jalen Rose was born. American basketball player.
• 1974 - Christian Bale was born. Welsh actor.
• 1974 - Jemima Khan was born. British socialite.
• 1974 - Olivia Colman was born. British actress.
• 1975 - First faroese stamp issued.
• 1975 - Juninho Pernambucano was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1975 - Yumi Yoshimura was born. Japanese singer Puffy Amiyumi.
• 1976 - George H. W. Bush becomes 11th director of the CIA.
• 1976 - Andy Milonakis was born. American comedian.
• 1977 - Dan Hinote was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1977 - Deltha O'Neal was born. American football player.
• 1978 - John Patterson was born. American baseball player.
• 1979 - Varig 707-323C freighter, flewn by the same commander of Varig Flight 820 disappears over the ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
• 1979 - The civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to return from exile in France.
• 1980 - Joãozinho was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1980 - Leilani Dowding was born. British glamour model.
• 1980 - Pavel Ponomaryov was born. Russian-Estonian actor.
• 1980 - Wilmer Valderrama was born. American actor.
• 1980 - Professor Longhair dies (b. 1918). American musician, King of New Orleans music.
• 1981 - 8th American Music Award: Kenny Rogers wins.
• 1981 - Garth Barrett's raiders, part of the South African Recce Operations, attack supposed MK cadres at Matola, Mozambique. A Portuguese engineer, Jose Ramos, is "mistakenly identified" as Joe Slovo, one of the raids main targets, by the South African forces and is shot at a roadblock.
• 1981 - Dimitar Berbatov was born. Bulgarian footballer.
• 1981 - Josh Kelley was born. American musician.
• 1981 - Mathias Lauda was born. Austrian racing driver.
• 1981 - Peter Crouch was born. English footballer.
• 1982 - Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".
• 1982 - Jorge Cantu was born. Mexican baseball player.
• 1982 - Lightning Hopkins dies (b. 1912). American musician.
• 1983 - Super Bowl XVII: The Washington Redskins defeat the Miami Dolphins, 27-17, thus winning their first NFL championship since 1942.
• 1984 - Jeremy Hermida was born. American baseball player.
• 1984 - Josh Harris was born. American videographer/musician.
• 1984 - Patrick Lee McCall dies. South African bank robber, member of Stander gang.
• 1985 - Aaadietya Pandey was born. Indian astrologer.
• 1985 - Trae Williams was born. American football player.
• 1986 - Nick Evans was born. American baseball player.
• 1986 - Sam Duckworth was born. British singer-songwriter.
• 1987 - Arda Turan was born. Turkish footballer.
• 1987 - Rebecca Knox was born. Irish professional wrestler.
• 1988 - Heather Baker was born. American socialite.
• 1988 - Laura Banks was born. Scottish Author, musician.
• 1988 - Rob Pinkston was born. American actor.
• 1989 - The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.
• 1989 - American Olympic medalist Bruce Kimball is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing two teenagers in a drunk driving accident.
• 1989 - 16th American Music Award: Randy Travis and George Michael wins.
• 1989 - Khleo Thomas was born. American actor.
• 1990 - Eiza Gonzalez was born. Mexican actress/singer.
• 1990 - Jake Thomas was born. Actor (Lizzie McGuire).
• 1990 - Luca Sbisa was born. Swiss ice hockey player.
• 1991 - Clifton C. Edom dies (b. 1907). American photojournalism educator.
  
• 1991 - John Bardeen dies (b. 1908). American physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
  
• 1991 - John McIntire dies (b. 1907). American actor.
• 1992 - Matthew Werkmeister was born. Australian actor.
• 1993 - Portuguese TV station TVI starts working. / Entra em funcionamento inaugural a TVI.
• 1993 - 67th Australian Women's Tennis Open: Monica Seles beat Graf (4-6, 6-3, 6-2).
• 1994 - Péter Lékó becomes the youngest grand master in chess.
• 1994 - The Dallas Cowboys win their fourth Super Bowl title, 30-13 over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII.
• 1994 - Nirvana's final recording session takes place at Robert Lang Studios, with the song "You Know You're Right" being completed. It would become a #1 hit eight years later.
• 1994 - 68th Australian Women's Tennis Open: S Graf beats A S Vicario (6-0, 6-2).
• 1994 - 82nd Australian Mens Tennis: Pete Sampras beats Todd Martin (7-6, 6-4, 6-4).
• 1994 - Bahjat Talhouni dies. PM of Jordan (1960-62, 64-65, 67-69, 69-70).
• 1994 - Pierre Boulle dies (b. 1912). French author.
• 1995 - Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease.
• 1995 - 22nd American Music Award: Boyz II Men and Ace of Base win.
• 1995 - Gerald Durrell dies (b. 7 Jan 1925) British naturalist and prolific author, known internationally for his pioneering, even controversial, role in preserving and breeding endangered species in zoos with the intention of eventually returning them to the wild.
• 1996 - Gino Gallagher, the suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army, is killed while waiting in line for his unemployment benefit.
• 1996 - NBA superstar Magic Johnson plays the first game of his return to the Los Angeles Lakers. Magic retired in 1991 after contracting HIV.
• 1996 - Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake.
• 1997 - Las cenizas de Mahatma Gandhi, padre de la India, son arrojadas al río Ganges después de cumplirse 49 años desde que fue asesinado en Nueva Delhi por un extremista.
• 1998 - Richard Cassilly dies (b. 1927). American tenor.
  
• 1999 - A 7-year old boy dies of choking on a Pokémon Power Bouncer ball toy.
• 1999 - Ed Herlihy dies (b. 1909). American broadcaster.
• 1999 - Huntz Hall dies (b. 1919). American actor.
  
• 2000 - In a dramatic finish to Super Bowl XXXIV, the St. Louis Rams defeat the Tennessee Titans 23-16.
• 2000 - Off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169.
• 2001 - Jean-Pierre Aumont dies (b. 1911). French actor.
• 2001 - Johnnie Johnson dies (b. 1915). British fighter pilot.
  
• 2001 - Joseph Ransohoff dies (b. 1916). The father of modern neurosurgery.
• 2002 - Slobodan Milosevic accuses the United Nations war crimes tribunal of an "evil and hostile attack" against him.
• 2003 - Belgium legally recognizes same-sex marriage.
• 2005 - Amid violence and threats to boycott the results, Iraq holds an election for its National Assembly, the country's first free election since 1953.
• 2005 - A Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules is shot down over Iraq.
  
• 2005 - Prince Hashem bin Al Abdullah II was born. Prince of Jordan.
• 2005 - Martyn Bennet dies (b. 1971). Multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 2005 - Wes Wehmiller dies (b. 1971). American musician.
• 2006 - Coretta Scott King dies (b. 1927). American activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• 2007 - Microsoft releases its next Operating system, Windows Vista, a major milestone for the company.
• 2007 - Nikos Kourkoulos dies (b. 1934). Greek actor, artistic director of the Greek National Theater.
• 2007 - Sidney Sheldon dies (b. 1917). American author, playwright, and screenwriter.
• 2008 - Jeremy Beadle dies (b. 1948). British television host.
  
• 2008 - Marcial Maciel dies (b. 1920). Mexican religious leader.
  
• 2008 - Roland Selmeczi dies (b. 1969). Hungarian actor.
  
• Brasil: Dia da saudade.
  
• Brasil: Dia Nacional dos Quadrinhos (Banda Desenhada).
• Dia Escolar da Não-Violência e da Educação pela Paz.
• Martyr Day, India - India. Also called Sarvodaya Day.
• Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church: Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs - This Feast honors the three great Fathers of the Eastern Church --St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom.