In 1512, Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public.
In 1604, William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London.
In 1611, Shakespeare's romantic comedy "The Tempest" was first presented at Whitehall.
In 1755, a devastating earthquake and its aftershocks killed about 50,000 people in Lisbon, Portugal.
In 1765, the Stamp Act went into effect in the British colonies, prompting stiff resistance from Americans.
In 1861, Gen. George B. McClellan was made general in chief of the Union armies.
In 1870, the U.S. Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations from reports gathered by telegraph from 24 locations.
In 1913, Notre Dame's football team upset Army, 35-13. in a game at West Point that popularized the forward pass, and brought attention to Notre Dame's team captain, Knute Rockne.
In 1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.
In 1954, the western African nation of Algeria began its rebellion against French rule.
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Golfer Gary Player (1935)
Actor Robert Foxworth (1941)
Magazine publisher Larry Flynt (1942)
Baseball pitcher Fernando Valenzuela (1960)
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"The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him. That remark in itself wouldn't make any sense if quoted as it stands."