2021
Lil Nas X released a children’s book called “C is for Country.”
It ranked at number 8 for children’s books worldwide on this day.
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1993
Baseball champion Reggie Jackson was elected to the Hall of Fame.
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1972
President Richard Nixon passed a new law that allowed NASA to build America’s first space shuttle.
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1959
The world’s most famous clown “Bozo” premiered live on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California, US.
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1959
Singer Buddy Holly’s last song was released.
“It Doesn’t Matter” reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sadly 29 days later, Buddy Holly died in a plane crash.
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1933
Construction of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco began.
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1914
The Ford Motor Company announced that it would begin an eight-hour workday as well as provide a living wage for workers who would receive $5 a day.
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1896
Austrian newspaper called “Die Presse” released Willhelm Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays.
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1757
Louis XV of France survived an attempt on his life from Robert-François Damiens, a lowly domestic servant.
Damiens had apparently gone into a religious frenzy and attempted to assassinate the king but failed. It didn’t help that all he’d tried to stab King Louis with was a pocket knife, and the king was wearing a thick winter coat. The would-be assassin was tortured and sentenced to death.
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1709
The Great Frost of Europe killed thousands of people.
That evening William Derham recorded a record low of just 10°F near London while other recordings through Europe were as low as 5°F. Those chilling temperatures killed thousands on that night and caused a famine in France that eventually caused the demise of 600,000 more people.
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1643
The first legal divorce of the American colonies was granted to Anne Clarke.
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1531
King Henry VIII was forbidden to remarry in a letter sent to him by Pope Clement VII.
This was a significant moment in history due to the fact that King Henry VIII ignored the Pope and divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Once Henry married Anne Boleyn, he was excommunicated from the church. By doing this, the history of Christianity in Europe changed forever.
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