70 BC ~ Birthday of Virgil, Roman poet.
1844 ~ Birthday of Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher.
1881 ~ Birthday of
P. G. Wodehouse, British comic novelist.
1908 ~ Birthday of John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist.
1917 ~
Mata Hari was executed by firing squad for spying for Germany.
1951 ~
I Love Lucy premiered starring comedian Lucille Ball and her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz.
1964 ~ Death of Cole Porter, Composer.
1964 ~ Nikita Khrushchev retires as head of USSR.
1970 ~ 35 construction workers died when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapsed.
2003 ~ China launched its first manned spacecraft into orbit, becoming the third country to do so.