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41 - Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Claudius succeeds his nephew.

1438 - The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.

1458 - Matthias I Corvinus becomes king of Hungary.

1624 - Alfonso Mendez, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.

1679 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.

1742 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

1848 - California gold rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.

1857 - The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia.

1878 - The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.

1908 - Robert Baden-Powell begins the Boy Scout movement.

1916 - In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.

1918 - A decree of the Council of People's Commissars, introducing the Gregorian calendar in Russia since February 1, issued.

1924 - St. Petersburg, Russia is renamed Leningrad.

1927 - Director Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England.

1936 - Albert Sarraut becomes Prime Minister of France

1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.

1952 - Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.

1966 - An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117.

1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been in hiding since 1944, when U.S. forces liberated the island during World War II.

1984 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

1986 - Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus.

1986 - Wapping dispute. Newspaper workers in London launch ultimately unsuccessful strike against Rupert Murdoch's News International.

1993 - Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara

1996 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges he spied for Moscow.

2003 - The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

2006 - Disney agrees to purchase Pixar in an all-cash deal, making Steve Jobs the largest shareholder in Disney.

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76 - Hadrian, Roman Emperor (d. 138)

1287 - Richard Aungerville, English bishop and writer (d. 1345)

1444 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)

1540 - Edmund Campion, English Jesuit (d. 1581)

1638 - Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (d. 1706)

1670 - William Congreve, English playwright (d. 1729)

1674 - Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (d. 1735)

1679 - Christian Wolff, German philosopher (d. 1754)

1705 - Farinelli, Italian castrato (d. 1782)

1712 - King Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1786)

1724 - Frances Brooke, English writer (d. 1789)

1732 - Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (d. 1799)

1752 - Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (d. 1832)

1754 - Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor (d. 1820)

1763 - Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general (d. 1831)

1776 - E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer, composer, and painter (d. 1822)

1848 - Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)

1862 - Edith Wharton, American writer (d. 1937)

1864 - Marguerite Durand, French journalist and feminist leader (d. 1936)

1872 - Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)

1888 - Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (d. 1960)

1888 - Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft designer (d. 1958)

1891 - Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)

1895 - Eugen Roth, German writer (d. 1976)

1898 - Cliff Heathcote, baseball player (d. 1939)

1902 - E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (d. 1965)

1909 - Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (d. 2005)

1913 - Norman Dello Joio, American composer

1915 - Robert Motherwell, American painter (d. 1991)

1916 - Jack Brickhouse, American sports broadcaster (d. 1998)

1917 - Ernest Borgnine, American actor

1918 - Oral Roberts, American evangelist

1922 - Charles Socarides, M.D., psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (d. 2005)

1925 - Maria Tallchief, American ballerina

1928 - Desmond Morris, British anthropologist and writer

1934 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (d. 1976)

1936 - Doug Kershaw, American musician

1939 - Ray Stevens, American musician

1941 - Neil Diamond, American singer

1941 - Aaron Neville, American singer

1943 - Sharon Tate, American actress (d. 1969)

1944 - Klaus Nomi, German singer (d. 1983)

1946 - Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor

1947 - Warren Zevon, American musician and songwriter (d. 2003)

1949 - John Belushi, American actor (d. 1982)

1950 - Gerald Brisco, American wrestler

1950 - Benjamin Urrutia, American scholar

1951 - Yakov Smirnoff, Russian comedian

1956 - Hanne Krogh, Norwegian singer and Eurovision Song Contest winner (Bobbysocks)

1957 - Adrian Edmondson, British comedian

1958 - Neil Allen, Baseball player

1958 - Jools Holland, British musician

1959 - Nastassja Kinski, German-born actress

1959 - Vic Reeves, English comedian

1961 - Vince Russo, American writer

1963 - Martyn Grimley, British hockey player

1963 - Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer

1965 - Mike Awesome, wrestler

1966 - Jimeoin, Northern Irish-Australian comedian -

1967 - John Myung, American musician (Dream Theater)

1968 - Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast

1970 - Matthew Lillard, American actor

1971 - Cory Bailey, baseball player

1974 - Shii Ann Huang, American game show contestant

1975 - Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer

1979 - Tatyana Ali, American actress

1980 - Nicole Marie Lenz, American actress

1981 - Travis Hanson, American baseball player

1983 - Scott Speed, American Formula One driver

1984 - Scott Kazmir, American baseball player

1986 - Mischa Barton, English-born American actress

1986 - Ricky Ullman, American actor

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41 - Caligula, Emperor of Rome (b. 12)

772 - Pope Stephen III (b. 720)

1125 - David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)

1366 - Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)

1376 - Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English military leader

1473 - Conrad Paumann, German composer

1595 - Ferdinand II of Austria (b. 1529)

1626 - Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (b. 1580)

1639 - Georg Jenatsch, Swiss politician (b. 1596)

1666 - Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (b. 1588)

1709 - George Rooke, English admiral (b. 1650)

1769 - François de Chevert, French general (b. 1695)

1856 - Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Polish Hasidic leader (b. 1775)

1877 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (b. 1796)

1882 - Levi Boone, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1808)

1883 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)

1895 - Lord Randolph Churchill, British politician (b. 1849)

1911 - David Graham Phillips, American journalist and novelist (b. 1867)

1920 - Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)

1924 - Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1894)

1924 - Vladimir Lenin, Founder of the Bolshevik Party, and father of the revolution

1932 - Alfred Yarrow, English shipbuilder (b. 1842)

1939 - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (b. 1867)

1943 - John Burns, English politician (b. 1858)

1955 - Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)

1960 - Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)

1961 - Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American swimmer and inventor (b. 1884)

1965 - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1874)

1966 - Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist (b. 1909)

1970 - Caresse Crosby, American poet (b. 1891)

1971 - Bill W., American co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)

1973 - J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1897)

1975 - Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (b. 1902)

1978 - Herta Oberheuser, Nazi doctor (b. 1911)

1983 - George Cukor, American film director (b. 1899)

1986 - L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)

1986 - Flo Hyman, American volleyball player (b. 1954)

1986 - Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)

1989 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)

1990 - Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)

1991 - John M. Kelly, Irish politician and academic (b. 1931)

1992 - Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (b. 1950)

1993 - Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1908)

1998 - Walter D. Edmonds, American author (b. 1903)

2000 - Bobby Duncum, Jr., wrestler (b. 1965)

2003 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921)

2004 - Leônidas da Silva, Brazilian footballer (b. 1913)

2005 - June Bronhill, Australian singer (b. 1929)

2005 - Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1933)

2005 - Chalkie White, English rugby coach (b. 1929)

2006 - Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)

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Roman Empire - first day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra

Roman Catholic Church - Feasts of St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady of Peace

Jim Ross Day - State of Oklahoma