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1777 - San Jose, California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.

1781 - The slave ship Zong dumps its living cargo into the sea in order to claim insurance.

1830 - November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins.

1845 - The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.

1847 - Whitman Massacre: Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War.

1850 - The treaty called Punctation of Olmütz was signed in Olomouc. It meant diplomatic capitulation of Prussia to Austrian Empire, which took over the leadership of German Confederation.

1864 - Indian Wars: Sand Creek Massacre - Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants inside Colorado Territory.

1872 - Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.

1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.

1890 - The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan and the first Diet convenes.

1890 - In West Point, New York, the United States Naval Academy defeats the United States Military Academy 24-0 in the first Army-Navy football game.

1893 - Ziqiang Institute, today known as Wuhan University, was founded by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in late Qing Dynasty of China after his memorial to the throne was approved by the Qing Government.

1899 - Spanish football club FC Barcelona founded.

1915 - Fire destroys most of the buildings on Santa Catalina Island in California.

1922 - Howard Carter opened the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun to the public.

1929 - U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole.

1943 - The second session of AVNOJ, the Anti-fascist council of national liberation of Yugoslavia, is held in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, determining the post-war ordering of the country.

1944 - The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.

1945 - The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.

1947 - The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine.

1950 - Korean War: North Korean and Chinese troops force United Nations forces to retreat from North Korea.

1952 - Korean War: U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.

1961 - The U.S. spacecraft Mercury-Atlas 5 is launched with Enos, a chimpanzee, aboard (the spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and splashed-down off the coast of Puerto Rico).

1963 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

1963 - Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 831, A Douglas DC-8 carrying 118, crashes after taking-off from Dorval Airport near Montreal.

1965 - Canadian satellite Alouette 2 is launched.

1967 - Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation.

1972 - Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) released Pong (the first commercially successful video game) in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, Calif.

1975 - The name "Micro-soft" (for "microcomputer software") is first used in a letter from Bill Gates to Paul Allen.

1981 - Actress Natalie Wood drowns during a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island, California.

1982 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: The United Nations General Assembly passes United Nations Resolution 37/37, stating that Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan.

1987 - A Korean Air Boeing 707 explodes over the Thai-Burmese border, killing 155.

1988 - Six Kansas City firefighters are killed in an explosion at a construction site.

1990 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes UN Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that nation did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.

1992 - Dennis Byrd of the New York Jets is temporarily paralyzed by a neck injury during a football game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

2004 - Brett Favre day in Wisconsin, in honor of his record-setting 200th start as quarterback.

2005 - New Croatian Communist Party (KPH) is founded in Vukovar.

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1338 - Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (d. 1368)

1427 - Zhengtong, Emperor of China (d. 1464)

1484 - Joachim Vadian, Swiss humanist (d. 1551)

1489 - Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England, queen consort of James IV of Scotland (d. 1541)

1627 - John Ray, English naturalist (d. 1705)

1690 - Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia (d. 1747)

1752 - Jemima Wilkinson, American preacher (d. 1819)

1762 - Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist (d. 1833)

1781 - Andrés Bello, Venezuelan poet, lawmaker, teacher, philosopher and sociologist (d. 1865)

1797 - Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (d. 1848)

1798 - Alexander Brullov, Russian painter (d. 1877)

1799 - Amos Bronson Alcott, American writer and educator (d. 1888)

1802 - Wilhelm Hauff, German poet and novelist (d. 1827)

1803 - Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist (d. 1853)

1803 - Gottfried Semper, German architect (d. 1879)

1813 - Franz von Miklosich, Slovenian linguist (d. 1891)

1816 - Morrison Waite, 7th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1888)

1825 - Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist (d. 1893)

1832 - Louisa May Alcott, American novelist (d. 1888)

1849 - Sir John Ambrose Fleming, British physicist (d. 1945)

1856 - Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1921)

1857 - Theodor Escherich, German pediatrician (d. 1911)

1874 - Egas Moniz, Portuguese physician, neurologist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)

1874 - Francis Dodd, artist (d. 1949)

1876 - Nellie Tayloe Ross, American politician (d. 1977)

1881 - Julius Raab, Chancellor of Austria (d. 1964)

1894 - Lucille Hegamin, American singer and entertainer (d. 1970)

1895 - Busby Berkeley, American film director, and choreographer (d. 1976)

1895 - William Tubman, President of Liberia (d. 1971)

1896 - Yakima Canutt, American actor and stuntman (d. 1986)

1898 - C. S. Lewis, Irish writer (d. 1963)

1899 - Andrija Artuković, Croatian war criminal (d. 1988)

1901 - Mildred Harris, American actress (d. 1944)

1904 - Egon Eiermann, German architect (d. 1970)

1908 - Adam Clayton Powell Jr., American civil rights leader and politician (d. 1972)

1910 - Antanas Škėma, Lithuanian writer, stage actor and director (d. 1961)

1915 - Billy Strayhorn, American musician and composer (d. 1967)

1916 - Fran Ryan, American actress (d. 2000)

1917 - Merle Travis, American singer (d. 1983)

1918 - Madeleine L'Engle, American author

1921 - Dagmar, American television personality (d. 2001)

1922 - Minnie Miñoso, baseball player

1927 - Vin Scully, baseball announcer

1928 - Paul Simon, U.S. Senator (d. 2003)

1928 - Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani painter

1929 - Laurie Main, Actor, Host of Welcome To Pooh Corner from 1983-1987

1930 - Shirley Porter, Dame Commander of the British Empire

1932 - Jacques Chirac, President of France

1932 - Diane Ladd, American actress

1933 - John Mayall, British blues musician

1939 - Peter Bergman, American comedian

1939 - Gene Okerlund, American wrestling interviewer

1940 - Chuck Mangione, American musician

1941 - Bill Freehan, American baseball player

1941 - Denny Doherty, American musician (Mamas and the Papas)

1942 - Philippe Huttenlocher, Swiss baritone

1943 - Sue Miller, American author

1944 - Felix Cavaliere, American musician and producer

1946 - Silvio Rodriguez, Cuban poet, singer and songwriter

1947 - Petra Kelly, German politician (d. 1992)

1949 - Wayne Cowan, American professional wrestler

1949 - Jerry Lawler, American professional wrestler and commentator

1949 - Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director

1951 - Barry Goudreau, American musician (Boston)

1951 - Jean Schmidt, U.S. congresswoman

1953 - Alex Grey, American artist

1954 - Joel Coen, American film director, producer, and writer

1954 - Steve Rogers, Australian rugby league player

1955 - Howie Mandel, Canadian actor

1956 - Hinton Battle, American dancer

1956 - Leo Laporte, American television personality

1958 - Michael Dempsey, American musician (The Cure)

1959 - Neal Broten, American ice hockey player

1960 - Cathy Moriarty, American actress

1961 - Kim Delaney, American actress

1961 - Tom Sizemore, American actor

1963 - Andrew McCarthy, American actor

1964 - Don Cheadle, American actor

1965 - Ellen Cleghorne, American comedian

1965 - Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese singer, songwriter (d. 1992)

1966 - John Layfield, American professional wrestler and color commentator

1969 - Mariano Rivera, Panamanian baseball player

1969 - Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dutch international footballer

1970 - Mark Pembridge, Welsh international footballer

1971 - Gena Lee Nolin, American actress

1972 - Larry Joe Campbell, American actor

1972 - Jamal Mashburn, American basketball player

1972 - Minoru Tanaka, Japanese professional wrestler

1973 - Ryan Giggs, Welsh international footballer

1973 - Sarah Jones, American playwright, poet and actress

1976 - Anna Faris, American actress

1976 - Ehren McGhehey, American actor and skateboarder

1977 - Maria Petrova, Russian figure skater

1978 - Ludwika Paleta, Polish-Mexican catres

1979 - Francis Beltrán, Professional baseball player

1981 - Nicholas Teo, Taiwanese Singer, Actor

1982 - Ashley Force, American race car driver

1982 - Krystal Steal, American pornographic actress

1990 - Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit, American actors

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741 - Pope Gregory III

1268 - Pope Clement IV

1314 - Philip IV of France (b. 1268)

1330 - Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, de facto ruler of England (b. 1287)

1342 - Michael of Cesena, Italian Franciscan leader (b. 1270)

1378 - Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1316)

1530 - Thomas Wolsey, adviser to King Henry VIII of England

1577 - Cuthbert Mayne, English saint (b. 1543)

1590 - Philipp Nikodemus Frischlin, German philologist and poet (b. 1547)

1595 - Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, Basque soldier and poet (b. 1533)

1626 - Ernst, Graf von Mansfield, German soldier

1632 - Frederick V, Elector Palatine (b. 1596)

1643 - William Cartwright, English dramatist (b. 1611)

1643 - Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (b. 1567)

1646 - Laurentius Paulinus Gothus, Swedish theologian and astronomer (b. 1565)

1661 - Brian Walton, English clergyman and scholar (b. 1600)

1694 - Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician (b. 1628)

1695 - James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount Stair, Scottish lawyer and statesman (b. 1619)

1699 - Patrick Gordon, Scottish general (b. 1635)

1759 - Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1687)

1780 - Maria Theresa of Austria (b. 1717)

1797 - Samuel Langdon, American President of Harvard University (b. 1723)

1847 - Marcus Whitman, Washington state pioneer (b. 1802)

1924 - Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (b. 1858)

1939 - Philipp Scheidemann, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1865)

1953 - Sam De Grasse, American actor (b. 1875)

1953 - Milt Gross, American comic book illustrator and animator (b. 1895)

1954 - Dink Johnson, American musician (b. 1892)

1957 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian composer (b. 1897)

1972 - Carl Stalling, American composer (b. 1888)

1975 - Graham Hill, British race car driver (b. 1929)

1979 - Zeppo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1901)

1981 - Fredric Wertham, German-born psychologist (b. 1895)

1981 - Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)

1982 - Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (b. 1908)

1984 - Gotthard Günther, German philosopher (b. 1900)

1986 - Cary Grant, British-born American actor (b. 1904)

1991 - Frank Yerby, American author (b. 1916)

1992 - Jean Dieudonné, French mathematician (b. 1906)

1998 - Martin Ruane, British professional wrestler (b. 1947)

1999 - Gene Rayburn, American game show host (b. 1917)

2001 - George Harrison, British singer, guitarist and songwriter (b. 1943)

2001 - John Knowles, American author (b. 1926)

2003 - Moondog Spot, wrestler (b. 1952)

2004 - John Drew Barrymore, American actor (b. 1929)

2004 - Harry Danning, American baseball player (b. 1911)

2004 - Anne Samson, oldest-ever nun documented (b. 1891)

2005 - David di Tommaso, French soccer player (b. 1979)

2005 - Wendie Jo Sperber, American actress (b. 1962)

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Feast days of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:

Saint Saturnin

Saint Cuthbert Mayne, martyr

Saint Radboud

Brendan of Birr or Brendan the Younger

Denis of the Nativity and Redemptus of the Cross

Albania - Liberation Day (Dita e Çlirimit)

Israel - Kaftet be-November (commemoration of the U.N. decision in 1947 to partition Palestine)

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Republic Day