Historical Events
1600 – Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de’ Fiori in Rome, charged with heresy by the Roman Inquisition
1634 – Puritan author William Prynne tried in Star Chamber for publishing “Histrio-masti”, criticising the theatre
1946 – Humanistic Covenant forms in Amsterdam
1978 – 11 civilians and 1 RUC officer are killed and 30 wounded by a Provisional Irish Republican Army incendiary bomb at the La Mon Restaurant near Belfast
1987 – Don Mattingly wins highest salary arbitration ($1,975,000 per year)
2002 – 44th Daytona 500: Ward Burton’s win first for Dodge since Richard Petty’s victory in the 1974 race
Famous Birthdays
1796 – Giovanni Pacini, Italian composer of opera (Saffo), born in Catania, Sicily (d. 1867)
1820 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Catholic cardinal (d. 1898)
1905 – Orville “Hoppy” Jones, American bass singer and cellist (The Ink Spots – “If I Didn’t Care”), born in Chicago, Illinois (1944)
1908 – Staats Cotsworth, American actor (Hamlet, Peyton Place), born in Oak Park, Illinois (d. 1979)
1952 – Karin Büttner-Janz, German artistic gymnast (Olympic gold GDR vault, uneven bars 1968; World C’ships gold uneven bars 1970), born in Lübben, Germany
1967 – Robert Massey, American NFL cornerback (Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions) and coach, born in Rock Hill, South Carolina
Famous Deaths
1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch anatomist and entomologist (Bible of Nature), dies at 43
1688 – Rev James Renwick, hanged in Scotland for being a Presbyterian
1993 – Leslie Townsend, English cricket all-rounder (England in 4 Tests 1930-34), dies at 89
1998 – Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (People, Mambo Italiano), commits suicide at 72
2001 – Bob Geary, Canadian football player and manager (b. 1933)
2018 – Arno Motulsky, German-born founder of medical genetics, known as the “father of pharmacogenomics,” dies at 94