Historical Events
1017 – Cnut the Great crowned King of England in London by Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury
1617 – English court favorite George Villiers is made Earl of Buckingham by King James I
1781 – Battle of Jersey: Major Francis Peirson and his men defeat invading French troops
1896 – 1st US women’s 6-day bicycle race starts, Madison Square Garden
1929 – Alexander I establishes a royal dictatorship in Yugoslavia
2009 – Israel begins an assault on the Gaza Strip
Famous Birthdays
1811 – Charles Sumner, American leading Reconstruction senator, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1874)
1916 – Vincent Serventy, Australian writer and conservationist, born in Armadale, Australia (d. 2007)
1936 – Ebo Taylor, Ghanaian highlife and Afrobeat musician and composer, born in Cape Coast, Gold Coast
1952 – Larry Booker (Moondog Spot), American pro wrestler (WWF Tag Team champion 1981), born in Louisiana, United States (d. 2003)
1969 – Nick A’Hern, Australian 20k walker (Olympics 22-92, 96), born in Swansea, United Kingdom
1978 – Nikki Einfeld, Canadian coloratura soprano, born in Manitoba
Famous Deaths
1849 – Hartley Coleridge, English poet, dies at 52
1960 – Erik Lindahl, Swedish economist (Theory of Money and Capital), dies at 68
1993 – Elisabeth, arch duch of Austria/princess of Liechtenstein, dies at 70
1997 – Ian Peter Leslie Smith, British journalist, dies at 52
2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, military historian and strategist (b. 1912)
2021 – Bobby Few, American jazz pianist and vocalist, dies at 85