Historical Events
1931 – Japanese army attacks Chinese province of Jehol
1949 – NFL merges with AAFC; Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts join league intact, other teams in New York and Los Angeles are merged with existing units
1961 – Tanganyika gains independence from Britain, takes name Tanzania – with Ukuru (Freedom) Torch lit on the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro
1967 – Nicolae Ceaușescu becomes President of Romania (overthrown in 1989)
1968 – KRNE TV channel 12 in Merriman, NB (PBS) begins broadcasting
1974 – Johnson Grigsby freed after 66 years in jail in Indiana
Famous Birthdays
1787 – John Dobson, English architect, born in High Chirton, North Shields, England (d. 1865)
1899 – Howard Freeman, American actor (Studio One, Double Dynamite), born in Helena, Montana (d. 1967)
1934 – Alan Ridout, British composer, born in West Wickham, England (d. 1996)
1944 – Bob O’Connor, American politician (Mayor of Pittsburgh, 2006), born in Greenfield, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
1953 – John Malkovich, American actor (The Killing Fields; Dangerous Liaisons), born in Christopher, Illinois
1973 – Stacey Abrams, American politician, lawyer and voting rights activist, born in Madison, Wisconsin
Famous Deaths
1544 – Teofilo Folengo, Italian macaronic poet, dies at 53
1798 – Johann Reinhold Forster, German botanist (naturalist on James Cook’s second Pacific voyage), dies at 69
1814 – Jose Angel Lamas, Venezuelan composer, dies at 39
1940 – Maletti, Italian general, dies in battle
1992 – Vincent Gardenia, Italian-American actor (Bang the Drum Slowly, Moonstruck, Little Shop of Horrors), dies of a heart attack at 71
2021 – Demaryius Thomas, American football wide receiver (Super Bowl 2015; 4 × Pro Bowl; Denver Broncos), dies at 33