Historical Events
1521
Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed in the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines.
1749
Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks premieres in London.
1861
President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in the US.
1937
Social Security begins issuing monthly benefit checks for the first time.
1994
South Africa holds its first fully democratic elections.
Famous Birthdays
1737
Edward Gibbon
English historian who wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
1791
Samuel Morse
American inventor who created the Morse code and developed the electric telegraph.
1822
Ulysses S. Grant
18th President of the United States and the Union general who won the Civil War.
1927
Coretta Scott King
American activist, author, and wife of Martin Luther King Jr.
1959
Sheena Easton
Scottish singer who had a James Bond theme song with For Your Eyes Only.
