Historical Events
660
Traditional founding of Japan according to the Japanese creation myth.
1858
Bernadette Soubirous has her first vision of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.
1929
Vatican City becomes an independent state under the Lateran Treaty.
1990
Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison after 27 years.
2012
Singer Whitney Houston is found dead in a hotel room at age 48.
Famous Birthdays
1535
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope who introduced the Gregorian calendar to replace the Julian calendar.
1847
Thomas Edison
American inventor who developed the phonograph, motion picture camera, and practical electric light bulb.
1898
Leo Szilard
Hungarian-American physicist who conceived the nuclear chain reaction.
1934
Mary Quant
English fashion designer who popularized the miniskirt in the 1960s.
1936
Burt Reynolds
American actor known for Smokey and the Bandit and Boogie Nights.
