644 Umar ibn al-Khattab, second Muslim caliph, is killed in Medina by Lu’lu, an enslaved Persian captive

1534 English parliament passes the Act of Supremacy making Henry VIII and all subsequent monarchs the Head of the Church of England

1620 Great Patent granted to Plymouth Colony

1640 English Long Parliament forms

1906 International Radiotelegraph Conference in Berlin selects “SOS” (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal as the worldwide standard for help

1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2 with space dog Laika aboard, a mostly-Siberian husky, the 1st animal in space

1970 US President Richard Nixon promises gradual troop removal of Vietnam

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1953 “Tokyo Story”, Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Chishū Ryū, Chieko Higashiyama and Setsuko Hara, is released

1956 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” televised for 1st time – hosted by Bert Lahr and 10 year old Liza Minnelli, as the finale of the Ford Star Jubilee series (CBS-TV)

1978 First broadcast of “Different Strokes” on NBC TV

1983 Nashville Network begins on cable TV

1988 Talk-show host Geraldo Rivera‘s nose is broken as Roy Innis brawls with skinheads at TV taping

1997 British TV comedy “I’m Alan Partridge” starring Steve Coogan premieres on BBC Two

1998 “Shakespeare in Love” directed by John Madden and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes premieres in New York (Best Picture 1999)

Today’s Historical Events in

1752 George Frideric Handel undergoes (failed) eye operation

1888 Amsterdam: 1st concerto of Concert worker, under Willem Kes

1927 Rodgers & Hart’s musical “Connecticut Yankee”, based on Mark Twain’s “A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court”, opens at the Vanderbilt Theatre, NYC; runs for 421 performances

1943 Dmitri Shostakovich‘s 8th Symphony premieres in Moscow

1960 Meredith Willson’s musical “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, starring Tammy Grimes, opens at Winter Garden, NYC; runs for 532 performances, and wins a Tony Award

1970 “President’s Daughter” opens at Billy Rose Theater, NYC; runs for 72 performances

1974 “Lorelei” closes at Palace Theater NYC after 320 performances

1986 John Lennon “Menlove Avenue” album released posthumously

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1899 World heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries retains title; beats Irishman Tom Sharkey on points in 25 rounds at Coney Island Athletic Club, Brooklyn, NYC

1926 Legendary baseball figure Ty Cobb resigns as Detroit Tigers manager; replaced by George Moriarty, first man to hold MLB’s 4 principal jobs: player, umpire, scout and manager

1927 Rodgers & Hart’s musical “Connecticut Yankee”, based on Mark Twain’s “A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court”, opens at the Vanderbilt Theatre, NYC; runs for 421 performances

1934 NY Yankees 1st baseman Lou Gehrig wins American League Triple Crown after hitting .363 with 49 HRs and 165 RBI; but Philadelphia A’s catcher Mickey Cochrane (.320, 2 HRs, 76 RBI) is named AL MVP

1935 Korean runner Sohn Kee-chung sets new men’s marathon world record, 2:26:42 in Tokyo, Japan

1935 Philadelphia Eagles beat Boston Redskins, 7-6 at Fenway Park; respective quarterbacks combine to throw an NFL record 11 interceptions

1937 Frenchman Maurice Archambaud cycles world record for distance in one hour, 45.796 km in Vigorelli, Milan, Italy

1937 Howie Morenz Memorial Game, Montreal Forum: NHL All-Stars beat Montreal All Stars, 6-5

1755 Lisbon earthquake kills more than 50,000 in Portugal

1814 Congress of Vienna opens to re-draw the European political map after the defeat of France, in the Napoleonic Wars

1894 Vaccine for diphtheria announced by Dr Roux of Paris

1916 Paul Miliukov delivers in the Russian State Duma the famous “stupidity or treason” speech, precipitating the downfall of the Boris Stürmer government

1952 “Ivy Mike”, the first thermonuclear weapon to utilize the H-bomb design of Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam, is detonated in the Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean

2012 Scientists detect evidence of light from the universe’s first stars, predicted to have formed 500 million years after the big bang

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1946 WABC becomes WCBS radio in NYC

1946 WEAF radio changes call letters to WNBC (NYC)

1953 KCEN TV channel 6 in Temple-Waco, TX (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

1953 KMGH TV channel 7 in Denver, CO (CBS) begins broadcasting

1953 WHEC TV channel 10 in Rochester, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting

1954 KUON TV channel 12 in Lincoln, NB (PBS) begins broadcasting

1957 KVII TV channel 7 in Amarillo, Texas (ABC) begins broadcasting

1957 KXGN TV channel 5 in Glendive, Montana (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

1957 WICZ TV channel 40 in Binghamton, New York (NBC) begins broadcasting

1962 KYVE TV channel 47 in Yakima, WA (PBS) begins broadcasting

1962 WNYC TV channel 31 in New York, NY (PBS) begins broadcasting

1962 WZZM TV channel 13 in Grand Rapids, MI (ABC) begins broadcasting

Today’s Events in Music History

1947 “Medium & The Telephone” closes at Barrymore NYC after 211 performances