1431 – Joan of Arc is turned over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon so she could be put on trial.

1496 – Da Vinci tests one of his inventions – a flying machine – but it turns out to be unsuccessful.

1521 – Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Leo X for not retracting his anti-church writings.

1749 – One of the world’s oldest and longest running newspapers – Berlingske – published its first issue. The newspaper is still being published today.

1848 – The first president of Liberia after it became independent is sworn into office. His name was Joseph Jenkins Roberts.

1870 – Crews began construction on the Brooklyn Bridge. It opened more than 13 years later.

1888 – Marvin C. Stone patented his idea for the first modern drinking straw which was initially made from paper.

1957 – The first electric watch is introduced by the Hamilton Watch Company.

1967 – The man who shot JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald in the stomach – Jack Ruby – died in a hospital in Dallas.

1987 – At the induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legendary Aretha Franklin becomes the first female inductee.

106 BC – Cicero, Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator
1793 – Lucretia Mott, American Quaker, women’s rights activist and abolitionist
1831 – Savitribai Phule, Social reformer who helped improve women’s rights in India
1883 – Clement Attlee, former Prime Minister of the UK
1892 – J. R. R. Tolkien, Author (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings)
1901 – Ngo Dinh Diem, first President of South Vietnam
1905 – Anna May Wong, first Chinese actress in US
1952 – Esperanza Aguirre, former President of Madrid
1956 – Mel Gibson, American actor, director (Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ)
1980 – Bryan Clay, American Olympic decathlete, 2008 Summer Olympic champion in decathon