On This Day

Births:

Rene Descartes 1596 - Philosopher, "I think, therefore I am"
Liz Claiborne 1929 - Fashion designer
Shirley Jones 1934 - Singer, Actress ("The Partridge Family")
Herb Alpert 1935 - Musician
Richard Chamberlain 1935 - Actor ("The Bourne Identity")

Al Gore 1948 - U.S. Vice President under President Bill Clinton

1732 - Composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born. He is known for helping to develop the Classical style.




Events:


1943 - "Oklahoma!" by Rodgers and Hammerstein debuted on Broadway. The original title was "Away We Go".
1492 - King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling Jews who were unwilling to convert to Christianity.

1776 - Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John that women were "determined to foment a rebellion" if the new Declaration of Independence failed to guarantee their rights.

...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.

1880 - Wabash, IN, became the first town to be completely illuminated with electric light.
1889 - In Paris, the Eiffel Tower officially opened.
1904 - In India, hundreds of Tibetans were slaughtered by the British.
1918 - For the first time in the U.S., Daylight Saving Time went into effect.

1959 - The Dalai Lama (Lhama Dhondrub, Tenzin Gyatso) began exile by crossing the border into India where he was granted political asylum. Gyatso was the 14th Dalai Lama.

There's much more here.