• The Diet of Worms begins (1521)
• The word “serendipity” is coined by Horace Walpole in a letter (1754)
• Pride and Prejudice is published (1813)
• Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person convicted of speeding, and is fined one shilling plus costs. He was doing 8 mph in a 2 mph zone (1896)
• The name “Pakistan” is coined. The word means “Land of the Pure” in Urdu and Persian, but is actually an acronym for Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and BaluchisTAN. (1933)
• Elvis makes his first US television appearance (1956)
• Legos are patented (1958)
• The last episode of The Goon Show is broadcast (1958)
• Space shuttle Challenger explodes after liftoff (1986)

It’s the birthday of —

• Henry VII of England (1457)
• John Baskerville, typographer (1706)
• Henry Morton Stanley, journalist and explorer who reportedly asked, “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” (1841)
• Colette, novelist (1873)
• Arthur Rubenstein, pianist (1887)
• Ernst Lubitsch, filmmaker (1892)
• Jackson Pollock, painter (1912)
• Kurt Biedenkopf, German politician (1930)
• Alan Alda, actor (1936)
• Susan Howard, actress (1944)
• Mikhail Baryshnikov, dancer (1948)
• Gregg Popovich, basketball coach (1949)
• Barbi Benton, playmate (1950)
• Rick Warren, televangelist and author (1954)
• Sarah McLachlan, singer-songwriter (1968)
• Elijah Wood, actor (1981)