Today in History

• Joan of Arc pulls an arrow from her shoulder and leads the final charge at the Siege of Orleans (1429)
• Construction of Versailles begins (1664)
• The city of New Orleans is founded (1718)
• Beethoven’s 9th Symphony premiers (1824)
• RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German U-Boat (1915)
• General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms, ending German participation in World War II (1945)
• The French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu (1964)
• Mercedes Benz buys Chrysler in the largest industrial merger in history (1998)
• Vladimir Putin becomes President of Russia (2000)

 Birthdays

• David Hume, economist and philosopher (1711)
• Robert Browning, poet (1812)
• Johannes Brahms, composer (1833)
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer (1840)
• Rabindrananth Tagore, author and Nobel Prize laureate (1861)
• Gabby Hayes, actor (1885)
• Archibald MacLeish, poet (1892)
• Josep Broz Tito, president of Yugoslavia (1892)
• Gary Cooper, actor (1901)
• Edwin H. Land, co-founder of Polaroid Corporation (1909)
• Eva Perón, first lady of Argentina (1919)
• Darren McGavinm, actor (1922)
• Anne Baxter, actress (1923)
• Gene Wolfe, science fiction writer (1931)
• Johnny Unitas, football player (1931)
• Angela Carter, author (1940)
• Tim Russert, television journalist (1950)
• Amy Heckerling, director (1954)
• Traci Lords, underage porn star (1968)

Deaths

• Franz von Sickingen, German knight (1523)
• Antonio Salieri, composer (1825)
• H. H. Holmes, serial killer (1896)
• Warner Baxter, actor (1951)
• Mort Weisinger, comics editor (1878)
• Eddie Rabbit, singer-songwriter (1998)
• Douglas Fairbanks Jr., actor (2000)
• Seattle Slew, racehorse (2002)
• Ray Harryhausen, special effects wizard (2012)