This Day in History

• Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England (1570)
• Samuel Colt is granted a patent for his revolver design (1836)
• The Calaveras Skull is discovered in California (1866)
• Hiram Revels of Mississippi becomes the first African-American in Congress (1870)
• Oregon becomes the first US state with a gasoline tax, 1¢ per gallon (1919)
• Adolph Hitler becomes a German citizen, allowing him to run for Reichspräsident (1932)
• Nikita Khrushchev denounces Stalin in a secret speech (1956)
• Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston (1964)*
• Ferdinand Marcos flees the Philippines and Corazon Aquino becomes president (1986)
• The Warsaw Pact ceases to exist (1991)
• 29 Palestinians are killed and 125 injured in the Mosque of Abraham massacre (1994)

Birthdays

• Pierre-Auguste Renoir, painter (1841)
• Enrico Caruso, tenor (1873)
• John Foster Dulles, airport namesake (1888)
• Meher Baba, mystic (1894)
• Zeppo Marx, engineer (1901)
• Jim Backus, castaway (1913)
• Gert Fröbe, Bond villain (1913)
• Anthony Burgess, clockwork author (1917)
• Bobby Riggs, tennis player (1918)
• Sun Myung Moon, church founder (1920)
• Larry Gelbart, M*A*S*H creator (1928)
• Faron Young, singer (1932)
• Sally Jessy Raphaël, talk show host (1935)
• George Harrison, sitar player (1943)
• Carrot Top, comic (1965)
• Alexis Denisof, watcher (1966)
• Téa Leoni, actress (1966)
• Sean Astin, hobbit (1971)
• Chelsea Handler, author (1975)

Deaths

• Christopher Wren, architect (1723)
• John Tenniel, Alice illustrator (1914)
• Bugs Moran, gangster (1957)
• Grace Metalious, Peyton Place author (1964)
• Mark Rothko, painter (1970)
• Elijah Muhammad, Back Muslim leader (1975)
• Chappie James, first African-American four-star general (1978)
• Tennessee Williams, playwright (1983)
• James Coco, actor (1987)
• Haing S. Ngor, Oscar winner (1996)
• Cal Abrams, outfielder (1997)
• Darren McGavin, night stalker 2006)
• Philip José Farmer, science fiction author (2009)

Holidays

• Kitano Baika-sai (Kyoto, Japan)
• Memorial Day for the Victims of the Communist Dictatorships (Hungary)
• National Day (Kuwait)
• People Power Day (Philippines)
• Soviet Occupation Day (Georgia)