On this day in history —

• Crispus Attucks dies in the Boston Massacre (1770)
• Samuel Colt founds a manufacturing company for his new revolver (1836)
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact improves the status of the National Congress in British India (1931)
• Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party wins 43.9% of the vote, making them the largest party in the Reichstag (1933)
• Lavrentiy Beria, Soviet secret police chief, approves the Katyn Massacre (1940)
• Winston Churchill makes his “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri (1946)
• Elvis Presley gets out of the Army (1960)
• The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty takes effect (1970)
• Venera 14 lands on Venus (1982)

It’s the birthday of —

• Jake Lloyd, mannequin Skywalker (1989)
• Jolene Blalock, T’Pol on Enterprise (1975)
• Andy Gibb, disco star (1958)
• Penn Jillette, illusionist (1955)
• Mike Resnick, nominated for 36 Hugoes (1942)
• Samantha Eggar, actress (1939)
• Fred Williamson, football player and actor (1938)
• Canaan Banana, first president of Zimbabwe (1936)
• Pier Paolo Pasolini, director (1922)
• Momofuku Ando (安藤 百福) , inventor of instant cup noodles (1918)
• Rex Harrison, actor (1908)
• Zhou Enlai (周恩来), Chinese premier (1898)
• Gerardus Mercator, projecting cartographer (1512)
• Henry II of England, monarch (1133)

Deaths —

• Gary Merrill, actor (1990)
• William Powell, thin man (1984)
• John Belushi, samurai (1982)
• Yip Harburg, lyricist (1981)
• Jay Silverheels, faithful Indian companion (1980)
• Sol Hurok (Соломон Гурков), impressario (1974)
• Patsy Cline, country singer (1963)
• Joseph Stalin (Иосиф Сталин), tyrant (1953)
• Sergei Prokofief (Серге́й Проко́фьев), composer (1953)
• Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River poet (1950)
• David Buick, car namesake (1929)
• Alessandro Volta, electrical unit namesake (1827)
• Franz Mesmer, hypnotist (1815)

Holidays —

• St. Piran’s Day (Cornwall)
• Custom Chief’s Day (Vanuatu)
• Learn from Lei Feng Day (学雷锋日) (China)
• Feast of Thietmar of Minden (Catholicism)