George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans), English novelist, died, 1880
Embargo Law passed, 1807
Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson, died, 1828
First catamaran launched, 1662
Ma (Gertrude Bridget) Rainey, “Mother of the Blues,” died, 1939
US Golf Association formed, 1894
Bess Myerson, former Miss America, acquitted on conspiracy, etc, 1988
Nathanael West, novelist, died, 1940
Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini, first US Roman Catholic saint, died, 1917
Romania topples Ceausescu regime, 1989
Fyodor Dostoevsky was to be executed but pardoned at the last minute, 1849
Samuel Beckett, playwright, died, 1989
(Helen) Beatrix Potter, author (“The Tale of Peter Rabbit”), died, 1943
Coelacanth caught off the coast of South Africa, 1938
General Anthony McAuliffe replied “Nuts!” when ordered to surrender, 1944
American Continental Navy organized (four ships), 1785
Chemical Bank of New York provided motion pictures for waiting customers, 1972
Bernhard Goetz shot four youths in a New York subway, 1984