1649 – King Charles I of England is beheaded.
Today's term from psychology is Apex Fallacy.
Apex Fallacy: the idea that we assign the characteristics of the highest visibility members of a group to all members of that group. This fallacy is an essential part of the process of categorization, and plays an obvious roll in the creation of stereotypes. Our societies in the developed world are currently experiencing a sharp rise in the creation of group stereotypes. This appears to be due to a wide-spread belief that the basic unit of humanity is the group, not the individual.
life history politics psychology1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed two years after his death, on the anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.
1703 – The Forty-seven Ronin, under the command of Oishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master. It is considered by some as the most famous example of the samurai code of honor (bushido), and as the country's "national legend." The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka. The ronin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira, after waiting and planning for almost two years. In turn, the ronin were themselves obliged to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder.
1790 – The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
1820 – Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
1826 – The Menai Suspension Bridge is opened. It is considered to be the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales.
1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
1862 – The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
1889 – Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling.
1911 – The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.
1959 – MS Hans Hedtoft, said to be the safest ship afloat and "unsinkable" like the RMS Titanic, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.
1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 6 is launched.
1969 – The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
1971 – Carole King's Tapestry album is released to become the longest charting album by a female solo artist and sell 24 million copies worldwide.
1975 – The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.
1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".
Today's birthday crew:
1912 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (The March of Folly).
1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian, actor, and director.
1925 – Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist and inventor of the computer mouse.
1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor and author. Among his many rolls was the arch-villain Lex Luthor in the 1978 version of Superman. However, in 1974 Hackman appeared in what became one of his most famous comedy roles as the blind hermit in Young Frankenstein.
1953 – Fred Hembeck, American comic book parody writer and illustrator.
1958 – Brett Butler, American actress and comedian (Grace Under Fire).
1968 – Tony Maudsley, English film actor who was cast as Grawp in the film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
1974 – Christian Bale, English actor who received great commercial recognition for his performance as Bruce Wayne / Batman in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Happy birthday guys!