Some notable facts about this date, for more, visit http://www.onthisday.com
Facts
1065 Westminster Abbey in London consecrated
1612 First observation of Neptune - Galileo observes and records a "fixed star" without realising it is a planet
1767 King Taksin crowned King of Thailand and establishes Thonburi as his capital
1836 Spain recognizes independence of Mexico
1860 Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn, New York, on her last mission to free slaves, having evaded capture for 8 years on the Underground Railroad
1908 Earthquake strikes Messina, Italy, killing nearly 80,000
1943 All Kalmyk inhabitants of the Republic of Kalmukkie deported by the Soviet Union to Central Asia and Siberia. Many die en route.
Deaths
1367 Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (b. 1330)
1734 Rob Roy, Scottish folk hero and outlaw, dies at 63
1959 Ante Pavelić, Croatian leader of Nazi Germany puppet Independent State of Croatia, dies from wounds received in an attempted assassination two years earlier at 70
1983 Dennis Wilson, drummer/singer (Beach Boys), drowns at 39
2004 Susan Sontag, American writer, dies from Myelodysplastic syndrome at 71
2010 Agathe von Trapp, Austrian-born American singer (oldest von Trapp child), dies at 97
2015 Lemmy [Ian Kilmister], British heavy metal musician (Motörhead), dies from terminal illness at 70
2016 Debbie Reynolds, American actress (Kathy Selden-Singin' in the Rain, The Unsinkable Molly Brown), dies of a stroke at 84 one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher also passed away
Sport
1887 Sir John Layton Jarvis, 1st British race horse trainer knighted
1947 Chic Cards beat Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 in NFL championship game
1954 43rd Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Sydney (3-2)
Films and TV
1895 Filmmakers the Lumiere brothers, hold the first commercial film screening at Salon Indien du Grand Café, Paris
1949 20th Century Fox announces it will produce TV programs
1967 KTSB (now KSNT) TV channel 27 in Topeka, KS (NBC) begins broadcasting
Born on this day
1969 Linus Torvalds, Finnish-American software engineer (developed Linux operating system), born in Helsinki, Finland
1973 Seth Meyers, American actor, comedian, writer and producer (Late Night with Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live), born in Evanston, Illinois
A Couple of Pics from those no longer with us
Lemmy
Debbie Reynolds