2009 - Yann Brekilien, 88, French author, Breton language advocate.
Events
538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius.
1622 - Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, is canonized a saint by the Catholic Church.
1832 - The ballet La Sylphide first premieres at the Opéra de Paris.
1868 - Henry O'Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
1881 - Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain.
1894 - In Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.
1908 - The Pan-Macedonian group is formed in Athens to support the Greek Struggle for Macedonia.
1912 - The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States.
1913 - Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra. (Melbourne remained temporary capital until 1927 while the new capital was still under construction.)
1918 - Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg held this status for 215 years.
1928 - In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing over 600 people.
1930 - Mahatma Gandhi leads a 200-mile march known as Dandi March to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.
1933 - Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This was also the first of his "Fireside Chats."
1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
1940 - Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and the remaining population is immediately evacuated.
1947 - The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.
1967 - Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.
1971 - The March 12 Memorandum, second intervention of Turkish Army, is sent to the Demirel government and Demirel government resigned.
1992 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
1993 - Several bombs explode in Bombay (Mumbai), India, killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more.
1993 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites.
1994 - The Church of England ordains its first female priests.
1999 - Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
2003 - Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.
2003 - Elizabeth Smart, was found after having been missing for 9 months.
2004 - Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea is impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation's history.
2005 - Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, steps down from his post after his resignation is approved by the Chinese central government.
