EVENTS:
- 1781 – William Herschel discovers Uranus.
- 1897 – San Diego State University is founded.
- 1930 – The news of the discovery of Pluto is telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory.
- 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
- 1992 – The Mw 6.7 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). At least 498 were killed in this strike-slip event on the North Anatolian Fault.
- 1997 – India’s Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
- 2012 – At least 28 people are killed in a bus crash in a motorway tunnel near the town of Sierre in the Swiss canton of Valais.
- 2014 – A helicopter crash in Norfolk, United Kingdom, kills 4 people.
- 2016 – An explosion occurs in central Ankara, Turkey, with at least 37 people killed and 127 wounded.
- 2016 – Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 18 people and injuring 33 others.
- 2016 – Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people.
- 2020 – President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States.
- 2020 – Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, Kentucky; her death sparked extensive protests against racism and police brutality.
BIRTHS:
- 1899 – John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
- 1900 – Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1914 – Edward O’Hare, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
- 1950 – Bernard Julien, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1959 – Dirk Wellham, Australian cricketer
- 1985 – Austin Scott, American football player
- 1992 – Antoni Sarcevic, English footballer
- 2002 – Frank Gore Jr., American football player
- 2004 – Coco Gauff, American tennis player
