EVENTS:
- 1612 – Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
- 1836 – Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.
- 1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
- 1879 – Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
- 1885 – Indian National Congress, a political party of India is founded in Bombay Presidency, British India.
- 1908 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily, Italy killing over 75,000.
- 1948 – The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami.
- 1958 – “Greatest Game Ever Played“: Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
- 1989 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
- 2014 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashes into the Karimata Strait en route from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard.
BIRTHS:
- 1856 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
- 1926 – Donald Carr, German-English cricketer and referee
- 1932 – Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman, founded Reliance Industries (d. 2002)
- 1937 – Ratan Tata, Indian businessman
- 1940 – A. K. Antony, Indian lawyer and politician, Defence Minister of India
- 1941 – Intikhab Alam, Indian-Pakistani cricketer and coach
- 1944 – Kary Mullis, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1944 – Gordon Taylor, English footballer
- 1952 – Arun Jaitley, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Indian Minister of Law and Justice
- 1955 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1978 – Chris Coyne, Australian footballer and manager
- 1984 – Leroy Lita, English footballer
- 1986 – Tom Huddlestone, English footballer
- 1987 – Matthias Schwarz, German footballer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
