James Buchanan, later 15th US president, is born (1791), and Luftwaffe begins raids across England with attack on Exeter (1942). Born on this day: Max Planck, James Buchanan and Halldór Laxness. Died: William Shakespeare, Boris Yeltsin and Satyajit Ray.
32 events, 74 births and 63 deaths on this date.
Born on this day, James Buchanan became the 15th US president, and his term ended as seven Southern states seceded. A Pennsylvania Democrat, he defended slavery under the Constitution and did little to ease the split between North and South.
From Brady daguerreotype (Mathew Brady) (1822-1896) · Public domainGermany retaliated for the RAF's bombing of Lübeck by launching a campaign of air raids on English towns, starting with Exeter. The Exeter raid, which hit the city's centre and historic buildings, was the first of several attacks known as the Baedeker raids, targeting places chosen for their cultural heritage.
Dagobert III became king of the Franks on the death of his father, Childebert III. He was a child, and real power in the kingdom lay with the mayors of the palace rather than with him.
Uneh Chan, a Maya ruler from Calakmul, struck his rival Palenque in what is now southern Mexico. He overpowered its queen, Yohl Ik'nal, and plundered the city.
Under pressure after the 1905 Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II issued the Fundamental Laws, setting out the rules of Russia's new parliament, the Duma. Critics saw the document as limiting reform, since the Tsar kept wide autocratic powers.
Boissonnas & Eggler · Public domain
Charles II was crowned at Westminster Abbey, roughly a year after the Restoration had brought him back from exile in mainland Europe. The ceremony confirmed a monarchy that had been abolished for over a decade under Oliver Cromwell's republic.
Peter Lely · Public domain
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Max Planck was a German theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory, introducing the energy quantum that underpins much of modern physics. He won the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics and gave his name to the Max Planck Society.
Courtesy of the Clendening History of Medicine Library, University of Kansas Medical Center. · CC BY-SA 3.0
Buchanan led the United States through the months before the Civil War, serving as its fifteenth president. A Pennsylvania Democrat, he backed the pro-slavery side in the Dred Scott case and the Lecompton Constitution, which did little to ease the North-South split.
From Brady daguerreotype (Mathew Brady) (1822-1896) · Public domain
Icelandic novelist, poet and essayist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955. He wrote across many forms, from novels and plays to newspaper articles and travelogues.
Nobel Foundation · Public domain
Shakespeare wrote some 39 plays and 154 sonnets, and his plays have been translated into every major living language. He also acted and part-owned a London playing company, and his works are still staged and studied today.
Attributed to John Taylor · Public domain
Boris Yeltsin was the first popularly elected president of Russia, serving from 1991 to 1999. He helped bring about the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and he is remembered as a leading voice of the anti-communist movement.
Presidential Press and Information Office · CC BY 4.0
Satyajit Ray, the Calcutta-born filmmaker, died in 1992. He is remembered for the Apu Trilogy, beginning with Pather Panchali, and for also writing stories and novels for children and teenagers.
Dinu Alam Newyork · CC BY-SA 4.0
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