Paris Commune petitions for a revolutionary tribunal (1792), and The Beatles fire drummer Pete Best and bring in Ringo Starr (1962). Born on this day: Madonna, James Cameron and Gabriel Lippmann. Died: Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Idi Amin.
27 events, 69 births and 60 deaths on this date.
Robespierre, a radical Jacobin lawyer, carried the Paris Commune's demand to the Legislative Assembly for a revolutionary tribunal. He later became one of the most powerful men in France and is remembered above all for the Reign of Terror.
Unidentified painter · CC0Pete Best, who had drummed with the group since 1960, was dropped on this day, clearing the way for Ringo Starr to take the seat behind the kit. The change gave the band the line-up that went on to record their famous hits.
The new transatlantic telegraph line carried messages between President James Buchanan and Queen Victoria, the two trading good wishes across the ocean. Its signal faded within weeks, and the service was shut down, a sharp setback for the project.
John Tyler rejected a bill to revive the Second Bank of the United States, and angry Whigs answered by rioting outside the White House. It remains the most violent demonstration ever held on the executive mansion's grounds.
Tensions between Muslims and Jews over prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem boiled over into a week of violent unrest across Palestine. The fighting left many dead and deepened the rift between the two communities.
Nikephoros II Phokas took the city of Tarsus, securing Byzantine control over the whole of Cilicia. The capture ended centuries of Arab rule in the region and returned the area to imperial hands.
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Madonna is an American singer, songwriter and actress, dubbed the Queen of Pop for her constant reinvention. She is remembered for landmark albums such as Like a Virgin and Ray of Light, and for breaking barriers for women in popular music.
Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Canadian-born filmmaker behind The Terminator, Aliens and Titanic, whose Avatar films rank among the highest-grossing movies ever made. He is also a deep-sea explorer who has made several dives to the Mariana Trench.
Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0
Luxembourg-born physicist who later became French, remembered for inventing a photographic method that captures colour using light interference. It earned him the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Nobel Foundation · Public domain
Elvis Presley was an American singer and actor, known as the King of Rock and Roll. He helped bring rockabilly and rock and roll to a wide audience, and his records and films made him one of the defining figures of 20th-century popular music.
RCA Records · Public domain
Known as the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin turned hits like Respect and A Natural Woman into some of the most loved records of the twentieth century. She sold more than 75 million records worldwide before her death in 2018.
Atlantic Records (Life time: Published before 1978 without a copyright notice) · Public domain
Ugandan army officer who seized power in 1971 and ruled as a brutal dictator until 1979. He died in exile in Saudi Arabia, having been driven out by a Tanzanian-led invasion.
Bernard Gotfryd · Public domain
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