Röntgen publishes paper announcing his discovery of X-rays (1895), and King Taksin crowned king and Thonburi made capital (1768). Born on this day: Woodrow Wilson, Linus Torvalds and Liu Xiaobo. Died: Maurice Ravel, Debbie Reynolds and Mary II.
26 events, 69 births and 66 deaths on this date.
Röntgen set out his findings on a new kind of radiation in a paper that would soon make his name. The rays he described were later called X-rays, and the first Nobel Prize in Physics followed in 1901.
Erwin Hanfstaengl · Public domainTaksin, who had expelled the Burmese after Ayutthaya fell, took the crown by conquest rather than birth. He made Thonburi, on the Chao Phraya river, the new capital, though it kept that role for only about fifteen years.
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, better known for his work on Jupiter's moons, sketched a faint point of light that was in fact Neptune. He logged it among the stationary stars, so the planet's discovery was not recognised until the nineteenth century.
Iowa joined the Union as the 29th state, having first been part of French and Spanish Louisiana before the Louisiana Purchase. Settlers then built an farm-based economy in what is now the Corn Belt.
The colony was unusual in Australia for being a planned, free settlement rather than a convict one. On this day its first government took office, with council members sworn in near the Old Gum Tree.
The Indian National Congress held its first session in Bombay, bringing together educated Indians to press for a greater political voice under British rule. It grew into the principal force behind the independence movement and later governed independent India for decades.
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Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States, a Democrat who led the country through the First World War. He also pushed for the League of Nations, an early attempt at a body to keep peace between countries.
Harris & Ewing, photographer · Public domain
Linus Torvalds is a Finnish-American software engineer best known for creating the Linux kernel, the core of many operating systems, including Android. He also created Git, the version control system used by most software developers today.
Unknown author Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese literary critic and human rights campaigner who pressed for an end to one-party rule. He was jailed several times and won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize while serving his fourth prison term.
Wang Liming ('Rebel Pepper') · Copyrighted free use
Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor, remembered above all for Boléro, whose steady repetition builds to its climax without the usual development. He was also a masterful orchestrator, famous for his 1922 orchestral version of Mussorgsky's piano suite.
Unknown author Unknown author The image holder, the Bibliothèque nationale de France has not identified a photographer. (Follow link and click on "Detailed information".) · Public domain
Debbie Reynolds, the Singin' in the Rain star, died on this day in 2016, aged 84. She was also a singer, writer and former beauty pageant contestant, remembered for her breakout turn as Kathy Selden.
John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Mary II, who ruled England, Scotland and Ireland jointly with her husband William III, died of smallpox at 32. She had governed alone while William was away fighting abroad, and proved a firm and capable queen.
Godfrey Kneller · Public domain
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