Nelson Mandela released from prison after 27 years (1990), and North Korea fires ballistic missile over Sea of Japan (2017). Born on this day: Thomas Edison, Jennifer Aniston and Sarah Palin. Died: René Descartes, Sergei Eisenstein and Whitney Houston.
30 events, 58 births and 61 deaths on this date.
Mandela walked free after 27 years in jail, a life sentence handed down in the Rivonia Trial. His release opened the negotiations that ended apartheid, and he later became South Africa's first black president.
Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel · CC BY-SA 2.0Nelson MandelaHear the story in ChunksPyongyang launched a medium-range missile that flew into the Sea of Japan, prompting condemnation from Japan, South Korea and the United States. The launch was one of many tests during a period of rising tension over the regime's nuclear and missile programmes.
The Beatles recorded their debut album in a single day, working quickly with producer George Martin to capture their live sound. It became a huge hit and launched the band's run of chart-topping records across Britain.
Bo Trenter · Public domain
For almost twenty years Pluto had been closer to the Sun than Neptune, but its eccentric path now carries it back beyond the gas giant. The two will not come near each other's orbits again until 2231.
NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI · Public domain
Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts, was accused of gerrymandering, a word that has since come to mean drawing electoral district boundaries to favour one party. The accusation gave the term its name, and it is still in use today.
The World Health Organization gave the new coronavirus outbreak its official name, COVID-19, and the virus itself was designated SARS-CoV-2. Naming both gave governments, doctors and the public one shared term to use while the pandemic spread.
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Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman, best remembered for the practical incandescent light bulb, the phonograph and early motion pictures. Born in Ohio, he taught himself largely through books and tinkering after going deaf as a child.
Louis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios , restored by Michel Vuijlsteke · Public domain
Jennifer Aniston is an American actress best known for playing Rachel Green in the sitcom Friends, which earned her a Primetime Emmy. She has since built a film career and produced the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show.
Angela George · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sarah Palin is an American politician who served as governor of Alaska and was the Republican vice presidential nominee alongside John McCain in 2008. She was the youngest person and first woman elected governor of Alaska, in 2006.
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America · CC BY-SA 2.0
The French philosopher and mathematician who fused geometry with algebra, giving us coordinate graphs. He is remembered above all for the line 'I think, therefore I am', which made his doubt-driven method a cornerstone of modern thought.
After Frans Hals · Public domain
Soviet director who pioneered montage, the technique of cutting shots together to build meaning, in films such as Battleship Potemkin. He died in Moscow in 1948, aged 50, leaving the unfinished second part of Ivan the Terrible.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Houston was an American singer and actress, known as "the Voice" for her powerful gospel-rooted delivery. Her albums and the film The Bodyguard made her one of the most successful performers ever, and she died in 2012 aged 48.
PH2 Mark Kettenhofen · Public domain
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