Napoleon issues a revised constitution after a public vote (1815), and South Africa rejoins the Commonwealth as a republic (1994). Born on this day: Marilyn Monroe, Tom Holland and Morgan Freeman. Died: James Buchanan, Helen Keller and Nicolas Appert.
35 events, 66 births and 69 deaths on this date.
Voters backed a revised constitution, and Napoleon made it law while restored to power during the Hundred Days. It came in the brief return that followed his first abdication in 1814.
Jacques-Louis David · Public domainThe French RevolutionHear the story in ChunksAfter decades outside the Commonwealth, South Africa re-entered it on this day as a republic, following its first democratic elections in April 1994. The move ended the isolation imposed over apartheid-era policies and brought the country back into the association of former British territories.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, she spent much of her childhood moving between temporary family homes and a children's institution. She became one of the 1950s' most recognised film stars, remembered for comic blonde roles and as a symbol of the era's sexual revolution.
Sam Shaw · Public domain
Tennessee became the nation's sixteenth state, with its frontier roots in the 1772 Watauga Association pact, a document often seen as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. Its name comes from Tanasi, a Cherokee town.
Carved out of Virginia, Kentucky became the Union's fifteenth member and is still called the Bluegrass State, after the grass that feeds its famous thoroughbred horses. Its capital is Frankfort, though Louisville is the largest city.
Having withdrawn from public life in 1953, de Gaulle agreed to take the premiership amid a political crisis in Algeria, and was granted emergency powers to rule for six months. That grant opened the way to the Fifth Republic, whose constitution he drafted and whose presidency he would later hold.
The National Archives UK · No restrictions
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Marilyn Monroe was an American film star and model who became one of the defining screen icons of the 1950s. Known for playing comic blonde characters, she was also a singer and a film producer later in her career.
Sam Shaw · Public domain
Tom Holland is a British actor best known for playing Spider-Man across several Marvel films. He began as a dancer and took the lead role in Billy Elliot the Musical in London before moving into film.
PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0
Freeman is an American actor, producer and narrator who started out on the children's show The Electric Company. He later won an Academy Award for portraying a retired boxer in Million Dollar Baby.
Georges Biard · CC BY-SA 4.0
Buchanan, a Pennsylvania Democrat and lawyer, led the United States from 1857 to 1861 and is remembered for failing to halt the drift toward civil war. His pro-slavery stance and inaction as Southern states seceded left him widely judged one of the weakest presidents.
From Brady daguerreotype (Mathew Brady) (1822-1896) · Public domain
Helen Keller, left blind and deaf as a toddler, became a writer and campaigner who graduated from Radcliffe College. Later she fought for disability rights, women's suffrage, labour rights and world peace.
Los Angeles Times; restored by User:Rhododendrites · Public domain
A French confectioner who turned to inventing, Appert found that heating food in sealed containers kept it from spoiling. Often called the father of food science, he showed how preserved food could be kept for long periods.
Unknown artist Unknown artist · Public domain
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