King addresses 20,000 West Berliners at Waldbühne (1964), and Civilian flights resume in the United States (2001). Born on this day: Roald Dahl, Claudette Colbert and Fabio Cannavaro. Died: Dante, Tupac Shakur and Philip II.
27 events, 82 births and 56 deaths on this date.
Martin Luther King Jr. drew about 20,000 people to the Waldbühne, an open-air arena in West Berlin. The American civil rights leader was speaking in a city split by the Berlin Wall, far from the segregated South where he was best known.
Associated Press · Public domainTwo days after hijackers flew four airliners into targets in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, American skies reopened to ordinary commercial flights. The Federal Aviation Administration had grounded all flights nationwide, so the restart was an early, tentative sign of normal life returning.
Calvin came back to the Swiss city, having spent three years elsewhere, intent on remaking its church along the lines of his theology. That scheme of doctrine, later known as Calvinism, went on to influence churches across the world.
Portrait_john_calvin.jpg : Anonymous · Public domain
Louis XVI formally accepted the constitution drawn up by the National Assembly, turning France into a constitutional monarchy. The king's acceptance was meant to calm the revolution, though it did little to settle the country's growing divisions.
Antoine-François Callet · Public domain
Ögedei, the third son of Genghis Khan, was chosen as supreme ruler at a gathering in Kodoe Aral, two years after a regency led by his brother Tolui. He went on to push his father's expansion deep into Persia, Korea and Eastern Europe.
Anonymous Unknown author · Public domain
Pedro Álvares Cabral's Portuguese fleet arrived at Calicut after sailing across the Atlantic and then the Indian Ocean. Portugal hoped to buy spices directly, bypassing the Arab, Turkish and Italian merchants who controlled that trade.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
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Roald Dahl flew as a fighter pilot in the Second World War before becoming one of the best-known children's writers of the twentieth century. Books such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are still loved for their dark humour.
Hans van Dijk for Anefo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Claudette Colbert was a French-American actress who won the Best Actress Oscar for the 1934 comedy It Happened One Night. She moved from Broadway to film in the early talkie years and appeared in more than 60 movies, many with top billing.
Whitey Schafer · Public domain
Fabio Cannavaro is an Italian former centre-back who now coaches Uzbekistan. He captained Italy to victory at the 2006 World Cup and won the Ballon d'Or that same year.
Original: Mech867 / Derivative work: Danyele · CC BY 4.0
Dante Alighieri died in Ravenna in 1321, in exile from Florence. He is remembered for the Divine Comedy, written in his native Tuscan rather than Latin, which helped shape the modern Italian language.
Sandro Botticelli · Public domain
Tupac Shakur was an American rapper and actor whose political lyrics and gangsta rap made him one of the most influential musicians of his generation. He was shot in Las Vegas in September 1996 and died six days later, aged 25.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Philip II ruled Spain at the height of its power, with territories on every continent then known to Europeans. A devout Catholic, he built the vast palace of El Escorial and sent the Spanish Armada against England in 1588.
Sofonisba Anguissola · Public domain
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