Ford pardons Nixon for any crimes in office (1974), and Warsaw falls to a small Swedish force without a fight (1655). Born on this day: Antonín Dvořák, Bernie Sanders and Frédéric Mistral. Died: Elizabeth II, Yukawa Hideki and Leni Riefenstahl.
31 events, 66 births and 57 deaths on this date.
Days after Nixon resigned over Watergate, his successor Gerald Ford granted him a full, unconditional pardon covering everything he might have done as president. The move was widely criticised and probably cost Ford dearly with voters in the next election.
David Hume Kennerly · Public domainDuring the Deluge war, Charles X Gustav's modest army walked into Warsaw unopposed in September 1655. It was the first time a foreign power had taken the Polish capital.
Germany was admitted to the League of Nations, ending its diplomatic isolation after the First World War. Its seat on the League Council gave the Weimar Republic a fuller voice among the great powers.
George III, who would later reign for six decades, wed Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at St James's Palace in London. The couple went on to have fifteen children, and their marriage became a steady anchor in an often troubled reign.
Born Richard Henry Sellers, he rose to fame on the BBC radio comedy The Goon Show before becoming internationally acclaimed as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther films. His mimicry and improvisation made him one of Britain's most versatile comic performers.
Allan Warren · CC BY-SA 3.0
Michelangelo's marble figure of the biblical hero David was placed in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence's civic heart. Carved over about three years, the 5.17-metre statue came to stand for the city's republican freedom.
Jörg Bittner Unna · CC BY 3.0
For the full day, download Chunks today. Every date, the stories behind them, and a new day each morning. Free to start.
Czech composer who wove the folk melodies of Bohemia and Moravia into symphonies, chamber works and operas that won him international fame. He later spent three years directing the National Conservatory in New York, where he wrote the New World Symphony.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
The longest-serving independent in US congressional history, Sanders is a democratic socialist who caucuses with Democrats and twice tried to win the party's White House nomination. He has represented Vermont in the Senate since 2007.
Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil · CC BY 2.0
Frédéric Mistral was a Provençal poet who wrote in Occitan rather than standard French, and he compiled a major dictionary of the language. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1904, largely for poems that captured the landscape and spirit of his native Provence.
Tucker Collection · Public domain
Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and several other realms for over seventy years, the longest reign of any British monarch. She guided the country through decolonisation, the Troubles and Britain's journey into and out of the European Communities.
Original: Joel Rouse/ Ministry of Defence Derivative: nagualdesign · OGL 3
Yukawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist who predicted the existence of mesons, particles that help hold atomic nuclei together. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949, the first Japanese laureate in the sciences.
Nobel Foundation archive · Public domain
German filmmaker whose Nazi-era films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, won acclaim for their technical daring but damaged her reputation after the war. She denied knowing about the Holocaust, and remained one of the most controversial figures in film history.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Download on iOS
Download on Android