Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
1838 - The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper was founded. It was then known as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce
1848 - A greatly revised constitution, drafted by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke, severely limiting the powers of the Dutch monarchy, and strengthening the powers of the parliament and the ministers, was proclaimed (and still in effect today)
1868 - U.S. presidential election: Republican Ulysses S. Grant is elected to the first of his two terms in a victory over Democrat Horatio Seymour
1883 - American Old West: Self-described "Black Bart the Po-8" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves an incriminating clue that eventually leads to his capture
1896 - U.S. presidential election: Republican William McKinley is elected over Democrat William Jennings Bryan
1908 - U.S. presidential election: Republican William Howard Taft is elected over William Jennings Bryan, who was the Democratic candidate for the third and final time
1911 - Chevrolet officially entered the automobile market to compete with the Ford Model T
1913 - The USA introduce an income tax
1923 - Lady Louise Mountbatten marries Gustav, Crown Prince of Sweden
1935 - George II of Greece regains his throne
1936 - U.S. presidential election, 1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected to a second term in a landslide victory over Alf Landon
1954 - The first in the Godzilla series of films is released in Japan
1955 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts
1956 - The Wizard of Oz is shown on television for the first time (the viewing audience was estimated at 45 million people)
1957 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter space - a dog named Laika
1964 - U.S. presidential election, 1964: Incumbent US President Lyndon B. Johnson defeats Republican challenger Barry Goldwater, Sr with over 60 percent of the popular vote
1971 - The UNIX Programmer’s Manual is published
1973 - Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 10 toward Mercury (on 29 March, 1974 it became the first space probe to reach that planet)
1992 - U.S. presidential election: Democratic challenger Bill Clinton defeats incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot
1994 - Red Hat Linux 1.0 is released
1995 - At Arlington National Cemetery, US President Bill Clinton dedicates a memorial to the victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing
1998 - Former professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura is elected Governor of Minnesota
2004 - John Kerry calls George W. Bush to concede defeat in the 2004 U.S. presidential election

Births
1718 - John Montague, Earl of Sandwich (d. 1792)
1793 - Stephen F. Austin, American pioneer (d. 1836)
1794 - William Cullen Bryant, poet, journalist (d. 1878)
1801 - Vincenzo Bellini, Italian opera composer (d. 1835)
1895 - Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna Romanova (d. 1918)
1903 - Walker Evans, photographer
1921 - Charles Bronson, actor (d. 2003)
1960 - Karch Kiraly, volleyball star

Deaths
1580 - Jeronimo Zurita y Castro, Spanish historian
1787 - Robert Lowth, British bishop, grammarian
1918 - Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov, Russian scientist
1954 - Henri Matisse, French artist
1993 - Leon Theremin, Russian inventor

Holidays
Independence Day in Panama (1903), Dominica (1978) and Federated States of Micronesia (1986)