Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
1534 - Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the St. Lawrence River
1732 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia
1790 - Philadelphia Spelling Book by John Barry becomes the first book to be copyrighted in the United States
1856 - 500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts
1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen
1953 - Flint-Worcester Tornadoes: A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts killing 94
1954 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army
1957 - First ascent of Broad Peak (12th highest mountain)
1973 - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown
1986 - The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

Births
1812 - Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
1900 - Fred Waring, bandleader, inventor (d. 1984)
1916 - Les Paul, guitarist
1956 - Patricia Cornwell, author

Deayhs
373 - Ephrem the Syrian, Christian hymnodist
597 - St. Columba, Christian missionary, patron saint of Ireland (b. 521)
1572 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (b. 1528)
1870 - Charles Dickens, English author (b. 1812)
2004 - Rosey Brown, American football player (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances
Catholicism - Saint Columba (called Saint Columcille in Ireland, where he is honoured as one of the island’s three patron saints)