Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople. This unifies the two branches of the House of Theodosius
1061 - Emperor disposes of bishop Cadalus & Pope Honorius II
1422 - Charles VII of France becomes king in succession to his father Charles VI of France
1618 - English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England
1675 - Leibniz makes the first use of the long s, ∫, for integral
1787 - Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague.
1792 - Mt. Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River
1863 - Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross
1886 - The ticker-tape parade is invented in New York City when office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated
1929 - Great Depression begins: Black Tuesday - The New York Stock Exchange crashes, ushering in what will be a world-wide economic crisis
1969 - The first computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET
1988 - In Japan, the Sega Megadrive is released for the first time
1991 - The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid
1998 - Space Shuttle Discovery blasts-off with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. He became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962

Births
1740 - James Boswell, biographer of Samuel Johnson (d. 1795)
1921 - Bill Mauldin, cartoonist
1923 - Carl Djerassi, chemist, inventor of the birth control pill
1929 - Leon Redbone, musician
1945 - Melba Moore, singer, actress
1947 - Richard Dreyfuss, actor

Deaths
1618 - Sir Walter Raleigh, explorer (executed)