Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
1512 - The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time
1521 - The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of mainland South America, connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, was first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during his global circumnavigation voyage
1530 - An approximated 400,000 die after the Netherlands' dikes fail
1604 - At Whitehall Palace in London, the William Shakespeare tragedy Othello is presented for the first time
1611 - At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time
1683 - The British crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties
1755 - Lisbon earthquake: In Portugal, Lisbon is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between sixty and ninety thousand people
1800 -In the United States, the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House). Construction was completed
1848 - In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, The Boston Female Medical School (which later merged with Boston University School of Medicine), opens
1859 - The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse was lighted for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for nineteen miles
1861 - American Civil War: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George McClellan as commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott
1870 - In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast
1894 - Nicholas II becomes the new Tsar of Russia after his father, Alexander III, dies
1896 - A picture showing the naked breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time
1963 - The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opened

Births
1798 - Sir Henry Lee Guinness, brewer
1871 - Stephen Crane, writer (d. 1900)
1923 - Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction author (d. 2001)
1923 - Victoria de los Angeles, soprano

Deaths
1979 - Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States
1983 - Anthony van Hoboken, musicologist
1985 - Phil Silvers, actor, comedian
1999 - Walter Payton, American football player

Holidays
Catholicism - Holy Day of Obligation All Saints Day. Holiday in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Lithuania and Croatia.
Lá Samhna the traditional first day of Winter in modern Ireland, see also Samhain
Mexico and United States - The Day of the Dead