Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
1499 - Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. In 1497 he invaded England claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England
1644 - Areopagitica by John Milton is published
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins - Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops
1869 - In Dumbarton, Scotland the clipper Cutty Sark is launched (it was one of the last clippers to be built, and the only one still surviving)
1876 - Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Marcy Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain
1890 - King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to become Queen
1936 - The first edition of Life is published
1963 - The first episode of the sci-fi tv series Doctor Who debuts on the BBC
2003 - Berkeley Breathed begins comic strip Opus

Births
1804 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (d. 1869)
1887 - Boris Karloff, actor (d. 1969)
1888 - Harpo Marx, comedian (d. 1964)

Deaths
1499 - Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne of England
1990 - Roald Dahl, author