Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
1689 - The English Parliament adopts the Bill of Rights.
1773 - The Boston Tea Party
1811 - The first of a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri in the United States
1850 - The first four ships arrive at Lyttelton to settle Christchurch, New Zealand
1893 - World premiere of Antonin Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”
1910 - Henri Coanda makes first short flight in aircraft with jet engine
1973 - O.J. Simpson becomes the first player in NFL history to rush for 2000 yards in one season
2000 - NASA announces that there is an ocean beneath Jupiter moon Ganymede's icy surface

Births
1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)
1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (d. 1827)
1775 - Jane Austen, writer (d. 1817)
1776 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter, physicist (d. 1810)
1882 - Zoltán Kodály, composer (d. 1967)
1899 - Noel Coward, playwright (d. 1973)
1901 - Margaret Mead, anthropologist (d. 1978)
1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction writer
1926 - James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988)
1928 - Philip K. Dick, science fiction writer (d. 1982)
1934 - Elgin Baylor, basketball great
1943 - Steven Bochco, producer, writer
1946 - Benny Andersson, Swedish singer, songwriter, ABBA member
1946 - Trevor Pinnock, English conductor, harpsichordist
1963 - Benjamin Bratt, actor (Law & Order)

Deaths
714 - Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia (b. 635 or 640)
999 - Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)
1859 - Wilhelm Grimm, folklorist (b. 1786)
1921 - Camille Saint-Saëns, composer (b. 1835)
1982 - Colin Chapman, engineer, founder of Lotus Cars (b. 1928)