Matthias Corvinus is proclaimed King of Bohemia and Hungary. In the legend he was known as King Matthias.
In 1556 one of the most devastating earthquakes in the history of mankind occurs in the Chinese province of Shaanxi, killing about 850 thousand people.
In 1776 the German composer Wilhelm Amadeus Hoffmann is born. The opera The Tales of Hoffmann was written by Jacques Offenbach.
In 1848 James W. Marshall finds gold in the Sacramento River, setting the stage for the Gold Rush.
In 1888 Jacob L. Wortman patents the writing machine track.
In 1935 the American company Kruger Brewing begins selling the first canned beer.
In 1959 German actress Nastassja Kinski is born.
In 1965 Winston Churchill dies.
MUSIC HISTORY
1958 - Elvis Presley is at the top of the British singles chart with 'Jailhouse Rock'.
1968 - Georgie Fame is No. 1 on the British singles chart with 'The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde'.
1979 - The Clash released their first single in America 'I Fought the Law'.
1998 - Oasis is at No. 1 on the American singles chart with 'All Around the World'.
1999 - The Offspring are at No. 1 on the British singles chart with 'Pretty Fly, For a White Guy'.
BORN ON THIS DAY
1941 - Aaron Neville, singer in The Neville Brothers ('Tell It Like It Is').
1941 – singer Neil Diamond ('Song Sung Blue').
1949 – singer, actor John Belushi ('Everybody Needs Somebody to Love').