1534

French mariner Jacques Cartier “discovered” Prince Edward Island off the coast of what is now Canada.

1613

During a performance of William Shakespeare’s Henry VIII on this day in 1613, the Globe Theatre was destroyed within an hour after its thatch was accidentally set aflame by a cannon marking the king’s entrance onstage.

1767

Parliament passed the Townshend Revenue Act, sponsored by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend, which imposed on colonists in British America an import tax on tea and other goods and thus brought some colonists one step closer to revolution.

1776

Edward Rutledge, one of South Carolina’s representatives to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, expresses his reluctance to declare independence from Britain in a letter to the like-minded John Jay of New York.

1888

First (known) recording of classical music made, Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” on wax cylinder.

1897

Chicago Colts establish MLB record for most runs scored in a game by one team as they maul Louisville Colonels, 36 – 7 at the West Side Grounds, Chicago.

1913

Following a year of war with the Ottoman Empire, members of the victorious Balkan League quarreled over the division of the conquered territories, resulting in the Second Balkan War when Bulgaria attacked Greek and Serbian forces in Macedonia this night.

1933

Italian boxer Primo Carnera KOs American defending champion Jack Sharkey in round 6 at Madison Square Garden, NYC to become third European to win the lineal world heavyweight title.

1934

British Open Men’s Golf, Royal St. George’s GC: Henry Cotton of England wins wire-to-wire by 5 shots from South African Sid Brews.

1936

George M. Cohan is the first artist to be presented with a US Congressional Gold Medal, by Franklin D. Roosevelt (for raising war morale).

1940

Batman Comics, mobsters rub out a circus highwire team known as the Flying Graysons, leaving their son Dick (Robin) an orphan.

1963

Beatles’ 1st song “From Me to You” hits UK charts.

1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes after an 83-day filibuster in the US Senate.

1967

 Keith Richards sat before magistrates in Chichester, West Sussex, England, facing charges that stemmed from the infamous raid of Richards’ Redlands estate five months earlier.

1968

“Tip-Toe Thru’ The Tulips With Me” by Tiny Tim peaks at #17.

1971

Rolling Stones Mick Jagger & Keith Richards sentenced on drug offense.

1974

While on tour with the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet in Toronto, Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union, citing artistic reasons, and he later settled in the United States.

1974

With Argentine President Juan Perón on his deathbed, Isabel Martinez de Perón, his wife and vice president, is sworn in as the leader of the South American country. 

1990

Marla Maples father sues National Enquirer for $12M.

1994

US reopens Guantanamo Naval Base to process refugees.

1995

The American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.

2007

Apple Inc.’s first mobile “smartphone,” the iPhone, went on sale, and it revolutionized the industry.

2009

American hedge-fund investment manager Bernie Madoff received a sentence of up to 150 years in prison for operating the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

2020

American actor, writer, and director Carl Reiner, who created the landmark TV series The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66) and later directed such popular comedies as The Jerk (1979), died at age 98.