This is the traditional date in 753 BC of the founding of Rome by Romulus, though shrouded in myth. In 1509 Henry VIII became king of England on the death of his father Henry VII, and thus commenced a tumultuous century of English history ruled by him or his children. In 1789 John Adams was sworn in as the first US Vice President. And in 1836 at the battle of San Jacinto the Texan forces under Sam Houston achieved victory over Mexico’s general Santa Anna in the War for Independence.
In 1918 the greatest ace in history, Baron von Richthofen – the Red Baron- met his match and was shot down. He had managed to shoot down 80 planes for the German air force in WWI. In 1960 Brazil inaugurated a new capital – Brasilia -replacing Rio. In local news in 1962 Seattle hosted the World’s Fair, with the Space Needle to forever mark it’s skyline. And ten years later, in 1972, John Young and Charles Duke flew the Apollo 16 Lunar Module down to the moon.
Those making their first appearance on the world’s stage on this date include :English novelist and poet Charlotte Bronte (1816), Scottish-American environmentalist and author John Muir (1838), iconic Mexican actor Anthony Quinn (1915, Shoes of the Fisherman), Scottish novelist and screenwriter Alistair MacLean (1922), and the late Queen Elizabeth II (1926).
Leaving us on this date include Pope Alexander II (1073) and American legendary author Mark Twain (1910) of whom death news had always been rumor, until it wasn’t. We said farewell to the 7th President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch (2010), and the musical force that was Prince (2016).
This is National Tea Day in the UK, National Tree Planting Day in Kenya, and starting in 1952 National Secretaries Day, though it was renamed as Administrative Professionals’ Day later.
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