Erastus Brigham Bigelow(industrialist, inventor, a founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology)β
Buddy Ebsen(actor)β
Charles "Honi" Coles(tap dancer)β
Sir Alec Guinness(actor)β
Emmylou Harris(country music singer)β
Christopher Meloni(actor)β
Clark Gregg(actor)β
Died
Samuel Morse(inventor)β
C. S. Forester(author)β
Pope John Paul IIβ
Jane Henson(co-creator of The Muppets)β
Events
Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida and claimed it for the King of Spainβ
U.S. Mint establishedβ
American Farmer journal foundedβ
Bread riot occurred in Richmond, Virginiaβ
7.9 earthquake triggered tsunami, Hawaiiβ
Charles Martin Hall patented an inexpensive way to make aluminumβ
As the World Turns debuted on televisionβ
199.5+ mph wind gust recorded at Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire
β
Dallas made its television debutβ
Weather
Wind gusted to at least 199.5 miles per hour at Cannon Mountain, New Hampshireβ
A severe storm blasted the northeastern United States for three days. Winds reached 140 miles per hour on top of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, and Maine received two to three feet of snowβ
9.4 inches of snow closed Chicagoβs OβHare airportβ
Twisters tore through the Midwest and South, killing 18 peopleβ
A rare 0.1β snowfall occurred in Charlotte, North Carolinaβ