2011 – The largest tornado outbreak ever recorded hits the U.S.
348 people in six states were killed during the outbreak, which encompassed a total of 358 confirmed tornadoes.
1983 – The German news magazine, Stern, announces discovery of Hitler's diaries
The documents were later exposed as forgeries, triggering one of the most spectacular media scandals in history. Experts believe that Hitler never kept a diary.
1974 – In Portugal, the fascist Estado Novo regime is overthrown in a bloodless coup
The leftist Carnation Revolution was led by military officers and supported by widespread civil resistance.
1953 – The double helix structure of DNA described for the first time
Francis Crick and James D. Watson published their groundbreaking findings about the molecule containing genetic information was in Nature that day.
1859 – Construction of the Suez Canal begins
The waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea became the shortest sea link between Europe and Asia.
1940 – Al Pacino
American actor, director
1928 – Cy Twombly
American/Italian painter, sculptor
1917 – Ella Fitzgerald
American singer
1874 – Guglielmo Marconi
Italian businessman, inventor, developed Marconi's law, Nobel Prize laureate
1599 – Oliver Cromwell
English general, politician
2008 – Humphrey Lyttelton
English trumpet player, composer
2006 – Jane Jacobs
American/Canadian journalist, author, activist
2001 – Michele Alboreto
Italian race car driver
1944 – George Herriman
American cartoonist
1744 – Anders Celsius
Swedish astronomer
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