8 BC ~ Death of Horace, poet. Remembered for, among other things, “carpe diem” (seize the day).

1095 ~ Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.

1895 ~ Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he died.

1907 ~ Birthday of L. Sprague de Camp, Science Fiction writer.

1921 ~ Birthday of Alexander Dubček, Czech politician.

1942 ~ Birthday of Jimi Hendrix, musician.

1946 ~ Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appealed to the U.S. and the USSR to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster".

1953 ~ Death of Eugene O'Neill, playwright.

1990 ~ John Major followed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the UK.

2001 ~ A hydrogen atmosphere was detected on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the HST, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.

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Eudaimonia