On this day...
0607-12th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1639-Cambridge College renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard
1835-Charles Darwin departs Valparaiso for Andes crossing
1861-Jefferson Davis signs bill authorizing use of slaves as soldiers
1884-U.S. adopts Standard Time
1921-Mongolia (formerly Outer Mongolia) declares independence from China
1933-Josef Göbbels becomes German minister of Information & Propaganda
1957-Bloody battles after anti-Batista demonstration in Havana Cuba
1961-JFK sets up the Alliance for Progress
1961-Pablo Picasso (79) marries his model Jacqueline Rocque (37)
1964-Turkey threatens Cyprus with armed attack
1969-Apollo 9 returns to Earth
1974-Charles de Gaulle Airport opens near Paris France
1986-Space probe Giotto encounters Halley's Comet
1989-U.S. space shuttle STS-29 launched
1992-570 die in a Turkish earthquake
1992-Martina Navratilova & Judy Nelson settle their galamony suit
1995-Anti fascist Kazakhstan anti-parliament forms