794-Japanese Emperor Kanmu relocates the capital from Nara to Heian-kyo (now Kyoto)
1879-Thomas Edison perfects the carbonized cotton filament light bulb
1948-First Arab–Israeli War: Israeli Navy sinks Egyptian Navy flagship 'King Farouk' using explosive-laden motorboat in the Mediterranean Sea near Gaza
1951-Earthquake hits Formosa, 100 killed
1953-Laos gains full independence from France
1954-West Germany joins North Atlantic Treaty Organization
1962-U.S. President John F. Kennedy makes a live television address about Soviet missile bases in Cuba and imposes a naval blockade on Cuba, beginning the Cuban Missile Crisis
1964-French philosopher and author Jean-Paul Sartre refuses the Nobel Prize for Literature, saying he doesn't want to be "institutionalized"
1958-FirstJapanese anime feature film in color "The Tale of the White Serpent" released, produced by Toei Doga Company
1961-75,000 Flemings demand equal rights & Flemish language in Belgium
2004-Discovery and isolation of new wonder material Graphene announced in paper by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (Nobel Prize 2010). Incredibly they used scotch tape to peal layers off Graphite. ]