2015: Over 2,000 people are killed in north-east Nigeria after Boko Haram militants raze the town of Baga

1496: Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine

1521: Martin Luther is Excommunicated by Pope Leo X from the Roman Catholic Church for failing to recant parts of his Ninety-five Theses which started the Protestant Reformation

1777: General George Washington’s revolutionary army defeats British forces at Battle of Princeton, New Jersey

1925: Benito Mussolini dissolves the Italian parliament and proclaims himself dictator of Italy, taking the title “Il Duce” (the Leader)

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1977: Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs incorporate Apple Computer, Inc

1985: Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews

BIRTHDAYS

1892: J. R. R. Tolkien, British author (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings), born in Bloemfontein, South Africa (d. 1973)

1956: Mel Gibson, American actor (Mad Max, Mrs Soffel, Lethal Weapon) and filmmaker, born in Peekskill, New York

1969: Michael Schumacher, German auto racer (World F1 champion 1994-95, 2000-05), born in Hürth, Germany

2003: Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate change activist, born in Stockholm, Sweden

DEATHS

2014: Phil Everly, American singer and half of the rock and roll duo “The Everly Brothers” (Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie), dies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 74

2015:  Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), first popularly elected African American to the US Senate (1967-79), dies at 95

VANGUARD