The end of days appears to be the theme for this day in history. In 1649, the British King Charles I was beheaded, a fate the future Charles III would like to avoid. He was overthrown by Oliver Cromwell, who was ritually executed on this day in 1661, some two years after his death, which would normally make an execution somewhat redundant. 1835 saw the first assassination attempt on a US President, when a deranged and unemployed house painter took two shots at President Andrew Jackson, both pistols misfired. The first steps towards an end of decency took place in Germany, when a deranged and unemployed painter, Adolf Hitler was made Chancellor in 1933. In 1945, he gave his last speech to the nation. In 1948 Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist and in 1956, Martin Luther King Jr's home was bombed. 
 
It was the beginning of the end in the Vietnam war, with the Tet offensive taking the American and South Vietnamese forces by surprise, 1969 saw the last public performance by the Beatles, on the roof of the Abbey Road studios. This ended prematurely when the police arrived and told them to Get Back inside. 1972 was Bloody Sunday, when British paratroopers opened fire on a demonstration, killing 14 unarmed protestors. Ten years later, in 1982, the first personal computer virus was written, for a Mac! How times have changed. 
 
Events 

• 1790 – The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
• 1820 – Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
• 1826 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales, is opened.
• 1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
• 1858 – The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of the Hallé Orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
• 1889 – Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling.
• 1925 – The Government of Turkey throws Patriarch Constantine VI out of Istanbul.
• 1945 – World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, leading to the deadliest known maritime disaster, killing approximately 9,000 people.
• 1960 – The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
• 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 6 is launched.
• 1972 – Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
• 1979 – Varig 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
• 1989 – The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.
• 1994 – Péter Lékó becomes the youngest chess grand master.
• 1995 – Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment forsickle-cell disease.
• 1996 – Gino Gallagher, the suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army, is killed while waiting in line for his unemployment benefit.
• 1996 – Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake.
• 2000 – Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169.

 
Births 

• 1615 – Thomas Rolfe, American colonial settler and only child of Pocahontas and John Rolfe (d. 1675)
• 1873 – Georges Ricard-Cordingley, painter (d. 1939)
• 1878 – Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (d. 1940)
• 1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)
• 1910 – C Subramaniam, Indian politician (d. 2000)
• 1913 – Percy Thrower, British Television Gardener (d. 1988)
• 1915 – John Profumo, British cabinet minister (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Paul Frère, Belgian racing driver and motorsport journalist (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Nikolay Glazkov, Russian poet (d. 1979)
• 1927 – Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1986)
• 1930 – Samuel J. Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon (d. 1974)
• 1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor
• 1930 – Magnus Malan, South African politician
• 1937 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
• 1937 – Boris Spassky, Russian chess player and 10th world chess champion (1969-1972)
• 1938 – Islom Karimov, President of Uzbekistan
• 1941 – Dick Cheney, 46th Vice President of the United States
• 1948 – Nick Broomfield, English film- and documentary-maker
• 1948 – Paul Magee, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
• 1949 – Peter Agre, American biologist, Nobel laureate
• 1951 – Phil Collins, English musician
• 1962 – King Abdullah II of Jordan
• 1968 – Prince Felipe of Spain
• 1968 – Tony Maudsley, British film actor
• 1974 – Christian Bale, Welsh actor
• 1974 – Olivia Colman, English actress
• 1974 – Jemima Khan, English socialite
• 1975 – Juninho Pernambucano, Brazilian footballer
• 1982 - Kostas Gougakis, HTML coder

 
Deaths 

• 1730 – Tsar Peter II of Russia (b. 1715)
• 1836 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress (b. 1752)
• 1929 – La Goulue, French Cancan dancer (b. 1866)
• 1934 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher (b. 1862)
• 1948 – Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer (b. 1871)
• 1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian automotive engineer (b. 1875)
• 1958 – Ernst Heinkel, German aviation engineer (b. 1888)
• 1969 – Georges Pire, Belgian monk, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
• 1980 – Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)
• 1982 – Lightnin' Hopkins, American musician (b. 1912)
• 1994 – Pierre Boulle, French author (b. 1912)
• 1995 – Gerald Durrell, British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor (b. 1911)
• 2001 – Johnnie Johnson, British fighter pilot (b. 1915)
• 2001 – Joseph Ransohoff, the father of modern neurosurgery (b. 1915)
• 2006 – Coretta Scott King, American activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Nikos Kourkoulos, Greek actor and artistic director (b. 1934)