This Day In History – Mozart Died

1776

The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

1791

Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria, at age 35.

1848

President Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1848 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.

1872

Having left New York on Nov. 5, the brigantine Mary Celeste was found adrift off Portugal with everyone aboard mysteriously missing.

1933

The 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing prohibition, was ratified.

1955

The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.

2002

At Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday celebration, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Thurmond’s 1948 segregationist presidential bid. Lott subsequently resigned his leadership position.

2004

Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan’s first popularly elected president.

2009

An Italian jury convicts Amanda Knox, an American student, of murdering her former roommate, English student Meredith Kercher, in 2007.

Birthdays

George Armstrong Custer

1839–1876, American military officer.

Martin Van Buren

8th U.S. president (1782)

Christina Rossetti

poet (1830)

Bill Pickett

cowboy, rodeo star (1870)

Walt Disney

film producer (1901)

Strom Thurmond

U.S. senator (1902)

Otto Preminger

director, producer (1906)

Little Richard

musician (1932)

Joan Didion

writer (1934)

Frankie Muniz

actor (1985)