1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile to begin the Bolshevik Revolution.
1943 Singer-guitarist “Lonesome” Dave Peverett (Savoy Brown, Foghat) is born. He dies in 2000.
1945, in his first speech to Congress, President Harry Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his just-deceased predecessor, President Franklin Roosevelt.
1947, the French ship Grandchamp caught fire and blew up in the harbor of Texas City, Texas, killing nearly 600 people.
1947, financier and presidential confidante Bernard Baruch said in a speech, “Let us not be deceived — we are today in the midst of a cold war.”
1962, The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite debuted. Over 18 years, Cronkite, who succeeded anchor Douglas Edwards, became known as “The Most Trusted Man in America.”
1964 The self-titled debut album by the Rolling Stones is released in the U.K., a collection of R & B and rock-and-roll covers, except for the lone original song, “Tell Me,” which was written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards.
1966 “Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders peaks at Number Five on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
1971 “Oye Como Va” by Santana, a cover of the Tito Puente song, peaks at Number 13 on the pop chart.
1972, two giant pandas, Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling, arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., from China.
1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.
1977, The ban on women attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, was lifted.
1977 “The Things We Do For Love” by 10CC peaks at Number Five on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
1977 “The First Cut Is The Deepest” by Rod Stewart, a cover of the Cat Stevens song, peaks at Number 21 on the pop chart.
1983 “Mr. Roboto” by Styx peaks at Number Three on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
1988 “Devil Inside” by INXS peaks at Number Two on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
1989, Spain’s ambassador to Lebanon, Pedro Manuel De Aristegui, was killed by shellfire that broke out between Christian militiamen and an alliance of Syrian and Muslim gunners.
1990, The Supreme Court rejected appeals by Dalton Prejean, a nearly retarded man condemned to die for the 1977 murder of a Louisiana state trooper, and Prejean was executed the following month. The court also let stand a ban on school dances in the Bible Belt town of Purdy, Missouri.
1996 Kiss officially announces their reunion tour with all four original members, makeup, costumes, and staging at a press conference on the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City.
1996, Britain’s Prince Andrew and his wife Sarah, the Duchess Of York, announced they were in the process of getting a divorce.
1998, Paula Jones announced she would ask an appeals court to reinstate her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton after it was thrown out by a federal judge.
1999, President Clinton defended NATO airstrikes against Serbian targets during visits to Michigan and Massachusetts, saying U.S. involvement in Kosovo was a moral imperative.
1999, Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement from hockey.
1999 Guitarist-drummer Alexander “Skip” Spence (the Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service) dies at age 52.
2002 Actor Robert Urich (Magnum Force, S.W.A.T., Vega$, Spenser: For Hire, The Love Boat: The Next Wave) dies at age 55.