Pope Gregory XIII announced the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Handel's Rinaldo was performed for the first time at the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket in 1711. The New Orleans Mardi Gras parade of 1868 was the first parade to feature floats. Chuck & Di's engagement was announced in 1981 and Athens was shaken by a 6.7 earthquake on the same day. Ayatollah Khomeini announced a $3 million bounty on Salman Rushdie in 1989.
Born today: Charles le Brun (1619-1690), Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859), Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Honus Wagner (1874-1955), Michel Legrand (1932), Renata Scotto (1934), Nicky Hopkins (1944-1994), Barry Bostwick (1945), Dennis Waterman (1948), George Thorogood (1950), Alain Prost (1955), Bill Bailey (1964) and me (like I'm going to tell you what year).
It is Dragobete in Romania.
