This is the date traditionally given for the Greeks' use of the Trojan Horse to defeat Troy in 1184 BC. The United States Library of Congress was established in 1800. In 1915, 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders were arrested in Turkey, an event seen as the beginning of the Armenian genocide. The Easter Rising in Ireland began in 1916. The 17th Century warship
Vasa was salvaged from Stockholm harbour in 1961. Alexander Komarov became the first man to die in space exploration in 1967, when the parachute on
Soyuz 1 failed to deploy.
Born today: Anthony Trollope (1815-1882), Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Robert Penn Warren (1905-1989), Shirley MacLaine (1934), Jill Ireland (1936-1990), Barbra Streisand (1942), Captain Sensible (1954) and Paula Yates (1959-2000).
It is Republic Day in the Gambia.
