Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston (1809), and Iran and the United States sign agreement to free 52 American hostages (1981). Born on this day: Edgar Allan Poe, James Watt and Paul Cézanne. Died: Hedy Lamarr, ʿAbbās I and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.
30 events, 69 births and 56 deaths on this date.
Poe wrote poems and short stories of mystery and the macabre, and is often counted a pioneer of detective fiction. He was also the first well-known American who made his income from writing alone, which left him chronically short of money.
Public domainAfter fourteen months of captivity in Tehran, the 52 Americans held at the US embassy were set to go home under a deal signed by both governments. The agreement ended one of the most damaging standoffs of the Cold War era for Washington.
The newly independent Czech Republic and Slovakia, successor states to Czechoslovakia, took their seats as separate members. The Czech Republic is a landlocked Central European country, historically known as Bohemia, with Prague as its capital.
Iraq launched a second Scud missile at Israel during the Gulf War, injuring fifteen people. Israel's restraint was largely shaped by pressure from its allies to avoid joining the coalition fight against Iraq.
Georgia formally left the Union, becoming the fifth state to break away after South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama. Georgia then became one of the original seven Confederate States, a choice that drew it into the Civil War.
Edison's team switched on the first lighting system to run on overhead wires, in Roselle, New Jersey. It showed that electric light could be delivered to ordinary streets and buildings, not just to single lamps.
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Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer whose tales of mystery and the macabre, such as The Raven and his detective stories, shaped Gothic fiction and the detective genre. He was among the first American writers to earn a living purely from writing, a precarious path.
Public domain
Scottish engineer whose improved steam engine, with its separate condenser, wasted far less energy and helped drive the Industrial Revolution. His adaptation for rotary motion took steam power beyond pumping water, and the unit of power, the watt, carries his name.
Henry Howard · Public domain
Paul Cézanne was a French painter who reshaped how artists handled perspective and colour, bridging Impressionism and Cubism. Early critics mocked his work, but fellow painters Picasso and Matisse later regarded him as a founding figure of modern art.
Public domain
Austrian-American actress who co-invented a frequency-hopping radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes during the Second World War. Her invention, patented with composer George Antheil, later underpinned secure wireless technologies such as Bluetooth.
Public domain
ʿAbbās I, the Safavid shah, rebuilt Iran's military and administration after a turbulent start, and reconquered lost provinces from the Ottomans and Uzbeks. He is widely regarded as the greatest ruler of his dynasty.
1647 artist · Public domain
The French printer who taught himself Latin to set books, Proudhon is remembered for declaring that property is theft in his 1840 book What Is Property? He is often counted as the founder of anarchism, having been the first to call himself an anarchist.
Gustave Courbet · Public domain
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