Some notable facts about this date, for more, visit http://www.onthisday.com
Facts
1170 Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; subsequently martyred
1835 The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States
1845 Texas admitted as 28th state of the Union
1903 French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad & Ubangi-Shari
1997 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu
Deaths
721 Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
1170 Thomas Becket, English Archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated by 4 knights of King Henry II at 52
1916 Grigori Rasputin, Russian faith healer/intriguer, murdered at 45
1986 Harold Macmillan, British Conservative politician, Prime Minister (1957-63), dies at 92
1995 Lita Grey, second wife of Charlie Chaplin, dies of cancer at 87
2003 Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (b. 1928)
2009 "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, American former professional wrestler and football player (b. 1960)
2012 Tony Greig, English cricket captain, all-rounder (1972-77) and commentator, dies from a heart attack at 66
Sport
1933 New York Yankees refuses to release Babe Ruth to manage the Cincinnati Reds
1994 Shane Warne takes a hat-trick v England at cricket MCG
2007 Tom Brady sets a then-NFL record, throwing his 50th TD pass, and the New England Patriots become the first team in NFL history to finish the regular season 16-0.
Films and TV
1933 "Sons of the Desert" film directed by William A. Seiter starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy is released
1965 "Thunderball", 4th James Bond film starring Sean Connery and Claudine Auger premieres in Tokyo
1967 Star Trek's "Trouble With Tribbles" 1st airs
Born on this day
1972 Jude Law, English actor (The Talented Mr. Ripley), born in London
1989 Kei Nishikori, Japanese tennis player (11 singles titles, only Japanese player ranked in top 10), born in Matsue, Japan
A Couple of Pics from those no longer with us
Harold Macmillan
Bob Monkhouse