On this day in the year 1301 of the common era (CE) Edward of Caernarfon (later Edward II) becomes the first English prince of Wales.
On this day in the year 1569 CE, king Philip II of Spain forms the Inquisition in South America, giving it authority to conduct human sacrifice throughout the continent over a period of two hundred and fifty years; 150 people were burned at the stake and thousands more tortured on the rack, by the strappado and waterboarding, others were fortunate enough to merely have their property confiscated and be condemned to slavery in the name of God.
On this day in 1817 CE the city of Baltimore, Maryland becomes the First American city lit by gas street lamps with the first turned on at Market and Lemon Streets (currently Baltimore and Holliday); ninety-eight years later, the first wireless message is sent from a moving train to a station where it is received.
In 1936 CE, Felix the Cat, an animated film from Van Beuren Studios and licensed from Otto Messmer is released; twenty-three years later Fidel Castro produces a new Cuban constitution. Three years after that, in 1962 CE, United States president John F. Kennedy begins a blockade of Cuba by banning all Cuban imports and exports, and three years later begins regular bombing & strafing of North Vietnam.
In 1964 CE The Beatles land at New York's JFK airport, for their first U.S. tour; five years later The Who record their song Pinball Wizard at Morgan Studio's in London, England. Four years after that Iggy Pop and The Stooges release their influential third album Raw Power.
In 1971 CE, Switzerland votes for national women's suffrage in a referendum, the last European country to do so (except for Liechtenstein which apparently does not matter); thirty-five years later, player Uma Thurman is named a knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France for outstanding achievement in the field of art and literature.
In 1974 CE Mel Brooks' western spoof Blazing Saddles, starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, premieres at the Pickwick Drive-In in Burbank, California; patrons watch from horseback rather than cars; twelve years later Haiti’s “president for life,” voo-doo practitioner Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier flees to France.
In 2023 CE, LeBron James scores 38 points to become the National Basketball Association's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 career points.
