By Lucky Felder
1531: Pope Clement VII forbids English King Henry VIII to remarry
1649: Francesco Cavalli’s opera “Giasone” premieres in Venice (the most popular opera of the 17th century)
1709: The Great Frost begins during the night, a sudden cold snap that remains Europe’s coldest ever winter. Thousands are killed across the continent and crops fail in France.
1757: Failed assassination attempt on French King Louis XV by French domestic servant Robert-François Damiens, who was later publicly executed
1781: British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond, Virginia
1854: Steamship San Francisco wrecked off US eastern seaboard, 300 die
1940: FCC hears the first transmission of FM radio with clear, static-free signal
1957: Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson announces his retirement
1963: Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s musical “Camelot”, starring Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet, closes at Majestic Theater, NYC, after 873 performances and winning 4 Tony Awards
1973: Columbia Records releases Bruce Springsteen’s debut album “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.”1989: Baseball signs $400M with ESPN, showing 175 games in 1990