Read the most important events that happened today.
54: Nero ascends the Roman throne.
1307: By order of the French king, Philip the Beautiful, the Grand Master, Jacques de Mola, as well as thousands of members of the Order of the Knights are arrested. They are tortured, and a few months later they will be burned at the stake. It is Friday the 13th and since then this day is considered to bring rudeness.
1792: George Washington lays the foundation stone for the construction of the White House, which will become the official residence of all US Presidents.
1884: Greenwich Mean Time is established as the basis for calculating world time.
1904: The Macedonian warrior Pavlos Melas (Mikis Zezas) is surrounded by a Turkish detachment in the village of Statista (Melas) and is mortally wounded.
1905: The first Workers' Soviet is established in St. Petersburg, Russia, in which Leon Trotsky is elected president. Then the Soviets (workers' councils) will multiply, demanding eight hours and democratic freedoms.
1917: The Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, Portugal, when 70.000 people claim to have seen the sun "dance", changing colors that flooded the sky. The miracle is attributed to the Virgin Mary.
1923: Ankara is declared the capital of the Turkish secular state by the Turkish National Assembly. The relocation of the capital from Istanbul to Ankara was decided by Kemal Ataturk.
1930: Aliki Diplarakou comes second in the Miss World beauty contest, which is held in Rio de Janeiro.
1934: The landscaping works of Pedio tou Areos begin with the demolition of the cavalry barracks and the transfer of the refugee settlements.
1943: Italy, having changed "camp", declares war on its former ally on the Axis, Germany.
1944: The capital of Latvia, Riga, is occupied by the Red Army.
1944: The Greek People's Liberation Army defeats the Germans in the battle of Elektriki, rescuing the power plant in Keratsini.
1946: France adopts the Constitution of the Fourth French Republic.
1951Marlene Dindrich is awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor by the French for her work in North Africa during World War II.
1955: Terrible storms hit Attica and Thessaly and cause the death of 30 people, while leaving hundreds homeless.
1972: A plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashes in the Andes. Many of the passengers were found alive 72 days later, but admittedly resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. Their incredible story has been brought to the big screen twice.
1977: During the flight from Mallorca to Frankfurt, two men and two women occupy a Lufthansa plane with 86 passengers. They demand the release of eleven Germans and two Turkish prisoners. The pilot was killed, but all crew members and passengers were evacuated safely after an operation in Somalia on October 17. A hijacker survives.
1980: Cuba announces general amnesty for all Americans in the country's prisons.
1992: An Air France plane travels around the world in a record time of 33 hours and 1 minute for a passenger flight.
1993: The PASOK government, which has 43 members, is sworn in, with Andreas Papandreou as prime minister.
1995: Greece's embargo on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia lifted.
1999: According to the UN, the world's population reaches 6 billion. Kofi Annan randomly selects a newborn in Sarajevo to celebrate the event.
2010: The first of 33 trapped workers in a mine in Chile are released. The operation to rescue all the workers who are on the ground for 69 days, at a depth of 622 meters, in a mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile will take about 48 hours.
Births
1161 - Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile
1453 - Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
1499 - Claudia, Queen of France
1613 - Louise of Guzman, Queen of Portugal
1821 - Rudolf Virchow, German scientist and politician
1873 - George Kafantaris, Greek politician
1895 - Kurt Schumacher, German politician
1921 - Yves Montand, Italian-French actor and singer
1925 - Gustaf Winkler, Danish singer
1925 - Margaret Thatcher, English politician
1926 - Killer Kowalski, Canadian wrestler
1926 - Paul Soulikias, Greek painter
1927 - Turgut Ozal, Turkish politician
1930 - Safik Handal, Salvadorian politician
1934 - Nana Mouskouri, Greek singer
1945 - Desi Buters, President of Suriname
1951 - Antonis Kafetzopoulos, Greek actor
1960 - Vassilis Lekkas, Greek singer
1960 - Joey Belladonna, American singer
1964 - Pavlos Pavlidis, Greek songwriter
1965 - Michalis Koumbios, Greek composer
1967 - Javier Sotomayor, Cuban athlete
1969 - Nikolaos Grammatikos, Greek handball player
1971 - Pyrros Dimas, Greek weightlifter
1977 - Paul Pierce, American basketball player
1981 - Dimitris Mougios, Greek rower
1982 - Ian Thorpe, Australian swimmer
1984 - Lionel Jorge Nunies, Argentine footballer
Deaths
54 - Claudius, Roman emperor
1093 - Robert I, Earl of Flanders
1131 - Philip of France, King of the Franks
1382 - Peter II, King of Cyprus
1605 - Akbar the Great, Emperor of the Mongols
1715 - Nicolas Malbrans, French philosopher
1815 - Joachim Mira, French soldier
1882 - Arthur de Gobino, French philosopher
1904 - Pavlos Melas, Greek soldier
1925 - Emmanuel Lykoudis, Greek writer
1961 - Louis Rougasore, Prime Minister of Burundi
1962 - Dimitrios Tsalopoulos, Greek politician
1968 - Pausanias Lykourezos, Greek politician
1976 - Dimitrios Papadimitriou, Greek politician
1985 - Spyros Vassiliou, Greek painter
1985 - Anastasios Alevizos (known as Tassos), Greek engraver
1987 - Walter Hauser Bratain, American physicist
1997 - Adil Tsarcani, Albanian politician
2007 - Bob Denard, French mercenary
2008 - Guillaume Depardieu, French actor
2008 - Socrates Dimitriadis, Greek politician
2010 - Costas Kafassis, Greek singer
2013 - Filippos Syrigos, Greek journalist
2016 - Pumipon Antuniadet, King of Thailand
2016 - Dario Fo, Italian writer
2017 - Albert Zafi, President of Madagascar
2018 - Nikolai Pankin, Russian swimmer
