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1497
In Florence, Italy, the bonfire of the vanities occurs when supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of objects that were believed to lead one into sin like cosmetics, art, and books.

1812

Novelist Charles Dickens ( The Pickwick Papers) born in Portsmouth, England.

1867
Writer Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House in the Big Woods) born in Pepin, Wisconsin.

1883
Jazz great Eubie Blake born in Baltimore, Maryland.

1885
Writer Sinclair Lewis (Main Street) born in Sauk Center, Minnesota.

1898
Folk musician "Dock" Boggs born in Norton, Virginia.

1908

Actor and swimmer Buster Crabbe (Flash Gordon) born in Oakland, California.
Crabbe won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimming.

1932
Author Gay Talese born in Ocean City, New Jersey.

1940
Walt Disney Animation Studios premieres Pinocchio.
This is the studios second full length animated film.

1964

The Beatles arrive at New York's Kennedy Airport for their first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Cassius Clay becomes a Muslim adopting the name Muhammad Ali.

1984

XIV Winter Olympics open in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

1998

XVIII Winter Olympics open in Nagano, Japan.

2009
Black Saturday Bushfires begin in Victoria, Australia
This was the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

2010

Super Bowl XLIV - New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31 to 17 in Miami.

2014

XXII Winter Olympics open in Sochi, Russia.

Proverb:

Today from Chamber's Book of Days