1290 Bilbo Baggins, Fictional main character of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit (in Shire Reckoning), born
1499 Switzerland becomes an independent state
1515 Anne of Cleves, Queen of England (1539-40), 4th wife of Henry VIII, born in Dusseldorf, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1557)
1692 Last people hanged for witchcraft (8) in the US, 19 hanged overall, with six other deaths during Salem witch trials
1735 Robert Walpole becomes the first British "Prime Minister" (actually First Lord of the Treasury) to live at 10 Downing Street
1761 Coronation of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte
1765 Paolo Ruffini, Italian mathematician (d. 1822), born
1791 Michael Faraday, English scientist, discovered electromagnetic induction, invented 1st electric motor, born in Newington Butts, England (d. 1867)
1792 French First Republic formed by the National Convention, stripping the French king of his powers
1832 During his HMS Beagle voyage Charles Darwin discovers a large number of fossils at Punta Alta in Argentina
1862 US President Abraham Lincoln says he will free slaves in all states on Jan 1
1885 Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American film director and actor (Greed; La Grande Illusion; Sunset Boulevard), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1957)
1895 Paul Muni, American actor (Angel on My Shoulder, Juarez), born in Lviv, Ukraine (d. 1967)
1902 John Houseman, Romanian actor (The Paper Chase, Rollerball, The Fog), born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 1988)
1903 Joseph Valachi, American gangster (Genovese mafia family), born in New York City (d. 1971)
1908 Bulgaria declares independence from the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
1906 Ilse Koch, Nazi war criminal (commonly known as "The Bitch of Buchenwald"), born in Dresden, German Empire (d. 1967)
1920 Bob Lemon, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (MLB All-Star 1948–54; World Series 1948; no-hitter 1948; Cleveland Indians) and manager (KC Royals, Chicago WS; World Series NY Yankees 1978), born in San Bernardino, California (d. 2000)
1922 US Congress passes the Cable Act, under which an American women who marries an 'alien' will not lose citizenship; neither will a women marrying an American automatically become a citizen
1924 Rosamunde Pilcher, English novelist (The Shell Seekers), born in Lelant, England (d. 2019)
1927 Tommy Lasorda, American Baseball Hall of Fame manager (World Series 1981, 88; NL Manager of the Year 1983, 88; LA Dodgers 1976-96), born in Norristown, Pennsylvania (d. 2021)
1932 Ingemar Johansson, Swedish world heavyweight boxing champ (1952)
1939 Timothy Wirth, American politician (Rep-D-CO, 1975-87), President of United Nations Foundation, born in Santa Fe, New Mexico
1943 Toni Basil, American singer (Mickey), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1945 Paul LeMat, American actor (American Graffiti, Melvin and Howard), born in Rahway, New Jersey
1946 Dan Lungren, American politician (Rep-R-California, 1979-88, 2005-13), born in Long Beach, california
1946 King Sunny Ade, Nigerian singer, born in Oshogbo, Nigeria
1946 Canadian woman Evelyn Dick charged with butchering her husband in Hamilton, Ontario
1949 David Coverdale, English singer (Whitesnake, Deep Purple), born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, England
1953 Ségolène Royal, French politician (Socialist party), 1st Frenchwoman to be nominated for the Presidency by a major party, born in Dakar, French West Africa
1954 Shari Belafonte Harper, American actress (Julie-Hotel), born in NYC, New York
1954 Randy Lanier, American auto racer (IMSA Camel GT 1984; convicted drug trafficker 1988), born in Lynchburg, Virginia
1955 Jeffrey Leonard, American Major League baseball player, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1955 John Brennan, American Director of the CIA (2013-18), born in North Bergen, New Jersey
1956 Debby Boone, American singer (You Light Up My Life), born in Hackensack, New Jersey
1957 Johnette Napolitano, American rocker (Concrete Blonde), born in Los Angeles, California
1957 Nick Cave, Australian singer-songwriter (Bad Seeds-Murder Ballads), born in Warracknabeal, Victoria
1957 Pete Jones, English rocker (Public Image Ltd.), born in Watford, England
1958 Joan Jett [Larkin], American singer (Blackhearts-I Love Rock 'n Roll), born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
1958 Andrea Bocelli, Italian tenor (The Prayer), born in Lajatico, Italy
1958 Neil Cavuto, American television commentator (Fox), born in Westbury, New York
1959 Your humble servant makes his first appearance, a week late
1960 Scott Baio, (Joanie Loves Chachi, Charles in Charge, Zapped), born in Brooklyn, New York
1961 Catherine Oxenberg, American actress (Dynasty, Overexposed), born in NYC, New York
1964 "Man from U.N.C.L.E." premieres starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum on NBC-TV: open channel D
1965 India and Pakistan cease-fire goes into effect, ending the Indo-Pakistani War
1966 Surveyor 2 crashes on the Moon, and all contact with it is lost
1969 SF Giant Willie Mays, becomes second player to hit 600 home runs
1969 Matt Sharp, American musician (Weezer, The Rentals), born in Bangkok, Thailand
1971 Christian Fauria, American NFL tight end (Seattle Seahawks), born in Harbour City, California
1973 Henry Kissinger sworn in as America's 1st Jewish Secretary of State, succeeds William Rogers
1975 World Football League folds
1975 Second assassination attempt on US President Gerald Ford by Sara Jane Moore fails in San Francisco
1976 TV dama "Charlie's Angels" starring Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith debuts
1981 Sandra Day O'Connor appointed to US Supreme Court
1982 Billie Piper, English singer and actress (Dr Who), born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England
1985 French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius appears on TV to confess "Agents of the DGSE sank this boat [Rainbow Warrior]. They acted on orders.”
1987 Tom Felton, English Actor (Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter films), born in Epsom, England
1993 Supreme Soviet dismisses President Boris Yeltsin
1993 A Transair Georgian Airlines Tu-154 is shot down by a missile in Sukhumi, Georgia
2015 Volkswagen admits that 11 million cars have been wrongly programmed to appear to emit lesser emissions than they are
2019 US President Donald Trump admits he spoke to Ukrainian President about Joe Biden's son, after news a US intelligence officer made an official complaint about the call
2020 America's COVID-19 death toll passes 200,000, more than any other country
Speaking of equinox, this movie was always advertised in the comic books I read when I was a kid.