November 23rd, 2008

Today in History

1499:
Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. He had invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.

1963:
The first episode of the science fiction television series Doctor Who debuts on the BBC.

1985:
Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the hijacked jetliner, but 60 people die in the raid.

1991:
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury publicly announces that he has AIDS. Freddie dies peacefully the next day.

1869:
In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched -- one of the last clippers ever to be built, and the only one still surviving to this day.