In 1861, Alexander II of Russia signed the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing Russian serfs.

Born in 1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French writer and philosopher.

“My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.”

Born in 1943 – George Harrison, English guitarist and singer-songwriter.

It’s the feast day of Polycarp, the 2nd-century bishop of Smyrna. Martyred for refusing to burn incense to the emperor, he was bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him.

Born in 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player.

On this day in 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

Above: Malcolm X in front of his house, six days before his assassination.

Born in 1943 – Mike Leigh, English director and screenwriter.

Above: Leigh directing a scene in his 2014 film, Mr. Turner.

Born in 1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer.

Above: Heliocentric model of the solar system in Copernicus’ manuscript.

Born in 1952 – Maurice Lucas, American basketball player and coach.

Born in 1929 – Chaim Potok, American rabbi and author.

“A man is born into this world with only a tiny spark of goodness in him. The spark is God, it is the soul; the rest is ugliness and evil, a shell. The spark must be guarded like a treasure, it must be nurtured, it must be fanned into flame." 
–Reb Saunders, speaking to Reuven in Potok’s novel The Chosen.