On this day:
1743 Jean-Pierre Christin invents the Celsius thermometer
1919 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk sets off the Turkish War of Independence
1963 Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is published
Born on this day:
1913 Sanjiva Reddy, Indian politician, sixth President of India (1977-82), born in Illur, British India
1934 Ruskin Bond, Indian author