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