1587

Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

1693

A charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in the Virginia Colony.

1915

D.W. Griffith’s controversial epic film “The Birth of a Nation” premiered in Los Angeles.

1960

Work began on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.

1968

Three Black students were killed and 28 wounded as state troopers opened fire on student demonstrators on the campus of South Carolina State College in Orangeburg in the wake of protests over a whites-only bowling alley. The event would become known as the Orangeburg Massacre.

1971

NASDAQ, the world’s first electronic stock exchange, held its first trading day.

Birthdays

Composer-conductor John Williams is 93. Comedian Robert Klein is 83. Actor-rock musician Creed Bratton is 82. Actor Mary Steenburgen is 72. Author John Grisham is 70. Actor Seth Green is 51. Actor William Jackson Harper is 45. Actor-comedian Cecily Strong is 41. Professional surfer Bethany Hamilton is 35.