The Boston Massacre riles up American colonists, Che strikes a famous pose, Elvis is discharged, a plane crash kills Patsy Cline, and John Belushi overdoses, all on this day.
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1616: Nicolaus Copernicus's book, "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" ("On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres"), is banned by the Roman Catholic Church, with a decree calling the theory that the Earth revolves around the sun "false and altogether opposed to Holy Scripture." Further, no person was to be permitted to hold or teach the theory. When Galileo subsequently violated the decree, he was put on trial and held under house arrest for the final eight years of his life.