On this date
In 1520, Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
In 1931, Jane Addams became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; the corecipient was Nicholas Murray Butler.
In 1950, Ralph J. Bunche was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first black American to receive the award.
In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Others who also received the Nobel Peace Prize on this date: South African Bishop Desmond Tutu (1984), human rights advocate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel (1986); and Middle East leaders Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin (1994).
In 1972, baseball’s American League adopted the designated hitter rule on an experimental basis for three years.
In 1996, South African President Nelson Mandela signed the country’s new constitution into law during a ceremony in Sharpeville.
Ten years ago: Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet died at age 91.
Five years ago: Tens of thousands of Russians staged anti-government protests, charging electoral fraud and demanding an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule.
One year ago: The Senate Judiciary Committee rebuked Donald Trump by endorsing a nonbinding amendment, 16-4, that said barring individuals from entering the United States based on religion would be un-American. (The Republican presidential front-runner had called for blocking Muslims from entering the country in the aftermath of attacks in the United States and abroad.)