Events (200 years ago today): 1818 - The case of Ashford v Thornton ends, with Abraham Thornton allowed to go free rather than face a retrial for murder, after his demand for trial by battle is upheld.

Events (100 years ago today): 1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a. The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day.

Events (50 years ago today): 1968 - English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood speech.

Births (300 years ago today): 1718 - David Brainerd, American missionary (d. 1747)

Births (200 years ago today): 1818 - Heinrich Göbel, German-American mechanic and engineer (d. 1893)

Births (100 years ago today): 1918 - Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)

Births (50 years ago today): 1968 - Yelena Välbe, Russian skier and manager

Deaths (100 years ago today): 1918 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)

Deaths (50 years ago today): 1968 - Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (b. 1877)

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