1513:

Giovanni de'Medici elected to the papacy

Upon the death of Julius II in February, the Sacred College of Cardinals wanted a peace-loving successor to the warlike pope. They chose Cardinal Giovanni de'Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who became Pope Leo X. Leo had led a distinguished career as a cardinal; as pope he made Rome a center of European culture (depleting the treasury in the process), raised the papacy to significant political power, and excommunicated Martin Luther.

A letter from Lorenzo to his young son the cardinal can be found at Paul Halsall's Medieval Sourcebook.

1669:

Mount Etna erupts

The volcano in Sicily has been active for 2.5 million years, but this was the most violent eruption ever recorded in history. During the next four months about 990,000,000 cubic yards of lava were thrown out, destroying a dozen villages. Ashes formed a double cone more than 150 ft high, now called Monti Rossi. Workers dug a trench above the village of Catania in what may be the first attempt ever to divert a lava stream.

1544:

Torquado Tasso

One of the greatest Italian poets of the Renaissance, Tasso is best known for his Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem liberated), an epic poem about the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade.