Historical Events Happened Today

Historical Events on 2 Feb

2012-02-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 2 Feb

1032 - Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.
1509 - The Battle of Diu takes place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.
1536 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1542 - Portuguese under ChristovÃ£o da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of BaÃ§ente.
1653 - New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
1709 - Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
1787 - Arthur St. Clair is elected the 9th President of the President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
1790 - The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time after an unsuccessful attempt on February 1.
1812 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at what is now Fort Ross, California.
1848 - California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in California's gold country arrives in San Francisco, California.
1848 - Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the war.
1876 - The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
1880 - The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.
1882 - The Knights of Columbus are formed in New Haven, Connecticut.
1887 - In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
1899 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.
1901 - Queen Victoria's funeral takes place.
1913 - Grand Central Station was opened in New York City.
1920 - The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
1920 - France occupies Memel.
1922 - Ulysses by James Joyce is published in Paris, France.
1925 - Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1933 - Adolf Hitler dissolves the German Parliament.
1935 - Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
1940 - Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
1943 - World War II: The last German forces surrender to the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.
1946 - The Proclamation of Hungarian Republic is made.
1957 - President Iskander Mirza of Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the Guddu Barrage across river Indus near Sukkur.
1966 - Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir dispute as number one item for the proposed Indo-Pak ministerial talks after 1965 war.
1967 - The American Basketball Association is formed.
1971 - After a coup in Uganda, Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader.
1972 - The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday.
1974 - The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
1976 - The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
1980 - Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in the Abscam sting operation.
1980 - This Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey is formally founded.
1982 - Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama and kills thousands of people.
1989 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.
1989 - Satellite television service Sky Television plc launched in Europe.
1990 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
1998 - A Cebu Pacific Air DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, killing 104.
2002 - The wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to the Argentinean born MÃ¡xima Zorreguieta takes place.
962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.

Historical Events on 1 Feb

2012-02-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 1 Feb

1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
1411 - The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn, Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).
1662 - The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
1713 - The Kalabalik or Tumult in Bendery results from the Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.
1790 - In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States attempts to convene for the first time.
1793 - French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
1796 - The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
1814 - Mayon Volcano, in the Philippines, erupts, killing around 1,200 people; most devastating eruption of Mayon Volcano.
1856 - Auburn University is chartered as the East Alabama Male College.
1861 - American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
1862 - Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published for the first time in the Atlantic Monthly.
1880 - The first edition of theatrical newspaper The Stage is published.
1884 - Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
1893 - Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
1896 - The opera La bohÃ¨me premieres in Turin.
1897 - Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince Luis Filipe are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon.
1913 - New York City's Grand Central Terminal opens as the world's largest train station.
1918 - Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
1920 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begins operations.
1924 - The United Kingdom recognizes USSR.
1943 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Premier of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.
1946 - Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General.
1957 - Felix Wankel's first working prototype DKM 54 of the Wankel engine was running at the NSU research and development department Versuchsabteilung TX in Germany
1958 - Merger of Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.
1960 - Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1965 - The Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada is renamed the Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill.
1968 - The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form ill-fated Penn Central Transportation.
1968 - Canada's three military services of Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.
1968 - Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan is videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams. This image helped build opposition to the Vietnam War.
1972 - Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
1974 - A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in Sao Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293.
1974 - Kuala Lumpur is declared a Federal Territory.
1978 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.
1979 - The Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
1979 - Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
1982 - Senegal and the Gambia form a loose confederation known as Senegambia.
1989 - The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
1992 - The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case.
1996 - The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1998 - Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne became the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.
2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
2004 - 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
2004 - Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.
2005 - Nepal King Gyanendra exercises Coup d'Ã©tat to capture the democracy becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.
2005 - Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage.

Historical Events on 31 Jan

2012-01-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 31 Jan

1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
1846 - After the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown unified as the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1849 - Corn Laws are abolished in the United Kingdom (following legislation in 1846).
1862 - Alvan Graham Clark observes the first white dwarf star, a companion of Sirius, through an eighteen inch telescope at Northwestern University.
1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a French ship for Algeria
1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
1891 - The first attempt of a Portuguese republican revolution brakes out in the northern city of Porto.
1900 - Datu Muhammad Salleh is assassinated in Kampung Teboh, Tambuan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion
1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russia
1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 - A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1919 - The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland.
1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
1930 - 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
1936 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts.
1941 - Layforce set sail.
1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
1944 - World War II: During Anzio campaign 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) was destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
1945 - US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed, the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.
1946 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
1950 - President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
1953 - A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.
1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France.
1957 - Eight people on the ground in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.
1958 - Explorer program: Explorer 1 - The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit.
1961 - Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2 - Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
1966 - Luna program: soviet union's unmanned spacecraft Luna 9 is launched.
1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon.
1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.
1970 - A Saskatchewan Court convicts 17-year-old hippie David Milgaard of murder; he is sentenced to life in prison. He spent 23 years in jail until April 14, 1992 when DNA evidence proves him innocent of all charges.
1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 Mission - Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
1971 - The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.
1980 - Thirty-nine people burn to death in the occupation of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala.
1990 - The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, USSR.
1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.
1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
2000 - Alaska Airlines flight 261 MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.
2001 - In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2003 - The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia.
2007 - Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.

Historical Events on 30 Jan

2012-01-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 30 Jan

1648 - Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of MÃ¼nster is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.
1649 - King Charles I of England is beheaded.
1661 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years.
1790 - The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
1806 - The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.
1820 - Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
1826 - The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales is opened.
1835 - In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson.
1841 - A fire destroys two-thirds of MayagÃ¼ez, Puerto Rico.
1847 - Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
1858 - The first HallÃ© concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of the HallÃ© Orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
1862 - The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
1889 - Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling.
1911 - The destroyer USS Terry (DD-25) makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.
1911 - The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy.
1913 - The United Kingdom's House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill.
1925 - The Government of Turkey throws Patriarch Constantine VI out of Istanbul.
1930 - The world's first radiosonde is launched in Pavlovsk, USSR.
1933 - Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
1943 - World War II: Second day of the Battle of Rennell Island. TheUSS Chicago (CA-29) is sunk and a U.S. destroyer is heavily damaged by Japanese torpedoes.
1943 - Holocaust in Letychiv, Ukraine: The Nazi Gestapo commences mass shootings of Jews from Letychiv Ghetto. 200 surviving Jews from Letychiv slave labor camp are ordered to undress and are shot with a machine-gun into a ravine. Some 7,000 Jews were murdered i
1944 - World War II: United States troops land on Majuro.
1945 - The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, leading to the deadliest maritime disaster in known history, killing roughly 9,000 people.
1945 - World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: 126 American Rangers and Filipino resistance liberate 500 prisoners from the Cabanatuan POW camp.
1945 - World War II: Hitler gives his last ever public address, a radio address on the 12th anniversary of his coming to power. (A subsequent address on February 24 was not read by Hitler.)
1948 - Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist.
1956 - American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1962 - Two of the high-wire Flying Wallendas are killed when their seven-person pyramid collapses during a performance in Detroit, Michigan.
1964 - Ranger program: Ranger 6 is launched.
1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins when Viet Cong forces launch a series of surprise attacks in South Vietnam.
1969 - The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
1972 - Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
1972 - Bloody Sunday: British Paratroopers kill fourteen civil rights/anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland.
1976 - George H. W. Bush becomes the 11th director of the CIA.
1979 - Varig 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
1982 - Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".
1989 - The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.
1994 - PÃ©ter LÃ©kÃ³ becomes the youngest chess grand master.
1995 - Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease.
1996 - Gino Gallagher, the suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army, is killed while waiting in line for his unemployment benefit.
1996 - Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake.
2000 - Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169.
2003 - Belgium legally recognizes same-sex marriage.

Historical Events on 29 Jan

2012-01-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 29 Jan

1595 - William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is probably first performed.
1676 - Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia.
1814 - France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.
1834 - US President Andrew Jackson orders first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.
1845 - "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe is published in the New York Evening Mirror.
1850 - Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
1856 - Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.
1861 - Kansas admitted as the 34th U.S. state.
1863 - Bear River Massacre.
1886 - Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
1891 - Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch.
1900 - The American League is organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 8 founding teams.
1916 - World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.
1936 - The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.
1940 - Three gasoline multiple units carrying factory workers crash and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi station, Yumesaki Line (Nishinari Line), Osaka, Japan, killing at least 181 people and injuring at least 92.
1943 - The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, U.S. cruiser Chicago is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.
1944 - USS Missouri the last battleship commissioned by the US Navy is launched.
1944 - World War II: The Battle of Cisterna takes place in central Italy.
1944 - World War II: About 38 men, women, and children die in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland.
1944 - In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio is destroyed in an air-raid bombing
1959 - Sleeping Beauty, an animated feature produced by Walt Disney based upon a fairy tale, is released.
1963 - First inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.
1966 - The first of 608 performances of Sweet Charity opens at the Palace Theatre, New York.
1978 - Sweden outlaws aerosol sprays due to their harmful effect on the ozone layer, becoming the first nation to enact such a ban.
1979 - Brenda Ann Spencer kills 2 and injures 9 in the Cleveland Elementary School shootings, inspiring the "I don't Like Mondays" song by Boomtown Rats.
1989 - Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making them the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so
1996 - President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.
1996 - La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire.
1998 - In Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic, killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.
2001 - Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
2002 - In his State of the Union Address, United States President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of Evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
2005 - The first direct commercial flights from the mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines carrier landed in Beijing.
904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.

Historical Events on 28 Jan

2012-01-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 28 Jan

1077 - Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.
1521 - The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
1547 - Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.
1573 - Articles of Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
1624 - Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on Saint Kitts.
1724 - The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree. It was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
1754 - Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity.
1760 - Pownal, Vermont created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants.
1813 - Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
1820 - Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovered the Antarctic continent approaching the Antarctic coast.
1846 - Battle of Aliwal, India won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
1855 - The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.
1871 - Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
1878 - Yale Daily News becomes the first daily, college newspaper in the United States.
1887 - In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
1902 - The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
1909 - United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War.
1915 - An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.
1916 - Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
1917 - Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco, California.
1918 - Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
1921 - A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I.
1922 - Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses.
1932 - Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
1933 - The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
1934 - The first ski tow in the United States begins operation in Vermont.
1935 - Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
1938 - The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195.
1945 - World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
1958 - The Lego company patented their design of Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

Historical Events on 27 Jan

2012-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 27 Jan

1142 - Wrongful execution of noted Song Dynasty General Yue Fei.
1186 - Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, weds Constance of Sicily.
1343 - Pope Clement VI issues the Bull Unigenitus.
1593 - Vatican opens 7 year trial against scholar Giordano Bruno.
1606 - Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, and ending in their execution on January 31.
1695 - Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his death in 1703.
1785 - The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
1825 - U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears."
1870 - The first women's fraternity, Kappa Alpha Theta, is formed at DePauw University.
1888 - In Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Society is founded.
1909 - The Young Left is founded in Norway.
1918 - The first hostilities occurred in the Finnish Civil War.
1939 - First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
1944 - World War II: The two-year Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
1945 - World War II: The Red Army arrives at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.
1951 - Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on the Frenchman Flats.
1967 - Apollo program: Apollo 1 - Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of the spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center.
1967 - More than sixty nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning nuclear weapons in space.
1973 - Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde falls, becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.
1974 - Brisbane river has the largest flood in the 20th Century
1983 - Pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of HonshÅ« and HokkaidÅ breaks through.
1996 - Colonel Ibrahim BarÃ© MaÃ¯nassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.
1996 - Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.

Historical Events on 26 Jan

2012-01-26T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 26 Jan

1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France.
1500 - Vicente YÃ¡Ã±ez PinzÃ³n becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
1531 - Lisbon, Portugal hit by an earthquake--thousands die.
1564 - The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
1565 - Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subco
1589 - Job is elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
1699 - Treaty of Carlowitz signed.
1700 - The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake took place off the west coast of the North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
1736 - Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
1788 - The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Sydney Harbour to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day
1808 - Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.
1837 - Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
1838 - Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
1841 - The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China later formally ceded.
1855 - Point No Point Treaty signed in Washington Territory.
1856 - First Battle of Seattle (1856). Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
1861 - American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
1863 - American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
1863 - American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
1870 - American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.
1885 - Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum.
1905 - The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.
1907 - The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British Military Service, and remains the oldest military rifle still in official use.
1911 - Richard Strauss' opera Der Rosenkavalier receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
1911 - Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful seaplane.
1920 - Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
1930 - The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence) which occurred 20 years later.
1934 - The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
1934 - German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
1939 - Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
1942 - World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
1950 - India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president. Republic Day.
1952 - Black Saturday in Egypt: riots burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
1958 - Japanese ferry Nankai Maru capsized off southern Awaji Island, Japan, 167 killed.
1961 - John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds this appointment.
1962 - Ranger program: Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later missed the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
1965 - Hindi becomes the official language of India.
1966 - The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.
1980 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
1988 - Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera has its first performance on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre in New York.
1991 - Mohamed Siad Barre is removed in Somalia, ending centralized government
1992 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
1998 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2001 - An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.
2004 - President Hamid Karzai signs the new constitution of Afghanistan.
2004 - A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing Sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion.
2005 - Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.
2005 - Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post.
2006 - Western Union discontinues use of its telegram service.

Historical Events on 25 Jan

2012-01-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 25 Jan

1327 - Edward III becomes King of England.
1494 - Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
1533 - Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.
1554 - Founding of SÃ£o Paulo city, Brazil.
1573 - Battle of Mikatagahara, in Japan; Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.
1592 - Presumed date of victory of Siamese King Naresuan over Burmese Crown Prince Minchit Sra in a duel on elephant back; commemorated as Royal Thai Armed Forces Day.
1755 - Moscow University established on Tatiana Day.
1787 - American Daniel Shays leads rebellion to seize Federal arsenal to protest debtor's prisons.
1791 - The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.
1792 - The London Corresponding Society is founded.
1858 - The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.
1879 - The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.
1881 - Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.
1890 - Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
1909 - Richard Strauss' opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
1915 - Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service.
1917 - The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million.
1919 - The League of Nations is founded.
1924 - The 1924 Winter Olympics open in Chamonix, France (in the French Alps), inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
1937 - The Guiding Light airs on radio for the first time. Also went to television making this show the longest running broadcast program in United States radio and television history.
1941 - Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
1942 - World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.
1945 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge ends.
1946 - The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
1949 - The first Israeli election -- David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister.
1949 - At the Hollywood Athletic Club the first Emmy Awards are presented.
1955 - Soviet Union ends state of war with Germany.
1959 - Pope John XXIII proclaims upcoming Second Vatican Council.
1960 - The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records.
1961 - In Washington, D.C. John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.
1971 - Charles Manson and three female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.
1971 - Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president.
1971 - Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state.
1981 - Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, is sentenced to death.
1986 - The National Resistance Movement topple the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.
1990 - Avianca Flight 52 crashes, killing 73 passengers.
1990 - Honduras becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1990 - The Burns' Day storm hits northwestern Europe.
1993 - Five people were shot outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia resulting in two murders.
1994 - The Clementine space probe launches.
1995 - The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.
1998 - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide attack on Sri Lanka's Temple of the Tooth, killing 8 people injuring 25 others.
1998 - During a historic visit to Cuba Pope John Paul II demands the release of political prisoners and political reforms while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.
1999 - A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.
2001 - A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela killing 24.
2002 - Wikipedia switches to the new version of its software ("Phase II") aka Magnus Manske Day.
2004 - Opportunity rover (MER-B) lands on surface of Mars.
2005 - A stampede at the Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi in India kills at least 258.
2006 - Three independent observing campaigns announce the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing, the first cool rocky/icy extrasolar planet around a main-sequence star.
41 - After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.

Historical Events on 24 Jan

2012-01-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 24 Jan

1438 - The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
1679 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.
1742 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1776 - Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga.
1826 - Mississippi College is founded in Clinton, becoming the first college in the state of Mississippi.
1848 - California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.
1857 - The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia.
1859 - Political union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as ruler.
1862 - Bucharest proclaimed capital of Romania.
1878 - The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.
1887 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians.
1907 - Robert Baden-Powell founds the Boy Scout movement.
1916 - In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
1918 - The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective from February 14(NS)
1924 - Petrograd, formerly Saint Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad.
1927 - Director Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England.
1936 - Albert Sarraut becomes Prime Minister of France
1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
1952 - Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.
1966 - An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117.
1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
1977 - Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.
1978 - Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories.
1978 - Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted prisoners to marry in prison in the history of the Republic of Ireland.
1984 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
1986 - Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus.
1993 - Turkish journalist and writer UÄŸur Mumcu is assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara.
1994 - Turkey's First Satellite Turksat 1A falls into the ocean.
1996 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
2003 - The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
41 - Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Claudius succeeds his nephew.

Historical Events on 23 Jan

2012-01-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 23 Jan

1368 - In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends to the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.
1510 - Henry VIII of England, then 18 years old, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond, and is applauded for his jousting before he reveals his identity.
1533 - Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of England, discovers herself pregnant.
1546 - Having published nothing for eleven years, Francois Rabelais publishes the Tiers Livre, his sequel to Gargantua and Pantagruel.
1556 - The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
1570 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war.
1571 - The Royal Exchange opens in London.
1579 - The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
1656 - Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.
1719 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
1789 - Georgetown College, first Roman Catholic college in the United States, was founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.)
1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States' first female doctor.
1855 - The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.
1870 - In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in the Marias Massacre.
1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke's Drift ends.
1897 - Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
1899 - Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as President of the First Philippine Republic.
1904 - Ã…lesund Fire: the Norwegian coastal town Ã…lesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
1907 - Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
1912 - The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
1920 - The Netherlands refuses to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
1937 - In Moscow, 17 leading Communists go on trial accused of participating in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime and assassinate its leaders.
1941 - Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
1943 - Jewish-led Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
1943 - World War II: British forces capture Tripoli in Libya from the Nazis.
1943 - Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time.
1943 - World War II: Australian and American forces finally defeat the Japanese army in Papua. This turning point in the Pacific War marks the beginning of the end of Japanese aggression.
1945 - World War II: Karl DÃ¶nitz launches Operation Hannibal.
1950 - The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
1958 - Overthrow in Venezuela of Marcos PÃ©rez JimÃ©nez
1960 - The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 m (35,798 feet)in the Pacific Ocean.
1964 - The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
1967 - The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Ivory Coast were established.
1968 - North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship had violated their territorial waters while spying.
1973 - President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
1973 - [[A volcano eruption devastates Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar chain of islands off the south coast of Iceland.
1978 - Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, believed to be damaging to earth's ozone layer.
1985 - O.J. Simpson becomes the first Heisman Trophy winner elected to the Football Hall of Fame.
1986 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
1996 - The first version of the Java programming language was released.
1997 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
1997 - Antonis Daglis, a 23 year old Greek truck driver is sentenced to thirteen consecutive life sentences, plus 25 years for the serial slayings of three women and the attempted murder of six others.
2001 - The Chinese Communist Party stages a self-immolation in Tiananmen Square to frame Falun Gong and escalate the persecution.
2002 - Reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan. He was subsequently murdered .
2002 - "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh returns to the United States in Federal Bureau of Investigation custody.
2003 - Final communication between Earth and Pioneer 10
393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor.
909 - John of Rila aka Saint Ivan and the fable of two pies.
971 - In China, the war elephant corps of the Southern Han are soundly defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops. The Southern Han state is forced to submit to the Song Dynasty, ending not only Southern Han rule, but also the first regular war

Historical Events on 22 Jan

2012-01-22T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 22 Jan

1506 - The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrive at the Vatican.
1521 - Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms.
1771 - Spain cedes Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands to England.
1824 - Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast.
1840 - British colonists reach New Zealand.
1863 - The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to regain Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation of Russia.
1877 - Arthur Tooth, an Anglican clergyman is taken into custody after being prosecuted for using ritualist practices.
1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Rorke's Drift - 139 British soldiers successfully defend their garrison against an intense assault by four to five thousand Zulu warriors.
1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Isandlwana - Zulu troops defeat British troops.
1889 - Columbia Phonograph was formed in Washington, D.C.
1890 - The United Mine Workers of America was founded in Columbus, Ohio.
1899 - Leaders of six Australian colonies meet in Melbourne to discuss confederation.
1901 - Edward VII becomes King after his mother, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, dies.
1905 - Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg, beginning of the 1905 revolution.
1906 - SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.
1917 - World War I: President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.
1919 - Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
1924 - Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister.
1927 - First live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, bewtween Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury.
1931 - Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom captures Tobruk from Nazi forces.
1944 - World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle which was an assault on Anzio, Italy.
1946 - Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.
1946 - Iran: Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad at Chuwarchira Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad. He is the new president; Hadschi Baba Scheich is the prime minister.
1947 - KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California.
1952 - The first Jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, enters service for BOAC.
1957 - The New York City "Mad Bomber," George P. Metesky, was arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and was charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
1957 - NHL super star Mike Bossy was born.
1957 - Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.
1962 - The Organization of American States suspends Cuba's membership.
1963 - The ElysÃ©e treaty of cooperation between France and Germany was signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.
1973 - The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decision in Roe v. Wade, allowing abortion
1973 - A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria killing 176.
1980 - Andrei Sakharov is arrested in Moscow.
1984 - The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, was introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous "1984" television commercial.
1987 - Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a press conference on live national television, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism.
1990 - Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet worm.
1991 - Gulf War. Three SCUDs and one Patriot missile hit Ramat Gan in Israel, injuring 96 people. Three elderly people die of heart attacks.
1992 - Space Shuttle program: STS-42 Mission - Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space.
1992 - Rebel forces occupy Zaire's national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation.
1995 - Israeli-Palestinian conflict: In central Israel, two suicide bombers from the Gaza Strip blow themselves up at a military transit point killing 19 Israelis.
1999 - Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India.
2002 - Kmart Corp becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
2003 - Last successful contact with the spacecraft Pioneer 10, one of the most distant man-made objects.
2006 - Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.
2007 - The jury portion of the trial against Robert Pickton, accused of being Canada's worst serial killer, opens in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus.

Historical Events on 21 Jan

2012-01-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 21 Jan

1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.
1287 - The treaty of San Agayz is signed. Minorca is conquered by King Alfons III of Aragon.
1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in ZÃ¼rich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
1643 - Abel Tasman was the first European to reach Tonga.
1720 - Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
1749 - The Verona Philharmonic Theatre was destoyed by fire. It was rebuilt in 1754.
1789 - The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
1793 - After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France was executed by the guillotine.
1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
1864 - The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.
1887 - Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.
1893 - The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, was formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate which is now Botswana.
1899 - Opel manufactured its first automobile.
1908 - New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
1911 - The first Monte Carlo Rally.
1915 - Kiwanis International was founded in Detroit, Michigan.
1919 - Meeting of the First DÃ¡il Ã‰ireann in the Mansion House Dublin, Sinn FÃ©in adopts Ireland's first constitution. The first engagement of Irish War of Independence, Sologhead Beg, County Tipperary.
1921 - The Italian Communist Party was founded at Livorno.
1924 - Vladimir Lenin dies; a lengthy power struggle emerges between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin begins, culminating to the latter's consolidation of power c. 1928.
1925 - Albania declares itself a republic.
1941 - World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.
1948 - The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time, over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Quebec Flag Day.
1950 - Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
1954 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.
1958 - The last Fokker C.X in military service, the Finnish Air Force FK-111 target tower, crashed, killing the pilot and winch-operator.
1968 - Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh - One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
1969 - An experimental underground nuclear reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, released radiation into a cavern, which was then sealed.
1972 - Tripura becomes a full-fledged state in India.
1976 - Commercial service of Concorde begins with London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
1977 - President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.
1985 - Because January 20 had fallen on a Sunday, Ronald Reagan's public inaugural ceremony (for his second term as President) was moved to Monday, January 21. Due to bad weather, the ceremony was held indoors in the United States Capital Rotunda.[1]
1997 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
1999 - War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kg (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
2002 - The Canadian Dollar sets all-time low against the US Dollar (US$0.6179).
2004 - Canada: The residence of reporter Juliet O'Neill is searched by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigating leaks concerning the deportation of Maher Arar.
2004 - NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies with Flash Memory management and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
2005 - In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
2007 - Awashima Marine Park in Japan catches a video tape of the rare frilled shark.
2008 - Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.
2008 - The Eyak language in Alaska becomes extinct as its last native speaker dies.

Historical Events on 20 Jan

2012-01-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 20 Jan

1156 - According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of lake KÃ¶yliÃ¶njÃ¤rvi in Finland.
1265 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now also known as the "Houses of Parliament".
1320 - Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
1356 - Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scotland.
1502 - The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored.
1523 - Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
1576 - The Mexican city of LeÃ³n is founded by order of the viceroy Don MartÃn EnrÃquez de Almansa.
1649 - Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes".
1667 - The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and left-bank Ukraine to Imperial Russia in the treaty of Andrusovo.
1783 - The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.
1788 - The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides Botany Bay is unsuitable for location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson.
1801 - John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States.
1839 - In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance.
1840 - Dumont D'Urville discovers AdÃ©lie Land, Antarctica.
1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
1841 - Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
1885 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.
1887 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
1892 - At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.
1920 - The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
1921 - The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
1929 - In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking film filmed outdoors, is released.
1936 - Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
1937 - Franklin Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. This is the first inauguration scheduled on January 20, following adoption of the 20th Amendment. Previous inaugurations were scheduled on March 4.
1942 - World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin agree on the "final solution to the Jewish problem".
1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
1945 - Hungary ends its involvement in the Second World War, agreeing to an armistice with the Allies.
1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
1968 - The Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win the Game of the Century.
1969 - The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula.
1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.
1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr., day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1987 - Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.
1990 - Black January - crackdown of Azerbaijani pro-independence demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku.
1991 - Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
1992 - Air Inter Flight 148 crashes near Strasbourg, France, killing 82 passengers and 5 crew.
1999 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafÃ©s.
2001 - Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in the EDSA II Revolution and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian was martyred. Afterwards the Donatist controversy over readmitting lapsed Christians disaffects many in North Africa.

Historical Events on 19 Jan

2012-01-19T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 19 Jan

1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy.
1511 - Mirandola surrenders to the French.
1520 - Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund.
1607 - San Agustin Church in Manila is officially completed; it is currently the oldest church in the Philippines
1764 - John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.
1788 - Second group of ships of the First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay.
1795 - Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands. End of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
1806 - The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope.
1812 - Peninsular War: After a ten day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, orders British soldiers of the Light and third divisions to storm Ciudad Rodrigo.
1817 - An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General JosÃ© de San MartÃn, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.
1829 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust Part 1 premieres.
1839 - The British East India Company captures Aden.
1840 - Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming what became known as Wilkes Land for the United States.
1853 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premieres in Rome.
1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs - The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict.
1871 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of St. Quentin is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory.
1883 - The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
1893 - Henrik Ibsen's play The Master Builder premieres in Berlin.
1899 - Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.
1915 - Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
1915 - World War I: German zeppelins bomb the cities of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing more than 20, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.
1917 - German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann sends the Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico, proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the United States.
1917 - Silvertown explosion: 73 are killed and 400 injured in an explosion in a munitions plant in London.
1918 - Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
1920 - The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
1935 - Coopers Inc. sells the world's first briefs.
1937 - Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
1941 - World War II: British troops attack Italian-held Eritrea.
1942 - World War II: Japanese forces invade Burma.
1945 - World War II: Soviet forces liberate the ghetto of ÅÃ³dÅº. Out of 230,000 inhabitants in 1940, less than 900 had survived Nazi occupation.
1946 - General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.
1949 - Cuba recognises Israel.
1953 - 68% of all television sets in the United States are tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
1966 - Indira Gandhi is elected Prime Minister of India.
1969 - Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire 3 days earlier in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turned into another major protest.
1971 - The revival of No, No, Nanette premieres at the 46th Street Theatre, in New York City.
1975 - Triple J begins broadcasting in Sydney, Australia.
1977 - Snow falls in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that snowfall has occurred. It also fell in the Bahamas.
1977 - President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose").
1978 - The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America would continue until 2003.
1981 - Iran Hostage Crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
1983 - Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia.
1983 - The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
1993 - IBM announces a $4.97 billion loss for 1992, the largest single-year corporate loss in United States history.
1997 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
2006 - Terrorist blows himself up in Tel Aviv, killing only himself but injuring 20 people, one of them seriously.
2006 - A Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crashes in Hungary.
2006 - The New Horizons probe is launched by NASA on the first mission to Pluto.
2007 - Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink assassinated in front of his newspaper's office by 17 year old Turkish ultranationalist OgÃ¼n Samast.

Historical Events on 18 Jan

2012-01-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 18 Jan

1126 - Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong.
1486 - King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.
1520 - King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Ã…sunden.
1535 - Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, the capital of Peru.
1562 - Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
1670 - Henry Morgan captures Panama.
1701 - Frederick I becomes King of Prussia.
1777 - Representatives of the New Hampshire Grants declare the independence of the Vermont Republic from Britain.
1778 - James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".
1788 - The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay.
1861 - American Civil War - Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in seceding from the United States.
1871 - Wilhelm I of Germany is proclaimed the first German Emperor in the 'Hall of Mirrors' of the Palace of Versailles towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War. The empire was known as The Second Reich to the Germans.
1884 - Dr. William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the United Kingdom.
1886 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
1896 - The X-ray machine is exhibited for the first time.
1903 - President Theodore Roosevelt sends a radio message to King Edward VII: the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States.
1911 - Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco harbor, marking the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.
1913 - A Greek flotilla defeats the Ottoman Navy in the Naval Battle of Lemnos during the First Balkan War, securing the islands of the Northern Aegean Sea for Greece.
1915 - Japan issues the "Twenty-One Demands" to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.
1916 - A 611 gram chondrite type meteorite stikes a house near the village of Baxter in Stone County, Missouri.
1919 - World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
1919 - Bentley Motors Limited is founded.
1919 - Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
1943 - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
1944 - Soviet forces liberate Leningrad, effectively ending a three year Nazi siege, known as the Siege of Leningrad.
1944 - The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City hosts a jazz concert for the first time. The performers were Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.
1945 - Liberation of the Budapest ghetto by the Red Army.
1955 - Battle of Yijiangshan occurred.
1958 - Willie O'Ree, the first African Canadian National Hockey League player, makes his NHL debut.
1967 - Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life in prison.
1969 - United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay resulting in the loss of all 32 passengers and six crew members.
1974 - A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
1977 - Australia's worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.
1977 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease.
1978 - The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
1983 - The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals to his family.
1990 - Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
1991 - Eastern Air Lines goes out of business after 62 years, citing financial problems.
1993 - For the first time, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially observed in all 50 states.
1994 - The Cando event, a possible bolide impact in Cando, Spain. Witnesses claim to have seen a fireball in the sky lasting for almost one minute.
1997 - Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided.
1997 - In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
1998 - Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair story on his website The Drudge Report.
2000 - The Tagish Lake meteorite impacts the Earth.
2002 - Sierra Leone Civil War was finally declared over.
2003 - A bushfire kills 4 people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.
2007 - The strongest storm in the United Kingdom in 17 years kills 14 people, Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Hurricane Kyrill, causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe. Other losses include the Container Ship MSC N
350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor.
474 - Leo II briefly becomes Byzantine emperor.
532 - Nika riots in Constantinople fail.

Historical Events on 17 Jan

2012-01-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 17 Jan

1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca.
1377 - Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.
1524 - Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage to find a passage to China.
1562 - France recognizes the Huguenots under the Edict of Saint-Germain.
1595 - Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
1605 - First publication of Don Quixote.
1648 - England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
1773 - Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens - Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
1799 - Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots were executed.
1852 - The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal.
1873 - A group of Modoc warriors defeat the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War.
1885 - A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
1893 - The Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston overthrows the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
1899 - The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
1904 - Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
1912 - Sir Robert Falcon Scott (Scott of the Antarctic) reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
1913 - Raymond PoincarÃ© is elected President of France.
1917 - The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
1929 - Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
1941 - Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after World War II.
1945 - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
1945 - The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
1945 - Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
1946 - The UN Security Council holds its first session.
1949 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs.
1950 - The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car Company's offices in Boston, Massachusetts.
1961 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex".
1966 - A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping four 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares hydrogen bombs incident.
1973 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes "President for Life" of the Philippines.
1977 - Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States.
1982 - "Cold Sunday" in the United States would see temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities.
1985 - British Telecom announces the retirement of the United Kingdom's red telephone boxes.
1989 - Stockton massacre: Patrick Purdy opens fire with an assault rifle at the Cleveland Elementary School playground, killing five children and wounding 29 others and one teacher before taking his own life.
1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
1991 - Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.
1994 - 1994 Northridge Earthquake: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California.
1995 - The Great Hanshin earthquake: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people.
1996 - The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
1997 - A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
1998 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
2001 - President Bill Clinton posthumously raises Meriwether Lewis' rank from Lieutenant to Captain.
2002 - Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
2007 - The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea nuclear testing.
38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla.

Historical Events on 16 Jan

2012-01-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 16 Jan

1120 - The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1362 - A great storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German island of Strand and the city of Rungholt.
1412 - The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
1492 - The first grammar of a modern language, in the Spanish language, is presented to Queen Isabella.
1547 - Ivan IV of Russia aka Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar of Russia.
1556 - Philip II becomes King of Spain.
1572 - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
1581 - The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
1605 - The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid.
1707 - The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
1761 - The British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
1777 - Vermont declares its independence from New York.
1780 - American Revolution: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
1809 - Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La CoruÃ±a.
1847 - John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
1864 - Second Schleswig War: King Christian IX of Denmark declares war on the German Confederation in order to occupy Schleswig.
1878 - Captain Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
1883 - The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
1896 - Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
1900 - The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
1909 - Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
1919 - Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
1920 - Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. is founded on the campus of Howard University.
1938 - The famous jazz concert by the Benny Goodman Orchestra and special guests takes place at Carnegie Hall in New York City, the first jazz performance in that venue.
1945 - Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called FÃ¼hrerbunker.
1956 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
1968 - The Youth International Party is founded.
1969 - Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
1970 - Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
1979 - The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocates to Egypt.
1986 - First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
1991 - The United States goes to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time).
1992 - El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City ending a 12-year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
2001 - Congolese President Laurent-DÃ©sirÃ© Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
2001 - US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War.
2002 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
2003 - The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
2006 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
27 BC - The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate.
550 - Gothic War (535-552): The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.

Historical Events on 15 Jan

2012-01-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 15 Jan

1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
1759 - The British Museum opens.
1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
1822 - Greek War of Independence: Demetrius Ypsilanti is elected president of the legislative assembly.
1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana.
1865 - American Civil War - Fort Fisher North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
1889 - The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is originally incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.
1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.
1908 - The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African-American college women.
1919 - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps.
1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).
1943 - World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
1943 - World War II: The Japanese are driven off Guadalcanal.
1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
1947 - The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California.
1949 - The Chinese Communist Party forces took over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.
1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in West Germany.
1966 - The government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in Nigeria is overthrown in a military coup dâ™Ã©tat.
1967 - The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles, California.
1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
1976 - Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
1977 - The KÃ¤lvesta air disaster kills 22 people, the worst air crash in Sweden's history.
1986 - The Living Seas opens at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, Florida.
1990 - AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
1991 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
1993 - Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Sicily after three decades as a fugitive
1999 - The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak are killed by Yugoslav security forces.
2001 - Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
2005 - An intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system.
2005 - ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.
588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC.
69 - Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only rules for three months before committing suicide.

Historical Events on 14 Jan

2012-01-14T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 14 Jan

1129 - Formal approval of the Order of the Templar at the Council of Troyes.
1301 - Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Arpad dynasty in Hungary.
1501 - Martin Luther, age 17, enters the University of Erfurt.
1514 - Pope Leo X issues a papal bull against slavery.
1539 - Spain annexes Cuba.
1639 - The "Fundamental Orders", the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut.
1724 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne.
1761 - The Third Battle of Panipat was fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marhatas. The Afghan victory changed the course of Indian History.
1784 - American Revolutionary War: The United States ratifies a peace treaty with England.
1814 - Treaty of Kiel: Frederick VI of Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden in return for Pomerania.
1822 - Greek War of Independence: Acrocorinth is captured by Theodoros Kolokotronis and Demetrius Ypsilanti.
1858 - Napoleon III of France escapes an assassination attempt.
1907 - An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than 1,000.
1913 - First Balkan War: The Greek army defeats the Turks at Bizani.
1938 - Norway claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica.
1943 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to travel via airplane while in office He travelled from Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill to discuss World War II.
1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill begin the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of the war.
1950 - The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.
1953 - President Josip Broz Tito is elected president of Yugoslavia.
1954 - The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation.
1967 - Counterculture of the 1960s: The Human Be-In, takes place in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love. Between 20,000 to 30,000 people attend.
1969 - An explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 27 people.
1972 - Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascends the throne, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.
1975 - Teenage heiress Lesley Whittle is kidnapped by Donald Neilson, aka "the Black Panther".
1994 - President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin sign the Kremlin Accords.
1998 - Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis).
1998 - An Afghan cargo plane crashes into a mountain in southwest Pakistan killing more than 50 people.
2000 - A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Muslims in a Bosnian village.
2004 - The national flag of Georgia, the so-called "five cross flag", was restored to official use after a hiatus of some 500 years.
2005 - Landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan.

Historical Events on 13 Jan

2012-01-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 13 Jan

1328 - Edward III of England marries Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault.
1547 - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death.
1559 - Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.
1605 - The controversial play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison.
1607 - The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.
1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th moon of Jupiter.
1733 - James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina.
1785 - John Walter publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times).
1822 - The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
1830 - The Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins.
1832 - President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.
1840 - The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.
1842 - Dr. William Brydon, a surgeon in the British Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 16,500 when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.
1847 - The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.
1869 - National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C.
1893 - The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting.
1893 - U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
1898 - Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.
1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, PA killing 171 people.
1913 - Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University as the second Black Greek Letter Organization for Women. The mission was to make a move towards social activism.
1915 - An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800.
1934 - The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR.
1935 - A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
1938 - The Church of England accepts the theory of evolution.
1939 - The Black Friday bush fires burn 20,000 square kilometres of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.
1942 - Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.
1942 - World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.
1942 - The United States begins Japanese American internment.
1953 - Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen as President of Yugoslavia.
1958 - Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.
1964 - Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, is appointed archbishop of Krakow, Poland.
1964 - Hindu-Muslim rioting breaks out in the Indian city of Calcutta - now Kolkata - resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people.
1966 - Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
1968 - Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison
1972 - Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong.
1974 - Seraphim is elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.
1982 - Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists. Coincidentally, a Washington DC Metro Rail train is derailed, killing 3 people.
1985 - A passenger train plunged into a ravine at Ethiopia, killing 428, where accident is the worst railroad disaster in Africa.
1986 - A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
1990 - L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
1991 - Soviet Union military troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius.
1992 - Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
2001 - An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.
2007 - Two thirds of the Venus's southern hemisphere suddenly brightened as something triggered aerosols to form at a furious rate.
532 - Nika riots in Constantinople.
888 - Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.

Historical Events on 12 Jan

2012-01-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 12 Jan

1528 - Gustav I of Sweden crowned king of Sweden.
1539 - Treaty of Toledo signed by King Francis I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
1773 - The first public Colonial American museum opens in Charleston, South Carolina.
1777 - Mission Santa Clara de AsÃs is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California.
1808 - The organizational meeting that led to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
1848 - The Palermo rising in Sicily rises against the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
1866 - The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.
1872 - Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
1875 - Kwang-su becomes emperor of China.
1895 - The National Trust is founded in Britain.
1898 - Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister of Japan.
1906 - Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet (which included amongst its members H.H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election.
1908 - A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
1911 - The University of the Philippines College of Law is formally established; three future Philippine presidents are among the first enrollees.
1915 - The United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote.
1915 - The Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of U.S. Congress.
1918 - Finland's "Mosaic Confessors" law went into effect, making Finnish Jews full citizens.
1932 - Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
1940 - World War II: Soviets bombs cities in Finland.
1942 - President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
1945 - World War II: The Soviets begin a large offensive against the Nazis in Eastern Europe.
1964 - Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic.
1966 - Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
1967 - Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
1970 - Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
1971 - The Harrisburg Six: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
1976 - The UN Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
1991 - Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
1992 - A new constitution, providing for freedom to form political parties, is approved by a referendum in Mali.
1995 - Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, is arrested for conspiring to kill Louis Farrakhan.
1998 - Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
2004 - The world's largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.
2005 - Deep Impact (space mission) launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket.
2006 - A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
2006 - The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany declare that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have reached a dead end and recommend that Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council.
2006 - The French warship Clemenceau reaches Egypt and is barred access to the Suez Canal. Greenpeace activists board the ship.
2006 - Turkey releases Mehmet Ali AÄŸca from jail after he served 25 years for shooting Pope John Paul II.
2007 - Comet McNaught reaches perihelion becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years.
475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople.

Historical Events on 12 Jan

2012-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 12 Jan

Historical Events on 11 Jan

2012-01-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 11 Jan

1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire.
1158 - Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia.
1569 - First recorded lottery in England.
1571 - Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
1693 - Mt. Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.
1759 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
1779 - Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur.
1787 - William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
1794 - Robert Forsythe, a U.S. Marshal is killed in Augusta, Georgia when trying to serve court papers, the first US marshal to die while carrying out his duties.
1805 - The Michigan Territory is created.
1861 - Alabama secedes from the United States.
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post - General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
1867 - Benito JuÃ¡rez becomes the Mexican president again.
1879 - The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
1908 - Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
1912 - The Lawrence textile strike begins in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
1917 - The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.
1919 - Romania annexes Transylvania.
1922 - First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
1923 - Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its reparation payments.
1935 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
1942 - Japan declares war on the Netherlands and invades the Netherlands East Indies.
1942 - The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.
1943 - The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.
1946 - Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania with himself as dictator.
1949 - First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.
1957 - Mass-murderer Jack Gilbert Graham is executed via the Gas Chamber.
1957 - The African Convention is founded in Dakar.
1962 - An avalanche on Huascaran in Peru causes 4,000 deaths.
1964 - United States Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry, M.D., publishes a report saying that smoking may be hazardous to health. It is the first such statement ever made by the U.S. government.
1972 - East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
1986 - The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia is officially opened.
1990 - 300,000 march in favor of Lithuanian independence.
1994 - The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn FÃ©in.
1996 - Haiti becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1998 - Sidi-Hamed massacre takes place in Algeria, over 100 people are killed.

Historical Events on 10 Jan

2012-01-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 10 Jan

1072 - Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo.
1475 - Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui.
1645 - Archbishop William Laud is beheaded at the Tower of London.
1776 - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense.
1806 - Dutch settlers in Cape Town surrender to the British.
1810 - The marriage of Napoleon and Josephine is annulled.
1861 - American Civil War: Florida secedes from the Union.
1863 - The London Underground, the world's oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station.
1870 - John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil.
1901 - The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
1920 - The League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.
1922 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of the Irish Free State.
1923 - Lithuania seizes and annexes Memel.
1941 - Lend-Lease is introduced into the U.S. Congress.
1941 - World War II: The Greek army captures Kleisoura.
1946 - The first General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Fifty-one nations are represented.
1962 - Apollo Project: NASA announces plans to build the C-5 rocket booster. It became better known as the Saturn V moon rocket, which launched every Apollo moon mission.
1984 - The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations after 117 years.
1989 - Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola.
1990 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.
1999 - A large piece of the chalk cliff at Beachy Head collapses into the sea.
2005 - A mudslide occurs in La Conchita, California, killing 10 people, injuring many more and closing the Highway 101, the main coastal corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, for 10 days.
49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.

Historical Events on 9 Jan

2012-01-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 9 Jan

1349 - The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing bubonic plague, were rounded up and incinerated.
1431 - Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
1760 - Afghans defeat Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
1768 - Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London.
1788 - Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
1793 - Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
1799 - British Prime Minister William Pitt introduces income tax to raise funds for the war against Napoleon.
1806 - Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.
1816 - Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
1822 - The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese king JoÃ£o VI, starting the Brazilian independence process.
1839 - The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
1857 - The Fort Tejon earthquake of California occurs, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9.
1858 - Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
1861 - American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".
1861 - Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
1863 - American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman occurs in Arkansas.
1878 - Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
1880 - The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow.
1894 - New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1903 - Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the famous poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
1905 - According to the Julian Calendar which was used at the time, Russian workers stage a march on the Winter Palace that ends in the massacre by Tsarist troops known as Bloody Sunday, setting off the Russian Revolution of 1905.
1916 - The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Ã‡anakkale, as the last British troops are evacuated.
1917 - World War I: the Battle of Rafa occurs near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1923 - Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
1941 - First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
1941 - World War II: The Greek Triton (S.112) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.
1945 - The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
1947 - Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.
1951 - The United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City.
1964 - Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
1968 - The only known snowfall in Mexico City occurs; additional snow falls on January 10 and 11.
1972 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
1986 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak must give up its instant camera business.
1991 - The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
1997 - A Comair Embraer EMB 120 crashes during approach into Detroit Metro Airport, killing 29 people.
2001 - Shenzhou 2, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft, is launched.
2005 - Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh.
2005 - The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, commonly known as the Naivasha Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya.
2007 - Apple Inc CEO, Steve Jobs announces the iPhone.
475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople.

Historical Events on 8 Jan

2012-01-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 8 Jan

1297 - Monaco gains its independence.
1499 - Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.
1734 - Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
1790 - George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address address in New York City.
1806 - Cape Colony becomes a British colony.
1811 - A unsuccessful slave revolt was led by Charles Deslandes in St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
1815 - War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans - Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
1835 - The United States national debt is 0 for the first and only time.
1838 - Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
1863 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
1867 - African American men granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
1877 - Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain (Montana Territory).
1900 - President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.
1906 - A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
1912 - The African National Congress is founded.
1916 - World War I: Allied forces withdraw from Gallipoli.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
1926 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud becomes the King of Hejaz and renames it Saudi Arabia.
1940 - World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
1956 - Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
1959 - Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution is completed with the take over of Santiago de Cuba.
1961 - In France, a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
1962 - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
1962 - The Harmelen train disaster kills 93 people in The Netherlands.
1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
1973 - Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
1973 - Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
1975 - Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States who did not succeed her husband.
1979 - The tanker Betelgeuse explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland (The Betelgeuse incident).
1982 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
1989 - The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 onboard.
1989 - Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.
1994 - Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
1996 - An Antonov 32 cargo turboprop powered plane crashes into the central market in Kinshasa, Zaire killing more than 350 people.
2002 - President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
2004 - The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
2006 - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake with its epicenter just off the Greek island of Kythira hits much of the country and is felt throughout the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea.
2008 - New Jersey officially apologizes for slavery, becoming the first Northern state to do so.
871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army.

Historical Events on 7 Jan

2012-01-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 7 Jan

1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England.
1598 - Boris Godunov becomes Tsar of Russia.
1608 - Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
1610 - Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.
1782 - The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opens.
1785 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
1797 - The modern Italian flag is first used.
1835 - The HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.
1894 - W.K. Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.
1904 - The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS".
1922 - DÃ¡il Ã‰ireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64-57 vote.
1927 - First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London.
1931 - Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand's west coast.
1935 - Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco-Italian Agreement.
1942 - World War II: The siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
1945 - World War II: British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
1950 - A fire at the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, kills 41 people.
1953 - President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed the hydrogen bomb.
1954 - Georgetown-IBM experiment, the first public demonstration of a machine translation system, is held in New York at the head office of IBM.
1959 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
1972 - Iberia Airlines Caravelle 6-R crashes into Mont San Jose on approach to Ibiza Airport killing all 104 on board.
1973 - Mark Essex fatally shoots 10 people and wounds 13 others at Howard Johnsonâ™s Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana before being shot to death by police officers.
1979 - Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
1980 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
1984 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
1990 - The interior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
1991 - Beginning of the operation Desert Storm, during the Gulf War.
1993 - The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated with Jerry Rawlings as President.
1999 - The impeachment of President Bill Clinton begins.

Historical Events on 6 Jan

2012-01-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 6 Jan

1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England.
1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans.
1449 - Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI is crowned at Mistra.
1494 - The first Mass in the New World is celebrated at La Isabela, Hispaniola.
1535 - Francisco Pizarro founds the city of Lima, Peru.
1540 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
1579 - The Union of Atrecht is signed.
1649 - The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.
1661 - The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.
1690 - Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I, becomes King of the Romans.
1720 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings.
1781 - In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey.
1838 - Samuel Morse first successfully tests the electrical telegraph.
1853 - American President-Elect Franklin Pierce and his family are involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts.
1870 - The inauguration of the Musikverein (Vienna).
1887 - `Abd-allah II of Harar opens the Battle of Chelenqo with an attack on the camp of the Shewan army of Negus Menelik II.
1893 - The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
1900 - Boers attack Ladysmith, South Africa - over 1,000 people killed.
1907 - Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome.
1912 - New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.
1929 - King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution (the so-called January 6th Dictatorship, Å estojanuarska diktatura).
1929 - Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin a her work amongst India's poorest and diseased people.
1930 - The first diesel-engine automobile trip is completed (from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).
1931 - Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
1936 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act was unconstitutional in the case United States v. Butler et al.
1940 - Mass execution of Poles, committed by Germans in the city of PoznaÅ„, Warthegau.
1941 - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms Speech in the State of the Union Address.
1942 - Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world.
1950 - The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
1967 - United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
1974 - In response to the 1973 energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
1978 - The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
1980 - The beginning of the first GPS epoch.
1995 - A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
2004 - Costas Simitis announces his resignation as president of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement in Greece.
2005 - Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.

Historical Events on 5 Jan

2012-01-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 5 Jan

1066 - Edward the Confessor, King of England dies.
1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France.
1500 - Duke Ludovico Sforza conquers Milan.
1527 - Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in ZÃ¼rich, is executed by drowning.
1554 - A great fire occurs in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
1675 - Battle of Colmar: the French army beats Brandenburg.
1757 - Louis XV of France survives the assassination attempt by Robert-FranÃ§ois Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
1759 - George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1846 - The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.
1854 - The San Francisco steamer sinks, killing 300 people.
1895 - Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
1896 - An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Roentgen has discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.
1900 - Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.
1909 - Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
1912 - The Prague Party Conference takes place.
1913 - First Balkan War: During the Naval Battle of Lemnos, Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
1914 - The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.
1918 - The Free Committee for a German Workers Peace, which would become the Nazi party, is founded.
1925 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.
1933 - Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
1940 - FM radio is demonstrated to the FCC for the first time.
1944 - The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
1945 - The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.
1962 - A replica of the miraculous statue, the Holy Infant of Good Health, is presented to Blessed Pope John XXIII.
1968 - Alexander DubÄek comes to power: "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia.
1972 - U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.
1974 - An earthquake in Lima, Peru, kills six people, and damages hundreds of houses.
1975 - The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
1976 - Cambodia is renamed Democratic Kampuchea by the Khmer Rouge.
1993 - The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
1993 - Washington state executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the first legal hanging in America since 1965).
1996 - Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.
2005 - Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.

Historical Events on 4 Jan

2012-01-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 4 Jan

1490 - Anna of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the king of France will be considered guilty of the crime of lese-majesty.
1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey.
1642 - King Charles I of England sends soldiers to arrest members of Parliament, commencing England's slide into civil war.
1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.
1717 - The Netherlands, England, and France sign the Triple Alliance.
1762 - England declares war on Spain and Naples.
1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
1854 - The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.
1878 - Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule.
1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London.
1885 - The first successful appendectomy is performed by William W. Grant on Mary Gartside.
1896 - Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
1903 - Topsy, an elephant, was electrocuted by Thomas Edison during the War of Currents campaign.
1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.
1944 - World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
1944 - World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
1948 - Burma regains its independence from the United Kingdom.
1951 - Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (it was launched on October 4, 1957).
1959 - Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
1962 - New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board.
1965 - United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address.
1972 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.
1974 - United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1975 - Elizabeth Ann Seton becomes the first American-born saint.
1987 - The Chase, Maryland rail wreck: An Amtrak train en route to Boston, Massachusetts from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.
1989 - Second Gulf of Sidra incident: a pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
1998 - A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
1998 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria: over 170 are killed in three remote villages.
1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
1999 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque, killing 16 people and injuring 25.
2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
2006 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
2007 - The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
46 BC - Titus Labienus defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina.
871 - Battle of Reading: Ethelred of Wessex fights, and is defeated by, a Danish invasion army.

Historical Events on 3 Jan

2012-01-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 3 Jan

1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
1521 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
1749 - Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
1777 - American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
1815 - Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
1823 - Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.
1834 - The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City.
1848 - Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Republic of Liberia.
1861 - American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
1868 - Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and ChÅshÅ« seize power.
1870 - The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
1888 - The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
1899 - The first known use of the word automobile, was seen in an editorial in The New York Times.
1921 - Turkey makes peace with Armenia.
1924 - English explorer Howard Carter discovers the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt.
1925 - Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
1932 - Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop revolt by banana workers fired by United Fruit.
1933 - Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
1938 - The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1944 - World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
1945 - World War II: Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan.
1947 - Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
1953 - Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
1956 - A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
1957 - The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
1958 - The West Indies Federation is formed.
1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. State.
1961 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1961 - The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, leaks radiation, killing three workers.
1962 - Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
1977 - Apple Computer is incorporated.
1988 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century.
1990 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
1993 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
1994 - An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkutsk, Russia, killing 125 people including one on the ground.
1997 - The People's Republic of China announces it will spend $27.7 billion USD to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.
1999 - The Mars Polar Lander was launched.
1999 - Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
2004 - Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 people on board.
2007 - National Express has its worst ever coach crash just outside Heathrow Airport.

Historical Events on 2 Jan

2012-01-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 2 Jan

1492 - Reconquista: Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India.
1788 - Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1791 - Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.
1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
1808 - The U.S. Congress bans the importation of slaves.
1818 - The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded.
1833 - Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands.
1860 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the AcadÃ©mie des Sciences in Paris.
1871 - Amadeus I becomes King of Spain.
1872 - Brigham Young is arrested on charges of bigamy for having 25 wives.
1882 - John D. Rockefeller unites his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust.
1893 - Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America introduces railroad chronometers.
1900 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
1905 - The American anarcho-syndicalist union known as the Industrial Workers of the World forms.
1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian garrison surrenders at Port Arthur, China.
1917 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over the Quebec Bank.
1920 - The Palmer Raids begin in the United States.
1923 - United States Interior Secretary Albert Fall resigns over the Teapot Dome scandal.
1929 - Canada and the United States agree on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls.
1935 - Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.
1941 - World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.
1941 - World War II: The U.S. government announces its Liberty ship program to build freighters in support of the war effort.
1942 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history -- the Duquesne Spy Ring.
1942 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces.
1942 - The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
1946 - Unable to resume rule after World War II, King Zog of Albania abdicates but retains his claim to the throne.
1949 - Luis MuÃ±oz MarÃn becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
1955 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.
1957 - The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange and Los Angeles Oil Exchange merge.
1959 - Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R.
1969 - Luis FerrÃ© becomes the first statehooder Governor of Puerto Rico.
1969 - Operation Barrier Reef begins in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
1971 - The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic football match.
1974 - President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.
1999 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13Â°F (-25Â°C); 68 deaths are reported.
2001 - Sila CalderÃ³n becomes the first female Governor of Puerto Rico.
2002 - Eduardo Duhalde is appointed interim President of Argentina by the Legislative Assembly.
2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later.
366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.
533 - Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.

Historical Events on 1 Jan

2011-12-31T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 1 Jan

1001 - Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Silvester II.
1259 - Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris.
1438 - Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
1515 - King Francis I of France succeeds to the French throne.
1527 - Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as king of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.
153 BC - Roman consuls begin their year in office.
1600 - Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of 25 March.
1651 - Charles II is crowned King of Scotland.
1700 - Russia begins using the Anno Domini era and no longer uses the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire.
1707 - John V is crowned King of Portugal.
1739 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
1772 - The first traveler's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London.
1781 - 1,500 soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey as part of the Pennsylvania (Continentals; Regiment) Mutiny of 1781.
1788 - First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
1800 - The Dutch East India Company is dissolved.
1801 - The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1801 - The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
1803 - Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the TÃ¢y SÆ¡n Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huáº¿, Vietnam.
1804 - French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black republic and first independent country in the West Indies.
1806 - The French Republican Calendar is abolished.
1808 - The importation of slaves into the United States is banned.
1833 - The United Kingdom claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
1845 - The Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn is completed.
1861 - Porfirio DÃaz conquers Mexico City.
1863 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
1863 - American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
1876 - The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
1877 - Queen Victoria of Britain is proclaimed Empress of India.
1880 - Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.
1890 - Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.
1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin processing immigrants into the United States.
1893 - Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.
1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England, is officially opened to traffic.
1898 - New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
1899 - Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
1901 - The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.
1901 - Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
1902 - The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena.
1906 - British India officially adopts the Indian Standard Time.
1908 - For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight.
1909 - Drilling begins on the Lakeview Gusher.
1910 - Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear Admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members), since Horatio Nelson.
1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
1912 - The Republic of China is established.
1916 - German troops abandon YaoundÃ© and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
1919 - Edsel Ford succeeds his father, Henry Ford, as president of the Ford Motor Company.
1920 - The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party.
1922 - The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly of Epidaurus.
1923 - Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMSR.
1925 - The American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way.
1927 - Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian).
1929 - The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.
1934 - Alcatraz Island becomes a United States federal prison.
1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
1937 - Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain.
1939 - William Hewlett and David Packard found Hewlett-Packard.
1939 - Sydney, Australia, swelters in 45 ËšC (113 ËšF) heat, a record for the city.
1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
1945 - World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Unternehmen Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow.
1945 - World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops massacre 30 SS prisoners at Chenogne.
1947 - The American and British occupation zones in Germany, after the World War II, merge to form the Bizone, that later became the Federal Republic of Germany.
1948 - The Constitution of Italy comes into force.
1948 - British railways are nationalised to form British Rail.
1948 - After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
1949 - United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
1950 - The state of Ajaigarh is ceded to the Government of India.
1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
1956 - A new year event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, central Niigata, Japan, killing at least 124 people.
1957 - George Town, Penang becomes a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
1957 - An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit attacks Brookeborough RUC barracks in one of the most famous incidents of the IRA's Operation Harvest.
1958 - The European Community is established.
1959 - Fulgencio Batista, president of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution.
1960 - The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
1962 - Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
1962 - United States Navy SEALs established.
1964 - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
1965 - The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul.
1966 - After a coup, Colonel Jean-BÃ©del Bokassa assumes power as president of the Central African Republic.
1966 - A twelve-day New York City transit strike begins.
1971 - Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
1973 - Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.
1978 - The Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands becomes effective.
1978 - Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 crashes into the sea, due to instrument failure and pilot disorientation, off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
1979 - Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.
1980 - Victoria is crowned princess of Sweden.
1981 - The Republic of Palau achieves self-government though it is not independent from the United States.
1981 - The Republic of Greece is admitted into the European Community.
1982 - Peruvian Javier PÃ©rez de CuÃ©llar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary General of the United Nations.
1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
1984 - The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is broken up into twenty-two independent units as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T .
1984 - The Sultanate of Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
1985 - The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
1986 - The Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic are admitted into the European Community.
1986 - Aruba becomes independent of CuraÃ§ao, though it remains in free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
1989 - The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer comes into force.
1990 - David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.
1993 - Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.
1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.
1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
1994 - The European Economic Area comes into effect.
1994 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican State of Chiapas.
1994 - The International Tropical Timber Agreement comes into effect.
1995 - The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
1995 - The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
1995 - The World Trade Organization comes into effect.
1995 - The Kingdom of Sweden and the republics of Austria and Finland are admitted into the European Union.
1996 - CuraÃ§ao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
1997 - Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is appointed Secretary General of the United Nations.
1997 - The Republic of ZaÃ¯re officially joins the World Trade Organization, as ZaÃ¯re.
1998 - The European Central Bank is established.
1998 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
1999 - The Euro currency is introduced.
2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.
2002 - Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
2002 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially comes into force.
2004 - In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007.
2007 - Adam Air Flight 574 disappears over Indonesia with 102 people on board.
2007 - Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, joining 20 other official languages.
2008 - A New Hampshire law legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples comes into effect.
2008 - Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency.
404 - The last known gladiatorial competition in Rome takes place.
45 BC - The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time.
630 - The Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that captures it bloodlessly.

Historical Events on 31 Dec

2011-12-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 31 Dec

1229 - James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca.
1599 - British East India Company is chartered.
1660 - James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.
1775 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold.
1831 - Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
1857 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada.
1862 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.
1891 - A new immigration depot was opened on Ellis Island, New York.
1904 - The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York.
1909 - Manhattan Bridge opens.
1923 - The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.
1944 - World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany.
1946 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
1955 - The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.
1960 - The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
1961 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion USD in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
1963 - The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
1981 - Coup d'Ã©tat in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
1983 - The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
1986 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
1987 - Robert Mugabe assumes office as President of Zimbabwe.
1991 - The Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
1994 - This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC-11 to UTC+13 and UTC-10 to UTC+14, respectively.
1998 - Exchange rates between the euro and legacy currencies in the Eurozone become fixed.
1999 - Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.
1999 - Five hijackers, who had been holding 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane, leave the plane with two Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed.
1999 - The United States Government hands Panama Canal control over to Panama as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
2004 - The official opening of Taipei 101, the current tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 feet).
2007 - December 2007 Bocaue Fire. Seven people injured when a fire razed several fireworks stores in the Municipality of Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines.
2007 - The Massive Big Dig construction project in Boston, Massachusetts ends.
406 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia.
535 - Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year.

Historical Events on 30 Dec

2011-12-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 30 Dec

1460 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield.
1816 - The Treaty of St. Louis is proclaimed.
1853 - Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.
1853 - A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London.
1862 - The USS Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
1896 - JosÃ© Rizal is executed by firing squad in Manila.
1897 - Natal annexes Zululand.
1903 - A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills 600.
1905 - Former Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated near his home in Caldwell, Idaho.
1906 - The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, which later laid down the foundations of Pakistan.
1919 - Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.
1922 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed.
1924 - Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.
1927 - The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo, Japan.
1936 - The United Auto Workers union stages its first sit-down strike.
1940 - California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
1943 - Subhash Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.
1944 - King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant.
1947 - King Michael of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet-backed Communist government of Romania.
1953 - The first ever NTSC color television sets go on sale for about USD at $1,175 each from RCA.
1965 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines.
1972 - Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
1977 - For the second time, Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
1986 - The Swift Current Broncos' bus crashes during bad weather outside of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, killing 4 players and injuring 1.
1993 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.
1995 - The lowest ever United Kingdom temperature of -27.2Â°C was recorded at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. This equalled the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on February 11, 1895 and January 10, 1982.
1996 - Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.
1996 - In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, killing 26.
1997 - In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people are killed from four villages.
2000 - Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
2003 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself and his office from the Plame affair.
2004 - A fire in the RepÃºblica Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.
2005 - Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.
2006 - Madrid Barajas International Airport is bombed.
2006 - Saddam Hussein is executed by hanging.

Historical Events on 29 Dec

2011-12-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 29 Dec

1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
1778 - American Revolutionary War: 3,500 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell captures Savannah, Georgia without firing a shot.
1786 - French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convoked
1812 - The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
1813 - British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.
1835 - The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
1845 - Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
1851 - The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
1860 - The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, HMS Warrior is launched.
1876 - The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
1890 - United States soldiers clash with members of the Great Sioux Nation in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
1911 - Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.
1911 - Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.
1930 - Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
1934 - Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
1937 - The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
1939 - First flight of the Consolidated B-24.
1940 - World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe firebombs London, killing almost 200 civilians.
1949 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
1972 - An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed "Tristar") crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
1975 - A bomb exploded at La Guardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
1989 - Václav Havel is elected president of Czechoslovakia. He became the first non-Communist to attain the post in more than four decades.
1989 - Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
1992 - Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
1996 - Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
1997 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
1998 - Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million.
2001 - Mesa Redonda shopping center fire, Lima, Peru, at least 291 killed.

Historical Events on 28 Dec

2011-12-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 28 Dec

1065 - Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, emperor of Japan, begins.
1612 - Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
1832 - John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
1835 - Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.
1836 - Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.
1836 - South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
1846 - Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
1867 - United States claims Midway Island, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
1879 - The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passed over it, killing 75.
1895 - The LumiÃ¨re brothers have their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines marking the debut of the cinema.
1908 - An earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.
1912 - The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California.
1929 - "Black Saturday" in Samoa: New Zealand colonial police kill 11 unarmed demonstrators, an event which leads the Mau movement to demand independence for Samoa.[1]
1935 - Pravda publishes a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
1939 - First flight of the Consolidated XB-24 Liberator bomber prototype.
1945 - The Congress of the United States officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.
1948 - The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.
1950 - The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.
1973 - The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
1974 - Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-JÃ«f at a clandestine congress.
1981 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.
1989 - A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
1999 - Saparmurat Niyazov is proclaimed President for Life in Turkmenistan.
2000 - U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
2005 - A U.S. immigration judge orders John Demjanjuk deported to Ukraine for crimes against humanity committed during World War II.
2007 - Nepal declared a federal democratic Republic by interim parliament, abolishing the monarchy.

Historical Events on 27 Dec

2011-12-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 27 Dec

1512 - The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regards to native Indians in the New World.
1657 - The Flushing Remonstrance is signed.
1703 - Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.
1814 - Destruction of schooner Carolina, the last of Commodore Daniel Patterson's make-shift fleet that fought a series of delaying actions that contributed to Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans.
1831 - Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate the theory of evolution.
1836 - The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.
1845 - Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia.
1918 - The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins.
1923 - Namba Daisuke, a Japanese student, tries to assassinate the Prince Regent Hirohito.
1939 - Erzincan, Turkey was hit by an earthquake.
1942 - The Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia is founded.
1945 - The World Bank was created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
1949 - Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence.
1968 - Apollo Program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first manned mission to the Moon.
1978 - Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.
1979 - The Soviet Union seizes control of Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin.
1985 - Palestinian guerrillas kill eighteen people inside Rome and Vienna airports.
1996 - Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
1997 - Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.
2001 - The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
2002 - Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya.
2007 - Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated by a suicide bomber.
537 - The Hagia Sophia is completed.

Historical Events on 26 Dec

2011-12-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 26 Dec

1481 - Battle of Westbrook - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
1620 - Elizabeth BÃ¡thory's crimes are uncovered.
1620 - Pilgrim Fathers land at what becomes New Plymouth in Massachusetts.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton.
1790 - Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.
1792 - The final trial of Louis XVI of France begins in Paris.
1793 - The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz takes place.
1793 - Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians.
1805 - Austria and France sign the Treaty of Pressburg.
1806 - Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon.
1811 - A theater fire in Richmond, Virginia kills the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable.
1825 - Several Imperial Russia army officers lead circa 3000 soldiers on the Senate Square in the failed Decembrist uprising.
1848 - The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
1860 - The first ever inter-club football match takes place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at the Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England.
1861 - American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain.
1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
1862 - Four nuns serving as volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover are the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship.
1862 - The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, killing 39.
1870 - The 12.8-km long FrÃ©jus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.
1871 - Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two would not collaborate again for four years.
1883 - The Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.
1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
1916 - Joseph Joffre is made Marshal of France.
1919 - Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee.
1925 - The Communist Party of India is founded.
1925 - Turkey adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
1933 - The Nissan Motor Company is organized in Tokyo, Japan.
1933 - FM radio is patented.
1943 - World War II: The German warship Scharnhorst sinks off the coast of North Cape in Norway after being attacked by the Royal Navy late the previous evening.
1944 - World War II: U.S. troops repulse German forces at Bastogne.
1945 - CFP franc and CFA franc are created.
1948 - Cardinal Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.
1966 - The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
1973 - Comet Kohoutek reaches perihelion but is not as spectacular a display as expected.
1973 - Soyuz 13 lands on earth after a week in orbit.
1974 - Salyut 4 is launched.
1975 - The Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union.
1976 - The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) is founded.
1979 - Soviet Special forces take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
1979 - Opening night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon; a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot.
1980 - Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service.
1982 - Time Magazine's Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.
1986 - World Population reaches 5 billion according to www.ibiblio.org world population tracker.
1986 - The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air.
1988 - The Nanjing Anti-African protests in Nanjing, the People's Republic of China begin.
1991 - The Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR.
1996 - Start of the largest strike in South Korean history.
1996 - The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force.
1996 - Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenÃ©t Ramsey is found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.
1997 - The Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore.
1998 - Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland cause widespread disruption and widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland.
1998 - Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.
1999 - Severe weather in France kills over 100 people and causes extensive damage to property, trees and the French national power grid (see Lothar).
2003 - A strong magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel of Arg-Ã© Bam.
2004 - A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people.
2005 - Boxing Day shooting on a busy shopping street in Toronto.
2006 - The 2006 Hengchun earthquake with 7.1 magnitude hit Taiwan.

Historical Events on 25 Dec

2011-12-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 25 Dec

1000 - The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror as king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
1100 - Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned as the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity
1130 - Roger II of Sicily is crowned as the first King of Sicily
1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene.
1261 - John IV Lascaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaeologus.
1553 - Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeats the Spanish conquistadors and exetutes the governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia.
1599 - The city of Natal, Brazil is founded.
1643 - Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary.
1776 - George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the Kingdom of Great Britain's Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.
1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
1837 - Battle of Lake Okeechobee: United States forces defeat Seminole Native Americans.
1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire.
1926 - Emperor TaishÅ of Japan dies. His son, Prince Hirohito succeeds him as Emperor ShÅwa.
1932 - A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills ~70,000 people.
1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong.
1941 - Admiral Chester W Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
1947 - The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect.
1950 - The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
1963 - Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots were forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
1965 - The Yemeni Nasserite Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Taiz
1968 - 42 Dalits are burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit labourers.
1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans Earth Injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
1973 - The ARPANET crashes when a programming bug causes all ARPANET traffic to be routed through the server at Harvard University, causing the server to freeze.
1974 - Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia.
1974 - Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
1977 - Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with President of Egypt Anwar Sadat.
1979 - The Soviet Union airlifts forces into Afghanistan to begin its costly occupation.
1989 - Nicolae CeauÅŸescu, former communist dictator of Romania, and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges.
1990 - The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web.
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
2003 - The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe which was released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.
2004 - Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.
274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple to Sol Invictus on the supposed day of the winter solstice and day of rebirth of the Sun.
800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.

Historical Events on 24 Dec

2011-12-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 24 Dec

1294 - Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing St. Celestine V, who had abdicated.
1777 - Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
1814 - The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
1851 - Library of Congress burns.
1865 - Several U.S. Civil War Confederate veterans form the Ku Klux Klan.
1906 - Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
1914 - World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.
1924 - Albania becomes a republic.
1929 - Assassination attempt on Argentine President HipÃ³lito Yrigoyen.
1939 - World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
1941 - World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.
1941 - World War II: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese Imperial Army.
1942 - World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral FranÃ§ois Darlan in Algiers.
1943 - World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the Supreme Allied Commander.
1946 - France's Fourth Republic is founded.
1951 - Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
1953 - Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge is destroyed by a lahar at Tangiwai, in the Central North Island of New Zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River, and killing 153 people.
1958 - Cuba On December 24 and Blessed by the pope ["El Cristo de La Habana"] ][1]"(Havana's Christ) was erected for the first time. The marble sculpture is the work of Jilma Madera and its the biggest free standing sculpture made by a woman in the world.
1966 - A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.
1968 - Apollo Program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in h
1968 - The crew of the USS Pueblo is released by North Korea after being held for 11 months on suspicion of spying.
1973 - District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
1974 - Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
1979 - The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to support the country's Marxist government.
1979 - The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
1997 - The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
1997 - The Dominican Republic becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
2000 - The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot during the robbery.
2003 - The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy ChamartÃn Station.
563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.

Historical Events on 23 Dec

2011-12-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 23 Dec

1493 - Georg Alt's German translation of Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle is published.
1783 - George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
1793 - The Battle of Savenay, decisive defeat of the royalist counter-revolutionaries in Revolt in the VendÃ©e during the French Revolution.
1913 - The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve.
1914 - World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt.
1916 - World War I: Battle of Magdhaba - Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
1921 - Visva-Bharati University is inaugurated.
1936 - Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1937 - First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
1938 - Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa.
1940 - World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis (Î¥-2) sinks the Italian motor ship Antonietta.
1941 - World War II: Japanese Imperial Army occupies Wake Island.
1947 - The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
1948 - Seven Japanese convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are executed at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo.
1954 - The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
1958 - Dedication of Tokyo Tower, world's highest self-supporting iron tower.
1968 - The United States won the release of 82 sailors by issuing a writing apology to North Korea for spying on the Communist country.
1972 - The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.
1972 - The Nicaraguan capital of Managua is struck by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, killing more than 10,000.
1979 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
1982 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.
1986 - Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world.
1990 - History of Slovenia: In a referendum, 88% of Slovenia's population vote for independence from Yugoslavia.
2002 - A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, making it the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat.
2003 - PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
2004 - Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean is hit by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake.
2005 - Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Aktau, Kazakhstan crashes shortly after takeoff killing 23 people.
2005 - Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on AdrÃ©, which left about 100 people dead.
962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city of Aleppo, recovering the tattered tunic of John the Baptist.

Historical Events on 22 Dec

2011-12-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 22 Dec

1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies.
1807 - The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
1809 - The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, passes the U.S. Congress.
1849 - The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is called off at the last second.
1851 - The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
1864 - Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his "March to the Sea".
1885 - Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
1890 - Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kingsport and Kentville, Nova Scotia.
1894 - The Dreyfus affair begins, in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason, on antisemitic grounds.
1920 - The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
1937 - The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
1940 - World War II: HimarÃ« is captured by the Greek army.
1942 - World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge--German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
1944 - World War II: Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.
1947 - The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves its constitution.
1956 - Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity.
1963 - Cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
1964 - Comedian Lenny Bruce is convicted of obscenity.
1964 - First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).
1965 - In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.
1974 - Grande Comore, Anjouan and MohÃ©li vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
1974 - Ted Heath's house is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
1978 - The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
1984 - Subway vigilante Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four African-American men on an express train in The Bronx borough of New York City.
1988 - Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.
1989 - Kempsey bus crash: Two tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey, New South Wales
1989 - Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
1989 - After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae CeauÅŸescu's Communist dictatorship.
1990 - Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
1997 - Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives (see related event on December 21, 1999).
2001 - Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
2001 - Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
2003 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits near San Simeon, California.

Historical Events on 21 Dec

2011-12-20T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 21 Dec

1598 - Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio river are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by
1620 - Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1844 - The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1861 - Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
1872 - Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth.
1883 - The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment.
1913 - Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1958 - French presidential election: Charles de Gaulle is elected President of France as his Union des DÃ©mocrates pour la RÃ©publique party gain 78.5% of the vote.
1962 - Rondane National Park is established as Norway's first national park.
1967 - Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days.
1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 2h:50m:37s Mission elapsed time (MES), the crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to le
1971 - The United Nations Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General.
1973 - The Geneva Conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict opens.
1979 - Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.
1987 - The passenger ferry DoÃ±a Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing 1,565.
1988 - A bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270.
1989 - The Romanian Revolution of 1989 moves from TimiÅŸoara to Bucharest.
1991 - Charilaos Florakis is elected honorary president of the Communist Party of Greece.
1992 - A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport (Portugal), killing 56 people.
1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.
2007 - The Schengen Agreement area increases to include 9 European Union member states; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on land and sea borders.
69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian becomes the fourth Emperor of Rome within a year.

Historical Events on 20 Dec

2011-12-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 20 Dec

1192 - Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the crusade.
1522 - Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
1606 - The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
1835 - First signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence at Goliad, Texas.
1860 - South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.
1915 - World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
1917 - Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, is founded.
1941 - World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
1942 - World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.
1951 - The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for the first time. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
1952 - United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
1955 - Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
1960 - National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
1968 - The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
1973 - The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
1984 - The Summit tunnel fire is the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million litres of petrol derails near the town of Todmorden in the Pennines.
1988 - The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed in Vienna.
1989 - United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
1991 - A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
1995 - The Democratic Social Movement is founded in Greece.
1995 - NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.
1995 - American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 160.
1996 - NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
1999 - Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.
2001 - Argentine economic crisis: President of Argentina Fernando de la RÃºa is forced out of office.
2002 - US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
2005 - The first same sex civil partnerships in Scotland are celebrated.
2005 - 2005 New York City transit strike: New York City's Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike, shutting down all New York City Subway and Bus services.
2005 - US District Court Judge John E. Jones III rules against mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.
2006 - A judge rules against the death penalty in the case of Naveed Haq, a man convicted in the shooting death and injuries at the Jewish Federation in Seattle.
2007 - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
2007 - The painting Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, was stolen from the SÃ£o Paulo Museum of Art, along with O Lavrador de CafÃ©, by the major Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari.
69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of emperor.

Historical Events on 19 Dec

2011-12-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 19 Dec

1154 - Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1490 - Anne of Brittany is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
1606 - The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who, at Jamestown, Virginia, found the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
1776 - Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in the Pennsylvania Journal titled The American Crisis.
1777 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1828 - Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
1835 - The first issue of The Blade newspaper is published in Toledo, Ohio.
1907 - A group of 239 coal miners die during a mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
1912 - William H. Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun - On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.
1920 - King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.
1924 - The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
1932 - BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service
1941 - World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.
1961 - India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead.
1972 - Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1975 - John Paul Stevens appointed as a justice of The United States Supreme Court.
1981 - Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
1984 - The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People's Republic of China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiao
1986 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from internal exile in Gorky.
1994 - Rolls-Royce announces its future cars will feature V12 engine which will be produced by BMW.
1997 - SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
1997 - Titanic is released in theaters. This movie would become the most financially successful movie in U.S. history, grossing approximately $1.8 billion worldwide.
1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate.
2000 - The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, killing one person and injuring three.
2001 - Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots - Riots erupt in Buenos Aires after Domingo Cavallo's corralito measures restrict the withdrawal of cash from bank deposits.
2001 - A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, KhÃ¶vsgÃ¶l Province, Mongolia.
2007 - The Lakotah people, a Native American tribe, proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with the United States. They then proceed to establish the Republic of Lakotah, with an ongoing process of international recognition as a separate country.
324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor.

Historical Events on 18 Dec

2011-12-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 18 Dec

1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (å…ƒ yuÃ¡n), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China.
1620 - The Mayflower lands in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts delivering 102 Pilgrims.
1642 - Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.
1777 - The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, celebrating the recent victory by the Americans over General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October
1787 - New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1793 - Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
1862 - American Civil War: In the Battle of Lexington, General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats a Union force under Colonel Robert Ingersoll.
1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified by Georgia, fulfilling the two-thirds requirement for ratification, and abolishing Slavery in the United States.
1878 - John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
1888 - Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Mesa Verde.
1898 - Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the new land speed record going 39.245 mph, in a Jeantaud electric car. This is the first recognized land speed record.
1900 - The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
1912 - The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is supposedly found in the Piltdown Gravel Pit, by Charles Dawson.
1915 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson marries Edith Bolling Galt Wilson.
1916 - World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when forces under Chief of Staff Erich Von Falkenhayn suffers 337,000 casualties by the French.
1932 - The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game was moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards long.
1935 - The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon.
1941 - Japan invades Hong Kong after British governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young refuses to surrender to Japanese forces.
1944 - World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.
1961 - Indonesia invades Netherlands New Guinea.
1966 - Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
1969 - Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for
1972 - Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
1973 - Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
1987 - Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
1987 - Ivan Boesky is sentenced to three years in prison for insider trading.
1989 - The European Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.[1]
1996 - The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.
1997 - HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
1999 - NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
2002 - 2003 California recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.
2007 - Progress on upcoming novel, Revolver Evolver begin by Nicholas Ortiz, a Los Angeles-based writer.
218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.

Historical Events on 17 Dec

2011-12-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 17 Dec

1398 - Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.
1531 - Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal.
1538 - Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
1577 - Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.
1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
1600 - Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
1637 - Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu.
1718 - Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1807 - France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
1819 - SimÃ³n BolÃvar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad BolÃvar in Venezuela).
1834 - The Dublin and Kingstown Railway the first public railway on the island of Ireland, opens in Ireland.
1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
1903 - The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1919 - Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1926 - Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the â1926 coup d'Ã©tatâ is successful.
1935 - First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
1941 - World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.
1941 - World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - Malmedy massacre - American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper.
1957 - The United States successfully launched the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1961 - History of Goa: Operation Vijay - India seizes Goa from Portugal.
1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and was presumed drowned.
1969 - Project Blue Book: The USAF closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of "A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, psychopathological persons, and miside
1969 - The SALT I talks begin.
1970 - Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.
1973 - Terrorism: 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
1978 - The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
1981 - The Senegambia Confederation is founded.
1981 - Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.
1983 - The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people.
1989 - Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in TimiÅŸoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
1989 - First free elections in Brazil in 25 years.
1989 - The longest-running American sitcom The Simpsons had its debut.
1999 - The United Nations General Assembly passes resolution 54/134 designating November 25 as the annual International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.
2002 - Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.
2003 - SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight.
2003 - The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
2005 - Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
2007 - Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States
546 - Gothic War (535-554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
920 - Romanos I is crowned as co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.
942 - Assassination of William I of Normandy.

Historical Events on 16 Dec

2011-12-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 16 Dec

1392 - Nanboku-chÅ - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.
1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
1497 - Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1575 - The 1575 Valdivia earthquake takes place.
1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the Korean and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Korean victory.
1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1689 - Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.
1707 - Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
1761 - Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg.
1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
1811 - The first two in a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.
1826 - Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.
1838 - Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
1850 - History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton.
1863 - American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee.
1864 - American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign - Battle of Nashville - Major General George H. Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1893 - AntonÃn DvoÅ™Ã¡k's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnegie Hall.
1907 - Great White Fleet started its circumnavigation of the world
1910 - During a ground test of his CoandÄƒ-1910 plane, Henri CoandÄƒ, caught unaware by the power of the engine, finds himself briefly airborne and loses control of the machine which crashes to the ground.
1914 - World War I: German battleships under Franz Von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.
1920 - The Haiyuan earthquake, magnitude 8.5, rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.
1922 - President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the ZachÄ™ta Gallery in Warsaw.
1925 - Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity is founded at Lafayette College.
1937 - Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.
1938 - Adolf Hitler institutes the Cross of Honor of the German Mother
1941 - World War II: Japanese occupy Miri, Sarawak
1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's German army engage in the Belgian Ardennes.
1946 - LÃ©on Blum becomes Prime Minister of France.
1947 - William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.
1949 - Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later knows as SAAB, is founded in Sweden.
1950 - President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency, after Chinese troops enter the fight with communist North Korea in the Korean War.
1957 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1960 - 1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.
1965 - Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland sends U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a request for 243,000 more men by the end of 1966.
1971 - Independence Day of the State of Bahrain from British Protectorate Status
1971 - Bangladesh War of Independence and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army brings an end to both conflicts.
1972 - Vietnam War: Henry Kissinger announces that North Vietnam has left private peace negotiations, in Paris.
1978 - Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first post-Depression era city to default on its loans, owing $14,000,000 to local banks.
1979 - Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, having an immediate dramatic effect on the United States.
1982 - The Federal Reserve announces that the operating capacity of factories has gone down to 67.8%.
1985 - Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.
1986 - Revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which becomes the first sign of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure
1989 - Walter LeRoy Moody begins his terrorist bombing streak when he sends Judge Robert Smith Vance a bomb in the mail, instantly killing him near his house in Birmingham, Alabama.
1989 - Protest breaks out in TimiÅŸoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, LÃ¡szlÃ³ TÅ'kÃ©s.
1991 - Independence of The Republic of Kazakhstan.
1991 - United Nations General Assembly: UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.
1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.
755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty of China.

Historical Events on 15 Dec

2011-12-14T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 15 Dec

1167 - Sicilian chancellor Stephen du Perche moves the royal court to Messina to prevent a rebellion.
1256 - Hulagu Khan captures and destroys the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut in present-day Iran as part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.
1467 - Stephen III of Moldavia defeats Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, with the latter being injured thrice, at the Battle of Baia.
1791 - The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia legislature.
1863 - Romania is using for the first time a mountain railway (from Anina to Oravita).
1864 - In the Battle of Nashville, Union forces under George H. Thomas almost completely destroy the Army of Tennessee under John B. Hood.
1868 - Shogunate rebels found Ezo Republic in HokkaidÅ.
1891 - James Naismith introduces the first version of basketball, with thirteen rules, a peach basket nailed to either end of his school's gymnasium, and two teams of nine players.
1905 - The Pushkin House is established in St. Petersburg to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin
1913 - Nicaragua becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1914 - World War I: The Serbian Army recaptures Belgrade from the invading Austro-Hungarian Army.
1914 - Gas explosion at Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine, KyÅ«shÅ«, Japan, 687 killed. This accident is the worst coal mine disaster in Japanese history.
1915 - World War I: Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig replaces John French, 1st Earl of Ypres as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force.
1917 - World War I: An armistice is reached between the new Bolshevik government and the Central Powers.
1939 - Gone with the Wind premiered at Loew's Grand Theater in Atlanta, GA, USA.
1941 - Annihilation of Jews in Kharkiv, Ukraine: at temperatures of -15 degrees C below zero near the Rogan works, 8 km away from Kharkiv in "Drobitsky Ravine" (Drobitsky Yar), over 15 000 Jews are shot.
1941 - The American Federation of Labor adopts a no-strike policy in war industries.
1942 - The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse begins during the Guadalcanal campaign.
1945 - Occupation of Japan: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as state religion of Japan.
1960 - Richard Paul Pavlick is arrested for attempting to blow up and assassinate the U.S. President-Elect, John F. Kennedy only four days earlier.
1960 - King Baudouin of Belgium marries Fabiola Fernanda MarÃa de las Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y AragÃ³n in Brussels.
1961 - In Jerusalem, Adolph Eichmann is sentenced to death after being found guilty of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of an outlawed organization.
1965 - Gemini program: Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Four orbits later, it achieved the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7.
1967 - The Silver Bridge collapses, killing 46 people.
1970 - Illinois State Constitution is adopted at a special election.
1970 - South Korean ferry Namyong Ho capsized off Korean Strait, 308 killed.
1973 - John Paul Getty III, grandson of J. Paul Getty, American billionaire is found alive near Naples, Italy, after being kidnapped by an Italian gang on July 10, 1973
1976 - Samoa becomes a member of the UN.
1978 - President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and cutoff all relations with Taiwan
1993 - History of Northern Ireland: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.
1994 - Palau becomes a member of the UN.
1995 - The European Communities Court of Justice hands down the "Bosman ruling", giving EU footballers the right to a free transfer at the end of their contracts, with the provision that they are transferring from one UEFA Federation to another.
1997 - A chartered Tupolev TU-154 from Tajikistan crashes in the desert near Sharja, United Arab Emirates airport killing 85.
2001 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean.
2005 - Argentina's president NÃ©stor Kirchner announces the early repayment of its external debt to the IMF.
2005 - Latvia amends its constitution to eliminate possibility of same-sex couples being entitled to marry.
2005 - The 2005 Atlantic Power Outage began.
2005 - Introduction of the F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.
2006 - First flight of the F-35 Lightning II.
533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron.

Historical Events on 14 Dec

2011-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 14 Dec

1287 - St. Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.
1542 - Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland.
1751 - The Theresian Military Academy is founded as the first Military Academy in the world.
1782 - The Montgolfier brothers first balloon lifts on its first test flight.
1819 - Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.
1825 - Advocates of Liberalism in Russia rise up against Tsar Nicholas I and are put down in the Decembrist Revolt in St. Petersburg.
1836 - The Toledo War unofficially ends.
1896 - The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
1900 - Quantum Mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.
1902 - The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii.
1903 - The Wright Brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1907 - The schooner Thomas W. Lawson runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Scilly Isles in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
1911 - Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
1914 - Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressist Party (Partido DemÃ³crata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires.
1918 - Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King VÃ¤inÃ¶ I, renounces the Finnish throne.
1939 - Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations.
1941 - German military commander of Kharkiv, Ukraine issues an order, under which the Jewish population was to move to the city periphery within 2 days, into the barracks of the works of a machine factory. In the next days 15,000 Jews are shot at Drobitsky Yar.
1941 - World War II: Japan signs treaty of alliance with Thailand.
1946 - The UN General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York City.
1947 - The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is founded in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1955 - Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations.
1958 - The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first expedition to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility in the Antarctic.
1962 - NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
1964 - American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States - The United States Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Congress can use its Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination.
1972 - Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This was the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.
1981 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset passes The Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the area of the Golan Heights.
1995 - Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by leaders of various governments.
2003 - President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
2003 - President George W. Bush announces the capture of Saddam Hussein.
2004 - The Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened.

Historical Events on 13 Dec

2011-12-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 13 Dec

1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
1545 - Council of Trent begins.
1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.
1642 - Abel Janszoon Tasman reaches New Zealand.
1643 - English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
1769 - Dartmouth College is founded by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal Governor John Wentworth.
1862 - American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.
1937 - Nanjing Massacre. Japanese troops begin carrying out several weeks of raping and killing of civilians and suspected Chinese resistance after the fall of Nanjing.
1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese.
1938 - The Holocaust: 100 deportees from Sachsenhausen build the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg.
1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.
1941 - World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
1943 - World War II: 710 Bombers of U.S. 8th Air Force attack Kiel, Germany.
1949 - The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.
1951 - Margaret Thatcher (Roberts) marries Denis Thatcher at City Methodist in London.
1959 - Archbishop Makarios becomes the first President of Cyprus.
1962 - NASA "Relay 1" launch, first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.
1967 - San Diego, CA records snow at a zero elevation after temperatures plunge 19 degrees (F) in eight hours.
1967 - Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels
1968 - Brazilian president Artur da Costa e Silva decrees the AI-5 (or the fifth Institutional Act), which lasts until 1978 and marks the beginning of the hard times of Brazilian military dictatorship.
1972 - Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. This was the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.
1974 - Malta becomes a republic.
1977 - A DC-3 aircraft chartered from the Indianapolis-based National Jet crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff and boosters of the team.
1979 - The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in the House of Commons, prompting the 1980 Canadian election.
1981 - General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity.
1989 - The last issue of Gnistan (The Spark), the organ of the Solidaritetspartiet, is published in Sweden.
1996 - Kofi Annan is elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2000 - The "Texas 7" escape from the John Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree, during which police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot and killed.
2000 - American Vice President Al Gore delivers his concession speech effectively ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd President of the United States.
2001 - the Indian Parliament Sansad is attacked by terrorists. 15 people are killed, including all the terrorists.
2002 - Enlargement of the European Union: The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.
2003 - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit (see Operation Red Dawn).
2004 - Former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet is put under house arrest, after being sued under accusations over 9 kidnapping actions and manslaughter. The house arrest is lifted the same day on appeal.
2006 - The Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, announced as extinct.
2007 - The Mitchell Report is publicly released listing the names of 89 Major League Baseball players that have presumably used anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. Notable players to be named include Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada.

Historical Events on 12 Dec

2011-12-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 12 Dec

1098 - First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan - Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.
1408 - Order of the Dragon: The Order of the Dragon was first created on December 12, 1408 by Emperor Sigismund, then King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, defeats a French fleet.
1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution five days after Delaware became the first.
1812 - French invasion of Russia comes to an end.
1862 - USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman.
1897 - Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is founded.
1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
1911 - Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
1914 - The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 24.39%.
1915 - President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
1917 - In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
1925 - The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
1936 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
1937 - Panay incident: Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
1939 - Winter War: Battle of TolvajÃ¤rvi - Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
1940 - World War II: Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.
1941 - Adolf Hitler announces extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
1941 - World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
1941 - World War II: Fifty four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesus Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cesar Basa is killed.
1942 - A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.
1946 - A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
1948 - Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
1950 - Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
1956 - Commencement of the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign.
1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
1964 - Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
1969 - Strategia della tensione: Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
1979 - President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
1979 - Coup d'Ã©tat of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Pa
1982 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence.
1984 - Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya becomes the third president of Mauritania after a coup d'etat against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the latter was attending a summit. Taya was ousted in March 2005 by Ely Ould Mohamed Vall in another coup.
1985 - Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
1988 - The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains - one of the worst train crashes in Britain.
1991 - Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.
2000 - The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore
2006 - Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.

Historical Events on 11 Dec

2011-12-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 11 Dec

1282 - Llywelyn the Last (b. c.1228), the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales.
1602 - A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. Commemorations/celebrations on FÃªte de l'Escalade are usually held on December 11 or the closest weeken
1789 - The University of North Carolina is chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly.
1792 - French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
1816 - Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.
1872 - P.B.S. Pinchback becomes the first black member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
1905 - A workers uprising occurs, establishing the Shuliavka Republic in Kiev.
1907 - New Zealand Parliament Buildings almost completely destroyed by fire.
1917 - British troops take Jerusalem from the troops of the Ottoman Empire.
1925 - Quas Primas encyclical is promulgated, introducing the Feast of Christ the King.
1927 - Guangzhou Uprising: Communist militia and worker red guards launch an uprising in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.
1931 - The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New
1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective.
1937 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.
1941 - World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The United States, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy.
1946 - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
1958 - Upper Volta gains self-government from France, and becomes an autonomous republic in the French Community.
1960 - A violent clash occurred with French forces cracking down on protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French president Charles de Gaulle.
1964 - Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fires a mortar shell at the building during the speech.
1971 - The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed.
1972 - Apollo 17 becomes the sixth mission to land on the Moon.
1980 - The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (known as either CERCLA or Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
1981 - El Mozote massacre: Salvadoran armed forces kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the country's civil war.
1993 - Forty-eight people are killed when a block of the Highland Towers collapses near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
1994 - First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.
1997 - The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opens for signature.
1998 - A Thai Airways Airbus A310-200 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101.
2001 - The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.
2005 - The Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead is rocked by explosions, causing a huge oil fire.
2005 - Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
2006 - The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
2007 - Two car bombs go off at the Constitutional Court building in Algiers and the United Nations office. An estimated 45 people are killed in the bombings.
359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office.

Historical Events on 10 Dec

2011-12-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 10 Dec

1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V.
1508 - The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
1520 - Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
1541 - Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
1665 - The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps was founded by Michiel de Ruyter
1684 - Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.
1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
1836 - Emory College (now Emory University) is chartered in Oxford, Georgia.
1861 - American Civil War: the Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy.
1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach Savannah, Georgia.
1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
1869 - Wyoming grants women the right to vote.
1869 - The first American chapter of Kappa Sigma is founded at the University of Virginia.
1898 - Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.
1898 - The first western pilgrims were welcomed at The House of `Abdu'llÃ¡h PÃ¡shÃ¡
1899 - The Delta Sigma Phi fraternity is founded at the City College of New York.
1901 - The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.
1902 - Women are given the right to vote in Tasmania.
1904 - Founding of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.
1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.
1907 - The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals who have been vivisected.
1932 - Thailand adopts a Constitution and becomes a constitutional monarchy.
1935 - The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, was given to halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago. This award was given to the best college football player east the Mississippi River.
1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs the Instrument of Abdication.
1941 - World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya.
1941 - World War II: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland.
1948 - The UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today is also International Human Rights Day.
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
1968 - Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo.
1978 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1981 - The United Nations General Assembly approves Pakistan's proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in South Asia.
1981 - During the Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Spain signes the Protocol of Accession to NATO.
1983 - Democracy is restored in Argentina with the assumption of President RaÃºl AlfonsÃn.
1989 - Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement that peacefully changed the second oldest communist country into a democratic society.
1996 - Rwandan Genocide: Military advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Maurice Baril recommends that the UN multi-national forces in Zaire stand down.
2006 - One million Lebanese opposition supporters gather in downtown Beirut, calling for the government to resign.

Historical Events on 9 Dec

2011-12-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 9 Dec

1425 - The Catholic University of Leuven is founded.
1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster.
1824 - Patriot forces led by General Antonio JosÃ© de Sucre defeat a Royalist army in the Battle of Ayacucho, putting an end to the Peruvian War of Independence.
1835 - The Republic of Texas captures San Antonio, Texas.
1851 - The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec.
1856 - The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.
1861 - American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress.
1872 - In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African-American governor of a U.S. state.
1875 - Massachusetts Rifle Association "America's Oldest Active Gun Club" is founded.
1888 - Statistician Herman Hollerith installs his computing device at the United States War Department.
1897 - Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde in Paris.
1905 - In France, the law separating church and state is passed.
1917 - In Palestine, Field Marshal Edmund Allenby captures Jerusalem.
1922 - Gabriel Narutowicz is announced the first president of Poland.
1931 - The Constituent Cortes approves the constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.
1935 - Walter Liggett American newspaper editor and muckraker killed in gangland murder.
1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing.
1940 - World War II: Operation Compass - British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.
1941 - World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and the Philippine Commonwealth, declare war on Germany and Japan.
1941 - World War II: The 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon.
1946 - The "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" began with the "Doctors' Trial", prosecuting doctors alleged to be involved in human experimentation.
1950 - Harry Gold is sentenced to thirty years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1953 - Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company.
1958 - Red Scare: The John Birch Society was founded in the United States.
1960 - The first episode of Britain's longest running soap opera Coronation Street is broadcast.
1961 - The trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Israel ends with him being found guilty of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of an outlawed organization.
1961 - Tanganyika becomes independent from Britain.
1968 - NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) is publicly demonstrated for the first time in San Francisco.
1979 - The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.
1987 - Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
1988 - The Michael Hughes Bridge in Sligo, Ireland is officially opened.
1990 - Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa becomes the first directly elected president of Poland.
2003 - A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more.
2006 - Moscow suffers its worst fire since 1977, killing 45 women in a drug rehabitational center.
536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city, returning the old capital to its empire.

Historical Events on 8 Dec

2011-12-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 8 Dec

1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe.
1659 - Mexican border town Ciudad JuÃ¡rez is founded by Fray GarcÃa de San Francisco.
1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.
1864 - The Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon is officially opened.
1869 - Timothy Eaton founds T. Eaton Co. Limited in Toronto, Canada.
1886 - The American Federation of Labor is founded in Columbus, Ohio.
1904 - Konservativ Ungdom (Young Conservatives) in Denmark is founded by Carl F. Herman von Rosen. Still existing today, it is the oldest political youth organization in Denmark and believed to be one of the oldest in the world.
1907 - King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
1912 - First Balkan War: The Greek army captures KorÃ§Ã« that had been under Ottoman rule.
1914 - World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands - The Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee is engaged by the Royal Navy.
1926 - Disappearance of Agatha Christie
1935 - The Japanese military police launches a violent suppression of the religious sect Oomoto, beginning with a crackdown on the sect's operational bases of Ayabe and Kameoka in Kyoto Prefecture and the arrest of its leader Onisaburo Deguchi.
1941 - World War II: The Japanese invade the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. They also invade the portions of Shanghai administered by European powers and bomb American bases in the Philippines. Because of the time difference
1941 - World War II: Pacific War - After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S. Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan.
1941 - World War II: Pacific War - the Republic of China officially declares war against Japan.
1941 - World War II: Pacific War - The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in China issues a proclamation which declared war against Japan and Germany on behalf of Korean people, who were under Japanese occupation since 1910.
1941 - World War II: First Japanese attack on Wake Island.
1941 - Holocaust: Gas vans are first used as a means of execution, at the Chelmno extermination camp near ÅÃ³dÅº in Poland.
1942 - Holocaust: in Ternopil, Ukraine, the German SS organizes the deportation of the last 1,400 Ternopil Jews to the death camp in Belzec. The chief of the Gestapo, SS-SturmbannfÃ¼hrer Hermann MÃ¼ller, bore overall responsibility for the mass murder of the Jew
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
1953 - Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the Atoms for Peace speech.
1966 - The Greek SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
1969 - An Olympic Airways Douglas DC-6 crashes in Keratea during a storm, killing 93 people.
1972 - United Airlines Flight 553 crashes near Chicago Midway Airport, killing 45 people.
1974 - A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
1980 - Mark David Chapman shoots and kills John Lennon in front of The Dakota apartment building.
1982 - Activist Norman Mayer threatens to blow up the Washington Monument, before being killed by United States Park Police.
1982 - In Suriname several opponents of the military government are killed.
1987 - The Alianza Lima air disaster.
1987 - The Queen Street Massacre: Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills 8 people at the offices of Australia Post in Melbourne, Australia before being killed himself.
1987 - The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.
1991 - The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.
1991 - The Romanian Constitution is adopted in a referendum.
1993 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
1998 - Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
2002 - The Caribbean Community Heads of Government meet with the Government of Cuba and declare the date to be "CARICOM-Cuba Day" - To celebrate diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.
2004 - The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
2005 - Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las AmÃ©ricas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.

Historical Events on 7 Dec

2011-12-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 7 Dec

1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the states first highways is laid out in Trumbull.
1724 - Tumult of Thorn - religious unrest was followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (ToruÅ„) by Polish authorities.
1732 - The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London.
1776 - Marquis de Lafayette attempts to enter the American military as a major general.
1787 - Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the US Constitution.
1900 - Max Planck, in his house at Grunewald, on the outskirts of Berlin, discovers the law of black body emission.
1917 - World War I: The US declares war on Austria-Hungary.
1930 - W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts broadcasts video from the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers. The broadcast also includes the first television commercial in the United States, an advertisement for I.J. Fox Furriers, who sponsored the radio show.
1940 - The first prototype Fairey Barracuda flew
1941 - World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor - The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the US Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (See also December 8. Because of the time difference, events of December 8 that
1941 - Holocaust (Shoah): Extermination of Jewish people at the death camp of Chelmno begins.
1946 - A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119 people, the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history.
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The government of Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei.
1962 - Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.
1963 - Instant replay is used for the first time in a Army-Navy game.
1965 - Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.
1966 - A fire at an army barracks in Erzurum, Turkey kills 68 people.
1970 - The first ever general election on the basis of direct adult franchise is held in Pakistan for 313 National Assembly seats.
1971 - Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces formation of a Coalition Government at Centre with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as Vice-Prime Minister.
1972 - Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as "The Blue Marble" as they leave the Earth.
1975 - Indonesia invades East Timor.
1982 - In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr. becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the US.
1983 - An Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 in dense fog while the two airliners are taxiing down the runway at Madrid Barajas International Airport, killing 93 people.
1987 - Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss traveling on the flight, then shoots both pilots and himself.
1988 - Yasser Arafat recognizes the right of Israel to exist.
1988 - Spitak Earthquake: In Armenia an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale kills nearly 25,000, injures 15,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.
1993 - The Long Island Rail Road massacre: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.
1995 - The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.
1999 - The RIAA files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client, on charges of copyright infringement.
2003 - The Conservative Party of Canada is officially recognized after the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
2005 - Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of US federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.
2006 - A tornado struck Kensal Green, North West London, seriously damaging around 150 properties.
2007 - The Hebei Spirit oil spill began in South Korea after a crane barge being towed by tug collided with the very large crude carrier, Hebei Spirit.

Historical Events on 6 Dec

2011-12-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 6 Dec

1060 - BÃ©la I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary
1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev under Danylo of Halych and Voivode Dmytro falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
1534 - The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by SebastiÃ¡n de BelalcÃ¡zar.
1648 - Colonel Pride of the New Model Army purges the Long Parliament of MPs sympathetic to King Charles I of England, in order for the King's trial to go ahead; came to be known as "Pride's Purge".
1768 - The first edition of the EncyclopÃ¦dia Britannica is published.
1790 - The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1845 - Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is founded at Yale College.
1849 - American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.
1877 - The first edition of the Washington Post is published.
1884 - The Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is completed.
1897 - London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs.
1907 - A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia kills 362 workers.
1916 - World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.
1917 - Finland declares independence from Russia.
1917 - Halifax Explosion: In Canada, a munitions explosion kills more than 1900 people and destroys part of the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1921 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.
1922 - One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.
1933 - U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene.
1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Finland in support of the Soviet Union during the Continuation War.
1947 - The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
1956 - A water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
1957 - Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit.
1965 - Pakistan's Islamic Ideology Advisory Committee recommends that Islamic Studies be made a compulsory subject for Muslim students from primary to graduate level.
1969 - Meredith Hunter is killed by the Hells Angels during a The Rolling Stones's concert at the Altamont Speedway in California.
1971 - Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India following New Delhi's recognition of Bangladesh.
1973 - The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92 to 3).
1975 - Balcombe Street Siege: An IRA Active Service Unit takes a couple hostage in Balcombe Street, London.
1977 - South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.
1978 - Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.
1989 - The Ã‰cole Polytechnique Massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc LÃ©pine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the Ã‰cole Polytechnique in Montreal.
1991 - In Croatia, forces of the Yugoslav People's Army bombard Dubrovnik after laying siege to the city since May.
1992 - Extremist Hindu activists demolish Babri Masjid - a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya, India which had been used as temple since 1949. Hindus believe this structure was built on the site of the birthplace of Lord Rama.
1997 - A Russian Antonov An-124 transport cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.
1998 - Hugo ChÃ¡vez FrÃas, Venezuelan military and politician, is elected President of Venezuela.
2001 - The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador.
2005 - Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.
2006 - NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.

Historical Events on 5 Dec

2011-12-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 5 Dec

1082 - Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated.
1360 - The French Franc is created.
1408 - Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow.
1484 - Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany and leads to one of the severest witch hunts in European history.
1492 - Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola.
1496 - King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree of expulsion of "heretics" from the country.
1590 - NiccolÃ² Sfondrati becomes Pope Gregory XIV.
1746 - Revolt in Genoa against the Spanish rule.
1757 - Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen - Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.
1766 - In London, James Christie holds his first sale.
1775 - At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1776 - In the Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia, students from the College of William and Mary meet for the first time founding Phi Beta Kappa, the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.
1815 - Foundation of MaceiÃ³ in Brazil.
1831 - Former US President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
1847 - Jefferson Davis is elected to the US senate, his first political post.
1848 - California Gold Rush: In a message before the U.S. Congress, US President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
1865 - Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.
1892 - Sir John Thompson becomes the fourth Prime Minister of Canada.
1893 - First appearance of an electric car.
1914 - The Italian Parliament proclaims the neutrality of the country.
1920 - Dimitrios Rallis forms a government in Greece.
1926 - Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin premieres.
1932 - German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
1933 - Prohibition in the United States ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment (this overturned the 18th Amendment
1934 - Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
1936 - The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
1941 - World War II: In the Battle of Moscow Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.
1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
1943 - World War II: U.S. Army Air Force begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow .
1944 - World War II: Allied troops occupy Ravenna.
1945 - Flight 19 is lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
1955 - E.D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO.
1957 - Sukarno expels all Dutch people from Indonesia.
1958 - The Preston bypass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.
1958 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
1964 - Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
1969 - Life Magazine reports the My Lai Massacre .
1970 - Premiere of Dario Fo's Morte accidentale di un anarchico.
1976 - The United Nations General Assembly adopts Pakistan's resolution on security of non-Nuclear States.
1977 - Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
1978 - The Soviet Union signs a "friendship treaty" with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
1979 - Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
1983 - ICIMOD established and inaugurated with its headquarters in Kathmandu, Nepal, and legitimised through an Act of Parliament in Nepal in the same year.
1983 - Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
1993 - The mayor of Wien (Vienna), Helmut Zilk, is wounded by a letter bomb.
1995 - The Sri Lankan government announces the conquest of Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.
2005 - The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2005 - The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
2006 - Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.
2007 - Westroads Mall massacre: A gunman opens fire with a semi-automatic rifle at an Omaha, Nebraska mall, killing eight people before taking his own life.
63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations.
663 - Fourth Council of Toledo takes place.
771 - Charlemagne becomes the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman.

Historical Events on 4 Dec

2011-12-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 4 Dec

1110 - First Crusade: The Crusaders conquer Sidon.
1259 - Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
1563 - The final session of the Council of Trent is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).
1619 - 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God (this is considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas).
1674 - Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).
1676 - Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V of Denmark engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.
1783 - At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.
1791 - The first issue of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
1829 - In the face of fierce opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that all who abetted suttee in India were guilty of culpable homicide.
1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a w
1867 - Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
1872 - The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship was abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged).
1875 - Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.
1881 - The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
1906 - Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity in the United States established for men of African descent, is founded at Cornell University.
1918 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
1921 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
1942 - Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Filipowicz set up the Å»egota organization.
1942 - Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
1943 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.
1943 - World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
1945 - By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (the UN was established on October 24, 1945).
1951 - Mir Waiz Maulvi Muhammad Yusouf is appointed President of Azad Kashmir Government.
1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
1954 - The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida, USA
1958 - Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.
1967 - Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
1969 - Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
1971 - The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
1971 - The UN Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
1971 - The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.
1977 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.
1977 - Jean-BÃ©del Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
1978 - Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first female mayor (she served until January 8, 1988).
1979 - The Hastie fire in Hull, kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
1981 - South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
1982 - The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
1984 - Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
1991 - Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
1991 - Captain Mark Pyle pilots Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, to Miami International Airport ending 64 years of Pan Am operations.
1992 - Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
1993 - A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
1998 - The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
2005 - Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
2006 - An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.
771 - Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.

Historical Events on 3 Dec

2011-12-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 3 Dec

1800 - War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden, French General Moreau defeats the Austrian Archduke John near Munich decisively, coupled with First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte's victory at Marengo effectively forcing the Austrians to sign an armistice a
1805 - Lewis and Clark Expedition mark their explorations from the Missouri River overland to the Columbia River on a pine tree.
1818 - Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.
1854 - Eureka Stockade: In what is claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy, more than 20 goldminers at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences.
1901 - US President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives asking the Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".
1904 - The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at California's Lick Observatory.
1912 - First Balkan War: The Naval Battle of Elli takes place.
1912 - Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (the Balkan League) sign an armistice with Turkey, ending the two-month long First Balkan War.
1917 - After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.
1929 - Great Depression: US President Herbert Hoover announces to the U.S. Congress that the worst effects of the recent stock market crash are behind the nation and the American people have regained faith in the economy.
1944 - The Greek Civil War breaks out in a newly-liberated Greece, between communists and royalists.
1964 - Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.
1967 - At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky).
1967 - The luxury train 20th Century Limited completes its last run from New York City to Chicago (the train was inaugurated on June 15, 1902).
1970 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de LibÃ©ration du QuÃ©bec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Canadian governme
1971 - Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: India invades West Pakistan and a full scale war begins claiming hundreds of lives.
1973 - Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
1976 - An assassination attempt is made on Bob Marley-He is shot twice-plays a concert two days later
1979 - In Cincinnati, Ohio, eleven fans are killed during a stampede for seats before a Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum.
1979 - Shadow Traffic begins broadcasting in the New York City metropolitan area.
1982 - A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
1984 - Bhopal Disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000-600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industri
1989 - Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the cold war between their nations may be coming to an end (some commentators from both nations exaggerate
1990 - At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collides with Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 8 passengers and 4 crew members aboard flight 1482.
1992 - UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, with the task of establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid is distributed in Somalia.
1992 - The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching La CoruÃ±a, Spain, and spills much of its cargo.
1997 - In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
1999 - NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere.
2005 - XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.
2007 - Devastating winter storms caused the Chehalis River to flood many cities in Lewis County, Washington, also closing a 20-mile portion of Interstate 5 for several days. At least eight deaths and billions of dollars of damaged are blamed on the floods.

Historical Events on 2 Dec

2011-12-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 2 Dec

1409 - The University of Leipzig opens.
1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.
1804 - At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.
1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Austerlitz - French troops under Napoleon defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force.
1823 - Monroe Doctrine: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts.
1845 - Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
1848 - Franz Josef I becomes Emperor of Austria.
1851 - Newly-elected French President Charles Louis Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic.
1852 - Napoleon III becomes Emperor of the French.
1859 - Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16th raid on Harper's Ferry.
1867 - In a New York City theater, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
1899 - Philippine-American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.
1908 - Child Emperor Pu Yi ascends the Chinese throne at the age of two
1920 - Following more than a month of Turkish-Armenian War, the Turkish dictated peace treaty is concluded -Treaty of Alexandropol
1927 - Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.
1930 - Great Depression: US President Herbert Hoover goes before the United States Congress and asks for a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
1939 - New York City's La Guardia Airport opens.
1942 - Manhattan Project: A team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
1943 - A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks an American ship with a mustard gas stockpile. Numerous fatalities (though the exact death toll is unresolved as the bombing raid itself caused hundreds of deaths too).
1946 - British Government invites four Indian leaders, Nehru, Baldev Singh, Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan to obtain the participation of all parties in the Constituent Assembly.
1947 - Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Riots break out in Jerusalem in response to the approval of the 1947 UN Partition Plan.
1954 - Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
1954 - The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and the Republic of China, is signed in Washington, DC.
1956 - The Granma yacht reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente province and Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
1961 - In a nationally-broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
1962 - Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of US President John F. Kennedy, US Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to not make an optimistic public comment on the war's progress.
1970 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
1971 - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm Al Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.
1972 - Gough Whitlam becomes the first Australian Labor Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years.
1975 - Pathet Lao seizes power in Laos, and establishes the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
1976 - Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba replacing Osvaldo DorticÃ³s Torrado.
1977 - The first World Series Cricket "supertest" match played between Australia and West Indies
1980 - Four U.S. nuns and churchwomen, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, are murdered by a death squad in El Salvador.
1988 - Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.
1990 - A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932.
1993 - Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed in MedellÃn.
1993 - Space Shuttle program: STS-61 - NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
1999 - The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.
2001 - Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
2005 - Van Tuong Nguyen is executed in Singapore for drug trafficking.

Historical Events on 1 Dec

2011-11-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 1 Dec

1167 - The Lombard League is formed in northern Italy.
1420 - Henry V of England enters Paris.
1640 - End of the Iberian Union: Portugal acclaims as King JoÃ£o IV of Portugal, thus ending a 60 year period of personal union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain and the end of the rule of the House of Habsburg (also called the Philippine Dynasty). The Spanish
1768 - The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off TromÃ¸y in Norway.
1821 - The first constitution of Costa Rica is issued.
1822 - Peter I is crowned as Emperor of Brazil.
1824 - U.S. presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task to decide the winner (as stipulated by the Twelfth Amendment to the
1826 - French philhellene Fabvier forces his way through the Turkish cordon and ascends the Acropolis of Athens, which had been under siege.
1864 - In his State of the Union Address President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation.
1884 - American Old West: Near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.
1913 - Crete, having obtained self rule from Turkey after the first Balkan war, is annexed by Greece.
1913 - The Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.
1918 - Transylvania unites with Romania, following the incorporation of Bessarabia (March 27) and Bukovina (November 28). National Council of Romanians in Banat had voted for union with the Kingdom of Romania. National Council of Romanians in Transylvania had vo
1918 - Iceland becomes a sovereign state, yet remains a part of the Danish kingdom.
1918 - The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.
1919 - Lady Astor becomes first female member of the British Parliament to take her seat (she had been elected to that position on November 28).
1925 - World War I aftermath: The final Locarno Treaty is signed in London, establishing post-war territorial settlements.
1934 - In the Soviet Union, Politburo member Sergei Kirov is shot dead at the Communist Party headquarters in Leningrad by Leonid Nikolayev.
1941 - World War II: Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signs Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol.
1952 - The New York Daily News reports the first successful sexual reassignment operation.
1955 - American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1958 - The Our Lady of the Angels School Fire in Chicago, Illinois kills 92 children and three nuns.
1958 - Central African Republic becomes independent from France.
1959 - Cold War: Antarctic Treaty signed , which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent.
1960 - Paul McCartney and Pete Best arrested then deported from Hamburg, Germany for accusation of attempted arson.
1961 - The independent Republic of West Papua is proclaimed in modern-day Western New Guinea.
1963 - Nagaland becomes the 16th state of India.
1964 - Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.
1965 - The Border Security Force is formed in India as a special force to guard the borders.
1969 - Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.
1971 - Indian Army occupies part of Kashmir.
1971 - Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.
1973 - Papua New Guinea gains self government from Australia.
1974 - Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, crashes northwest of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
1974 - TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727, crashes northwest of Dulles International Airport killing all 92 people on-board.
1981 - A Yugoslavian Inex Adria Aviopromet DC-9 crashes in Corsica killing all 180 people on-board.
1982 - At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
1988 - Benazir Bhutto is appointed Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1989 - Right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed forces Movement (RAM) attempts to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a failed bloody coup d' etat.
1989 - Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the communist party the leading role in the state.
1990 - Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the seabed.
1991 - Cold War: Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.
1998 - Exxon announces a $73.7 billion USD deal to buy Mobil, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company.
2001 - Captain Bill Compton brings Trans World Airlines Flight 220, an MD-83, into St. Louis International Airport bringing to an end 76 years of TWA operations following TWAâ™s purchase by American Airlines.
800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.

Historical Events on 30 Nov

2011-11-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 30 Nov

1718 - Swedish king Charles XII dies during a siege of the fortress Fredriksten in Norway.
1782 - American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris (1783) â" In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).
1786 - Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. November 30 is therefore commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day.
1803 - In New Orleans, Louisiana, Spanish representatives officially transfer Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.
1804 - The Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate begins an impeachment trial against Federalist-partisan Supreme Court of the United States Justice Samuel Chase.
1824 - First ground is broken at Allenburg for the building of the original Welland Canal.
1829 - First Welland Canal opens for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the ground breaking.
1853 - Crimean War: Battle of Sinop â" The Imperial Russian Navy under Pavel Nakhimov destroys the Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Franklin â" The Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions commanded by John McAllister Schofield around Franklin, Tennessee (Hood lost six generals
1868 - The inauguration of a statue of King Charles XII of Sweden takes place in the King's garden in Stockholm.
1872 - The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
1886 - The Folies BergÃ¨re stages its first revue.
1902 - American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor.
1908 - A mine explosion in the mining town of Marianna, Pennsylvania kills 154.
1916 - Costa Rica becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1934 - The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman becomes the first to officially exceed 100mph.
1936 - In London, the Crystal Palace is destroyed by fire.
1939 - Winter War: Soviet forces cross the Finnish border in several places and bomb Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war.
1940 - Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut.
1942 - World War II Guadalcanal Campaign: Battle of Tassafaronga â" A smaller squadron of Japanese destroyers led by Raizo Tanaka defeats a US cruiser force under Carleton H. Wright.
1943 - World War II: Tehran Conference â" U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin agree to the planned June 1944 invasion of Europe code-named Operation Overlord.
1953 - Edward Mutesa II, the kabaka (king) of Buganda is deposed and exiled to London by Sir Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda.
1954 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space.
1962 - The United Nations General Assembly elects U Thant of Burma as its 3rd UN Secretary-General.
1966 - Barbados becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1967 - The People's Republic of South Yemen becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1967 - The Pakistan Peoples Party is founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who becomes its first Chairman later as the Head of state and Head of government after the 1971 Civil War.
1971 - Iran seizes the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the United Arab Emirates.
1972 - Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
1974 - Lucy (Australopithecus) is discovered by Donald Johanson, Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens and Tim White in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.
1981 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on December 17).
1982 - A parcel bomb is delivered to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street.
1982 - Michael Jackson releases his sensational hit, "Thriller".
1988 - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. buys RJR Nabisco for $25.07 billion USD.
1989 - Richard Mallory of Palm Harbor, Florida becomes serial killer Aileen Wuornos's first victim.
1989 - Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen is killed by a Red Army Faction terrorist bomb.
1993 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law.
1995 - Official end of Operation Desert Storm.
1998 - Deutsche Bank announces a $10 billion USDdeal to buy Bankers Trust, thus creating the largest financial institution in the world.
1999 - British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.
1999 - In Seattle, Washington, United States, protests against the WTO meeting by anti-globalization protesters catch police unprepared and force the cancellation of opening ceremonies.
2004 - Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with $2,520,700 USD, television's all-time biggest game show haul.
2004 - Lion Air Flight 538 crash lands in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 26.
2004 - Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge resigns.
2005 - John Sentamu becomes the first African American archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.
2007 - Hillary Clinton presidential campaign office hostage crisis: Leeland Eisenberg entered the campaign office of Hillary Clinton in Rochester, New Hampshire with a device suspected of being a bomb and held three people hostage for 5 hours.

Historical Events on 29 Nov

2011-11-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 29 Nov

1777 - San Jose, California, is founded as el Pueblo de San JosÃ© de Guadalupe. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.
1781 - The crew of the slave ship Zong murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea in order to claim insurance.
1830 - November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins.
1845 - The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.
1847 - Whitman Massacre: Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War.
1850 - The treaty, Punctation of OlmÃ¼tz, signed in Olomouc means diplomatic capitulation of Prussia to Austrian Empire, which took over the leadership of German Confederation.
1864 - Indian Wars: Sand Creek Massacre - Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants inside Colorado Territory.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spring Hill - Confederate advance into Tennessee misses opportunity to crush Union army. Gen. Hood angered, leads to Battle of Franklin.
1872 - Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.
1890 - The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan and the first Diet convenes.
1890 - At West Point, New York, the United States Naval Academy defeats the United States Military Academy 24-0 in the first Army-Navy football game.
1893 - Ziqiang Institute, today known as Wuhan University, is founded by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in late Qing Dynasty of China after his memorial to the throne is approved by the Qing Government.
1910 - The first US patent for inventing the traffic lights system is issued to Ernest Sirrine.
1915 - Fire destroys most of the buildings on Santa Catalina Island, California.
1922 - Howard Carter opens the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun to the public.
1929 - U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole.
1934 - The Chicago Bears defeat the Detroit Lions 19-16 in the first nationally broadcast game.
1943 - The second session of AVNOJ, the Anti-fascist council of national liberation of Yugoslavia, is held in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, determining the post-war ordering of the country.
1944 - The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
1945 - The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.
1947 - The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine (The Partition Plan).
1950 - Korean War: North Korean and Chinese troops force United Nations forces to retreat from North Korea.
1952 - Korean War: U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.
1961 - Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission - Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and splashed-down off the coast of Puerto Rico.
1963 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
1963 - Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 831: A Douglas DC-8 carrying 118, crashes after taking-off from Dorval Airport near Montreal.
1965 - Canadian Space Agency launches the satellite Alouette 2.
1967 - Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation.
1972 - Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari) releases Pong (the first commercially successful video game) in Andy Cappâ™s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California.
1983 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The United Nations General Assembly passes United Nations Resolution 37/37, stating that Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan.
1987 - A Korean Air Boeing 707 explodes over the Thai-Burmese border, killing 155.
1990 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes United Nations Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing "use all necessary means to uphold and implement" United Nations Security Council Resolution 660 "to restore international peace and security"
2005 - The new Croatian Communist Party (KPH) is founded in Vukovar.
2007 - The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to The Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny.
2007 - A 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurs off the northern coast of Martinique. This affected the Eastern Caribbean as far north as Puerto Rico and as south as Trinidad.

Historical Events on 28 Nov

2011-11-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 28 Nov

1095 - On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appoints Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
1443 - Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in Middle Albania and raise the Albanian flag.
1520 - After navigating through the South American strait, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
1582 - In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespere and Anne Hathaway pay a Â£40 bond for their marriage license.
1660 - At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.
1729 - Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.
1785 - The Treaty of Hopewell is signed.
1814 - The Times in London is for the first time printed by automatic, steam powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience.
1821 - Panama Independence Day: Panama separates from Spain and joins Gran Colombia.
1843 - Ka Lahui: Hawaiian Independence Day - The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.
1862 - American Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General John Blunt defeat General John Marmaduke's Confederates.
1893 - Women vote in a national election for the first time: the New Zealand general election.
1895 - The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.
1905 - Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn FÃ©in as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.
1907 - In Haverhill, Massachusetts, scrap-metal dealer Louis B. Mayer opens his first movie theater.
1912 - Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
1914 - World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.
1918 - Bucovina voted for the union with the Kingdom of Romania.
1919 - Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit as a British MP, although not the first to be elected - that was Countess Markiewicz.
1920 - Kilmichael Ambush, Battle of the Irish War of Independence.
1929 - Ernie Nevers of the then Chicago Cardinals scores all the points in this game as the Cardinals defeat the Chicago Bears 40-6.
1942 - In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub kills 491 people.
1943 - World War II: Tehran Conference - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran to discuss war strategy.
1944 - Albania is liberated by the Albanian partisans.
1958 - Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.
1960 - Mauritania becomes independent of France.
1964 - Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.
1964 - Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.
1965 - Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippines President Elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.
1975 - East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.
1975 - As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, the final two American soap operas that had resisted going to pre-taped broadcasts, air their last live episodes.
1979 - The Mount Erebus disaster: An Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes into Mount Erebus on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board.
1982 - Representatives from 88 countries gather in Geneva to discuss world trade and ways to work toward aspects of free trade.
1984 - Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are made Honorary Citizens of the United States.
1987 - South African Airways flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on-board.
1989 - Cold War: Velvet Revolution - In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces they will give up their monopoly on political power.
1994 - Voters in Norway reject European Union membership (see Norwegian EU referendum, 1994).
1994 - In Portage, Wisconsin, convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is clubbed to death by an inmate in the Columbia Correctional Institution gymnasium.
1997 - First public appearance of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerrilla group that fought for the independence of Kosovo from Serbia.
1998 - The people of Albania vote for their new Constitution in a referendum.
2000 - Ukrainian politician Oleksander Moroz begins the Cassette Scandal by publicly accusing President Leonid Kuchma of involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
2004 - Male PoÊ»o-uli dies of Avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct.

Historical Events on 27 Nov

2011-11-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 27 Nov

1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
1295 - The first elected representatives from Lancashire were called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as "The Model Parliament".
1703 - The first Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703.
1807 - The Portuguese Royal Family leaves Lisbon to escape from Napoleonic troops
1815 - Adoption of Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland
1839 - In Boston, Massachusetts, the American Statistical Association is founded.
1863 - American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio Penitentiary and return safely to the South.
1868 - Indian Wars: Battle of Washita River - United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on Cheyenne living on reservation land.
1895 - At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
1901 - U.S. Army War College is established.
1912 - Spain declares a protectorate over the north shore of Morocco.
1919 - Haiti becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1924 - In New York City, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
1934 - Bank robber Baby Face Nelson dies in a shoot-out with the FBI.
1940 - In Romania, the ruling party Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled King Carol II of Romania's aides, including former minister Nicolae Iorga.
1940 - World War II: At the Battle of Cape Spartivento, the Royal Navy engages the Regia Marina in the Mediterranean Sea.
1942 - World War II: At Toulon, the French navy scuttles its ships and submarines to keep them out of Nazi hands.
1944 - World War II: An explosion at a RAF ammunition dump at Fauld, Staffordshire kills seventy people.
1954 - Alger Hiss is released from prison after serving 44 months for perjury.
1963 - The Convention on the Unification of Certain Points of Substantive Law on Patents for Invention is signed at Strasbourg.
1964 - Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster".
1965 - Vietnam War: The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned operations are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam has to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.
1971 - Mars 2 of the Soviet space program landed on Mars.
1973 - The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States Senate votes 92 to 3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on December 6, the House confirmed him 387 to 35).
1975 - The Provisional IRA assassinates Ross McWhirter, after a press conference in which McWhirter announced a reward for the capture of those responsible for multiple bombings and shootings across England.
1978 - In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
1983 - A Colombian Boeing 747 crashes near Madrid's Barajas Airport, killing 183.
1984 - Under the Brussels Agreement signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and Spain, the former agreed to enter into discussions with Spain over Gibraltar, including sovereignty.
1990 - The British Conservative Party chooses John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1991 - The United Nations Security Council adopts UN Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.
1992 - Two Venezuelan F-16s took part in the November Venezuelan Coup Attempt on the side of the loyalists.
1992 - For the second time in a year, military forces try to overthrow president Carlos Andres Perez in Venezuela.
1997 - Twenty-five are killed in the second Souhane massacre in Algeria.
1999 - The left-wing Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government with leader Helen Clark becoming the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.
2001 - A hydrogen atmosphere is discovered on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the Hubble Space Telescope, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.
2004 - Pope John Paul II returned the relics of Saint John Chrysostom to the Eastern Orthodox Church.
2005 - The first partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France.
2005 - President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, in power since 1967 and the longest-serving head of state in the world, was re-elected to his third consecutive seven-year term.
2006 - The Canadian House of Commons endorses Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion to declare QuÃ©bÃ©cois a nation within a unified Canada.
2006 - Francesco Cossiga, Italian politician and former President of the Italian Republic, resigned from his position as lifetime senator.

Historical Events on 26 Nov

2011-11-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 26 Nov

1476 - Vlad III Dracula defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
1778 - In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
1784 - Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States established.
1789 - A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress.
1805 - Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
1825 - At Union College in Schenectady, New York a group of college students form Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity.
1842 - The University of Notre Dame is founded.
1863 - American Civil War: Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
1865 - Battle of Papudo: The Spanish navy engages a combined Peruvian-Chilean fleet north of Valparaiso, Chile.
1909 - Sigma Alpha Mu is founded in the City College of New York by 8 Jewish young men.
1913 - Phi Sigma Sigma is founded at Hunter College in New York City.
1917 - The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.
1918 - The Podgorica Assembly votes for "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.
1922 - Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so but it was not widely distributed).
1922 - Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
1939 - Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates the incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.
1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
1942 - Holocaust: Shoah: 572 Norwegian Jews are deported to Auschwitz on the cargo vessel Donau. This was the first step on the journey to the death camp Auschwitz. Altogether the total number of Jews deported from Norway was 767. 25 of the deported survived.
1942 - World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia at BihaÄ‡ in northwestern Bosnia.
1944 - World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.
1949 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution.
1950 - Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and American forces (Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
1965 - In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space.
1968 - Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
1970 - In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever on record.
1977 - 'Vrillon', claiming to be the representative of the 'Ashtar Galactic Command', takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes at 5:12 PM.
1983 - Brinks Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly Â£26 million are stolen from the Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.
1986 - Iran-Contra scandal: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.
1990 - The Delta II rocket makes its maiden flight.
1998 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament.
2003 - Concorde makes its last ever flight over Bristol, England.
2004 - Ruzhou School massacre: a man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China.
43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian", later "Caesar Augustus"), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony is formed.
783 - The Asturian queen Adosinda is put up in a monastery to prevent her kin from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.

Historical Events on 25 Nov

2011-11-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 25 Nov

1034 - MÃ¡el Coluim mac CinÃ¡eda, King of Scots dies. Donnchad, the son of his second daughter BethÃ³c and CrÃnÃ¡n of Dunkeld, inherits the throne.
1120 - The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England.
1177 - Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard.
1491 - The siege of Granada, last Moorish stronghold in Spain, begins.
1542 - Battle of Solway Moss. The English army defeats the Scots.
1667 - A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha, in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.
1703 - The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people perish in the mighty gale.
1758 - French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control.
1758 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is founded.
1783 - American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
1795 - Partitions of Poland: Stanislaus August Poniatowski, the last king of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled to Russia.
1826 - The Greek frigate Hellas arrives in Nafplion to become the first flagship of the Hellenic Navy.
1839 - A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40 foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (never to be entirely rebuilt again). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths resul
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge - At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.
1864 - American Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.
1867 - Alfred Nobel patents dynamite.
1874 - The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873.
1876 - Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.
1905 - The Danish Prins Carl arrives in Norway to become King Haakon VII of Norway.
1913 - Panama becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1918 - Vojvodina, former Austro-Hungarian crownland, proclaims its secession from this state to join the Kingdom of Serbia.
1926 - The deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. November history strikes on Thanksgiving day. 27 twisters of great strength reported in the Midwest, including the strongest November tornado, an estimated F4, that devastates Heber Springs, Arkansas. 51 deaths in Ar
1936 - In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, thus agreeing to consult on what measures to take "to safeguard their common interests" in case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation.
1940 - First flight of the deHavilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.
1941 - Finland joined the Anti-Comintern Pact.
1943 - Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina was re-established at the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Peleliu - At Peleliu, Palau, American forces led by the general officer William H. Rupertus defeat the Japanese army led by Colonel Kunio Nakagawa.
1944 - World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in Deptford, United Kingdom, killing 160 shoppers.
1947 - Red Scare: The "Hollywood Ten" are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.
1947 - New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.
1950 - The "Storm of the Century", a violent snowstorm, paralyzes the northeastern United States and the Appalachians, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures. Pickens, West Virginia, records 57 inches of snow. 323 people die due to the storm.
1950 - The People's Republic of China joins the Korean War, sending thousands of troops across the Yalu river border to fight United Nations forces.
1952 - Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London and eventually becomes the longest continuously-running play in history.
1958 - French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.
1960 - The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated.
1963 - President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
1970 - In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and two compatriots commit ritualistic suicide after an unsuccessful coup attempt.
1973 - George Papadopoulos, head of the military Regime of the Colonels in Greece, is ousted in a military coup led by Lieutenant General Phaidon Gizikis.
1975 - Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands.
1977 - Former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was found "guilty" by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and was sentenced to death by firing squad.
1982 - The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day Fire destroys an entire city block, including the Northwestern National Bank building and the recently closed Donaldson's Department Store.
1984 - 36 top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
1986 - Iran Contra Affair: US Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1986 - The King Fahd Causeway was officially opened in the Persian Gulf.
1987 - Supertyphoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph and a surge that swallows entire villages. at least 1,036 deaths attributed to the storm.
1988 - German politician Rita SÃ¼ssmuth becomes president of the Bundestag.
1992 - The Czechoslovakia Federal Assembly votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia from January 1, 1993.
1994 - Sony founder Akio Morita announces he will be stepping down as CEO of the company.
1996 - An Ice storm strikes the central U.S. killing 26 people. Powerful windstorm affects Florida, winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers.
2000 - 2000 Baku earthquake took place.
2005 - Polish Minister of National Defence Radek Sikorski opens Warsaw Pact archives to historians. Maps of possible nuclear strikes against Western Europe, as well as the possible nuclear annihilation of 43 Polish cities and 2 million of its citizens by Soviet-
2007 - The first European Parliament election and a referendum on changing the voting system (called by the President and declared invalid because of insufficient turnout) were held in Romania.
2007 - President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili resigns.

Historical Events on 24 Nov

2011-11-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 24 Nov

1190 - Isabella of Jerusalem marries Conrad of Montferrat at Acre, making him de jure King.
1639 - Jeremiah Horrocks observes the transit of Venus, an event he had predicted.
1642 - Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).
1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species.
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Lookout Mountain - Near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant capture Lookout Mountain and begin to break the Confederate siege of the city led by General Braxton Bragg.
1898 - The International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists opens.
1917 - Nine police officers and one civilian are killed when a bomb explodes at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin police headquarters building.
1922 - Author and Irish Republican Army member Robert Erskine Childers is executed by an Irish Free State firing squad for illegally carrying a revolver.
1932 - In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
1935 - The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its second congress.
1941 - World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French.
1943 - World War II: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks with nearly 650 men killed.
1944 - World War II: Bombing of Tokyo - The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital from the east and by land is carried out by 88 American aircraft.
1947 - Red Scare: After the so-called Hollywood 10 refuse to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee concerning allegations of Communist influence in the movie industry, the United States House of Representatives votes 346 to 17 to approve cit
1962 - The West Berlin branch of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany forms a separate party, the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin.
1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald is assassinated by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas police department headquarters on live television.
1963 - Vietnam War: Newly sworn-in US President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam both militarily and economically.
1965 - Joseph DÃ©sirÃ© Mobutu seizes power in the Congo and becomes President; he goes on to rule the country (which he renames Zaire in 1971) for over 30 years, until being overthrown by rebels in 1997.
1966 - New York City experiences the smoggiest day in the city's history.
1966 - A Bulgarian plane with 82 people on board crashes near Bratislava, Slovakia.
1969 - Apollo program: The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.
1971 - During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (AKA D.B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with US$200,000 in ransom money - neither he nor the money have ever been found.
1974 - Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy" after The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.
1992 - In the People's Republic of China, a China Southern Airlines domestic flight crashes, killing all 141 people on-board.
1993 - In Liverpool, 11-year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are convicted of the murder of 2-year-old James Bulger.
2005 - Conservative leader Stephen Harper, the leader of the Official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, introduces a motion of no confidence, which NDP leader Jack Layton seconds. The motion is passed on November 28 leading to the dissolution of the 38th Ca
2006 - Israeli rapist Benny Sela escapes from police custody while being transferred to a court hearing.
380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal entry, into Constantinople.

Historical Events on 23 Nov

2011-11-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 23 Nov

1227 - Polish Prince Leszek I the White is assassinated at an assembly of Piast dukes at GÄ…sawa.
1248 - Conquest of Seville by the Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile.
1499 - Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. He had invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.
1531 - The Second war of Kappel results in the dissolution of the Protestant alliance in Switzerland.
1644 - Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship, and written by John Milton is published.
1654 - French mathematician, scientist, and religious philosopher Blaise Pascal experiences an intense, mystical vision that marks him for life.
1844 - Independence of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark.
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins - Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
1867 - The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England for rescuing two Irish men from jail.
1869 - In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched - one of the last clippers ever to be built, and the only one still surviving to this day.
1876 - Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Marcy Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
1889 - The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1890 - General elections in Italy.
1890 - King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to become his heir.
1903 - Colorado Governor James Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike.
1914 - The US Army retreats from Mexico.
1934 - An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden discovers an Italian garrison at Walwal, which lay well within Ethiopian territory. This leads to the Abyssinia Crisis.
1936 - The first edition of Life is published.
1943 - World War II: The Deutsche Opernhaus on BismarckstraÃŸe in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is destroyed. It will eventually be rebuilt in 1961 and be called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
1943 - World War II: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces.
1946 - The Workers Party of South Korea is founded.
1954 - For the first time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the peak it reached just before the 1929 crash.
1955 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to Australia.
1959 - General Charles de Gaulle, President of France, declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for a "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals."
1963 - Dr Who first broadcast
1971 - The representatives of the People's Republic of China first attended the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, as China's representatives (See China and the United Nations).
1976 - Apneist Jacques Mayol is the first man to reach a depth of 100 m undersea without breathing equipment.
1979 - In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.
1980 - A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people.
1981 - Iran-Contra Affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1985 - Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the hijacked jetliner, but 60 people die in the raid.
1990 - The first all woman expedition to the south pole (3 Americans, 1 Japanese and 12 Russians), sets off from Antarctica on the 1st leg of a 70 day, 1287 kilometre ski trek.
1993 - Rachel Whiteread wins both the Â£20,000 Turner Prize award for best British modern artist and the Â£40,000 K Foundation art award for the worst artist of the year.
1996 - Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 123.
1996 - The Republic of Angola officially joins the World Trade Organization.
1998 - Agreement between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his rival, prince Norodom Ranariddh.
2001 - Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary.
2003 - Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.
2003 - A total solar eclipse occurs and was visible from a corridor in the Antarctic region. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the southern tip of South America and most of Australia.
2005 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, elected president of Liberia, is the first woman to lead an African country.
2007 - MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sank in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands.
800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III.

Historical Events on 22 Nov

2011-11-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 22 Nov

1573 - The Brazilian city of NiterÃ³i is founded.
1574 - Discovery of the Juan FernÃ¡ndez Islands off Chile.
1718 - Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
1830 - Charles Grey, (2nd Earl Grey), became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate General John Bell Hood invades Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.
1922 - Egyptology: Howard Carter, assisted by Lord Carnarvon, opens the tomb of Tutankhamun.
1928 - First execution of Ravel's BolÃ©ro in Paris.
1935 - The China Clipper took off from Alameda, California in an attempt to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean (the airplane later reached its destination, Manila, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail).
1940 - World War II: Following the Italian invasion, Greek troops advances into Albanian soil and capture Korytsa.
1940 - Philip Murray succeeds founder John L. Lewis as president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army was surrounded.
1943 - Lebanon gained independence from France.
1943 - World War II: War in the Pacific - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan (see Cairo Conference)
1963 - In Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy is killed and Texas Governor John B. Connally is seriously wounded by an assassin, identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, who was later captured and charged with the murder of police officer J. D. Tippit. That same
1967 - UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted by the UN Security Council, establishing a set of the principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
1972 - Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
1973 - The Italian Fascist organization Ordine Nuovo is disbanded.
1974 - The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
1975 - Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco.
1976 - Adolfo SuÃ¡rez is elected Prime Minister of Spain.
1977 - First three nodes of the ARPAnet are connected, in what would eventually become the Internet.
1977 - British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
1986 - Mike Tyson defeats Trevor Brubick to become youngest Heavyweight champion in boxing history.
1987 - Two Chicago television stations are hijacked by an unknown pirate dressed as Max Headroom
1988 - In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed.
1989 - In West Beirut, a bomb explodes near the motorcade of Lebanese President Rene Moawad, killing him.
1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1995 - Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.
2002 - In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest.
2003 - In Tbilisi, Georgia, opponents of President Eduard Shevardnadze seize the parliament building and demand the president's resignation.
2004 - The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.
2005 - Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.
498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentius is elected Pope in Santa Maria Maggiore.

Historical Events on 21 Nov

2011-11-20T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 21 Nov

1272 - Following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England.
1620 - Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.).
164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Events commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.
1783 - In Paris, Jean-FranÃ§ois PilÃ¢tre de Rozier and FranÃ§ois Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.
1789 - North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.
1791 - Colonel NapolÃ©on Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic.
1861 - American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.
1877 - Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.
1894 - Port Arthur massacre: Port Arthur, Manchuria falls to the Japanese, a decisive victory of the First Sino-Japanese War.
1905 - Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass-energy equivalence formula E 
1916 - HMHS Britannic sinks in the Aegean Sea after a mine explodes, killing 30 people.
1920 - Bloody Sunday during the Anglo-Irish War.
1922 - Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.
1927 - Columbine Mine Massacre: Striking coal miners were allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.
1942 - The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (however, the highway was not usable by general vehicles until 1943).
1953 - Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce that the "Piltdown Man" skull, held to be one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, was a hoax.
1962 - The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.
1964 - The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opens to traffic (at the time it was the world's longest suspension bridge).
1964 - Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.
1967 - Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."
1969 - U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, D.C. on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nu
1970 - Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast - A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.
1971 - Indian troops partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas) defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.
1974 - The Birmingham Pub Bombings by the IRA kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six were sentenced to life in prison for this but subsequently acquitted.
1977 - Minister of Internal Affairs Hon Allan Highet announces that 'the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and the poem "God Defend New Zealand", written by Thomas Bracken, as set to music by John Joseph Woods,
1979 - The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set alight, killing four. (see: Foreign relations of Pakistan)
1980 - A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). 87 people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.
1980 - Lake Peigneur drained into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe was drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole. The resulting whirlpool sucked the drilling platfo
1985 - United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying (he was caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison).
1986 - Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1988 - Canadian federal election, 1988 - Canadians re-elect the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney after an election campaign fought mainly over the issue of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement.
1990 - Charter of Paris for a New Europe refocusses the efforts of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europeon post-Cold War issues.
1995 - The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialled at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement was formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year.
1995 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 5,000 (5,023.55) for the first time.
1996 - A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33.
2002 - NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
2004 - The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, unleashing massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.
2004 - The island of Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island receives the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed as a result
2004 - The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.
2006 - Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.

Historical Events on 20 Nov

2011-11-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 20 Nov

1194 - Palermo is conquered by Emperor Henry VI.
1407 - A truce between John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Louis of Valois, Duke of OrlÃ©ans is agreed under the auspices of John, Duke of Berry. OrlÃ©ans would be assassinated three days later by Burgundy.
1695 - Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, is executed.
1700 - Great Northern War: Battle of Narva - King Charles XII of Sweden defeats the army of Tsar Peter the Great at Narva.
1789 - New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1820 - An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick was in part inspired by this story).
1861 - Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government.
1910 - Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosi, denouncing President Porfirio DÃaz, declaring himself president, and calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
1917 - World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins - British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.
1917 - Ukraine is declared a republic.
1923 - Rentenmark replaces the Papiermark as the official currency of Germany at the exchange rate of one Rentenmark to One Trillion (One Billion on the long scale) Papiermark
1936 - Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange is killed by a republican execution squad.
1940 - World War II: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis Powers.
1943 - World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins - United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.
1945 - Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
1947 - The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London.
1952 - SlÃ¡nskÃ½ trials - a series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.
1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
1968 - Vietnam War: Eleven men comprising a Long Range Patrol team from F Company, 58th Infantry, 101st Airborne are surrounded and nearly wiped out by North Vietnamese army regulars from the 4th and 5th Regiment. The seven wounded survivors are rescued after se
1969 - Vietnam War: The Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
1974 - The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. This suit later leads to the break up of AT&T and its Bell System.
1975 - Francisco Franco, Caudillo of Spain dies after 36 years in power. He died on the 39th anniversary of the death of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera.
1979 - Grand Mosque Seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6000 hostages in the Kaaba. The Saudi government received help from French special forces to put down the uprising.
1984 - SETI is founded.
1985 - Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.
1989 - Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
1992 - In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over a
1993 - An Avioimpex Yak 42D crashes near Ohrid, Macedonia. The aircraft was on a flight from Geneva, Switzerland to Skopje, but had been diverted to Ohrid due to poor weather conditions at the Skopje airport. On landing the aircraft crashed into Mount Trojani ne
1993 - Savings and Loan scandal: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
1994 - The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war (localized fighting resumed the next year).
1998 - A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
1998 - The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.
2001 - In Washington, D.C., U.S. President George W. Bush dedicates the United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.
2003 - After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.
284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor.
762 - BÃ¶gÃ¼, Khan of the Uyghurs, conquers Lo-Yang, capital of the Chinese Empire.

Historical Events on 19 Nov

2011-11-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 19 Nov

1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).
1794 - The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to clear up some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.
1816 - Warsaw University is established.
1847 - The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railway, is opened.
1863 - American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the military cemetery dedication ceremony at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
1881 - A meteorite lands near the village of GroÃŸliebenthal, southwest of Odessa, Ukraine.
1916 - Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures (the company later became one of the most successful independent filmmakers).
1941 - World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.
1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.
1944 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling $14 billion USD in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
1946 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
1950 - US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes supreme commander of NATO-Europe
1955 - National Review publishes its first issue.
1959 - Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel.
1961 - Michael Rockefeller, son of New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, disappears in the jungles near Atsj, Papua New Guinea.
1967 - The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
1969 - Football player PelÃ© scores his 1,000th goal.
1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
1976 - Jaime Ornelas Camacho takes office as the first President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal.
1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
1977 - Transportes Aereos Portugueses Boeing 727 crashes in Madeira islands killing 130.
1979 - Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
1984 - A series of explosions at the PEMEX petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City ignites a major fire and kills about 500 people.
1985 - Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
1985 - Pennzoil wins a $10.53 billion USD verdict against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in the history of the United States, stemming from Texaco executing a contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout
1988 - Serbian communist represent and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic publicly declared that Serbia was under attack from Albanian separatism in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and foreign conspiracy to destroy Se
1990 - Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know Itâ™s True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.
1994 - In Great Britain, the first National Lottery draw is held. A Â£1 ticket gave a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.
1996 - The case of the Port Arthur massacre comes to trial.
1996 - Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril of Canada arrives in Africa to lead a multi-national policing force in Zaire.
1997 - In Des Moines, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive. They would go on to become the first set of septuplets to survive infancy, with all seven alive in 2007.
1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings against U.S. President Bill Clinton.
1998 - Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of the Artist Without Beard sells at auction for $71.5 million USD.
1999 - Shenzhou 1: The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft.
1999 - In Istanbul, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ends a two-day summit by calling for a political settlement in Chechnya and adopting a Charter for European Security.

Historical Events on 17 Nov

2011-11-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 17 Nov

1183 - Battle of Mizushima.
1292 - (O.S.) John Balliol becomes King of Scotland.
1511 - Spain and England ally against France.
1558 - Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.
1603 - English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.
1659 - Peace of the Pyrenees is signed between France and Spain.
1777 - Articles of Confederation was submitted to the states for ratification.
1796 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Arcole - French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.
1800 - The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, DC.
1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Krasnoi.
1820 - Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica (the Palmer Peninsula was later named after him).
1827 - The Delta Phi fraternity, America's oldest continuous social fraternity, was founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York.
1831 - Ecuador and Venezuela were separated from Greater Colombia.
1855 - David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe.
1856 - American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
1858 - Modified Julian Day zero.
1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins - Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege.
1869 - In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony.
1871 - The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.
1876 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's patriotic Slavonic March made its premiere in Moscow to a warm reception by the Russian people.
1878 - First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy.
1903 - The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
1903 - Dahomey (Benin) becomes a French protectorate.
1905 - The Eulsa Treaty is signed between Japan and Korea.
1911 - The Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the first African-American fraternity at a historically black college or university, is founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
1919 - King George V of the United Kingdom proclaims Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day). The idea was first suggested by Edward George Honey.
1922 - Former Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI goes into exile in Italy.
1933 - United States recognizes Soviet Union.
1939 - The Rome-Rio de Janeiro air connection is created.
1939 - Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal; in addition, Czech universities are shut down and over a thousand Czech students sent to concentration camps.
1950 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was enthroned as Tibet's head of state at the age of fifteen.
1953 - The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland are evacuated to the mainland.
1962 - President John F. Kennedy dedicates Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C. region.
1967 - Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports he was given on November 13, US President Lyndon B. Johnson tells his nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress."
1968 - Alexandros Panagoulis is condemned to death for attempting to assassinate Greek dictator George Papadopoulos.
1969 - Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
1970 - Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse.
1970 - Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
1970 - Luna program: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and was released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
1973 - Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, US President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook".
1973 - The Athens Polytechnic Uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital.
1974 - AlianÃ§a OperÃ¡rio-Camponesa (Worker-Peasant Alliance) founded in Portugal, as a front of PCP(m-l).
1983 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded.
1989 - Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29).
1990 - Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki prefecture, Japan becomes active again and erupts.
1997 - In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre (The police then kill the assailants).
2000 - A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills 7, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
2000 - Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.
2004 - Kmart Corp. announces it is buying Sears, Roebuck and Co. for $11 billion USD and naming the newly merged company Sears Holdings Corporation.
2005 - Italy's choice of national anthem, Il Canto degli Italiani, becomes official in law for the first time, almost 60 years after it was provisionally chosen following the birth of the republic.
2006 - Official naming of element 111, Roentgenium (Rg).
284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers.
473 - The future Zeno I is named associate emperor by Emperor Leo I.

Historical Events on 16 Nov

2011-11-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 16 Nov

1384 - Jadwiga is crowned King of Poland, although she is a woman.
1491 - An auto de fe, held in the Brasero de la Dehesa outside of Ãvila, concludes the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects.
1532 - Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa.
1632 - The Battle of LÃ¼tzen, where King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden is killed.
1776 - American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: Hessian mercenaries capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of SchÃ¶ngrabern - Russian forces under Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Murat.
1821 - American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.
1849 - A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.
1857 - Second relief of Lucknow. The most Victoria Crosses won in a single day with 24.
1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee. Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.
1885 - Canadian rebel leader of the MÃ©tis and "Father of Manitoba", Louis Riel is executed for treason.
1907 - Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory become Oklahoma and are admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
1907 - Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania sister ship of RMS Lusitania, sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.
1914 - The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.
1938 - LSD is first synthesized by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland.
1940 - World War II: In response to Germany's leveling of Coventry, England two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.
1940 - Holocaust: In occupied Poland, the Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.
1943 - World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.
1944 - Dueren, Germany is completely destroyed by Allied bombers.
1945 - UNESCO is founded.
1945 - Cold War: The United States Army secretly admits 88 German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.
1965 - Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.
1973 - Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission.
1973 - U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
1979 - The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
1988 - The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that Estonia was "sovereign" but stopped short of declaring independence.
1988 - In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1989 - A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops kills six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
1989 - UNESCO adopts the Seville Statement on Violence at the twenty-fifth session of its General Conference.
1997 - After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
2000 - Bill Clinton becomes the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.
534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published.

Historical Events on 14 Nov

2011-11-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 14 Nov

1862 - American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1889 - Pioneering female journalist Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) begins a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completes the trip in seventy-two days.
1910 - Aviator Eugene Ely performs the first take off from a ship in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He took off from a makeshift deck on the USS Birmingham in a Curtiss pusher.
1918 - Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.
1921 - The Communist Party of Spain is founded.
1922 - The BBC begins radio service in the United Kingdom.
1923 - Kentaro Suzuki completes his ascent of Mount Iizuna.
1940 - World War II: In England, the city of Coventry is heavily bombed by German Luftwaffe bombers. Coventry Cathedral is almost completely destroyed.
1941 - World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sinks due to torpedo damage from U-81 sustained on November 13.
1952 - First regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express.
1957 - The Apalachin Meeting outside Binghamton, New York is raided by law enforcement, and many high level Mafia figures are arrested.
1965 - Vietnam War: Battle of the Ia Drang begins - the first major engagement between regular American and North Vietnamese forces.
1967 - The Congress of Colombia in commemoration of the 150 years of the death of Policarpa Salavarrieta, declares this day as "Day of the Colombian Woman".
1969 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the Moon.
1970 - Southern Airlines Flight 932 crashes in the mountains near Huntington, West Virginia, killing 75, including members of the Marshall University football team.
1971 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 reaches Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.
1971 - His Holiness Shenouda III is consecrated as the 117th Patriarch of Alexandria and the See of St. Mark, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
1972 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.
1973 - In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey.
1975 - Spain abandons Western Sahara.
1979 - Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.
1982 - Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa, the leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, is released after eleven months of internment near the Soviet border.
1984 - Zamboanga City mayor Cesar Climaco, a prominent critic of the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, is assassinated in his home city.
1990 - After German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland.
1991 - In Royal Oak, Michigan, a fired United States Postal Service employee goes on a shooting rampage, killing four and wounding five before committing suicide.
1991 - Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after thirteen years of exile.
1991 - American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.
1995 - A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums and to run most government offices with skeleton staffs.
2001 - War in Afghanistan: Afghan Northern Alliance fighters takeover the capital Kabul.
2002 - Argentina defaults on an $805 million World Bank payment.
2002 - The United States House of Representatives votes not to create an independent commission to investigate the September 11 attacks.
2007 - the last direct-current distribution by Con Edison was shut down.

Historical Events on 13 Nov

2011-11-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 13 Nov

1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre.
1160 - Marriage of Louis VII of France with Adele of Champagne.
1642 - At the Battle of Turnham Green of the First English Civil War the Royalist forces withdraw in face of the Parliamentarian army and fail to take London.
1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Col. Ethan Allen attack Montreal, Quebec defended by British General Guy Carleton.
1841 - James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnosis.
1851 - The Denny Party lands at Alki Point, the first settlers of what would become Seattle, Washington.
1864 - The new Constitution of Greece is adopted.
1887 - Bloody Sunday clashes in central London.
1901 - The 1901 Caister Lifeboat Disaster.
1909 - Collier's magazine accuses U.S. Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of questionable dealings in Alaskan coal fields.
1916 - Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription.
1927 - The Holland Tunnel opens to traffic as the first Hudson River vehicular tunnel linking New Jersey to New York City.
1941 - World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is torpedoed by U 81, sinking the next day.
1942 - World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal - U.S. and Japanese ships engage in an intense, close-quarters surface naval engagement during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1950 - General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.
1954 - Great Britain defeats France to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.
1956 - United States Supreme Court declares Alabama and Montgomery, Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal; thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1961 - Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny succeeds Aleksandr Nikolayevich Shelepin as head of the KGB.
1965 - The SS Yarmouth Castle burns and sinks 60 miles off Nassau with the loss of 90 lives.
1969 - Vietnam War: Anti-war protesters in Washington, DC stage a symbolic March Against Death.
1970 - Bhola cyclone: A 150-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night. This is regarded as the 20th century's worst natural disaster.
1971 - The American space probe, Mariner 9, becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet successfully, swinging into its planned trajectory around Mars.
1982 - A boxing match held in Las Vegas, Nevada ends when Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim. Kim's death on November 17 led to significant changes in the sport.
1982 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
1985 - The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts and melts a glacier, causing a lahar (volcanic mudslide) that buries Armero, Colombia, killing approximately 23,000 people.
1985 - Xavier Suarez is sworn in as Miami, Florida's first Cuban-born mayor.
1990 - In Aramoana, New Zealand, Resident David Gray shot dead 13 people, in what became known as the Aramoana Massacre.
1990 - The World Wide Web first began.
1994 - Voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union in a referendum.
1995 - A truck-bomb explodes outside of a US-operated Saudi Arabian National Guard training center in Riyadh, killing five Americans and two Indians. A group called the Islamic Movement for Change claims responsibility.
2000 - Philippine House Speaker Manuel B. Villar, Jr. passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.
2001 - Doha Round: The World Trade Organization ends a four-day ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar.
2001 - War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
2002 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
2002 - The oil tanker Prestige sinks off the Galician coast and causes a huge oil spill.
2007 - An explosion hits the south wing of the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Quezon City, killing four people, including Congressman Wahab Akbar, and wounding six.

Historical Events on 12 Nov

2011-11-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

Historical Events on 12 Nov

1028 - Future Byzantine empress Zoe marries Romanus Argyrus according to the wishes of the dying Constantine VIII.
1439 - Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament.
1555 - The English Parliament re-establishes Catholicism.
1793 - Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, is guillotined.
1847 - Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, is the first to use chloroform as an anaesthetic.
1892 - William "Pudge" Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.
1893 - The treaty of the Durand Line is signed between present day Pakistan and Afghanistan - the Durand Line has gained international recognition as an international border between the two sister nations.
1905 - (November 12 & November 13) Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic.
1912 - The frozen bodies of Robert Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
1918 - Austria becomes a republic.
1920 - Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rapallo.
1922 - The Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority is founded on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1927 - Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.
1933 - Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster.
1936 - In California, the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.
1938 - Hermann GÃ¶ring announces Nazi Germany plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that actually was first considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.
1941 - The Soviet cruiser "Chervona Ukraina" is destroyed during the Battle of Sevastopol.
1941 - World War II: Temperatures around Moscow drop to -12 Â° C and the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.
1942 - World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal, which would last for three days.
1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force launches 29 Avro Lancaster bombers in one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of war and sinks the German battleship Tirpitz, with 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs off TromsÃ¸, Norway.
1946 - A branch of the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, Illinois opens the first ten drive-up teller windows.
1948 - In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.
1969 - Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre - Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story.
1970 - The Oregon Highway Division attempts to destroy a rotting beached Sperm whale with explosives, leading to the now infamous exploding whale incident.
1971 - Vietnam War: As part of Vietnamization, US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
1978 - As Bishop of Rome Pope John Paul II took possession of his Cathedral Church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran
1979 - Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.
1980 - The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes first images of its rings.
1981 - The Space Shuttle Columbia becomes the first spacecraft to be launched twice.
1982 - Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa, a Solidarity leader, is released from a Polish prison after eleven months.
1982 - In the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov becomes the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding Leonid I. Brezhnev.
1990 - Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.
1990 - Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch.
1991 - Dili Massacre, Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd of student protesters in Dili, East Timor.
1993 - Decree of President of Kazakhstan "About introducing national currency of Republic of Kazakhstan" is issued.
1996 - A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane collide in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349.
1997 - Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
1998 - Daimler-Benz completes a merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler.
1998 - Then Vice President of the United States Al Gore symbolically signs the Kyoto Protocol.
1999 - The DÃ¼zce earthquake strikes Turkey with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale.
2001 - 2001 Attack on Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops.
2001 - In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 on its way to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.
2003 - With 501 km/h (311 mph) Shanghai Transrapid sets up a new world record for commercial railway systems.
2003 - Iraq war: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 Iraq war are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.
2006 - The former Soviet republic of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia.
764 - Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days.