Today in History

May 18

526		St. John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
1643		Queen Anne, the widow of Louis XIII, is granted sole and absolute power as regent by the Paris parliament, overriding the late king's will.
1652		A law is passed in Rhode Island banning slavery in the colonies but it causes little stir and seems unlikely to be enforced.
1792		Russian troops invade Poland.
1802		Britain declares war on France.
1804		Napoleon Bonaparte becomes the Emperor of France.
1828		The Battle of Las Piedras, between Uruguay and Brazil, ends.
1860		Abraham Lincoln is nominated for president.
1864		The fighting at Spotsylvania in Virginia, reaches its peak at the Bloody Angle.
1896		The Supreme Court's decision on Plessy v. Ferguson upholds the "separate but equal" policy in the United States.
1904		Brigand Raizuli kidnaps American Ion H. Perdicaris in Morocco.
1917		The U.S. Congress passes the Selective Service act, calling up soldiers to fight World War I.
1931		Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashes his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He is picked up seven hours later by a passing ship.
1933		President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.
1942		New York ends night baseball games for the rest of World War II.
1944		The Allies finally capture Monte Cassino in Italy.
1951		The United Nations moves its headquarters to New York city.
1969		Two battalions of the 101st Airborne Division assault Hill 937 but cannot reach the top because of muddy conditions.
1974		India becomes sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb.
1980		After rumbling for two months, Mount Saint Helens, in Washington, erupts 3 times in 24 hours.

May 17

1540		Afgan chief Sher Khan defeats Mongul Emperor Humayun at Kanauj.
1630		Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi sees the belts on Jupiter's surface.
1681		Louis XIV sends and expedition to aid James II in Ireland. As a result, England declares war on France.
1756		Britain declares war on France.
1792		Merchants form the New York Stock Exchange at 70 Wall Street.
1814		Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden.
1863		Union General Ulysses Grant continues his push towards Vicksburg at the Battle of the Big Black River Bridge.
1875		The first Kentucky Derby is run in Louisville.
1881		Frederick Douglass is appointed recorder of deeds for Washington, D.C.
1940		Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium and begins the invasion of France.
1954		The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules for school integration in Brown v. Board of Education.
1973		The Senate Watergate Committee begins its hearings.

May 16

1770		Marie Antoinette marries future King Louis XVI of France.
1863		At the Battle of Champion's Hill, Union General Ulysess S. Grant repulses the Confederates, driving them into Vicksburg.
1868		President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during Senate impeachment, by one vote, cast by Edmund G. Ross.
1879		The Treaty of Gandamak between Russia and England sets up the Afghan state.
1920		Joan of Arc is canonized in Rome.
1928		The first Academy Awards are held in Hollywood.
1943		A specially trained and equipped Royal Air Force squadron destroys two river dams in Germany.
1951		Chinese Communist Forces launch second step, fifth-phase offensive and gain up to 20 miles of territory.
1960		A Big Four summit in Paris collapses because of the American U-2 spy plane affair.
1963		After 22 Earth orbits, Gordon Cooper returns to Earth, ending the last mission of Project Mercury.

May 15

756		Abd-al-Rahman is proclaimed emir of Cordoba, Spain.
1213		King John submits to the Pope, offering to make England and Ireland papal fiefs. Pope Innocent III lifts the interdict of 1208.
1602		English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold discovers Cape Cod.
1614		An aristocratic uprising in France ends with treaty of St. Menehould.
1618		Johannes Kepler discovers his harmonics law.
1702		The War of Spanish Succession begins.
1730		Following the resignation of Lord Townshend, Robert Walpole becomes the sole minister in the English cabinet.
1768		By the Treaty of Versailles, France purchases Corsica from Genoa.
1795		Napoleon enters the Lombardian capital of Milan in triumph.
1820		The U.S. Congress designates the slave trade a form of piracy.
1849		Neapolitan troops enter Palermo, Sicily.
1862		The Union ironclad Monitor and the gunboat Galena fire on Confederate troops at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, Virginia.
1864		At the Battle of New Market, Virginia Military Institute cadets repel a Union attack.
1886		Emily Dickinson dies in Amherst, Mass., where she had lived in seclusion for the previous 24 years.
1916		U.S. Marines land in Santo Domingo to quell civil disorder.
1918		Pfc. Henry Johnson and Pfc. Needham Roberts receive the Croix de Guerre for their services in World War I. They are the first Americans to win France's highest military medal.
1930		Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess.
1942		The United States begins rationing gasoline.
1958		Sputnik III is launched by the Soviet Union.
1963		The last Project Mercury space flight, carrying Gordon Cooper, is launched.
1968		U.S. Marines relieve army troops in Nhi Ha, South Vietnam after a fourteen-day battle.
1972		George Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, Maryland.
1975		The merchant ship Mayaguez is recaptured from Cambodia's Khmer Rouge.
1988		Soviets forces begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

May 14

1264		King Henry III is captured by his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, at the Battle of Lewes.
1509		At the Battle of Agnadello, the French defeat the Venitians in Northern Italy.
1610		French King Henri IV (Henri de Navarre) is assassinated by François Ravillac, a fanatical monk.
1796		English physician Edward Jenner gives the first successful smallpox vaccination.
1804		Explorer William Clark sets off from St. Louis, Missouri.
1853		Gail Borden applies for a patent for condensed milk.
1863		Union General Nathanial Banks heads towards Port Hudson along the Mississippi River.
1897		Guglielmo Marconi sends first communication by wireless telegraph.
1897		"Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa is performed for the first time in Philadelphia.
1935		A plebiscite in the Philippines ratifies an independence agreement.
1940		Holland surrenders to Germany.
1942		The British Army, in retreat from Burma, reach India.
1948		Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion establishes the State of Israel.
1961		A bus carrying black and white civil rights activists is bombed and burned in Alabama.
1969		Three companies of the 101st Airborne Division fail to push North Vietnamese forces off Hill 937 in South Vietnam.
1973		The U.S. space station Skylab is launched.
1991		In South Africa, Winnie Mandela is sentenced to six years in prison for her part in the kidnapping and beating of three black youths and the death of a fourth.

May 11

1573		Henry of Anjou becomes the first elected king of Poland.
1689		French and English navies battle at Bantry Bay.
1690		In the first major engagement of King William's War, British troops from Massachusetts seize Port Royal in Acadia (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) from the French.
1745		French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army at Fontenoy.
1792		The Columbia River is discovered by Captain Robert Gray.
1812		British prime Minster Spencer Perceval is shot by a bankrupt banker in the lobby of the House of Commons.
1857		Indian mutineers seize Delhi.
1858		Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
1860		Giuseppe Garibaldi lands at Marsala, Sicily.
1862		Confederates scuttle the CSS Virginia off Norfolk, Virginia.
1864		Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern.
1960		Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires.
1967		The siege of Khe Sanh ends, the base is still in American hands.

May 10

1285		Philip III of Spain is succeeded by Philip IV ("the Fair").
1503		Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands.
1676		Bacon's Rebellion begins in the New World.
1773		To keep the troubled East India Company afloat, Parliament passes the Tea Act, taxing all tea in the American colonies.
1774		Louis XVI succeeds his father Louis XV as King of France.
1775		American troops capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British.
1794		Elizabeth, the sister of King Louis XVI, is beheaded.
1796		Napoleon Bonaparte wins a brilliant victory against the Austrians at Lodi bridge in Italy.
1840		Mormon leader Joseph Smith moves his band of followers to Illinois to escape the hostilities they experienced in Missouri.
1857		The Bengal Army in India revolts against the British.
1863		General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson succumbs to illness and wounds received during the Battle of Chancellorsville.
1865		Union cavalry troops capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis near Irvinville, Georgia.
1869		The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads meet in Promontory, Utah.
1859		French emperor Napoleon III leaves Paris to join his troops preparing to battle the Austrian army in Northern Italy.
1872		Victoria Woodhull becomes first woman nominated for U.S. president.
1917		Allied ships get destroyer escorts to fend off German attacks in the Atlantic.
1924		J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1928		WGY-TV in Schenectady, New York, begins regular television programming.
1933		Nazis begin burning books by "unGerman" writers such as Heinrich Mann and Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front.
1940		German forces begin a blitzkrieg of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, skirting France's "impenetrable" Maginot Line.
1940		Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister.
1941		England's House of Commons is destroyed during the worst of the London Blitz: 550 German bombers drop 100,000 incendiary bombs.
1960		The USS Nautilus completes first circumnavigation of globe underwater.
1994		Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa's first black president.

May 9

1502		Christopher Columbus leaves Spain on his final trip to New World.
1754		The first newspaper cartoon in America appears.
1813		U.S. troops under William Henry Harrison take Fort Meigs from British and Canadian troops.
1864		Union General John Sedgwick is shot and killed by a Confederate sharpshooter during fighting at Spotsylvania. His last words are: "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist–"
1859		Threatened by the advancing French army, the Austrian army retreats across the River Sesia in Italy.
1915		German and French forces fight the Battle of Artois.
1926		Explorer Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett make the first flight over the North Pole.
1936		Fascist Italy captures the city of Addis Abba, Ethiopia and annexes the country.
1941		The German submarine U-110 is captured at sea along with its Enigma machine by the Royal Navy.
1946		King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy abdicates his throne and is replaced by Umberto.
1962		A laser beam is successfully bounced off the moon for the first time.
1974		The House Judiciary Committee begins formal hearings on Nixon impeachment.

May 8

1450		Jack Cade's Rebellion–Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.
1541		Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River which he calls Rio de Espiritu Santo.
1559		An act of supremacy defines Queen Elizabeth I as the supreme governor of the church of England.
1794		The United States Post Office is established.
1846		The first major battle of the Mexican War is fought at Palo Alto, Texas.
1862		General 'Stonewall' Jackson repulses the Federals at the Battle of McDowell, in the Shenendoah Valley.
1864		Union troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House to find the Confederates waiting for them.
1886		Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton invents Coca Cola.
1895		China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki.
1904		U.S. Marines land in Tangier, North Africa, to protect the Belgian legation.
1919		The first transatlantic flight by a navy seaplane takes-off.
1933		Hahatma Gandhi begins a hunger strike to protest British oppression in India.
1940		German commandos in Dutch uniforms cross the Dutch border to hold bridges for the advancing German army.
1942		The Battle of the Coral Sea between the Japanese Navy and the U.S. Navy ends.
1945		The final surrender of German forces is celebrated as VE (Victory Europe) day.
1952		Allied fighter-bombers stage the largest raid of the war on North Korea.
1958		President Eisenhower orders the National Guard out of Little Rock as Ernest Green becomes the first black to graduate from an Arkansas public school.
1967		Boxer Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army.
1984		The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Summer Olympics planned for Los Angeles.
1995		Jacques Chirac is elected president of France.

May 7

558		The dome of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople collapses. Its immediate rebuilding is ordered by Justinian.
1274		The Second Council of Lyons opens in France to regulate the election of the pope.
1429		Joan of Arc breaks the English siege of Orleans.
1525		The German peasants' revolt is crushed by the ruling class and church.
1763		Indian chief Pontiac begins his attack on a British fort in present-day Detroit, Michigan.
1800		Congress divides the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part will becomes the Indiana Territory and the eastern section remains the Northwest Territory.
1824		Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" premiers in Vienna.
1847		The American Medical Association is formed in Philadelphia.
1862		Confederate troops strike Union troops at the Battle of Eltham's Landing in Virginia.
1864		The Battle of Wilderness ends with heavy losses to both sides.
1877		Indian chief Sitting Bull enters Canada with a trail of Indians after the Battle of Little Big Horn.
1915		The German submarine U-20 torpedoes the passenger ship Lusitiania, sinking her in 21 minutes with 1,978 people on board.
1937		The German Condor Legion arrives in Spain to assist Fransico Franco's forces.
1942		In the Battle of the Coral Sea, Japanese and American navies attack each other with carrier-launched warplanes. It is the first time in the history of naval warfare where two fleets fought without seeing each other.Two crucial battles in 1942 marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
1943		The last major German strongholds in North Africa–Tunis and Bizerte–fall to Allied forces.
1945		Germany signs an unconditional surrender, effectively ending World War II in Europe.
1952		In Korea, Communist POWs at Koje-do riot against their American captors.
1954		French troops surrender to the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu.
1958		Howard Johnson sets an aircraft altitude record in F-104.
1960		Leonid Brezhnev becomes president of the Soviet Union.

May 4

1471		In England, the Yorkists defeat the Landcastians at the battle of Tewkesbury.
1626		Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons.
1715		A French manufacturer debuts the first folding umbrella.
1776		Rhode Island declares independence from England.
1795		Thousands of rioters enter jails in Lyons, France, and massacre 99 Jacobin prisoners.
1814		Napoleon Bonaparte disembarks at Portoferraio on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.
1863		The Battle of Chancellorsville ends when Union Army retreats.
1864		Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces cross the Rapidan River and meet Robert E. Lee's Confederate army.
1927		A balloon soars over 40,000 feet for the first time.
1930		Mahatma Gandhi is arrested by the British.
1942		The Battle of the Coral Sea commences.
1942		The United States begins food rationing.
1961		13 civil rights activists, dubbed Freedom Riders, begin a bus trip through the South.
1970		Ohio National Guardsmen open fire on student protesters at Kent State University, killing four and wounding nine others.

May 3

495		Pope Gelasius asserts that his authority is superior to Emperor Enanstasius.
1568		French forces in Florida slaughter hundreds of Spanish.
1855		Macon B. Allen becomes the first African American to be admitted to the Bar in Massachusetts.
1859		France declares war on Austria.
1863		The Battle of Chancellorsville rages for a second day.
1865		President Lincoln's funeral train arrives in Springfield, Illinois.
1926		U.S. Marines land in Nicaragua.
1952		The first airplane lands at the geographic North Pole.
1968		After three days of battle, the U.S. Marines retake Dai Do complex in Vietnam, only to find the North Vietnamese have evacuated the area.
1971		James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King's assassin, is caught in a jail break attempt.
1979		Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman prime minister of Great Britain.
1982		A British submarine sinks Argentina's only cruiser during the Falkland Islands War.

May 2

1670		The Hudson Bay Company is founded.
1598		Henry IV signs Treaty of Vervins, ending Spain's interference in France.
1668		Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of Devolution in France.
1776		France and Spain agree to donate arms to American rebels fighting the British.
1797		A mutiny in the British navy spreads from Spithead to the rest of the fleet.
1798		The black General Toussaint L'ouverture forces British troops to agree to evacuate the port of Santo Domingo.
1808		The citizens of Madrid rise up against Napoleon.
1813		Napoleon defeats a Russian and Prussian army at Grossgorschen.
1863		Stonewall Jackson smashes Hooker's flank at Chancellorsville, Virginia.
1865		President Andrew Johnson offers a $100,000 reward for the capture of Confederate President
1885		King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State.
1890		The Territory of Oklahoma is created.
1919		The first U.S. air passenger service starts.
1923		Lieutenants Okaley Kelly and John Macready take off from New York for the West Coast on what will become the first successful nonstop transcontinental flight.
1941		Hostilities break out between British forces in Iraq and that country's pro-German faction.
1942		Admiral Chester J. Nimitz, convinced that the Japanese will attack Midway Island, visits the island to review its readiness.
1945		Russian forces take Berlin after 12 days of fierce house-to-house fighting.
1946		Prisoners revolt at California's Alcatraz prison.
1968		The U.S. Army attacks Nhi Ha in South Vietnam and begins a fourteen-day battle to wrestle it away from Vietnamese Communists.
1970		Student anti-war protesters at Ohio's Kent State University burn down the campus ROTC building. The National Guard takes control of campus.

May 1

408		Theodosius II succeeds to the throne of Constantinople.
1308		King Albert is murdered by his nephew John, because he refused his share of the Habsburg lands.
1486		Christopher Columbus convinces Queen Isabella to fund expedition to the West Indies.
1805		The state of Virginia passes a law requiring all freed slaves to leave the state, or risk either imprisonment or deportation.
1863		The Battle of Chancellorsville begins as Union Gen. Joe Hooker starts his three-pronged attack against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
1867		Reconstruction in the South begins with black voter registration.
1877		President Ruthoford B. Hayes withdraws all Federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.
1898		The U.S. Navy under Dewey defeats the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines.
1915		The luxury liner Lusitania leaves New York Harbor for a voyage to Europe.
1927		Adolf Hitler holds his first Nazi meeting in Berlin.
1931		The Empire State Building opens in New York.
1934		The Philippine legislature accepts a U.S. proposal for independence.
1937		President Franklin Roosevelt signs an act of neutrality, keeping the United States out of World War II.
1941		The film Citizen Kane–directed and starring Orson Welles–opens in New York.
1944		The Messerschmitt Me 262, the first combat jet, makes its first flight.
1945		Martin Bormann, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, escapes the Fuehrerbunker as the Red Army advances on Berlin.
1948		North Korea is established.
1950		Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry called Annie Allen.
1960		Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane is shot down over Russia.
1961		Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba.
1968		In the second day of battle, U.S. Marines, with the support of naval fire, continue their attack on a North Vietnamese Division at Dai Do.
1970		Students from Kent State University riot in downtown Kent, Ohio, in protest of the American invasion of Cambodia.
1986		The Tass News Agency reports the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.

April 30

313		Licinius unifies the whole of the eastern Roman Empire under his own rule.
1250		King Louis IX of France is ransomed.
1527		Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France sign treaty of Westminster.
1563		All Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI.
1725		Spain withdraws from the Quadruple Alliance.
1789		George Washington is inaugurated as the first U.S. president.
1803		The United States doubles in size through the Louisiana Purchase, which was sold by France for $15 million.
1812		Louisiana is admitted into the Union as a state.
1849		Giuseppe Garabaldi, the Italian patriot and guerrilla leader, repulses a French attack on Rome.
1864		Work begins on the Dams along the Red River, which will allow Union General Nathaniel Banks' troops to sail over the rapids above Alexandria, Louisiana.
1930		The Soviet Union proposes a military alliance with France and Great Britain.
1931		The George Washington Bridge, linking New York City and New Jersey, opens.
1943		The British submarine HMS Seraph drops 'the man who never was,' a dead man the British planted with false invasion plans, into the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain.
1945		Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker. Karl Donitz becomes his successor.
1968		U.S. Marines attack a division of North Vietnamese troops in the village of Dai Do.
1970		U.S. troops invade Cambodia to disrupt North Vietnamese Army base areas.
1972		The North Vietnamese launch an invasion of the South.
1973		Nixon announces the resignation of H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and other top aides.
1975		North Vietnamese troops enter the Independence Palace of South Vietnam in Saigon ending the Vietnam War.
1980		Terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London.

April 29

1289		Qala'un, the Sultan of Egypt, captures Tripoli.
1429		Joan of Arc leads French forces to victory over English at Orleans.
1624		Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu chief minister of the Royal Council of France.
1661		The Chinese Ming dynasty occupies Taiwan.
1672		King Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands.
1813		Rubber is patented.
1852		The first edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus is published.
1856		Yokut Indians repel a second attack by the 'Petticoat Rangers,' a band of civilian Indian fighters at Four Creeks, California.
1858		Austrian troops invade Piedmont.
1859		As the French army races to support them and the Austrian army mobilizes to oppose them, 150,000 Piedmontese troops invade Piedmontese territory.
1861		The Maryland House of Delegates votes against seceding from Union.
1862		Forts Philip and Jackson surrender to Admiral Farragut outside New Orleans.
1913		Gideon Sundback of Hoboken patents all-purpose zipper.
1916		Irish nationalists surrender to the British in Dublin.
1918		America's WWI Ace of Aces, Eddie Rickenbacker, scores his first victory with the help of Captain James Norman Hall.
1924		Open revolt breaks out in Santa Clara, Cuba.
1927		Construction of the Spirit of St. Louis is completed.
1930		The film All Quiet on the Western Front, based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel Im Western Nichts Neues, premiers.
1945		The German Army in Italy surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.
1945		The Nazi concentration camp of Dachau is liberated by Allied troops.
1946		Former Japanese leaders are indicted in Tokyo as war criminals.
1975		The U.S. embassy in Vietnam is evacuated as North Vietnamese forces fight their way into Saigon.
1983		Harold Washington is sworn in as Chicago's first black mayor.
1992		Four Los Angeles police offices are acquitted of charges stemming from the beating of Rodney King. Rioting ensues.

April 28

357		Constantius II visits Rome for the first time.
1282		Villagers in Palermo lead a revolt against French rule in Sicily.
1635		Virginia Governor John Harvey is accused of treason and removed from office.
1760		French forces besieging Quebec defeat the British in the second battle on the Plains of Abraham.
1788		Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the constitution.
1789		The crew of the HMS Bounty mutinies against Captain William Bligh.
1818		President James Monroe proclaims naval disarmament on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.
1856		Yokut Indians repel an attack on their land by 100 would-be Indian fighters in California.
1902		Revolution breaks out in the Dominican Republic.
1910		The first night air flight is performed by Claude Grahame-White in England.
1916		British declare martial law throughout Ireland.
1919		Les Irvin makes the first jump with an Army Air Corps parachute.
1920		Azerbaijan joins the Soviet Union.
1930		The first organized night baseball game is played in Independence, Kansas.
1932		A yellow fever vaccine for humans is announced.
1945		Benito Mussolini is killed by Italian partisans.
1946		The Allies indict Tojo on 55 counts of war crimes
1947		Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and five others set out in a balsa wood craft known as Kon Tiki to prove that Peruvian Indians could have settled in Polynesia.
1953		French troops evacuate northern Laos.
1965		The U.S. Army and Marines invade the Dominican Republic.
1967		Muhammad Ali refuses induction into the U.S. Army and is stripped of boxing title.
1969		Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France.

April 27

1296		Edward I defeats the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar.
1509		Pope Julius II excommunicates the Italian state of Venice.
1565		The first Spanish settlement in Philippines is established in Cebu City.
1773		British Parliament passes the Tea Act.
1746		King George II wins the battle of Culloden.
1813		American forces capture York (present-day Toronto), the seat of government in Ontario.
1861		President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
1861		West Virginia secedes from Virginia after Virginia secedes from the Union.
1863		The Army of the Potomac begins marching on Chancellorsville.
1865		The Sultana, a steam-powered riverboat, catches fire and burns after one of its boilers explodes. At least 1,238 of the 2,031 passengers–mostly former Union POWs–are killed.
1909		The Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, is overthrown.
1937		German bombers of the Condor Legion devastate Guernica, Spain.
1941		The Greek army capitulates to the invading Germans.
1950		South Africa passes the Group Areas Act, formally segregating races.
1961		The United Kingdom grants Sierra Leone independence.
1975		Saigon is encircled by North Vietnamese troops.
1978		The Afghanistan revolution begins.
1989		Protesting students take over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.

April 24

858		St. Nicholas I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
1519		Envoys of Montezuma II attend the first Easter mass in Central America.
1547		Charles V's troops defeat the Protestant League of Schmalkalden at the battle of Muhlburg.
1558		Mary, Queen of Scotland, marries the French dauphin, Francis.
1792		Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle composes "La Marseilles". It will become France's national anthem.
1800		The Library of Congress is established in Washington, D.C. with a $5,000 allocation.
1805		U.S. Marines attack and capture the town of Derna in Tripoli from the Barbary pirates.
1833		A patent is granted for first soda fountain.
1877		Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
1884		Otto von Bismarck cables Cape Town, South Africa that it is now a German colony.
1898		Spain declares war on United States, rejecting an ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
1915		Turks of the Ottoman Empire begin massacring the Armenian minority in their country.
1916		Irish nationalists launch the Easter Uprising against British occupation.
1944		The first B-29 arrives in China, over the Hump of the Himalayas.
1948		The Berlin airlift begins to relieve surrounded city.
1953		Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1961		President John Kennedy accepts "sole responsibility" for the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
1968		Leftist students take over Columbia University in protest over the Vietnam War.
1980		A rescue attempt of the U.S. hostages held in Iran fails when a plane collides with a helicopter in the Iranian desert.
1981		The IBM Personal Computer is introduced.
1989		Thousands of Chinese students strike in Beijing for more democratic reforms.

 

April 23

1348		The first English order of knighthood is founded.
1500		Pedro Cabal claims Brazil for Portugal.
1521		The Comuneros are crushed by royalist troops in Spain.
1759		British forces seize Basse-Terre and Guadeloupe from France.
1789		President George Washington moves into Franklin House, New York.
1826		Missolonghi falls to Egyptian forces.
1856		Free Stater J.N. Mace in Westport, Kansas shoots pro-slavery sheriff Samuel Jones in the back.
1865		Union cavalry units continue to skirmish with Confederate forces in Henderson, North Carolina and Munsford Station, Alalbama.
1895		Russia, France, and Germany force Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China.
1896		Motion pictures premiere in New York City.
1915		The ACA becomes the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA), the forerunner of NASA.
1920		The Turkish Grand National Assembly has first meeting in Ankara.
1924		The U.S. Senate passes the Soldiers' Bonus Bill.
1945		The Soviet Army fights its way into Berlin.
1950		Chiang Kai-shek evacuates Hainan, leaving mainland China to Mao Zedong and the communists.
1954		The Army-McCarthy hearings begin.
1966		President Lyndon Johnson publicly appeals for more nations to come to the aid of South Vietnam.
1969		Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to death for killing Senator Robert Kennedy.
1971		The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 10, becoming the first in Salyut 1 space station.

April 20

1139		The Second Lateran Council opens in Rome.
1657		English Admiral Robert Blake fights his last battle when he destroys the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay.
1769		Ottawa Chief Pontiac is murdered by an Indian in Cahokia.
1770		Captain Cook discovers Australia.
1775		British troops begin the siege of Boston.
1792		France declares war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia.
1809		Napoleon defeats Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.
1836		The Territory of Wisconsin is created.
1841		Edgar Allen Poe's first detective story is published.
1861		Robert E. Lee resigns from the U.S. Army.
1879		The first mobile home (horse-drawn) is used in a journey from London to Cyprus.
1916		Wrigley Field opens in Chicago.
1919		The Polish Army captures Vilno, Lithuania from the Soviets.
1940		The first electron microscope is demonstrated.
1942		Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, establishes a policy of "true reconciliation with Germany."
1945		Soviet troops begin their attack on Berlin.
1951		General MacArthur addresses a joint session of Congress after being relieved by President Truman.
1953		Operation Little Switch begins in Korea, the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war.
1962		The New Orleans Citizens Committee gives free one-way ride to blacks to move North.
1967		U.S. planes bomb Haiphong for first time during the Vietnam War.
1999		Two students enter Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and open fire with multiple firearms, killing 13 students and teachers, wounding 25 and eventually shooting themselves.

April 19

1539		Emperor Charles V reaches a truce with German Protestants at Frankfurt, Germany.
1689		Residents of Boston oust their governor, Edmond Andros.
1764		The English Parliament bans the American colonies from printing paper money.
1775		The American Revolution begins as fighting breaks out at Lexington, Massachusetts.
1782		The Netherlands recognizes the United States.
1794		Tadeusz Kosciuszko forces the Russians out of Warsaw.
1802		The Spanish reopen New Orleans port to American merchants.
1824		English poet Lord Byron dies of malaria at age 36 while aiding Greek independence.
1861		The Baltimore riots result in four Union soldiers and nine civilians killed.
1861		President Lincoln orders a blockade of Confederate ports.
1880		The Times war correspondent telephones a report of the Battle of Ahmed Khel, the first time news is sent from a field of battle in this manner.
1927		In China, Hankow communists declare war on Chiang Kai-shek.
1934		Shirley Temple appears in her first movie.
1938		General Francisco Franco declares victory in the Spanish Civil War.
1939		Connecticut finally approves the Bill of Rights.
1943		The Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi rule begins.
1960		Baseball uniforms begin displaying player's names on their backs.
1971		Russia launches its first Salyut space station.
1977		Alex Haley receives a special Pulitzer Prize for his book Roots.
1982		NASA names Sally Ride to be the first woman astronaut.
1989		The battleship USS Iowa's number 2 turret explodes, killing sailors.
1993		The FBI ends a 51-day siege by storming the Branch Dividian religious cult headquarters in Waco, Texas.
1995		A truck bomb explodes in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

April 18

310		St. Eusebius begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
1521		Martin Luther confronts the emperor Charles V, refusing to retract the views which led to his excommunication.
1676		Sudbury, Massachusetts is attacked by Indians.
1775		American revolutionaries Paul Revere and William Dawes ride though the towns of Massachusetts warning that "the British are coming."
1791		National Guardsmen prevent Louis XVI and his family from leaving Paris.
1818		A regiment of Indians and blacks is defeated at the Battle of Suwanna, in Florida, ending the first Seminole War.
1834		William Lamb becomes prime minister of England.
1838		The Wilkes' expedition to the South Pole sets sail.
1847		U.S. forces defeat Mexicans at Cerro Gordo in one of the bloodiest battle of the war.
1853		The first train in Asia begins running from Bombay to Tanna.
1861		Colonel Robert E. Lee turns down an offer to command the Union armies.
1885		The Sino-Japanese war ends.
1906		A massive earthquake hits San Francisco, measuring 8.25 on the Richter scale.
1923		Yankee Stadium opens with Babe Ruth hitting a three-run homer as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-1.
1937		Leon Trotsky calls for the overthrow of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
1942		James H. Doolittle bombs Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
1943		Traveling in a bomber, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, is shot down by American P-38 fighters.
1946		The League of Nations dissolves.
1949		The Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth.
1950		The first transatlantic jet passenger trip is completed.
1954		Colonel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
1978		The U.S. Senate approves the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama.
1980		Zimbabwe's (Rhodesia) formal independence from Britain is proclaimed.
1983		A suicide bomber kills U.S. Marines at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon.

April 17

858		Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
1492		Christopher Columbus signs a contract with Spain to find a western route to the Indies.
1521		Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
1524		Present-day New York Harbor is discovered by Giovanni Verrazano.
1535		Antonio Mendoza is appointed first viceroy of New Spain.
1758		Frances Williams, the first African-American to graduate for a college in the western hemisphere, publishes a collection of Latin poems.
1808		Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of U.S. ships.
1824		Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54' 40'.
1861		Virginia become eighth state to secede from the Union.
1864		General Grant bans the trading of prisoners.
1865		Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination.
1875		The game "snooker" is invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain.
1895		China and Japan sign peace treaty of Shimonoseki.
1929		Baseball player Babe Ruth and Claire Hodgeson, a former member of the Ziegfield Follies, get married.
1946		The last French troops leave Syria.
1947		Jackie Robinson bunts for his first major league hit.
1961		Some 1,400 Cuban exiles attack the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.
1964		Jerrie Mock becomes first woman to fly solo around the world.
1969		Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
1970		Apollo 13–originaly scheduled to land on the moon–lands back safely on Earth after an accident.
1975		Khmer Rouge forces capture the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
1983		In Warsaw, police rout 1,000 Solidarity supporters.

April 16

69		Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Otho commits suicide.
556		Pelagius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
1065		The Norman Robert Guiscard takes Bari, ending five centuries of Byzantine rule in southern Italy.
1705		Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton.
1746		Prince Charles is defeated at the battle of Culloden, the last pitched battle fought in Britain.
1818		The U.S. Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot amendment to form an unarmed U.S.-Canada border.
1854		San Salvador is destroyed by an earthquake.
1862		Confederate President Jefferson Davis approves a conscription act for white males between 18 and 35.
1862		Slavery is abolished in the District of Columbia.
1917		Vladimir Lenin returns to Russia to start Bolshevik Revolution.
1922		Annie Oakley shoots 100 clay targets in a row, setting a woman's record.
1942		The Island of Malta is awarded the George Cross in recognition for heroism under constant German air attack. It was the first such award given to any part of the British Commonwealth.
1944		The destroyer USS Laffey survives horrific damage from attacks by 22 Japanese aircraft off Okinawa.
1945		American troops enter Nuremberg, Germany.
1947		A lens which provides zoom effects is demonstrated in New York City.
1968		The Pentagon announces the "Vietnamization" of the war.
1972		Two giants pandas arrive in the U.S. from China.
1977		The ban on women attending West Point is lifted.

April 13

1598		The Edict of Nantes grants political rights to French Huguenots.
1775		Lord North extends the New England Restraining Act to South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The act forbids trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland.
1861		After 34 hours of bombardment, Union-held Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederates.
1865		Union forces under Gen. Sherman begin their devastating march through Georgia.
1902		J.C. Penny opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1919		British forces kill hundreds of Indian nationalists in the Amritsar Massacre.
1933		The first flight over Mount Everest is completed by Lord Clydesdale.
1941		German troops capture Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1943		Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Jefferson Memorial.
1945		Vienna falls to Soviet troops.
1960		The first navigational satellite is launched into Earth's orbit.
1961		The U.N. General Assembly condemns South Africa because of apartheid.
1964		Sidney Poitier becomes the first black to win an Oscar for best actor.
1970		An oxygen tank explodes on Apollo 13, preventing a planned moon landing and jeopardizing the lives of the three-man crew.
1976		The U.S. Federal Reserve begins issuing $2 bicentennial notes.
1979		The world's longest doubles ping-pong match ends after 101 hours.

April 12

1204		The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople.
1606		England adopts the Union Jack as its flag.
1770		Parliament repeals the Townsend Acts.
1782		The British navy wins its only naval engagement against the colonists in the American Revolution at the Battle of Saints, off Dominica.
1811		The first colonists arrive at Cape Disappointment, Washington.
1861		Fort Sumter is shelled by Confederacy, starting America's Civil War.
1864		Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest captures Fort Pillow, in Tennessee.
1877		The first catcher's mask is used in a baseball game.
1911		Pierre Prier completes the first non-stop London-Paris flight in three hours and 56 minutes.
1916		American cavalrymen and Mexican bandit troops clash at Parrel, Mexico.
1927		The British Cabinet comes out in favor of voting rights for women.
1944		The U.S. Twentieth Air Force is activated to begin the strategic bombing of Japan.
1945		President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies at Warm Spring, Georgia. Harry S. Truman becomes president.
1954		Bill Haley records "Rock Around the Clock."
1955		Dr. Jonas Salk's discovery of a polio vaccine is announced.
1961		Soviet Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin becomes first man to orbit the Earth.
1963		Police use dogs and cattle prods on peaceful civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama.
1966		Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American major league umpire.
1983		Harold Washington is elected the first black mayor of Chicago.

April 11

1512		The forces of the Holy League are heavily defeated by the French at the Battle of Ravenna.
1713		The Treaty of Utrecht is signed, ending the War of Spanish Succession. France cedes Maritime provinces to Britain.
1783		After receiving a copy of the provisional treaty on 13 March, Congress proclaims a formal end to hostilities with Great Britain.
1814		Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.
1898		American President William McKinley asks Congress for declaration of war with Spain.
1941		Germany bombers blitz Conventry, England.
1942		Detachment 101 of the OSS–a guerrilla force–is activated in Burma.
1945		After two frustrating days of being repulsed and absorbing tremendous casualties, the Red Army finally takes the Seelow Heights north of Berlin.
1951		President Truman fires General Douglas MacArthur as head of United Nations forces in Korea.
1961		Israel begins the trial of Adolf Eichman, accused of war crimes during WWII.
1961		Folk singer Bob Dylan performs in New York City for the first time, opening for John Lee Hooker.
1968		President Johnson signs the 1968 Civil Rights Act.
1974		The Judiciary committee subpoenas President Richard Nixon to produce tapes for impeachment inquiry.
1981		President Ronald Reagan returns to the White House from hospital after recovery from an assassination attempt.
1986		Dodge Morgan sails solo nonstop around the world in 150 days.
1991		The U.N. Security Council issues formal cease fire with Iraq.
1996		Forty-three African nations sign the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty.

April 10

1790		The U.S. patent system is established.
1809		Austria declares war on France and her forces enter Bavaria.
1862		Union forces begin the bombardment of Fort Pulaski in Georgia along the Tybee River.
1865		At Appomattox Court, Va, General Robert E. Lee issues his last orders to the Army of Northern Virginia.
1866		The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is formed.
1902		South African Boers accept British terms of surrender.
1912		The Titanic begins her maiden voyage which will end in disaster.
1925		F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes The Great Gatsby.
1930		The first synthetic rubber is produced.
1932		Paul von Hindenburg is elected president in Germany.
1938		Germany annexes Austria.
1941		U.S. troops occupy Greenland to prevent Nazi infiltration.
1945		In their second attempt to take the Seelow Heights, near Berlin, the Red Army launches numerous attacks against the defending Germans. The Soviets gain one mile at the cost of 3,000 men killed and 368 tanks destroyed.
1945		Allied troops liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald north of Weiner, Germany.
1947		Jackie Robinson becomes the first black to play major league baseball as he takes the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1953		House of Wax, the first 3-D movie, is released.
1971		The American table tennis team arrives in China.
1974		Yitzhak Rabin replaces resigning Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir.
1981		Imprisoned Irish Republican Army hunger striker Bobby Sands is elected to the British Parliament.

 

April 9

193		In the Balkans, the distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
715		Constantine ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
1241		In the Battle of Liegnitz, Mongol armies defeat Poles and Germans.
1454		The city states of Venice, Milan and Florence sign a peace agreement at Lodi, Italy.
1682		Robert La Salle claims lower Mississippi River and all lands that touch it for France.
1731		British Captain Robert Jenkins loses an ear to a band of Spanish brigands, starting a war between Britain and Spain: The War of Jenkins' Ear.
1770		Captain James Cook discovers Botany Bay on the Australian continent.
1859		Realizing that France has encouraged the Piedmontese forces to mobilize for invading Italy, Austria begins mobilizing its army.
1865		General Robert E. Lee surrenders his rebel forces to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va.
1900		British forces route Boers at Kroonstadt, South Africa.
1916		The German army launches its third offensive during the Battle of Verdun.
1917		The Battle of Arras begins as Canadian troops begin a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.
1921		Russo-Polish conflict ends with signing of the Riga Treaty.
1940		Germany invades Norway and Denmark.
1942		In the Battle of Bataan, American and Filipino forces are overwhelmed by the Japanese Army.
1945		The Red Army is repulsed at the Seelow Heights on the outskirts of Berlin.
1950		Comedian Bob Hope makes his first television appearance.
1963		Winston Churchill becomes the first honorary U.S. citizen.
1966		The statue of Winston Churchill is dedicated at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.
1968		Murdered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., is buried.
1970		Paul McCartney announces the official break-up of the Beatles.

 

April 6

1199		English King Richard I is killed by an arrow at the siege of the castle of Chaluz in France.
1789		The First U.S. Congress begins regular sessions at Federal Hall in New York City.
1814		Granted sovereignty in the island of Elba and a pension from the French government, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates at Fountainebleau. He is allowed to keep the title of emperor.
1830		Joseph Smith and five others organize the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Seneca, New York.
1862		Confederate forces attack General Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh. Tennessee.
1865		At the Battle of Sailer's Creek, a third of Lee's army is cut off by Union troops pursuing him to Appomattox.
1896		The Modern Olympics begin in Athens with eight nations participating.
1903		French Army Nationalists are revealed to have forged documents to guarantee a conviction for Alfred Dryfus.
1909		Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first men to reach the North Pole.
1917		The United States declares war on Germany and enters World War I on Allied side.
1924		Four planes leave Seattle on the first successful flight around the world.
1938		The United States recognizes Nazi Germany's conquest of Austria.
1941		German forces invade Greece and Yugoslavia.
1965		President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes the use of ground troops in combat operations.

April 5

1242		Russian troops repel an invasion by Teutonic knights.
1614		Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
1792		George Washington casts the first presidential veto.
1843		Queen Victoria proclaims Hong Kong a British crown colony.
1861		Gideon Wells, the Secretary of the Navy issues official orders for the
1865		As the Confederate army approaches Appomattox, it skirmishes with Union forces at Amelia Springs and Paine's Cross Road.
1908		The Japanese Army reaches Yalu River as Russians retreat.
1919		Eamon de Valera becomes president of Ireland.
1930		Mahatma Ghandi defies British law by making salt in India instead of buying it from the British.
1941		German commandos secure docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany's invasion of the Balkans.
1943		The British 8th Army attacks the next blocking position of the retreating Axis forces at Wadi Akarit.
1951		Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for espionage.
1955		Winston Churchill resigns as British prime minister.
1986		A bomb explodes in a West Berlin disco packed with American soldiers.

April 4

527		In Constantinople, Justin, seriously ill, crowns his nephew Justinian as his co-emperor.
1581		Francis Drake completes circumnavigation of the world.
1812		The territory of Orleans becomes the 18th state and will become known as Louisiana.
1818		The United States flag is declared to have 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars.
1841		President William Henry Harrison, aged 68, becomes the first president to die in office, just a month after being sworn in.
1862		The Battle of Yorktown begins as Union gen. George B. McClellan closes in on Richmond, Va.
1917		The U.S. Senate votes 90-6 to enter World War I on Allied side.
1918		The Battle of the Somme ends.
1941		Field Marshal Erwin Rommel captures the British held town of Benghazi in North Africa.
1949		The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty is signed.
1968		Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
1974		Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth's home-run record.
1979		Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the president of Pakistan is executed.
1985		A coup in Sudan ousts President Nimeiry and replaces him with General Dahab.

April 3

628		In Persia, Kavadh sues for peace with the Byzantines.
1367		John of Gaunt and Edward the Black Prince win the Battle of Najara, in Spain.
1559		Philip II of Spain and Henry II of France sign the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, ending a long series of wars between the Hapsburg and Valois dynasties.
1860		The Pony Express connects St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California.
1862		Slavery is abolished in Washington, D.C.
1865		Union forces occupy the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
1882		The American outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back and killed by his cousin, Bob Ford.
1910		Alaska's Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America is climbed.
1920		F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre are married at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
1936		Bruno Hauptmann, killer of the Lindbergh baby, is executed.
1942		The Japanese begin their all-out assault on the U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan.
1944		The U.S. Supreme Court rules that black citizens are eligible to vote in all elections, including primaries.
1948		President Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan, it will revive war-torn Europe.
1966		Three-thousand South Vietnamese Army troops lead a protest against the Ky regime in Saigon.
1972		Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States after a twenty-year absence.
1984		Coach John Thompson of Georgetown University becomes the first African-American coach to win an NCAA basketball tournament.

April 2

1792		The United States authorizes the minting of the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins as well as the silver dollar, dollar, quarter, dime & half-dime.
1796		Haitian revolt leader Toussaint L'Ouverture takes command of French forces at Santo Domingo.
1801		The British navy defeats the Danish at the Battle of Copenhagen.
1865		Confederate President Jefferson Davis flees Richmond, Virginia as Grant breaks Lee's line at Petersburg.
1910		Karl Harris perfects the process for the artificial synthesis of rubber.
1914		The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announces plans to divide the country into 12 districts.
1917		President Woodrow Wilson presents a declaration of war against Germany to Congress.
1917		Jeannette Pickering Rankin is sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1931		Virne "Jackie" Mitchell becomes the first woman to play for an all-male pro baseball team. In an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, she strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
1932		Charles Lindbergh pays over $50,000 ransom for his kidnapped son.
1944		Soviet forces enter Romania, one of Germany's allied countries.
1958		The National Advisory Council on Aeronautics is renamed NASA.
1963		Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King begins the first non-violent campaign in Birmingham, Alabama.
1982		Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands.

March 30

1492		King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sign a decree expelling all Jews from Spain.
1840		"Beau" Brummell, the English dandy and former favorite of the prince regent, dies in a French lunatic asylum for paupers.
1858		Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia patents the pencil with an eraser attached on one end.
1867		Russian Baron Stoeckl and U.S. Secretary of State Seward completed the draft of a treaty ceding Alaska to the United States. The treaty is signed the following day.
1870		The 15th amendment, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, passes.
1885		Texas is the last Confederate state readmitted to the Union.
1885		In Afghanistan, Russian troops inflict a crushing defeat on Afghan forces Ak Teppe despite orders not to fight.
1909		The Queensboro Bridge in New York opens. It is the first double decker bridge and links Manhattan and Queens.
1916		Mexican bandit Pancho Villa kills 172 at the Guerrero garrison in Mexico.
1936		Britain announces a naval construction program of 38 warships. This is the largest construction program in 15 years.
1941		The German Afrika Korps under General Erwin Rommel begins its first offensive against British forces in Libya.
1943		Rodgers and Hammerstein's first collaboration, Oklahoma, opens on Broadway.
1944		The U.S. fleet attacks Palau, near the Philippines.
1945		The Red Army advances into Austria.
1946		The Allies seize 1,000 Nazis attempting to revive the Nazi party in Frankfurt.
1950		President Harry S Truman denounces Senator Joe McCarthy as a saboteur of U.S. foreign policy.
1957		Tunisia and Morocco sign a friendship treaty in Rabat.
1972		Hanoi launches its heaviest attack in four years, crossing the DMZ.
1975		As the North Vietnamese forces move toward Saigon, desperate South Vietnamese soldiers mob rescue jets.
1981		President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded in Washington, D.C. by John W. Hinkley Jr.
1987		Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers is bought for $39.85 million.

March 29

1461		The armies of two kings, Henry VI and Edward IV, collide at Towton
1638		A permanent European colony is established in present-day Delaware.
1827		Composer Ludwig van Beethoven is buried in Vienna amidst a crowd of over 10,000 mourners.
1847		U.S. troops under General Winfield Scott take possession of the Mexican stronghold at Vera Cruz.
1867		The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars.
1879		British troops of the 90th Light Infantry Regiment repulse a major attack by Zulu tribesmen in northwest Zululand
1886		Coca-Cola goes on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton, claims it can cure anything from hysteria to the common cold.
1903		A regular news service begins between New York and London on Marconi's wireless.
1913		The German government announces a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget.
1916		The Italians call off the fifth attack on Isonzo.
1936		Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar.
1941		The British sink five Italian warships off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean.
1951		The Chinese reject Gen. Douglas MacArthur's offer for a truce in Korea.
1951		Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I opens on Broadway starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner.
1952		President Harry Truman removes himself from the presidential race.
1961		The 23rd amendment, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote for president, is ratified.
1962		Cuba opens the trial of the Bay of Pigs invaders.
1966		Leonid Brezhenev becomes First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. He denounces the American policy in Vietnam and calls it one of aggression.
1967		France launches its first nuclear submarine.
1971		Lt. William L. Calley Jr. is found guilty for his actions in the My Lai massacre.
1973		The last U.S. troops withdraw from South Vietnam.
1975		Egyptian president Anwar Sadat declares that he will reopen the Suez Canal on June 5, 1975.
1976		Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four Kent State students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970.
1986		A court in Rome acquits six men in a plot to kill the Pope.

March 28

1774		Britain passes the Coercive Act against rebellious Massachusetts.
1854		Britain and France declare war on Russia.
1864		A group of Copperheads attack Federal soldiers in Charleston, Illinois. Five are killed and twenty wounded.
1885		The Salvation Army is officially organized in the United States.
1908		Automobile owners lobby Congress in support of a bill that calls for vehicle licensing and federal registration.
1910		The first seaplane takes off from water at Martinques, France.
1917		The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is founded, Great Britain's first official service women.
1921		President Warren Harding names William Howard Taft as chief justice of the United States.
1930		Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara respectively.
1933		Nazis order a ban on all Jews in businesses, professions and schools.
1939		The Spanish Civil War ends as Madrid falls to Francisco Franco.
1941		The Italian fleet is routed by the British at the Battle of Battle of Cape Matapan
1941		English novelist Virginia Woolf throws herself into the River Ouse near her home in Sussex. Her body is never found.
1942		A British ship, the HMS Capbeltown, a Lend-Lease American destroyer, which was specifically rammed into a German occupied dry-dock in France, explodes, knocking the area out of action for the German battleship Tirpitz.
1945		Germany launches the last of its V-2 rockets against England.
1946		Juan Peron is elected President of Argentina. He will hold the office for six years.
1962		The U.S. Air Force announces research into the use of lasers to intercept missiles and satellites.
1969		Dwight D. Eisenhower dies at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, D.C.
1979		A major accident occurs at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
1986		The U.S. Senate passes $100 million aid package for the Nicaraguan contras.
1990		Jesse Owens receives the Congressional Gold Medal from President George Bush.
1999		An American Stealth F117 Nighthawk is shot down over northern Yugoslavia during NATO air strikes.

March 27

1350		While besieging Gibraltar, Alfonso XI of Castile dies of the black death.
1512		Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sights Florida.
1802		The Treaty of Amiens is signed, ending the French Revolutionary War.
1814		U.S. troops under Gen. Andrew Jackson inflict a crushing defeat on the Creek Indians at Horshoe Bend in Northern Alabama.
1836		The Mexican army massacres Texan rebels at Goliad.
1866		President Andrew Johnson vetoes the civil rights bill, which later becomes the 14th amendment.
1884		The first long-distance telephone call is made from Boston to New York.
1893		The American Bell Telephone Company makes the first long distance telephone call to its branch office in New York.
1899		The Italian inventor G. Marconi achieves the first international radio transmission between England and France.
1900		The London Parliament passes the War Loan Act, which gives 35 million pounds to the Boer War cause.
1912		The first cherry blossom trees, a gift from Japan, are planted in Washington, D.C.
1933		Some 55,000 people stage a protest against Hitler in New York.
1941		Tokeo Yoshikawa arrives in Oahu, Hawaii, to begin spying for Japan on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor.
1942		The British raid the Nazi submarine base at St. Nazaire, France.
1944		One thousand Jews leave Drancy, France for the Auschwitz concentration camp.
1944		Thousands of Jews are murdered in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Gestapo shoots forty Jewish policemen in the Riga, Latvia ghetto.
1945		General Dwight Eisenhower declares that the German defenses on the Western Front have been broken.
1952		Elements of the U.S. Eighth Army reach the 38th parallel in Korea, the original dividing line between the two Koreas.
1958		The United States announces a plan to explore space near the moon.
1976		Washington, D.C. opens its subway system.
1977		In aviation's worst disaster yet, 582 die when a KLM Pan Am 747 crashes.

March 26

1517		The famous Flemish composer Heinrich Issac dies.
1799		Napoleon Bonaparte captures Jaffa, Palestine.
1804		Congress orders the removal of Indians east of the Mississippi River to Louisiana.
1804		The territory of New Orleans is organized in the Louisiana Purchase.
1827		German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven dies in Vienna. He had been deaf for the later part of his life, but said on his death bed "I shall hear in heaven."
1832		Famed western artist George Catlin begins his voyage up the Missouri River aboard the American Fur Company steamship Yellowstone.
1885		Eastman Film Co. manufactures the first commercial motion picture film.
1913		The Balkan allies take Adrianople.
1918		On the Western Front, the Germans take the French towns Noyon, Roye and Lihons.
1938		Herman Goering warns all Jews to leave Austria.
1942		The Germans begin sending Jews to Auschwitz in Poland.
1950		Senator Joe McCarthy names Owen Lattimore, an ex-State Department adviser, as a Soviet spy.
1951		The United States Air Force flag design is approved.
1953		Eisenhower offers increased aid to the French fighting in Indochina.
1953		Dr. Jonas Salk announces a new vaccine against polio.
1954		The United States sets off an H-bomb blast in the Marshall Islands, the second in four weeks.
1961		John F. Kennedy meets with British Premier Macmillan in Washington to discuss increased Communist involvement in Laos.
1969		The Soviet weather Satellite Meteor 1 is launched.
1969		Writer John Kennedy Toole commits suicide at the age of 32. His mother helps get his first and only novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, published. It goes on to win the 1981 Pulitzer Prize.
1979		The Camp David treaty is signed between Israel and Egypt.
1982		Ground is broken in Washington D.C. for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
1989		The first free elections take place in the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin is elected.
1992		An Indianapolis court finds heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson guilty of rape

March 23

1657		France and England form an alliance against Spain.
1743		Handel's Messiah is performed for the first time in London.
1775		American revolutionary hero Patrick Henry, while addressing the House of Burgesses, declares "give me liberty, or give me death!"
1791		Etta Palm, a Dutch champion of woman's rights, sets up a group of women's clubs called the Confederation of the Friends of Truth.
1848		Hungary proclaims its independence of Austria.
1857		Elisha Otis installs the first modern passenger elevator in a public building, at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway in New York City.
1858		Eleazer A. Gardner of Philadelphia patents the cable street car, which runs on overhead cables.
1862		Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson faces his only defeteat the Battle of Kernstown, Va
1880		John Stevens of Neenah, Wis., patents the grain crushing mill. This mill allows flour production to increase by 70 percent.
1901		A group of U.S. Army soldier led by Brig. Gen. Frederick Funston capture Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Philippine Insurrection of 1899.
1903		The Wright brothers obtain an airplane patent.
1909		British Lt. Ernest Shackleton finds the magnetic South Pole.
1909		Theodore Roosevelt begins an African safari sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
1917		Austrian Emperor Charles I makes a peace proposal to French President Poincare.
1920		Great Britain denounces the United States because of its delay in joining the League of Nations.
1921		Arthur G. Hamilton sets a new parachute record, safely jumping 24,400 feet.
1927		Captain Hawthorne Gray sets a new balloon record soaring to 28,510 feet.
1933		The Reichstag gives Adolf Hitler the power to rule by decree.
1942		The Japanese occupy the Anadaman Islands in the Indian Ocean.
1951		U.S. paratroopers descend from flying boxcars in a surprise attack in Korea.
1956		Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic, although it is still within the British Commonwealth.
1967		Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. calls the Vietnam War the biggest obstacle to the civil rights movement.
1970		Mafia boss Carlo Gambino is arrested for plotting to steal $3 million.
1972		The United States calls a halt to the peace talks on Vietnam being held in Paris.
1981		U.S. Supreme Court upholds a law making statutory rape a crime for men but not women.

March 22

1622		Indians attack a group of colonists in the James River area of Virginia, killing 350 residents.
1630		The first legislation prohibiting gambling is enacted in Boston.
1664		Charles II gives large tracks of land from west of the Connecticut River to the east of Delaware Bay in North America to his brother James, the Duke of York.
1719		Frederick William abolishes serfdom on crown property in Prussia.
1765		The Stamp Act is passed, the first direct British tax on the American colonists.
1775		British statesman Edmund Burke makes a speech in the House of Commons, urging the government to adopt a policy of reconciliation with America.
1790		Thomas Jefferson becomes the first U.S. Secretary of State.
1794		Congress passes laws prohibiting slave trade with foreign countries although slavery remains legal in the United States.
1834		Horace Greeley publishes New Yorker, a weekly literary and news magazine and forerunner of Harold Ross' more successful The New Yorker.
1901		Japan proclaims that it is determined to keep Russia from encroaching on Korea.
1904		The first color photograph is published in the London Daily Illustrated Mirror.
1907		Russians troops complete the evacuation of Manchuria in the face of advancing Japanese forces.
1915		A German Zepplin makes a night raid on Paris railway stations.
1919		The first international airline service is inaugurated on a weekly schedule between Paris and Brussels.
1933		President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill legalizing the sale and possession of beer and wine.
1935		Persia is renamed Iran.
1946		First U.S. built rocket to leave the Earth's atmosphere reaches a 50-mile height.
1948		The United States announces a land reform plan for Korea.
1954		The London gold market reopens for the first time since 1939.
1968		President Lyndon Johnson names General William Westmoreland as Army Chief of Staff.
1972		The U.S. Senate passes the Equal Rights Amendment. The amendment fails to achieve ratification.
1974		The Viet Cong propose a new truce with the United States and South Vietnam, which includes general elections.
1990		A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, finds Captain Hazelwood not guilty in the Valdez oil spill.

March 21

630		Heraclius restores the True Cross, which he has recaptured from the Persians.
1556		Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is burned at the stake at Oxford after retracting the last of seven recantations that same day.
1617		Pocahontas (Rebecca Rolfe) dies of either small pox or pneumonia while in England with her husband, John Rolfe.
1788		Almost the entire city of New Orleans, Louisiana, is destroyed by fire.
1806		Lewis and Clark begin their trip home after an 8,000 mile trek of the Mississippi basin and the Pacific Coast.
1865		The Battle of Bentonville, N.C. ends, marking the last Confederate attempt to stop Union General William Sherman.
1851		Emperor Tu Duc orders that Christian priests are to put to death.
1858		British forces in India lift the siege of Lucknow, ending the Indian Mutiny.
1906		Ohio passes a law that prohibits hazing by fraternities.
1908		Frenchman Henri Farman carries a passenger in a bi-plane for the first time.
1910		The U.S. Senate grants ex-President Teddy Roosevelt an annual pension of $10,000.
1918		The Germans launch the 'Michael' offensive, better remembered as the First Battle of the Somme.
1928		President Calvin Coolidge gives the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
1939		Singer Kate Smith records "God Bless America" for Victor Records.
1941		The last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, falls to the British.
1951		Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall reports that the U.S. military has doubled to 2.9 million since the start of the Korean War.
1963		Alcatraz Island, the federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, California, closes.
1965		The United States launches Ranger 9, last in a series of unmanned lunar explorations.
1971		Two U.S. platoons in Vietnam refuse their orders to advance.
1975		As North Vietnamese forces advance, Hue and other northern towns in South Vietnam are evacuated.
1980		President Jimmy Carter announces to the U.S. Olympic Team that they will not participate in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow as a boycott against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.
1984		A Soviet submarine crashes into the USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Japan.

March 20

1413		Henry IV of England is succeed by his son Henry V.
1739		In India, Nadir Shah of Persia occupies Delhi and takes possession of the Peacock throne.
1760		The Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings.
1792		In Paris, the Legislative Assembly approves the use of the guillotine.
1815		Napoleon Bonaparte enters Paris and begins his 100-day rule.
1841		Edgar Allen Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue, considered the first detective story, is published.
1852		Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
1906		Army officers in Russia mutiny at Sevastopol.
1915		The French call off the Champagne offensive on the Western Front.
1918		The Bolsheviks of the Soviet Union ask for American aid to rebuild their army.
1922		President Warren G. Harding orders U.S. troops back from the Rhineland.
1932		The German dirigible, Graf Zepplin, makes the first flight to South America on regular schedule.
1939		President Franklin D. Roosevelt names William O. Douglas to the Supreme Court.
1940		The British Royal Air Force conducts an all-night air raid on the Nazi airbase at Sylt, Germany.
1943		The Allies attack Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's forces on the Mareth Line in North Africa.
1965		President Lyndon B. Johnson orders 4,000 troops to protect the Selma-Montgomery civil rights marchers.
1969		Senator Edward Kennedy calls on the United States to close all bases in Taiwan.
1976		Patty Hearst is convicted of armed robbery.
1982		U.S. scientists return from Antarctica with the first land mammal fossils found there.
1987		The United State approves AZT, a drug that is proven to slow the progress of AIDS.

March 19

1687		The French explorer La Salle is murdered in by his own men while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
1702		On the death of William III of Orange, Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeds to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1822		Boston is incorporated as a city.
1879		Jim Currie opens fire on the actors Maurice Barrymore and Ben Porter near Marshall, Texas. His shots wound Barrymore and kill Porter.
1903		The U.S. Senate ratifies the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
1916		The First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, NM to join Gen. John J. Pershing and his Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico.
1917		The Adamson Act, eight hour day for railroad workers, is ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1918		Congress authorizes Daylight Savings Time.
1920		The U.S. Senate rejects the Versailles Treaty for the second time.
1924		U.S. troops are rushed to Tegucigalpa as rebel forces take the Honduran capital.
1931		The state of Nevada legalizes gambling.
1935		The British fire on 20,000 Muslims in India, killing 23.
1936		The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
1944		The German 352nd Infantry Division deploys along the coast of France.
1945		Adolf Hitler orders a scorched-earth policy for his retreating German armies in the west and east.
1947		Chiang Kai-Shek's government forces take control of Yenan, the former headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party.
1949		The Soviet People's Council signs the constitution of the German Democratic Republic, and declares that the North Atlantic Treaty is merely a war weapon.
1963		In Costa Rica, President John F. Kennedy and six Latin American presidents pledge to fight Communism.
1977		Congo President Marien Ngouabi is killed by a suicide commando.
1981		One technician is killed and two others are injured during a routine test on space shuttle Columbia.

 March 16

37		On a trip to the Italian mainland from his home on Capreae, the emperor Tiberius dies on the Bay of Naples.
1190		The Crusades begin the massacre of Jews in York, England.
1527		The Emperor Babur defeats the Rajputs at the Battle of Kanvaha, removing the main Hindu rivals in Northern India.
1621		The first Indian appears to colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1833		Susan Hayhurst becomes the first woman to graduate from a pharmacy college.
1850		Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is published.
1865		Union troops push past Confederate blockers at the Battle of Averasborough, N.C.
1907		The British cruiser Invincible, the world's largest, is completed at Glasgow shipyards.
1913		The 15,000-ton battleship Pennsylvania is launched at Newport News, Va.
1917		Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicates his throne.
1926		Physicist Robert H. Goddard launches the first liquid-fuel rocket.
1928		The United States plans to send 1,000 more Marines to Nicaragua.
1935		Adolf Hitler orders a German rearmament and violates the Versailles Treaty.
1939		Germany occupies the rest Czechoslovakia.
1945		Iwo Jima is declared secure by U.S. forces although small pockets of Japanese resistance still exist.
1954		CBS introduces The Morning Show hosted by Walter Cornet to compete with NBC's Today Show.
1964		President Lyndon B. Johnson submits a $1 billion war on poverty program to Congress.
1968		U.S. troops in Vietnam destroy a village consisting mostly of women and children, the action is remembered as the My-Lai massacre.
1984		Mozambique and South Africa sign a pact banning support for one another's internal foes.
1985		Associated Press newsman, Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut.

March 15th

44 BC		Julius Caesar is assassinated by high-ranking Roman Senators.
933		Henry the Fowler routs the raiding Magyars at Merseburg, Germany.
1493		Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first voyage to the New World.
1778		In command of two frigates, the Frenchman la Perouse sails east from Botany Bay for the last lap of his voyage around the world.
1820		Maine is admitted as the 23rd state.
1862		General John Hunt Morgan begins four days of raids near the city of Gallatin, Tenn.
1864		The Red River Campaign begins as the Union forces reach Alexandria, La.
1892		New York State unveils the new automatic ballot voting machine.
1895		Bone Mizell, the famed cowboy of Florida, appears before a judge for altering cattle brands.
1903		The British complete the conquest of Nigeria.
1904		Three hundred Russians are killed as the Japanese shell Port Arthur in Korea.
1909		Italy proposes a European conference on the Balkans.
1916		General John Pershing and his 15,000 troops chase Pancho Villa into Mexico.
1934		Henry Ford restores the $5-a-day wage.
1935		Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda bans four Berlin newspapers.
1939		Germany occupies Bohemia and Moravia, Czechoslovakia.
1944		Cassino, Italy is destroyed by Allied bombing.
1949		Almost four years after the end of World War II, clothes rationing in Great Britain ends.
1951		French General de Lattre demands that Paris send him more troops for the fight in Indochina.
1955		The U.S. Air Force unveils the first self-guided missile.
1956		The first performance of My Fair Lady, starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison, takes place on Broadway.
1960		Ten nations meet in Geneva to discuss disarmament.
1965		Gamal Abdel Nasser is re-elected Egyptian President.
1967		President Lyndon Johnson names Ellsworth Bunker as the new ambassador to Saigon. Bunker replaces Lodge.
1968		The U.S. mint halts the practice of buying and selling gold.
1991		Four Los Angeles police are charged in the beating of Rodney King.

March 14

1629		A Royal charter is granted to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1743		First American town meeting is held at Boston's Faneuil Hall.
1757		British Admiral John Byng is executed by a firing squad on board HMS Monarch for neglect of duty.
1794		Inventor Eli Whitney receives a patent for his cotton gin.
1900		United States currency goes on the gold standard.
1903		The Senate ratifies the Hay-Herran Treaty, guaranteeing the United states the right to build a canal in Panama.
1912		An anarchist named Antonio Dalba unsuccessfully attempts to kill Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III in Rome.
1915		The British Navy sinks the German battleship Dresden off the Chilean coast.
1918		An all-Russian Congress of Soviets ratifies a peace treaty with the Central Powers.
1923		President Warren G. Harding becomes the first U.S. President to file an income tax report.
1936		Adolf Hitler tells a crowd of 300,000 that Germany's only judge is God and itself.
1939		The Nazis dissolve the republic of Czechoslovakia.
1943		The Germans reoccupy Kharkov in the Soviet Union.
1947		The United States signs a 99-year lease on naval bases in the Philippines.
1951		U.N. forces recapture Seoul for the second time during the Korean War.
1954		The Viet Minh launch an assault against the French Colonial Forces at Dien Bien Phu.
1964		A Dallas jury finds Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
1967		John F. Kennedy's body is moved from a temporary grave to a permanent one in Arlington Cemetery.
1978		An Israeli force of 22,000 invades south Lebanon, hitting the PLO bases.
1990		Mikhail S. Gorbachev becomes president of the Soviet Congress.
1991		The "Birmingham Six," imprisoned for 16 years for their alleged part in an IRA pub bombing, are set free after a court agrees that the police fabricated evidence.

March 13

483		St. Felix begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
607		The 12th recorded passage of Halley's Comet occurs.
1519		Hernando Cortez lands in what will become Mexico.
1660		A statute is passed limiting the sale of slaves in the colony of Virginia.
1777		Congress orders its European envoys to appeal to high-ranking foreign officers to send troops to reinforce the American army.
1781		Astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus, which he names 'Georgium Sidus,' in honor of King George III.
1793		Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin.
1861		Jefferson Davis signs a bill authorizing slaves to be used as soldiers for the Confederacy.
1868		The U.S. Senate begins the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.
1881		Czar Alexander II is assassinated when a bomb is thrown at him near his palace.
1915		The Germans repel a British Expeditionary Force attack at the battle of Neuve Chapelle in France.
1918		Women are scheduled to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York due to a shortage of men.
1935		A three-thousand-year-old archive is found in Jerusalem confirming biblical history.
1940		Finland capitulates conditionally to Soviet terms, but maintains its independence.
1941		Hitler issues an edict calling for an invasion of the Soviet Union.
1942		Julia Flikke of the Nurse Corps becomes the first woman colonel in the U.S. Army.
1943		Japanese forces end their attack on the American troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville.
1951		Israel demands $1.5 billion in German reparations for the cost of caring for war refugees.
1957		The FBI arrests Jimmy Hoffa on bribery charges.
1963		China invites Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev to visit Beijing.
1970		Cambodia orders Hanoi and Viet Cong troops to get out.
1974		The U.S. Senate votes 54-33 to restore the death penalty.
1974		Arab nations decide to end the oil embargo on the United States.
1981		The United States plans to send 15 Green Berets to El Salvador as military advisors.
1985		Upon the death of Konstantin Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the new leader of the Soviet Union.
1991		Exxon pays $1 billion in fines and costs for the clean-up of the Alaskan oil spill.

March12

 

1496		The Jews are expelled from Syria.
1507		Cesare Borgia dies while fighting alongside his brother, the king of Navarre, in Spain.
1609		The Bermuda Islands become an English colony.
1664		New Jersey becomes a British colony.
1789		The United States Post Office is established.
1809		Great Britain signs a treaty with Persia forcing the French out of the country.
1863		President Jefferson Davis delivers his State of the Confederacy address.
1879		The British Zulu War begins.
1884		Mississippi establishes the first U.S. state college for women.
1894		Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.
1903		The Czar of Russia issues a decree providing for nominal freedom of religion throughout the land.
1909		British Parliament increases naval appropriations for Great Britain.
1911		Dr. Fletcher of the Rockefeller Institute discovers the cause of infantile paralysis.
1912		Juliet Low founds the Girl Scouts in Savannah, Georgia.
1917		Russian troops mutiny as the "February Revolution" begins.
1930		Gandhi begins his march to the sea to symbolizes his defiance of British rule in India.
1933		President Paul von Hindenburg drops the flag of the German Republic and orders that the swastika and empire banner be flown side by side.
1933		President Roosevelt makes the first of his Sunday evening fireside chats.
1938		German troops enter Austria without firing a shot, forming the anschluss (union)of Austria and Germany.
1939		Pius XII is elected the new pope in Rome.
1944		Great Britain bars all travel to neutral Ireland, which is suspected of collaborating with Nazi Germany.
1945		Diarist Anne Frank dies in a German concentration camp.
1959		The U.S. House of Representatives joins the Senate in approving the statehood of Hawaii.
1984		Lebanese President Gemayel opens the second meeting in five years calling for the end to nine-years of war.
1985		The United States and the Soviet Union begin arms control talks in Geneva.
1994		The Church of England ordains women priests.

 

 

Today in History
March 9

 

1617		The Treaty of Stolbovo ends the occupation of Northern Russia by Swedish troops.
1734		The Russians take Danzig (Gdansk) in Poland.
1788		Connecticut becomes the 5th state.
1796		Napoleon Bonaparte marries Josephine de Beauharnais in Paris, France.
1812		Swedish Pomerania is seized by Napoleon.
1820		Congress passes the Land Act, paving the way for westward expansion.
1839		The French Academy of Science announces the Daguerreotype photo process.
1841		The rebel slaves who seized a Spanish slave ship, the Amistad, in 1839 are freed by the Supreme Court despite Spanish demands for extradition.
1862		The first and last battle between the ironclads U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Virginia ends in a draw.
1864		General Ulysses Grant is appointed commander-in-chief of the Union forces.
1911		The funding for five new battleships is added to the British military defense budget.
1915		The Germans take Grondno on the Eastern Front.
1916		Mexican bandit Pancho Villa leads 1,500 horsemen on a raid of Columbus, N.M. killing 17 U.S. soldiers and citizens.
1932		Eamon De Valera is elected president of the Irish Free State and pledges to abolish all loyalty to the British Crown.
1936		The German press warns that all Jews who vote in the upcoming elections will be arrested.
1939		Czech President Emil Hacha ousts pro-German Joseph Tiso as the Premier of Slovakia in order to preserve Czech unity.
1940		Britain frees captured Italian coal ships on the eve of German Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop's visit to Rome.
1956		British authorities arrest and deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus. He is accused of supporting terrorists.
1957		Egyptian leader Nasser bars U.N. plans to share the tolls for the use of the Suez Canal.
1959		The Barbie doll is unveiled at a toy fair in New York City.
1964		The first Ford Mustang rolls off the Ford assembly line.
1967		Svetlana Alliluyeva, Josef Stalin's daughter defects to the United States.
1968		General William Westmoreland asks for 206,000 more troops in Vietnam.
1975		Iraq launches an offensive against the rebellious Kurds.
1986		Navy divers find the crew compartment of the space shuttle Challenger along with the remains of the astronauts.

 

March 8

 

1618		Johann Kepler discovers the third Law of Planetary Motion.
1702		Queen Ann becomes the monarch of England upon the death of William III.
1790		George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address.
1853		The first bronze statue of Andrew Jackson is unveiled in Washington, D.C.
1855		The first train crosses Niagara Falls on a suspension bridge.
1862		On the second day of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Confederate forces, including some Indian troops, under General Earl Van Dorn suprise Union troops, but the Union troops win the battle.
1862		The Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Virginia (formerly U.S.S. Merrimack) is launched.
1880		President Rutherford B. Hays declares that the United States will have jurisdiction over any canal built across the isthmus of Panama.
1904		The Bundestag in Germany lifts the ban on the Jesuit order of priests.
1908		The House of Commons, London, turns down the women's suffrage bill.
1909		Pope Pius X lifts the church ban on interfaith marriages in Hungary.
1910		Baroness de Laroche becomes the first woman to obtain a pilot's license in France.
1921		Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato is assassinated while leaving Parliament in Madrid.
1921		French troops occupy Dusseldorf.
1941		Martial law is proclaimed in Holland in order to extinguish any anti-Nazi protests.
1942		Japanese troops capture Rangoon, Burma.
1943		Japanese forces attack American troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville. The battle will last five days.
1945		Phyllis Mae Daley recieves a commission in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. She will become the first African-American nurse to serve duty in World War II.
1948		The U.S. Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional.
1954		France and Vietnam open talks in Paris on a treaty to form the state of Indochina.
1961		Max Conrad circles the globe in a record time of eight days, 18 hours and 49 minutes in Piper Aztec.
1965		More than 4,000 Marines land at Da Nang in South Vietnam and become the first U.S. combat troops in Vietnam.
1966		Australia announces that it will triple the number of troops in Vietnam.
1970		The Nixon administration discloses the deaths of 27 Americans in Laos.
1973		Two bombs explode near Trafalgar Square in Great Britain injuring 234 people.
1982		The United States accuses the Soviets of killing 3,000 Afghans with poison gas.
1985		Thomas Creighton dies after having three heart transplants in a 46-hour period.

 

March 7

 

322 BC		The Greek philosopher Aristotle dies.
161		On the death of Antoninus at Lorium, Marcus Aurelius becomes emperor.
1774		The British close the port of Boston to all commerce.
1799		In Palestine, Napoleon captures Jaffa and his men massacre more than 2,000 Albanian prisoners.
1809		Aeronaut Jean Pierre Blanchard — the first person to make the an aerial voyage in the New World — died on March 7, 1809, at the age of 56.
1838		Soprano Jenny Lind ("the Swedish Nightingale") makes her debut in Weber's opera Der Freischultz.
1847		U.S. General Winfield Scott occupies Vera Cruz, Mexico.
1849		The Austrian Reichstag is dissolved.
1862		Confederate forces surprise the Union army at the Battle of Pea Ridge, in Arkansas, but the Union is victorious.
1876		Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for the telephone.
1904		The Japanese bomb the Russian town of Vladivostok.
1906		Finland becomes the third country to give women the right to vote, decreeing universal suffrage for all citizens over 24, however, barring those persons who are supported by the state.
1912		French aviator, Heri Seimet flies non-stop from London to Paris in three hours.
1918		Finland signs an alliance treaty with Germany.
1925		The Soviet Red Army occupies Outer Mongolia.
1927		A Texas law that bans Negroes from voting is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
1933		The board game Monopoly is invented.
1933		The film King Kong premieres in New York City.
1935		Malcolm Campbell sets an auto speed record of 276.8 mph in Florida.
1936		Hitler sends German troops into the Rhineland, violating the Locarno Pact.
1942		Japanese troops land on New Guinea.
1951		U.N. forces in Korea under General Matthew Ridgeway launch Operation Ripper, an offensive to straighten out the U.N. front lines against the Chinese.
1968		The Battle of Saigon, begun on the day of the Tet Offensive, ends.
1971		A thousand U.S. planes bomb Cambodia and Laos.
1979		Voyager 1 reaches Jupiter.

 

March 6

 

1521		Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.
1820		The Missouri Compromise is enacted by Congress and signed by President James Monroe, providing for the admission of Missouri into the Union as a slave state, but prohibits slavery in the rest of the northern Louisiana Purchase territory.
1836		After fighting for 13 days, the Alamo falls.
1853		Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata premieres in Venice.
1857		The Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision holds that blacks cannot be citizens.
1860		While campaigning for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln makes a speech defending the right to strike.
1862		The USS Monitorleft New York with a crew of 63, seven officers and 56 seamen.
1884		Over 100 suffragists, led by Susan B. Anthony, present President Chester A. Arthur with a demand that he voice support for female suffrage.
1888		Louisa May Alcott dies just hours after the burial of her father.
1899		Aspirin is patented following Felix Hoffman's discoveries about the properties of acetylsalicylic acid.
1901		A would-be assassin tries to kill Wilhelm II of Germany in Bremen.
1914		German Prince Wilhelm de Wied is crowned as King of Albania.
1916		The Allies recapture Fort Douamont in France during the Battle of Verdun.
1928		A Communist attack on Beijing results in 3,000 dead and 50,000 fleeing to Swatow.
1939		In Spain, Jose Miaja takes over Madrid government after a military coup and vows to seek "peace with honor."
1943		British RAF fliers bomb Essen and the Krupp arms works in the Ruhr, Germany.
1945		Cologne, Germany, falls to General Courtney Hodges' First Army.
1947		Winston Churchill opposes the withdrawal of troops from India.
1948		During talks in Berlin, the Western powers agree to internationalize the Ruhr region.
1953		Upon Josef Stalin's death, Georgi Malenkov is named Soviet premier.
1960		The Swiss grant women the right to vote in municipal elections.
1965		The United States announces that it will send 3,500 troops to Vietnam.
1967		President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his plan to establish a draft lottery.
1973		President Richard Nixon imposes price controls on oil and gas.
1975		Iran and Iraq announce that they have settled the border dispute.
1980		Islamic militants in Tehran say that they will turn over the American hostages to the Revolutionary Council.
1981		President Reagan announces plans to cut 37,000 federal jobs.
1987		The British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in the Channel off the coast of Belgium. At least 26 are dead.

March 5

1624		Class-based legislation is passed in the colony of Virginia, exempting the upper class from punishment by whipping.
1766		Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
1793		Austrian troops crush the French and recapture Liege.
1821		James Monroe becomes the first president to be inaugurated on March 5, only because the 4th was a Sunday.
1905		Russians begin to retreat from Mukden in Manchuria, China.
1912		The Italians become the first to use dirigibles for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance flights behind Turkish lines west of Tripoli.
1918		The Soviets move the capital of Russia from Petrograd to Moscow.
1928		Hitler's National Socialists win the majority vote in Bavaria.
1933		Newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt halts the trading of gold and declares a bank holiday.
1933		Hitler and Nationalist allies win the Reichstag majority. It will be the last free election in Germany until after World War II.
1943		In desperation due to war losses, fifteen and sixteen year olds are called up for military service in the German army.
1946		In Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill tells a crowd that "an iron curtain has descended on the Continent [of Europe]."
1956		The U.S. Supreme Court affirms the ban on segregation in public schools in Brown vs. Board of Education.
1969		Gustav Heinemann is elected West German President.
1976		Britain gives up on the Ulster talks and decides to retain rule in Northern Ireland indefinitely.
1984		The U.S. Supreme Court rules that cities have the right to display the Nativity scene as part of their Christmas display.

 

March 4

1152		Frederick Barbarossa is chosen as emperor and unites the two factions, which emerged in Germany after the death of Henry V.
1461		Henry VI is deposed and the Duke of York is proclaimed King Edward IV.
1634		Samuel Cole opens the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts.
1766		The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, the cause of bitter and violent opposition in the colonies
1789		The first Congress of the United States meets in New York and declares that the Constitution is in effect.
1791		Vermont is admitted as the 14th state. It is the first addition to the original 13 colonies.
1793		George Washington is inaugurated as President for the second time.
1797		Vice-President John Adams, elected President on December 7, to replace George Washington, is sworn in.
1801		Thomas Jefferson becomes the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.
1813		The Russians fighting against Napoleon reach Berlin. The French garrison evacuates the city without a fight.
1861		The Confederate States of America adopt the "Stars and Bars" flag.
1877		The Russian Imperial Ballet stages the first performance of "Swan Lake" in Moscow.
1901		William McKinley is inaugurated president for the second time. Theodore Roosevelt is inaugurated as vice president.
1904		Russian troops begin to retreat toward the Manchurian border as 100,000 Japanese advance in Korea.
1908		The New York board of education bans the act of whipping students in school.
1912		The French council of war unanimously votes a mandatory three-year military service.
1914		Doctor Fillatre of Paris, France successfully separates Siamese twins.
1921		Warren G. Harding is sworn in as America's 29th President.
1933		Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated to his first term as president in Washington, D.C.
1944		Berlin is bombed by the American forces for the first time.
1952		North Korea accuses the United nations of using germ warfare.
1963		Six people get the death sentence in Paris plotting to kill President Charles de Gaulle.
1970		Fifty-seven people are killed as the French submarine Eurydice sinks in the Mediterranean Sea.
1975		Queen Elizabeth knights Charlie Chaplin.
1987		President Reagan takes full responsibility for the Iran-Contra affair in a national address.

March 3

1791		Congress establishes the U.S. Mint.
1803		The first impeachment trial of a U.S. Judge, John Pickering, begins.
1817		The first commercial steamboat route from Louisville to New Orleans is opened.
1845		Florida becomes the 27th U.S. state.
1857		Under pretexts, Britain and France declare war on China.
1861		The serfs of Russia are emancipated by Alexander II as part of a program of westernization.
1863		President Abraham Lincoln signs the conscription act compelling U.S. citizens to report for duty in the Civil War or pay $300.00.
1877		Rutherford B. Hays, the republican governor of Ohio is elected president, his election confirmed by an electoral commission after disputed election the previous November.
1878		Russia and the Ottomans sign the treaty of Stenafano, granting independence to Serbia.
1905		The Russian Czar agrees to create an elected assembly.
1918		The Soviets and Germany sign a peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk depriving the Soviets of White Russia.
1919		Boeing flies the first U.S. international airmail from Vancouver, British Columbia to Seattle, Washington.
1923		The first issue of Time magazine is published. It's editor, Henry R. Luce, is just out of Yale.
1931		President Herbert Hoover signs a bill that makes Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner," the national anthem.
1939		In Bombay, Gandhi begins a fast to protest the state's autocratic rule.
1940		A Nazi air raid kills 108 on a British liner in the English Channel.
1941		Moscow denounces the Axis rule in Bulgaria.
1942		The RAF raids the industrial suburbs of Paris.
1945		Finland declares war on the Axis.
1952		The U.S. Supreme Court upholds New York's Feinberg Law banning Communist teachers in the United States.
1969		Sirhan Sirhan testifies in a court in Los Angeles that he killed Robert Kennedy.
1973		Japan discloses its first defense plan since World War II.
1999		Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky appears on national television to explain her affair with President Bill Clinton.

 

March 2

1776		Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston.
1781		Maryland ratifies the Articles of Confederation. She is the last state to sign.
1797		The Directory of Great Britain authorizes vessels of war to board and seize neutral vessels, particularly if the ships are American.
1815		To put an end to robberies by the Barbary pirates, the United States declares war on Algiers.
1836		Texas declares independence from Mexico on Sam Houston's 43rd birthday.
1853		The Territory of Washington is organized.
1865		President Abraham Lincoln rejects Confederate General Robert E. Lee's plea for peace talks, demanding unconditional surrender.
1867		The first Reconstruction Act is passed by Congress.
1877		Rutherford B. Hayes is declared president by one vote the day before the inauguration.
1889		Congress passes the Indian Appropriations Bill, proclaiming unassigned lands in the public domain; the first step toward the famous Oklahoma Land Rush
1896		Bone Mizell, the famed cowboy of Florida, is sentenced to two years of hard labor in the state pen for cattle rustling. He would only serve a small portion of the sentence.
1901		Congress passes the Platt amendment, which limits Cuban autonomy as a condition for withdrawal of U.S. troops.
1908		An international conference on arms reduction opens in London.
1908		Gabriel Lippman introduces the new three-dimensional color photography at the Academy of Sciences.
1917		Congress passes the Jones Act making Puerto Rico a territory of the United States and makes the inhabitants U.S. citizens.
1923		In Italy, Mussolini admits that women have a right to vote, but declares that the time is not right.
1930		Novelist D.H. Lawrence dies of tuberculosis in a sanitarium in Vence, France, at the age of 45.
1943		The center of Berlin is bombed by the RAF. Some 900 tons of bombs are dropped in a half hour.
1945		MacArthur raises the U.S. flag on Corregidor in the Philippines.
1946		Ho Chi Minh is elected president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
1951		The U.S. Navy launches the K-1, the first modern submarine designed to hunt enemy submarines.
1955		Claudette Colvin refuses to give up her seat in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks' famous arrest for the same offense.
1956		France grants independence to Morocco.
1965		More than 150 U.S. and South Vietnamese planes bomb two bases in North Vietnam in the first of the "Rolling Thunder" raids.
1968		The siege of Khe Sanh ends in Vietnam, the U.S. Marines stationed there are still in control of the mountain top.
1973		Federal forces surround Wounded Knee, South Dakota, which is occupied by members of the militant American Indian Movement who are holding at least 10 hostages.
1974		A grand jury in Washington, D.C. concludes that President Nixon was indeed involved in the Watergate cover-up.
1978		Czech pilot Vladimir Remek becomes the first non-Russian, non-American in space.
1981		The United States plans to send 20 more advisors and $25 million in military aid to El Salvador.

 

March 1

1642		York, Maine becomes the first incorporated American city.
1692		Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are arrested for the supposed practice of witchcraft in Salem, Mass.
1776		French minister Charles Gravier advises his Spanish counterpart to support the American rebels against the English.
1780		Pennsylvania becomes the first U.S. state to abolish slavery.
1803		Ohio becomes the 17th state to join the Union.
1808		In France, Napoleon creates an imperial nobility.
1815		Napoleon lands at Cannes, France, returning from exile on Elba, with a force of 1,500 men and marches on Paris.
1871		German troops enter Paris, France, during the Franco-Prussian War.
1875		Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, which is invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1883.
1912		Albert Berry completes the first in-flight parachute jump, from a Benoist plane over Kinlock Field in St. Louis, Missouri.
1915		The Allies announce their aim to cut off all German supplies and assure the safety of the neutrals.
1919		The Korean coalition proclaims their independence from Japan.
1921		The Allies reject a $7.5 billion reparations offer in London. German delegations decides to quit all talks.
1932		The Lindbergh baby is kidnapped from the Lindbergh home near Princeton, New Jersey.
1935		Germany officially establishes the Luftwaffe.
1941		Bulgaria joins the Axis as the Nazis occupy Sofia.
1942		Japanese troops land on Java in the Pacific.
1943		The British RAF conducts strategic bombing raids on all European railway lines.
1960		1,000 Black students pray and sing the national anthem on the steps of the old Confederate Capitol in Montgomery, Ala.
1968		Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara is replaced by Clark Clifford.
1969		Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball.
1974		A grand jury indicts seven of President Nixon's aides for the conspiracy on Watergate.
1985		The Pentagon accepts the theory that an atomic war would block the sun, causing a "nuclear winter."
1992		Bosnian Serbs begin sniping in Sarajevo, after Croats and Moslems vote for Bosnian independence.

 

February 29

45 BC		The first Leap Day is recognized by proclamation of Julius Caesar. Under the old Roman calendar, the last day of February was the last day of the year.
1692		Sarah Goode and Tituba are accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, sparking the hysteria that started the Salem Witch Trials.
1784		The Marquis de Sade is transferred from Vincennes fortress to the Bastille.
1856		Hostilities in Russo-Turkish war cease.
1864		Union Grig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick splits his forces at the Rapidan River ordering Col. Ulric Dahlgren to lead 500 men his men to Goochland Court House, while the remainder followed Kilpatrick in his raid on Richmond.
1864		Lt. William B. Cushing leads a landing party from the USS Monticello to Smithville, NC, in an attempt to capture Confederate Brig. Gen. Louis Hebert, only to discover that Hebert and his men had already moved on Wilmington.
1868		British Prime Minister Benjamin Disreali forms his first cabinet.
1940		Hattie McDaniel is first African American to win an Academy Award–best supporting actress–for her performance in Gone With The Wind.
1944		US forces catch Japanese troops off-guard and easily take control of the Admiralty Islands in Papua New Guinea.
1944		Dorothy Vredenburgh accepts an appointment by the Democratic National Committee becoming the first woman secretary of a national political party in the U.S.
1952		The first pedestrian "Walk/Don't Walk" signs are installed at 44th Street and Broadway at Times Square.
1956		President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces he will seek second term.
1964		President Lyndon B. Johnson reveals U.S. secretly developed the Lockheed A-11 jet fighter.
1968		Jocelyn Burnell, of Cambridge University, discovers first pulsar.
1968		The Beatles win a Grammy Award for their album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band.
1972		Henry "Hank" Aaron becomes first baseball player to sign a baseball contract for $200,000 a year.
1988		A Nazi document is discovered that implicates participation of Austrian president and former U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim in WWII deportations.

 

February 28

1066		Westminster Abbey, the most famous church in England, opens its doors.
1574		On the orders of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, two Englishmen and an Irishman are burnt for heresy.
1610		Thomas West is appointed governor of Virginia.
1704		Indians attack Deerfield, Mass. killing 40 and kidnapping 100.
1847		Colonel Alexander Doniphan and his ragtag Missouri Mounted Volunteers ride to victory at the Battle of Sacramento, during the Mexican War.
1861		The territory of Colorado is established.
1900		After a 119-day siege by the Boers, the surrounded British troops in Ladysmith, South Africa, are relieved.
1863		Four Union gunboats destroy the CSS Nashville near Fort McAllister, Georgia.
1916		Haiti becomes the first U.S. protectorate.
1924		U.S. troops are sent to Honduras to protect American interests during an election conflict.
1936		The Japanese Army restores order in Tokyo and arrests officers involved in a coup.
1945		U.S. tanks break the natural defense line west of the Rhine and cross the Erft River.
1946		The U.S. Army declares that it will use V-2 rocket to test radar as an atomic rocket defense system.
1953		Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia sign a 5-year defense pact in Ankara.
1967		In Mississippi, 19 are indicted in the slayings of three civil rights workers.
1969		A Los Angeles court refuses Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan's request to be executed.
1971		The male electorate in Lichtenstein refuses to give voting rights to women.
1994		U.S. warplanes shoot down four Serb aircraft over Bosnia in the first NATO use of force in the troubled area.

 

February 27

425		Theodosius effectively founds a university in Constantinople.
1531		German Protestants form the League of Schmalkalden to resist the power of the emperor.
1700		The Pacific Island of New Britain is discovered.
1814		Napoleon's Marshal Nicholas Oudinot is pushed back at Barsur-Aube by the Emperor's allied enemies shortly before his abdication.
1827		The first Mardi-Gras celebration is held in New Orleans.
1864		The first Union prisoners arrive at Andersonville Prison in Georgia.
1865		Confederate raider William Quantrill and his bushwackers attack Hickman, Kentucky, shooting women and children.
1905		The Japanese push Russians back in Manchuria and cross the Sha River.
1908		The forty-sixth star is added to the U.S. flag, signifying Oklahoma's admission to statehood.
1920		The United States rejects a Soviet peace offer as propaganda.
1925		Glacier Bay National Monument is dedicated in Alaska.
1933		The burning down of the Reichstag building in Berlin gives the Nazis the opportunity to suspend personal liberty with increased power.
1939		The Supreme Court outlaws sit-down strikes.
1942		British Commandos raid a German radar station at Bruneval on the French coast.
1953		F-84 Thunderjets raid North Korean base on Yalu River.
1962		South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem is unharmed as two planes bomb the presidential palace in Saigon.
1963		The Soviet Union says that 10,000 troops will remain in Cuba.
1969		Thousands of students protest President Richard Nixon's arrival in Rome.
1973		U.S. Supreme Court rules that a Virginia pool club can't bar residents because of color.
1988		Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.
1991		Coalition forces liberate Kuwait after seven months of occupation by the Iraqi army.

February 26

364		On the death of Jovian, a conference at Nicaea chooses Valentinan, an army officer who was born in the central European region of Pannania, to succeed him in Asia Minor.
1154		William the Bad succeeds his father, Roger the II, in Sicily.
1790		As a result of the Revolution, France is divided into 83 departments.
1815		Napoleon and 1,200 of his men leave Elba to start the 100-day re-conquest of France.
1848		Karl Marx and Frederick Engels publish The Communist Manifesto in London.
1871		France and Prussia sign a preliminary peace treaty at Versailles.
1901		Boxer Rebellion leaders Chi-Hsin and Hsu-Cheng-Yu are publicly executed in Peking.
1914		Russian aviator Igor Sikorsky carries 17 passengers in a twin engine plane in St. Petersburg.
1916		General Henri Philippe Petain takes command of the French forces at Verdun.
1917		President Wilson publicly asks congress for the power to arm merchant ships.
1924		U.S. steel industry finds claims an eight-hour day increases efficiency and employee relations.
1933		Ground is broken for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
1936		Japanese military troops march into Tokyo to conduct a coup and assassinate political leaders.
1941		British take the Somali capital in East Africa.
1943		U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators pound German docks and U-boat lairs at Wilhelmshaven.
1945		Syria declares war on Germany and Japan.
1951		The 22nd Amendment is added to the Constitution limiting the Presidency to two terms.
1964		Lyndon B. Johnson signs a tax bill with $11.5 billion in cuts.
1965		Norman Butler is arrested for the murder of Malcom X.
1968		Thirty-two African nations agree to boycott the Olympics because of the presence of South Africa.
1970		Five Marines are arrested on charges of murdering 11 South Vietnamese women and children.
1972		Soviets recover Luna 20 with a cargo of moon rocks.
1973		A publisher and 10 reporters are subpoenaed to testify on Watergate.
1990		Daniel Ortega, communist president of Nicaragua, suffers a shocking election defeat at the hands of Violeta Chamorro.
1993		A bomb rocks the World Trade Center in New York City. Five people are killed and hundreds suffer from smoke inhalation.

February 25

1570		Pope Pius V issues the bull Regnans in Excelsis which excommunicates Queen Elizabeth of England.
1601		Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex and former favorite of Elizabeth I, is beheaded in the Tower of London for high treason.
1642		Dutch settlers slaughter lower Hudson Valley Indians in New Netherland, North America, who sought refuge from Mohawk attackers.
1779		The British surrender the Illinois country to George Rogers Clark at Vincennes.
1781		American General Nathaniel Greene crosses the Dan River on his way to attack Cornwallis.
1791		President George Washington sign a bill creating the Bank of the United States.
1804		Thomas Jefferson is nominated for president at the Democratic-Republican caucus.
1815		Napoleon leaves his exile on the island of Elba, returning to France.
1831		The Polish army halts the Russian advance into their country at the Battle of Grochow.
1836		Samuel Colt patents the first revolving cylinder multi-shot firearm.
1862		Confederate troops abandon Nashville, Tennessee, in the face of Grant's advance. The ironclad Monitor is commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
1865		General Joseph E. Johnston replaces John Bell Hood as Commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1904		J.M. Synge's play Riders to the Sea opens in Dublin.
1910		The Dalai Lama flees from the Chinese and takes refuge in India.
1919		Oregon introduces the first state tax on gasoline at one cent per gallon, to be used for road construction.
1913		The 16th Amendment to the constitution is adopted, setting the legal basis for the income tax.
1926		Poland demands a permanent seat on the League of Nations council.
1928		Bell Labs introduces a new device to end the fluttering of the television image.
1943		U.S. troops retake the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, where they had been defeated five days before.
1944		U.S. forces destroy 135 Japanese planes in Marianas and Guam.
1952		French colonial forces evacuate Hoa Binh in Indochina.
1956		Stalin is secretly disavowed by Khrushchev at a party congress for promoting the "cult of the individual."
1976		The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states may ban the hiring of illegal aliens.

February 24

786		Pepin the Short of Gaul dies. His dominions are divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman.
1525		In the first of the Franco-Habsburg Wars, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captures the French king Francis I at the Battle of Pavia, Italy.
1538		Ferdinand of Hapsburg and John Zapolyai, the two kings of Hungary, conclude the peace of Grosswardein.
1803		Chief Justice John Marshall, by refusing to rule on the case of Marbury vs. Madison, asserts the authority of the judicial branch.
1813		Off Guiana, the American sloop Hornet sinks the British sloop Peacock.
1821		Mexico gains independence from Spain.
1836		Some 3,000 Mexicans launch an assault on the Alamo with its 182 Texan defenders.
1895		The Cuban War of Independence begins.
1908		Japan officially agrees to restrict emigration to the U.S.
1912		Italy bombs Beirut in the first act of war against the Ottoman Empire.
1912		The Jewish organization Hadassah is founded in New York City.
1914		Civil War soldier Joshua Chamberlain dies.
1916		A film version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York.
1921		Herbert Hoover becomes Secretary of Commerce.
1928		The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley, its first show to feature a black artist.
1944		Merrill's Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, begin their ground campaign against Japan into Burma.
1945		U.S. forces liberate prisoners of war in the Los Baños Prison in the Philippines.
1947		Franz von Papen is sentenced to eight years in a labor camp for war crimes.
1959		Khrushchev rejects the Western plan for the Big Four meeting on Germany.
1968		North Vietnamese troops capture the imperial palace in Hue, South Vietnam.
1972		Hanoi negotiators walks out of the peace talks in Paris to protest U.S. air raids on North Vietnam.
1991		General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition army, sends in ground forces during the Gulf War.

February 23

303		Emperor Diocletian orders the general persecution of Christians in Rome.
1516		The Hapsburg Charles I succeeds Ferdinand in Spain.
1540		Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado begins his unsuccessful search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold in the American Southwest.
1574		The 5th War of Religion breaks out in France.
1615		The Estates-General in Paris is dissolved, having been in session since October 1614.
1778		Baron von Steuben joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge.
1821		Poet John Keats dies of tuberculosis at the age of 25.
1836		The Alamo is besieged by Santa Anna.
1846		The Liberty Bell tolls for the last time, to mark George Washington's birthday.
1847		Forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat the Mexicans at the Battle of Buena Vista.
1854		Great Britain officially recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1861		Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union.
1885		John Lee survives three attempts to hang him in Exeter Prison, as the trap fails to open.
1898		Writer Emile Zola is imprisoned in France for his letter J'accuse in which he accuses the French government of anti-semitism and the wrongful imprisonment of army captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1901		Britain and Germany agree on a boundary between German East Africa and Nyasaland.
1904		Japan guarantees Korean sovereignty in exchange for military assistance.
1916		Secretary of State Lansing hints that the U.S. may have to abandon the policy of avoiding "entangling foreign alliances".
1921		An airmail plane sets a record of 33 hours and 20 minutes from San Francisco to New York.
1926		President Calvin Coolidge opposes a large air force, believing it would be a menace to world peace.
1936		In Russia, an unmanned balloon rises to a record height of 25 miles.
1938		Twelve Chinese fighter planes drop bombs on Japan.
1942		A Japanese submarine shells an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, the first Axis bombs to hit American soil.
1944		American bombers strike the Marianas Islands bases, only 1,300 miles from Tokyo.
1945		Eisenhower opens a large offensive in the Rhineland.
1945		U.S. Marines plant an American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
1946		Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita is hanged in Manila, the Philippines, for war crimes.
1947		Several hundred Nazi organizers are arrested in Frankfurt by U.S. and British forces.
1950		New York's Metropolitan Museum exhibits a collection of Hapsburg art. The first showing of this collection in the U.S.
1954		Mass innoculation begins as Salk's polio vaccine is given to children for first time.
1955		Eight nations meet in Bangkok for the first SEATO council.
1960		Whites join Negro students in a sit-in at a Winston-Salem, N.C. Woolworth store.
1964		The U.S. and Britain recognize the new Zanzibar government.
1967		American troops begin the largest offensive of the war, near the Cambodian border.
1972		Black activist Angela Davis is released from jail where she was held for kidnapping , conspiracy and murder.
1991		French forces unofficially start the Persian Gulf ground war by crossing the Saudi-Iraqi border.

 

February 22

1349		Jews are expelled from Zurich, Switzerland.
1613		Mikhail Romanov is elected czar of Russia.
1732		George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
1797		The last invasion of Britain takes place when some 1,400 Frenchmen land at Fishguard in Wales.
1819		Spain signs a treaty with the United States ceding eastern Florida.
1825		Russia and Britain establish the Alaska/Canada boundary.
1862		Jefferson Davis is inaugurated president of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va. for the second time.
1864		Nathan Bedford Forrest's brother, Jeffrey, is killed at Okolona, Mississippi.
1865		Federal troops capture Wilmington, N.C.
1879		Frank Winfield Woolworth's 'nothing over five cents' shop opens at Utica, New York. It is the first chain store.
1902		A fistfight breaks out in the Senate. Senator Benjamin Tillman suffers a bloody nose for accusing Senator John McLaurin of bias on the Philippine tariff issue.
1909		The Great White Fleet returns to Norfolk, Virginia, from an around-the-world show of naval power.
1911		Canadian Parliament votes to preserve the union with the British Empire.
1920		The American Relief Administration appeals to the public to pressure Congress to aid starving European cities.
1924		Columbia University declares radio education a success.
1926		Pope Pius rejects Mussolini's offer of aid to the Vatican.
1932		Adolf Hitler is the Nazi Party candidate for the presidential elections in Germany.
1935		All plane flights over the White House are barred because they are disturbing President Roosevelt's sleep.
1942		President Franklin Roosevelt orders Gen. Douglas MacArthur to leave the Philippines.
1951		The Atomic Energy Commission discloses information about the first atom-powered airplane.
1952		French forces evacuate Hoa Binh in Indochina.
1954		U.S. is to install 60 Thor nuclear missiles in Britain.
1962		A Soviet bid for new Geneva arms talks is turned down by the U.S.
1963		Moscow warns the U.S. that an attack on Cuba would mean war.
1967		Operation Junction City becomes the largest U.S. operation in Vietnam.
1984		Britain and the U.S. send warships to the Persian Gulf following an Iranian offensive against Iraq.

• 02/20/1525- Swiss & German mercenaries desert Fran‡ois I's army
• 02/20/1547- King Edward VI of England was enthroned following death of Henry VIII
• 02/20/1613- Gerard Reynst appointed Dutch gov-gen of East-Indies
• 02/20/1653- Defeat of Dutch fleet under Adm Van Tromp by Adm Blake off Portsmouth
• 02/20/1673- 1st recorded wine auction held (London)
• 02/20/1710- Johan Willem Friso becomes viceroy of Groningen Neth
• 02/20/1725- 10 sleeping Indians scalped by whites in NH for œ100/scalp bounty
• 02/20/1732- Estates of Holland ratifies Treaty of Vienna
• 02/20/1737- French minister of Finance, Chauvelin, resigns
• 02/20/1745- Bonnie Prince Charlies troops occupy Fort August, Scotland
• 02/20/1746- Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Castle of Inverness
• 02/20/1768- 1st American chartered fire insurance company opens (Penn)
• 02/20/1792- US postal service created; postage 6›-12«›, depending on distance
• 02/20/1809- Supreme Court rules federal govt power greater than any state
• 02/20/1811- Austria declares bankruptcy
• 02/20/1816- Rossini's opera "Barber of Seville" premieres in Rome
• 02/20/1823- English Capt James Weddell reaches 74ø 15' S, 1520 km from S pole
• 02/20/1831- Polish revolutionaries defeat Russians in battle of Growchow
• 02/20/1832- Charles Darwin visits Fernando Noronha in Atlantic Ocean
• 02/20/1835- Concepci¢n, Chile destroyed by earthquake; 5,000 die
• 02/20/1839- Congress prohibits dueling in District of Columbia
• 02/20/1846- British occupy Sikh citadel of Lahore
• 02/20/1856- John Rutledge, Liverpool-NY steamer, hits iceberg; many die
• 02/20/1861- Dept of Navy of Confederacy forms
• 02/20/1861- Steeple of Chichester Cathedral blown down during a storm
• 02/20/1864- Civil War battle of Olustee, Florida
• 02/20/1865- M I T forms 1st US collegiate architectural school
• 02/20/1869- Tenn Gov W C Brownlow declares martial law in Ku Klux Klan crisis
• 02/20/1872- Hydraulic electric elevator patented by Cyrus Baldwin
• 02/20/1872- Luther Crowell patents a machine that manufactures paper bags
• 02/20/1872- Metropolitan Museum of Art opens (NYC)
• 02/20/1872- Silas Noble & JP Cooley patents toothpick manufacturing machine
• 02/20/1873- U of Calif gets its 1st Med School (UC/SF)
• 02/20/1877- 1st cantilever bridge in US completed, Harrodsburg, Kentucky
• 02/20/1877- International Association (minor baseball league) organizes
• 02/20/1887- 1st minor league baseball association organizes (Pittsburgh)
• 02/20/1887- Germany, Austria-Hungary & France end Triple Alliance
• 02/20/1890- Amsterdam Theater destroyed by fire
• 02/20/1895- Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorodo
• 02/20/1899- Ill Tel & Tel granted franchise for Chicago freight tunnel system
• 02/20/1901- 1st territorial legislature of Hawaii convenes
• 02/20/1902- Heavy surf breaks over Seal Rocks & damages Sutro Baths, SF
• 02/20/1903- Nick Young remains as NL president as AG Spalding ends challenge
• 02/20/1912- Argentina beat the MCC in their inaugural cricket 1st-class fixture
• 02/20/1915- Panama-Pacific International Exposition opens in SF
• 02/20/1917- Ammunitions ship explodes in Archangelsk harbor, about 1,500 die
• 02/20/1917- Kern, Bolton & Wodehouse's musical "Oh, Boy!," premieres in NYC
• 02/20/1919- French premier Clemenceau injured during assassination attempt
• 02/20/1921- Riza Khan Pahlevi seizes control of Iran
• 02/20/1922- Marc Connelly & George Kaufman's "To the Ladies," premieres in NYC
• 02/20/1922- Vilinus, Lithuania, agrees to separate from Poland
• 02/20/1922- WOR-AM in New York City begins radio transmissions
• 02/20/1923- Christy Mathewson becomes pres of Boston Braves
• 02/20/1927- Golfers in SC arrested for violating Sabbath
• 02/20/1929- American Samoa organizes as territory of US
• 02/20/1929- Red Sox announce they will play Sunday games at Braves Field
• 02/20/1930- Capelle soccer team forms
• 02/20/1931- Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge
• 02/20/1932- Japanese troops occupy Tunhua China
• 02/20/1933- Curom, Cura‡aose Broadcast System starts: Princess Juliana's speech
• 02/20/1933- House of Reps completes congressional action to repeal Prohibition
• 02/20/1933- Sidney Howard's "Alien Corn," premieres in NYC
• 02/20/1934- Virgil Thomson's opera "4 Saints in 3 Acts" opens in NYC
• 02/20/1935- Karoline Mikkelson is 1st woman on Antarctica
• 02/20/1937- 1st automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica, Ca
• 02/20/1938- UK Foreign Sec Eden resigns, says PM Chamberlain appeased Germany
• 02/20/1940- Larry Clinton & his Orchestra record "Limehouse Blues"
• 02/20/1941- 1st transport of Jews to concentration camps leave Plotsk Poland
• 02/20/1941- Nazis order Polish Jews barred from using public transportation
• 02/20/1941- Romania breaks relations with Netherlands
• 02/20/1942- Lt E H O'Hare single-handedly shoots down 5 Japanese heavy bombers
• 02/20/1943- Allied troops occupy Kasserine pass in Tunisia
• 02/20/1943- New volcano Paracutin erupts in farmer's corn patch (M‚xico)
• 02/20/1943- Phil Wrigley & B Rickey charter All-American Girls Softball League
• 02/20/1944- Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers
• 02/20/1944- US takes Eniwetok Island
• 02/20/1947- Chemical mixing error causes explosion that destroys 42ý blocks in LA
• 02/20/1947- Lord Mountbatten appointed as last viceroy of India
• 02/20/1948- Czechoslovakia's non-communist minister resigns
• 02/20/1949- 1st International Pancake Race held (Liberal Ks)
• 02/20/1950- Dylan Thomas arrives in NYC for his 1st US poetry reading tour
• 02/20/1950- WOL-AM in Washington DC swaps calls with WWDC
• 02/20/1952- "African Queen" opens at Capitol Theater in NYC
• 02/20/1952- 1st black umpire in organized baseball certified (Emmett Ashford)
• 02/20/1953- August A Busch buys the Cards for $3.75 million
• 02/20/1953- US Court of Appeals rules that Organized Baseball is a sport & not a business, affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling
• 02/20/1954- Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open
• 02/20/1954- General Zahedi wins election in Persia
• 02/20/1955- Fay Crocker wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open
• 02/20/1956- WOSU TV channel 34 in Columbus, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 02/20/1957- Hughie Tayfield takes 9-113 v England, 13 wkts for match
• 02/20/1958- Jockey Eddie Arcaro rides his 4,000th winner
• 02/20/1958- LA Coliseum Comm approves 2-yr pact allows Dodgers to use facility
• 02/20/1962- John Glenn is 1st American to orbit Earth (Friendship 7)
• 02/20/1963- End of the Test Cricket careers of Neil Harvey & Alan Davidson
• 02/20/1963- Willie Mays (SF Giants) signs a record $100,000 per year contract
• 02/20/1965- Beatles record "That Means a Lot"
• 02/20/1965- Ranger 8 makes hard landing on the Moon, returns photos, other data
• 02/20/1965- Turkish government of Uergpl forms
• 02/20/1966- Author Valery Tarsis banished in USSR
• 02/20/1968- John Cleese (Monty Python) marries Connie Booth
• 02/20/1968- State troopers used tear gas to stop demonstration at Alcorn A & M
• 02/20/1971- Bruin Phil Esposito is NHL's quickest to score 50 goals in a season
• 02/20/1971- General Idi Amin Dada appointed president of Uganda
• 02/20/1971- Maj General Idi Amin Dada appoints himself president of Uganda
• 02/20/1971- Natl Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio & TV stations to go off the air. Mistake wasn't resolved for 30 minutes
• 02/20/1972- 1st time Cleve Cavaliers beat NY Knicks (111-109)
• 02/20/1972- Ard Schenk becomes world champ skater
• 02/20/1972- Sicco Mansholt becomes chairman of European Committee
• 02/20/1973- 10th time Islanders shut-out-4-0 vs Penguins
• 02/20/1974- Cher files for separation from husband Sonny Bono
• 02/20/1974- Gordie Howe comes out of retirement for $1M from Houston Aeros, WHA
• 02/20/1975- Leonard Baichan scores 105* on Test Cricket debut, v Pakistan Lahore
• 02/20/1975- Margaret Thatcher elected leader of British Conserv Party
• 02/20/1975- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 02/20/1976- Muhammad Ali KOs Jan Pierre Coopman in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
• 02/20/1977- "My Fair Lady" closes at St James Theater NYC after 384 performances
• 02/20/1977- Judy Rankin wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
• 02/20/1978- 4th People's Choice Awards: Star Wars, Carol Burnett & Bob Hope
• 02/20/1978- Bob Backland beats Billy Graham in NY, to become WWF wrestling champ
• 02/20/1978- Egypt announces it is pulling its diplomats out of Cyprus
• 02/20/1978- Jane Blalock wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
• 02/20/1979- "Comin' Uptown" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 45 performances
• 02/20/1980- Actress Susan Dey (LA Law) weds producer Bernard Sofronski
• 02/20/1981- Flight readiness firing of Columbia's main engines; 20 seconds
• 02/20/1981- James Sanford equals 50m indoor world record (5.61 sec)
• 02/20/1982- NY Islanders wins then NHL record 15th straight game
• 02/20/1983- Japan launches Tenma satellite to study x-rays (450/570 km)
• 02/20/1983- Roland Liboton becomes world champ cross-country cycling
• 02/20/1985- After defending his WBC flyweight championship, Sot Chitalada's check for $104,000 is stolen by a ringside pickpocket
• 02/20/1986- LA Dodger Orel Hershiser is 1st to win a $1M salary by arbitration
• 02/20/1986- Mike Tyson sexually harasses a woman in Albany NY
• 02/20/1987- Bomb blamed on Unabomber explodes by computer store in Salt Lake City
• 02/20/1987- David Hartman quits ABC's "Good Morning America," after 11 years
• 02/20/1988- 500 die in heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro Brazil
• 02/20/1988- Andr‚ Hoffmann skates world record 1500m (1:52.06)
• 02/20/1988- Brian Boitano wins Olympic gold medal in figure skating
• 02/20/1988- Cornelia Oschkenat hurdles indoor world record 50m (6.58 sec)
• 02/20/1988- Kelly Hrudy's 5th Islander shut-out win-Hartford 3-0
• 02/20/1988- Peter Kalikow purchases NY Post from Rupert Murdoch for $37.6 million
• 02/20/1988- Rob Druppers runs world record indoor 1000m (2:16.2)
• 02/20/1988- Stefka Kostadinova high jumps indoor world record (2.06 m)
• 02/20/1989- Members of 1949 Oklahoma football team cancelled an April reunion because of deplorable conduct of Oklahoma players
• 02/20/1991- "Taking Steps" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 78 performances
• 02/20/1991- 33rd Grammy Awards: Another Day in Paradise, Mariah Carey
• 02/20/1992- "Private Lives" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 37 performances
• 02/20/1992- Orthodox patriarch Shenouda III visits Netherlands
• 02/20/1992- Ross Perot says he'll run for President on Larry King Show
• 02/20/1993- Florida Marlins open their 1st spring training camp
• 02/20/1993- Lisa Walters wins LPGA Itoki Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open
• 02/20/1993- NY Islanders retire Billy Smith's number 31
• 02/20/1994- 3 Afghans take 70 Pakistani children hostage
• 02/20/1994- Johann Olav Koss skates world record 10 km (13:30.55)
• 02/20/1994- Pope John Paul II demands juristic discrimination of homosexuals
• 02/20/1997- "Stanley" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC
• 02/20/1997- SF Giants Barry Bonds signs record $22.9M 2 year contract
• 02/20/1998- Tara Lipinski wins Olympic figure skating gold medal
• 02/20/1998- UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan lands in Baghdad, for peace negotiations
• 02/20/1998 - US movie box office hits quickest $1 billion for year (51 days)

 

• 02/19/0197- Lucius Septimius Severus' army beats Clodius Albinus at Lyon
• 02/19/0356- Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples
• 02/19/0607- Boniface III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 02/19/0842- Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ends as a council in Constantinople formally reinstated the veneration of icons in the churches
• 02/19/1512- French troops under Gaston de Foix occupy Brescia
• 02/19/1537- Weavers of Leiden Neth strike
• 02/19/1539- Jews of Tyrnau Hungary (then Trnava Czech), expelled
• 02/19/1574- Spanish troops plunder Krommenie, Wormerveer & Jisp Neth
• 02/19/1582- Francis of Valois becomes duke of Brabant
• 02/19/1619- Trial against Johan van Oldenbarnevelt begins in The Hague
• 02/19/1634- Battle at Smolensk: Polish king Wladyslaw IV beats Russians [NS=Mar 1]
• 02/19/1674- Netherlands & England sign Peace of Westminster (NYC becomes English)
• 02/19/1700- Last day of Julian calendar in Denmark
• 02/19/1736- Georg F H„ndel's "Alexander's Feast," premieres
• 02/19/1771- Messier adds M46-M49 to his catalog (galactic clusters in Puppis & Hydra & galaxy in Virgo)
• 02/19/1797- 1/3 of papal domain ceded to France
• 02/19/1803- Congress accepts Ohio's constitution, statehood not ratified till 1953
• 02/19/1807- British squadron under Adm Duckworth forces passage of Dardanelle
• 02/19/1807- VP Aaron Burr arrested in Alabama for treason; later found innocent
• 02/19/1825- Franz Grillparzer's "K”nig Ottokars Glck," premieres in Vienna
• 02/19/1831- 1st practical US coal-burning locomotive makes 1st trial run, Penn
• 02/19/1846- Texas state govt formally installed in Austin
• 02/19/1856- Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio
• 02/19/1859- Dan Sickles is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity 1st time this defense is successfully used
• 02/19/1861- Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom [NS=Mar 3]
• 02/19/1864- Knights of Pythias form 1st lodge in Wash DC (12 members)
• 02/19/1869- US Assay Office in Boise, Idaho authorized
• 02/19/1878- Thomas Alva Edison patents gramophone (phonograph)
• 02/19/1881- Kansas becomes 1st state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages
• 02/19/1884- Tornadoes in Miss, Ala, NC, SC, Tenn, Ky & In kill 800 people
• 02/19/1900- British troops occupy Hlangwane Natal
• 02/19/1906- WK Kellogg & Ch Bolin find Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co
• 02/19/1910- English premiere of Richard Strauss' "Elektra"
• 02/19/1913- 1st prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box
• 02/19/1913- Mexican General V Huerta takes power with US support
• 02/19/1914- Riccardo Zandonai's opera "Francesco da Rimini," premieres in Turin
• 02/19/1915- British fleet fire on Dardanellen coast
• 02/19/1919- Pan-African Congress, organized by W E B Du Bois (Paris)
• 02/19/1920- Netherlands joins League of Nations
• 02/19/1922- Ed Wynn becomes 1st talent to sign as a radio entertainer
• 02/19/1923- Jean Sibelius' 6th Symphony, premieres
• 02/19/1923- Philip Barry's "You & I," premieres in NYC
• 02/19/1927- General strike against British occupiers in Shanghai
• 02/19/1928- 2nd Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
• 02/19/1928- Canadian hockey team wins 3rd consecutive gold medal
• 02/19/1929- Medical diathermy machine 1st used, Schenectady, NY
• 02/19/1932- William Faulkner completes his novel "Light in August"
• 02/19/1933- Prussian minister G”ring bans all Catholic newspapers
• 02/19/1934- Bob & Dolores Hope marry
• 02/19/1934- US contract air mail service canceled, replaced by US army for 6 mos
• 02/19/1935- Clifford Odets' "Awake & Sing," premieres in NYC
• 02/19/1936- Manuel Aza¤a becomes Spanish premier
• 02/19/1938- Soviet arctic ice research station North Pole 1 evacuated, Denmark
• 02/19/1941- Nazi police attacks & driven away from Koco Amsterdam (by young Jews)
• 02/19/1941- Nazi raid Amsterdam & round up 429 young Jews for deportation
• 02/19/1942- About 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin
• 02/19/1942- Bill Longson beats Managoff & Sandor Szabo, to become wrestling champ
• 02/19/1942- Dutch actors protest obligatory membership of Culture Chamber
• 02/19/1942- FDR orders detention & internment of all west-coast Japanese-Americans
• 02/19/1942- Japanese troop land on Timor
• 02/19/1942- Tommy Dorsey & his orchestra recorded "I'll Take Tallulah"
• 02/19/1942- NY Yankees annouce 5,000 uniformed soldiers admitted free at each of their upcoming home games
• 02/19/1943- German tanks under brig gen Buelowius attack Kasserine Pass Tunesia
• 02/19/1944- 823 British bombers attack Berlin
• 02/19/1944- U-264 sinks off Ireland
• 02/19/1945- 30,000 US Marines land on Iwo Jima
• 02/19/1945- 900 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in 2 days
• 02/19/1945- Brotherhood Day-1st celebrated
• 02/19/1945- US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese
• 02/19/1946- Giants outfielder Danny Gardella is 1st major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the "outlaw" Mexican League
• 02/19/1947- CBS radio premiere of Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasilieras No 3"
• 02/19/1949- "Inside USA" closes at Century Theater NYC after 339 performances
• 02/19/1949- 1st Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Ezra Pound
• 02/19/1949- Mass arrests of communists in India
• 02/19/1952- French offensive at Hanoi
• 02/19/1953- Georgia approves US 1st literature censorship board
• 02/19/1953- Ted Williams safely crash-lands his damaged Panther jet
• 02/19/1953- William Inge's "Picnic," premieres in NYC
• 02/19/1954- WAST (now WNYT) TV channel 13 in Albany-Troy, NY (NBC) 1st broadcast
• 02/19/1955- South East Asia Collective Defense Treaty goes into effect
• 02/19/1956- Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
• 02/19/1958- Carl Perkins leaves Sun Records for Columbia Records
• 02/19/1959- Britain, Turkey & Greece sign agreement granting Cyprus independence
• 02/19/1959- Gabon adopts its constitution
• 02/19/1959- USAF rocket-powered rail sled attains Mach 4.1 (4970 kph), NM
• 02/19/1960- Bil Keane's "Family Circus" cartoon strip debuts
• 02/19/1960- Protest strike in Poznan Poland
• 02/19/1961- Albania disavows Chinese "Revisionism"
• 02/19/1961- Henk van der Grift (Neth) becomes world champ all-round skater
• 02/19/1962- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 02/19/1963- Robert Frost wins Bollingen Prize
• 02/19/1963- USSR informs JFK it's withdrawing several thousand troops from Cuba
• 02/19/1964- UK flies « ton of Beatle wigs to US
• 02/19/1965- NFL adds 6th official
• 02/19/1967- Stien Kaiser becomes world champion lady's skater
• 02/19/1968- 1st US Teachers strike (Florida)
• 02/19/1969- 1st Test flight of Boeing 747 jumbo jet
• 02/19/1970- AL Cy Young winner Denny McLain suspended for bookmaking
• 02/19/1970- USSR launches Sputnik 52 & Molniya 1-13 communications satellite
• 02/19/1971- Paul McCartney releases "Another Day" in UK
• 02/19/1971- Walt Wesley becomes 1st Cleve Cavalier to score 50 pts in a game
• 02/19/1972- Glenn Turner carries his bat for 223* v WI at Kingston
• 02/19/1974- 1st American Music Award:
• 02/19/1976- Frente Polisario forms Democratic Republic of Sahara
• 02/19/1977- 19th Grammy Awards: This Masquerade, Starland Vocal Band
• 02/19/1977- A's sell pitcher Paul Lindblad to the Rangers for $400,000
• 02/19/1977- Doug Walters scores 250 v NZ, 217 stand for 7th wicket w/Gilmour
• 02/19/1977- Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album released
• 02/19/1977- France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
• 02/19/1977- Shuttle Enterprise makes 1st Test flight atop a 747 jetliner
• 02/19/1978- "On the 20th Century" opens at St James Theater NYC for 460 perfs
• 02/19/1978- Brigitte Kraus runs world record 1000 m indoor (2:34.8)
• 02/19/1978- Coleman, Comden & Green's musical premieres in NYC
• 02/19/1980- Botham a century & 13 wickets in Jubilee Test Cricket at Bombay
• 02/19/1980- Eric Heiden skates Olympic record 1000m in 1:15.18
• 02/19/1981- George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for "subconscious plagiarism" "My Sweet Lord" with "He's So Fine"
• 02/19/1982- Hanneke Jelgersma (Jagersma?) installed as Neth's 1st Communist mayor
• 02/19/1982- Sharie Langford, Calif, sets women's bowling series record of 853
• 02/19/1982- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 02/19/1983- Fernando Valenzuela wins his salary arbitration of $1 million
• 02/19/1983- Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) sets 400 m free style swimming record
• 02/19/1984- "Doonesbury" closes at Biltmore Theater NYC after 104 performances
• 02/19/1984- 14th winter Olympic games close at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
• 02/19/1984- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 02/19/1984- 1st brother combo to win Gold & Silver in same event at Olympics (Phil & Steve Mahre-Slalom)
• 02/19/1985- 150 killed when a Spanish jetliner crashed approaching Bilbao, Spain
• 02/19/1985- ADM of Amsterdam declares bankruptcy
• 02/19/1985- Canned & bottled Cherry Coke introduced by Coca-Cola
• 02/19/1985- Mickey Mouse welcomed in China
• 02/19/1985- William Schroeder is 1st artificial heart patient to leave hospital He spent 15 minutes outside Humana Hospital in Louisville, Ky
• 02/19/1986- Jordanian King Hussein severs ties with PLO
• 02/19/1986- US Senate ratifies UN's anti-genocide convention 37 years later
• 02/19/1986- USSR launches Mir space station into Earth orbit
• 02/19/1987- "Stardust" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 102 performances
• 02/19/1987- Anti-smoking ad airs for 1st time on TV, featuring Yul Brynner
• 02/19/1987- Less than a month after re-signing, A's pitcher Vida Blue retires
• 02/19/1987- Minn sheriff office arrest FBI most wanted, Thomas G Harrelson
• 02/19/1987- Reagan lifts trade boycott against Poland
• 02/19/1988- Helga Arendt, Silke-Beate Knoll, Mechthild Kluth, Gisela Kinzel walk indoor female world record 4x200m (1:32.55)
• 02/19/1989- "Legs Diamond" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 64 perfs
• 02/19/1989- Edgar Bowers wins Bollingen Prize
• 02/19/1990- Police kill 8 demonstrators for multi party system in Nepal
• 02/19/1990- Soyuz TM-9 lands
• 02/19/1992- "Crazy For You" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 1622 performances
• 02/19/1992- Ken Ludwig's musical "Crazy for You," premieres in NYC
• 02/19/1992- Peter Collins discovers nova Cygni 1992
• 02/19/1992- Porn producer Jim Mitchell found guilty of killing his brother Artie
• 02/19/1993- Kenya Moore, 22, (Michigan), crowned 42nd Miss USA
• 02/19/1994- Marta Figueras-Dotti wins Cup o' Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open
• 02/19/1995- 1st broadcast of "Woman of Independent Means" on NBC-TV
• 02/19/1995- Irina Privalova runs indoor woman's European record 200m (22.10 sec)
• 02/19/1995- Kenneth Koch wins Bollingen Prize
• 02/19/1995- Linford Christie runs world record 200m indoor (20.25 sec)
• 02/19/1995- Linford Christie runs European record 60m indoor (6.47 sec)
• 02/19/1995- Michael Tippett's "Rose Lake," premieres
• 02/19/1996- Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in York PA on WQXA 105.7 FM
• 02/19/1997 - FCC makes available 311 for non-emergency calls & 711 for hearing or speech-impaired emergency calls

 

• 02/18/1129- Jerusalem taken by Emperor Frederik II
• 02/18/1503- Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII)
• 02/18/1536- France & Turkey sign milt/trade agreement against King Karel
• 02/18/1563- Huguenot Jean Poltrot de M‚r‚ shoots gen Fran‡ois De Guise
• 02/18/1574- Zeeland falls to Dutch rebels
• 02/18/1634- Ferdinand II orders commander Albrecht von Wallenstein, execution
• 02/18/1678- John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" is published
• 02/18/1688- Quakers conduct 1st formal protest of slavery in Germantown, Pa
• 02/18/1713- French invade under Jacques Cassard on Cura‡ao
• 02/18/1735- 1st opera performed in America, "Flora," in Charleston, SC
• 02/18/1745- Bonnie Prince Charlies troops occupy Inverness Scotland
• 02/18/1787- Austrian emperor Jozef II bans children under 8 from labor
• 02/18/1804- 1st US land-grant college, Ohio University, Athens Ohio, chartered
• 02/18/1828- More than 100 vessels destroyed in a storm, Gibraltar
• 02/18/1834- 1st US labor newspaper, "The Man," published, NYC
• 02/18/1839- Detroit Boat Club forms (& still exists)
• 02/18/1841- 1st continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11
• 02/18/1849- 1st regular steamboat service to California starts (or 02/28)
• 02/18/1850- Calif Legislature creates 9 Bay Area counties
• 02/18/1856- American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy
• 02/18/1857- Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo
• 02/18/1861- Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery Ala
• 02/18/1861- King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes 1st king of Italy
• 02/18/1865- Battle of Ft Moultrie, SC occupied by Federals
• 02/18/1865- Evacuation of Charleston, SC; Sherman's troops burn city
• 02/18/1865- Union troops force Confederates to abandon Ft Anderson, NC
• 02/18/1876- Direct telegraph link established between Britain & NZ
• 02/18/1879- Arabs capture Egyptian premier Nabar Pasha
• 02/18/1884- General Charles Gordon arrives in Khartoum
• 02/18/1884- Police seize all copies of Tolstoy's "What I Believe In"
• 02/18/1885- Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," published
• 02/18/1891- Capt Archinard's army fights with Nyamina of Niger in West-Sudan
• 02/18/1896- Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for 1st time in 50 yrs
• 02/18/1899- 80øF in SF
• 02/18/1899- SF named as a port of dispatch for Army transports
• 02/18/1899- Stanley Cup: Mont Shamrocks sweep Queens U (Kingston Ont) in 2 games
• 02/18/1900- Ajax soccer team forms in Amsterdam
• 02/18/1900- Battle at Paardeberg, 1,270 British killed/injured
• 02/18/1900- British troops occupy Monte Christo Natal
• 02/18/1901- H Cecil Booth patented a dust removing suction cleaner
• 02/18/1902- Opera "Hunchback of Notre Dame," premieres in Monte Carlo
• 02/18/1903- Kuyper govt launches anti strike laws
• 02/18/1905- Frank Wedekind's "Hidada, oder Sein und Haben," premieres in Munich
• 02/18/1906- Vincent d'Indy's "Jour D'‚t‚ … La Montagne," premieres in Paris
• 02/18/1908- 1st US postage stamps in rolls issued
• 02/18/1909- Boston Red Sox trade Cy Young, at 41, to Cleveland Naps
• 02/18/1913- French painting "Nude Descending a Staircase" displayed in NYC
• 02/18/1915- Germany begins a blockade of England
• 02/18/1919- Cy Denneny of NHL Ottawa Senators scores record 52nd goals
• 02/18/1921- British troops occupy Dublin
• 02/18/1922- Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his judgeship to work for baseball
• 02/18/1922- WOC-AM in Davenport IA begins radio transmissions
• 02/18/1923- Belgium: Borinage-mine workers strike for higher wages
• 02/18/1924- US female Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld Blanchard
• 02/18/1924- US male Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger
• 02/18/1924- US, min of marine Edwin Denby ends term due to Teapot Dome-scandal
• 02/18/1927- 1st US radio broadcast of "Cities Service Concerts"
• 02/18/1927- US & Canada begin diplomatic relations
• 02/18/1930- Cow flown & milked, milk sealed in paper containers & parachuted
• 02/18/1930- Luigi Pirandello's "Come Tu Mi Vuoi," premieres in Milan
• 02/18/1930- Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart's "Simple Simon," premieres in NYC
• 02/18/1930- US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
• 02/18/1932- Japan declares Manchuria Independent
• 02/18/1932- Sonja Henie wins her 6th straight World Women's figure skating title
• 02/18/1936- NHL record 32 points scored, NY Americans (28) & Mont Maroons (24)
• 02/18/1939- Golden Gate International Exposition opens on Treasure Island
• 02/18/1942- Japanese troop land on Bali
• 02/18/1943- 1st edition of Dutch resistance newspaper "Trouw"
• 02/18/1943- Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (Chilean gen/dictator) marries Lucia Hiriart
• 02/18/1943- Munich resistance group "White Rose" captured by Nazis
• 02/18/1943- William D Cox buys Phila Phillies
• 02/18/1944- Maastricht resistance fighter JAJ Janssen arrested
• 02/18/1944- Youngest baseball player, Cin Reds sign 15 year old Joe Nuxhall
• 02/18/1947- 24 die in a train crash in Gallitzin Pa
• 02/18/1947- Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "Telephone," premieres in NYC
• 02/18/1950- "Dance Me a Song" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 35 performances
• 02/18/1951- 3 City College of NY basketball players admit to accepting bribes
• 02/18/1951- Nep l becomes a constitutional monarchy
• 02/18/1951- Netherlands Radio School forms
• 02/18/1952- 4th Emmy Awards: Red Skelton, Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca wins
• 02/18/1953- "Bwana Devil," the 1st 3-D movie, opened in New York
• 02/18/1953- "Maggie" opens at National Theater NYC for 5 performances
• 02/18/1953- KOLN TV channel 10 in Lincoln, NB (CBS) begins broadcasting
• 02/18/1953- Premiere of 1st 3-D feature film-"Bwana Devil" (NYC)
• 02/18/1955- Baghdad Pact signed, making Turkey & Iraq a defense alliance
• 02/18/1960- 8th Winter Olympic games open in Squaw Valley, Colo
• 02/18/1960- Walter O'Malley, LA Dodger owner, purchases Chavez Ravine for $494,000
• 02/18/1961- Henk van der Grift becomes world champion skater
• 02/18/1962- France & Algerian Moslems negotiate truce to end 7 year war
• 02/18/1962- Louise Suggs wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
• 02/18/1964- Muriel Resnik's "Any Wednesday," premieres in NYC
• 02/18/1964- Papandreou Govt takes power in Greece
• 02/18/1965- "Fade Out-Fade In" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 72 perfs
• 02/18/1965- 27 copper miners die in avalanche, Granduc Mountain, BC
• 02/18/1965- Frank Gifford announces his retirement from football for broadcasting
• 02/18/1965- Gambia gains independence from Britain (National Day)
• 02/18/1967- Bob Seagren sets pole vault record at 17'3"
• 02/18/1967- Softball pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out 6 straight major leaguers
• 02/18/1968- 10,000 demonstrators against US in Vietnam War in West-Berlin
• 02/18/1968- 10th Winter Olympic games close at Grenoble, France
• 02/18/1968- British adopts year-round daylight savings time
• 02/18/1968- David Gilmour joins rock group Pink Floyd
• 02/18/1969- Doug Walters scores 2nd innings century after 242 in 1st
• 02/18/1969- PLO-attack El-Al plane in Zurich Switzerland
• 02/18/1970- Chicago 7 defendants found innocent of inciting to riot
• 02/18/1970- US president Nixon launches "Nixon-doctrine"
• 02/18/1972- Calif Supreme Court abolishes death penalty
• 02/18/1972- Giulio Andreotti sworn in as premier of Italy
• 02/18/1972- John & Yoko end a week of co-hosting Mike Douglas Show
• 02/18/1973- 54-kg octopus measuring 7m across captured in Hood Canal, Wash
• 02/18/1973- Belgian Emiel Puttemans runs 3000m indoor record 7:39.2
• 02/18/1973- Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Pompano Beach Golf Classic
• 02/18/1974- NASA launches Italian satellite San Marcos C-2 (235/843 km)
• 02/18/1974- US ambassador to India Daniel Moynihan present $2,046,700,000 check
• 02/18/1975- 2nd American Music Award:
• 02/18/1975- Italy broadens abortion law
• 02/18/1977- George Harrison releases "True Love"
• 02/18/1977- Space Shuttle above a Boeing 747 goes on it's maiden flight
• 02/18/1977- Test Cricket debuts of Colin Croft & Joel Garner v Pakistan Bridgetown
• 02/18/1978- 1st Iron Man Triathlon (swim, bike ride, marathon) held, Kona, Hawaii
• 02/18/1979- -52øF (-47øC), Old Forge, New York (state record)
• 02/18/1979- Amy Alcott wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
• 02/18/1979- Miniseries "Roots: Next Generations" premieres on ABC TV
• 02/18/1979- NASA launches space vehicle S-202
• 02/18/1979- Pres Zia ur-Rahmans National Party wins elections in Bangladesh
• 02/18/1979- Snow falls in Sahara Desert
• 02/18/1980- Billy Wyman said he will leave Rolling Stones in 1983 (Sure!)
• 02/18/1980- Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal Party wins Canada's elections
• 02/18/1983- NBA Indiana Pacers begin a 28 game road losing streak
• 02/18/1984- Revised concordat between Italy & Vatican signed
• 02/18/1986- San Antonio's Alvin Robertson scores NBA 2nd quadruple double-20 pts, 11 rebounds, 10 assists & 10 steals against Phoenix
• 02/18/1988- Anthony M Kennedy, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice
• 02/18/1989- Sherri Turner wins LPGA Orix Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open/Itoki Pro-Am
• 02/18/1989- Steve Garvey marries Candace Thomas while at same time being accused of fathering children by 2 other women
• 02/18/1990- Jane Crafter wins LPGA Phar-Mor at Inverrary Golf Tournament
• 02/18/1991- Edmonton Oiler goalie Grant Fuhr returns to NHL after season-long suspension for substance abuse & shuts out NJ Devils 4-0
• 02/18/1993- Howard Stern's radio show begins transmitting to Rochester NY
• 02/18/1994- Actor Joe Pantoliano (41) weds model Nancy Sheppard (31)
• 02/18/1994- Dan Jansen skates world record 1000m (1:12.43)
• 02/18/1994- Shreveport Pirates join CFL as 4th US team
• 02/18/1995- Angela Kennedy swims world record 100m butterfly
• 02/18/1995- Barb Thomas Whitehead wins Cup o' Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open
• 02/18/1995- Pamela Anderson (Baywatch) & Tommy Lee (Motley Cre) wed
• 02/18/1995- Warnecke swims world record 50m freestyle
• 02/18/1996- 1st full ODI for Kenya, Cricket World Cup v India
• 02/18/1996- Daytona 500 race
• 02/18/1996- Tendulkar scores 127* in India's Cricket World Cup win over Kenya
• 02/18/1998 - NY Rangers fire head coach Colin Campbell

 

• 02/17/1370- Battle at Rudau: Germany beats Lithuania
• 02/17/1568- Holy Roman Emperor agrees to pay tribute to the Sultan for peace
• 02/17/1598- Boris Godunov chosen tsar of Russia
• 02/17/1621- Miles Standish appointed 1st commander of Plymouth colony
• 02/17/1634- William Prynne tried in Star Chamber for publishing "Histrio-masti
• 02/17/1670- France & Bavaria sign military assistance treaty
• 02/17/1676- Kings Charles II & Louis XIV sign secret treaty
• 02/17/1691- Thomas Neale granted British patent for American postal service
• 02/17/1714- Parliament of Paris accepts Pope Clemens XI's "Unigenitus" degree
• 02/17/1772- 1st partition of Poland-Russia & Prussia, joined later by Austria
• 02/17/1776- 1st volume of Gibbon's "Decline & Fall of Roman Empire" published
• 02/17/1791- Messier catalogs M83 (spiral galaxy in Hydra)
• 02/17/1795- Thomas Seddal harvests 8.3-kg potato from his garden Chester, England
• 02/17/1801- House breaks electoral college tie, chooses Jefferson pres over Burr
• 02/17/1817- 1st US city lit by gas (Baltimore)
• 02/17/1818- Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun patents "draisine" (early bicycle)
• 02/17/1836- HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin leaves Tasmania
• 02/17/1841- Dutch ex-king Willem I marries Henriette d'Oultremont de W‚gimont
• 02/17/1848- Toscane gets liberal Constitution
• 02/17/1854- British recognize independence of Orange Free State (South Africa)
• 02/17/1859- Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Un Ballo in maschera" premieres in Napoli
• 02/17/1864- Confederate sub "HL Hunley" sinks Union ship "Housatonic"
• 02/17/1865- -18] Battle of Charleston SC
• 02/17/1865- Columbia SC burns down during Civil War
• 02/17/1867- 1st ship passes through Suez Canal
• 02/17/1867- Gyula Andressy becomes premier of Hungary
• 02/17/1870- Esther Morris appointed 1st female judge
• 02/17/1870- Mississippi becomes 9th state readmitted to US after Civil War
• 02/17/1876- Sardines 1st canned (Julius Wolff-Eastport, Maine)
• 02/17/1878- 1st telephone exchange in SF opens with 18 phones
• 02/17/1880- Tsar Alexander II of Russia survives an assassination attempt
• 02/17/1882- 1st Test Cricket match played at Sydney Cricket Ground
• 02/17/1883- A Ashwell patents free-toilet in London
• 02/17/1885- Bismarck gives Carl Peters' firm management of East-Africa
• 02/17/1896- London Country Councils' Muzzling Order becomes effective
• 02/17/1897- National Organization of Mothers forms (Parent Teacher Association)
• 02/17/1904- Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly," premieres in Milan
• 02/17/1905- Frances Willard becomes 1st women honored in National Statuary Hall
• 02/17/1906- Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice marries in the White House
• 02/17/1911- 1st hydroplane flight to & from a ship (Glenn Curtiss, San Diego)
• 02/17/1913- 1st minimum wage law in US takes effect (Oregon)
• 02/17/1913- NY Armory Show introduces Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp to US public
• 02/17/1915- Edward Stone, 1st US combatant to die in WW I, is mortally wounded
• 02/17/1916- Romberg/Hanley/Atteridge/Smith' musical premieres in NYC
• 02/17/1921- Arthur Honegger's "Pastorale D'‚t‚," premieres
• 02/17/1923- Ottawa Senator Cy Denneny becomes NHL's all time scorer (143 goals)
• 02/17/1924- Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds)
• 02/17/1926- Avalanche buries 75 in Sap Gulch Bingham Utah, 40 die
• 02/17/1926- Tennis star Suzanne Lenglen beats Helen Wills in their only match
• 02/17/1930- French govt of Tardieu, falls
• 02/17/1931- 1st telecast of a sporting event in Japan (baseball)
• 02/17/1931- Hockey's Hershey Bears (now with AHL) 1st game
• 02/17/1932- Irving Berlin's musical "Face the Music," premieres in NYC
• 02/17/1933- 1st issue of "Newsweek" magazine published
• 02/17/1933- Blondie Boopadoop married Dagwood Bumstead in the comic Blondie
• 02/17/1933- Marinus van der Lubbe arrives in Glindow, at Potsdam
• 02/17/1933- US Senate accept Blaine Act: ending prohibition
• 02/17/1934- 1st high school auto driving course offered (State College, Penn)
• 02/17/1936- "Phantom" cartoon strip by Lee Falk debuts
• 02/17/1936- -58øF (-50øC), McIntosh, South Dakota (state record)
• 02/17/1936- SN Behrmann's "End of Summer," premieres in NYC
• 02/17/1938- 1st public experimental demonstration of Baird color TV (London)
• 02/17/1939- Katwijk soccer team forms
• 02/17/1940- Bradman scores 135 in a non-Shield match for SA v West Australia
• 02/17/1940- British destroyers board German Altmark off Norway
• 02/17/1941- Joe Louis KOs Gus Dorazio in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
• 02/17/1943- -19] Hitler visits fieldmarshal von Mansteins hq in Zaporozje
• 02/17/1943- Dutch churches protest at Seyss-Inquart against persecution of Jews
• 02/17/1943- Gen-major Bradley flies to Wash DC
• 02/17/1943- NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio, enlists into the US army
• 02/17/1944- Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins; US victory on Feb 22
• 02/17/1944- US begins night bombing of Truk
• 02/17/1946- Humanistic Covenant forms in Amsterdam
• 02/17/1947- Dutch RC bishops publish manifest against "godless communism"
• 02/17/1947- Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR
• 02/17/1949- Chaim Weitzman elected 1st president of Israel
• 02/17/1949- Ice Pairs Championship at Paris won by Andrea Kekesy/Ede Kiraly of HUN
• 02/17/1949- Ladies Figure Skating Champions in Paris won by Alena Vrzanova of CZE
• 02/17/1949- Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Richard Button USA
• 02/17/1949- Richard Button retains world figure skating championship in Paris
• 02/17/1950- 31 die in a train crash in Rockville Center NY
• 02/17/1953- Baseball star/pilot Ted Williams uninjured as plane shot down in Korea
• 02/17/1953- DSB soccer team forms in Eindhoven
• 02/17/1955- Ice Dance Championship at Vienna Austria won by J Westwood/Demmy GRB
• 02/17/1955- Ice Pairs Championship at Vienna won by Frances Dafoe & Bowden of CAN
• 02/17/1955- KTVF TV channel 11 in Fairbanks, AK (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
• 02/17/1955- Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Vienna won by Tenley Albright US
• 02/17/1955- Mike Souchak sets PGA 72-hole record of 257
• 02/17/1956- Ice Dance Championship at Garmisch won by Pamela Weight/P Thomas GRB
• 02/17/1956- Ice Pairs Championship at Garmisch won by Schwarz & Oppelt of AUT
• 02/17/1956- Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by Carol Heiss USA
• 02/17/1956- Men's Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by H A Jenkins USA
• 02/17/1957- Fire in Warreton Mo, kills 72
• 02/17/1957- Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
• 02/17/1957- Suez Canal reopens
• 02/17/1958- Comic strip "BC" 1st appears
• 02/17/1958- WETV (now WPBA) TV channel 30 in Atlanta, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 02/17/1959- 1st weather satellite launched, Vanguard 2, 9.8 kg
• 02/17/1962- Beach Boys introduced a new musical style with their hit "Surfin"
• 02/17/1962- Storm in Hamburg, kills 265
• 02/17/1962- Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Phila Warriors scores 67 points vs St Louis
• 02/17/1963- Toru Terasawa runs world record marathon (2:15:15.8
• 02/17/1964- 101st member elected to baseball's hall of fame (Luke Appling)
• 02/17/1964- US House of Reps accept Law on the civil rights
• 02/17/1964- US Supreme court rules - 1 man 1 vote (Westberry v Sanders)
• 02/17/1964- WMEM TV channel 10 in Presque Isle, ME (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 02/17/1965- US Ranger 8 launched, will transmit 7,137 lunar pictures
• 02/17/1965- US-Japan baseball relations suspended over Masanori Murakami dispute
• 02/17/1966- French satellite Diapason D-1A launch into Earth orbit
• 02/17/1967- Beatles release "Penny Lane" & "Strawberry Fields"
• 02/17/1967- Kosmos 140 (Soyuz Test) launches into Earth orbit
• 02/17/1968- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield Mass, opens
• 02/17/1969- Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash record an album (never released)
• 02/17/1969- Golda Meir sworn in as Israel's 1st female prime minister
• 02/17/1970- Jeffrey McDonald slices up his wife & daughter
• 02/17/1970- Joni Mitchell's final concert (Royal Albert Hall)
• 02/17/1970- Robert Marasco's "Child's Play," premieres in NYC
• 02/17/1971- England regains cricket Ashes with a 2-0 series win
• 02/17/1972- British Parliament votes to join European Common Market
• 02/17/1972- President Nixon leaves Washington DC for China
• 02/17/1973- Rodney Redmond scores 107 on debut v Pakistan, his only Test Cricket
• 02/17/1974- 49 die in stampede for seats at soccer match, Cairo, Egypt
• 02/17/1974- Carol Mann wins LPGA Naples Lely Golf Classic
• 02/17/1976- "Rockabye Hamlet" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 7 performances
• 02/17/1976- Macau adopts constitution (Organic Law of Macau)
• 02/17/1976- NZ scores their 1st innings win in Test Cricket, v India
• 02/17/1976- Richard Hadlee takes 7-23 v India, his 1st match-winning spell
• 02/17/1979- China invades Vietnam
• 02/17/1979- Eric Heiden equals skating world record 1000m (1:14.99)
• 02/17/1980- Buddy Baker wins Daytona 500 (177.6 MPH/285.8 kph)
• 02/17/1980- Dot Germain wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
• 02/17/1981- Chrysler Corp reports largest corporate losses in US history
• 02/17/1982- Commencement of Sri Lanka's 1st Test Cricket match, v England
• 02/17/1983- Bob Bourne fails on 8th Islander penalty shot
• 02/17/1983- Netherlands adopts constitution
• 02/17/1983- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 02/17/1985- 1st class postage rises from 20› to 22›
• 02/17/1985- 1st day/night game at the MCG, Australia v England
• 02/17/1985- 3rd person to receive an artificial heart (Murray Haydon)
• 02/17/1985- Hein Vergeer becomes world champion skater
• 02/17/1985- Laffit Pincay Jr is third to ride 6,000th winners at Santa Anita
• 02/17/1986- 1st Francophone Summit convenes at Versailles
• 02/17/1986- Howard Stern radio show returns to NYC morning radio (WXRK 92.3 FM)
• 02/17/1986- Johnson & Johnson announces it no longer sell capsule drugs
• 02/17/1986- Libyan bombers attack N'djamena Airport in Chad
• 02/17/1987- Don Mattingly wins highest salary arbitration ($1,975,000 per year)
• 02/17/1987- Michelle Renee Royer, 21, (Texas), crowned 36th Miss USA
• 02/17/1988- Lebanese terrorists kidnap UN truce observer Lt Col William Higgins
• 02/17/1988- US Lt Col Wm Higgins kidnapped by Lebanese terrorists & later killed
• 02/17/1989- 6-week study of Arctic atmosphere shows no ozone "hole"
• 02/17/1989- Former baseball player/manager Leo Durocher injured in a car crash
• 02/17/1989- Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia & Libya form common market
• 02/17/1989- Orel Hershiser, Dodger pitcher signs record $7.9M-3 year contract
• 02/17/1989- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 02/17/1989- Whitesnake's rocker David Coverdale weds actress Tawny Kitaen
• 02/17/1991- US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
• 02/17/1993- Haitian ferry boat capsize in storm, 800-2,000 die
• 02/17/1993- Mark Foster swims world record 50m free style (21.60 sec)
• 02/17/1995- 11th Soap Opera Digest Awards
• 02/17/1995- Colin Fergusson found guilty of killing 6 people on the LIRR in NY
• 02/17/1995- Tiger mgr Sparky Anderson takes unpaid leave due to baseball strike
• 02/17/1995- Federal judge allows lawsuit claiming US tobacco makers knew nicotine was addictive & manipulated its levels to keep customers hooked
• 02/17/1996- 1st full ODI for the Netherlands, v NZ, cricket World Cup Nolan Clarke makes ODI debut for Netherlands at age 47
• 02/17/1997- Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Pasadena Calif
• 02/17/1997- Weekly Standard shows evidence Larry Flint sex abused his daughter
• 02/17/1998- Diane Zamora, 20, Naval Academy cadet convicted of capital murder
• 02/17/1998 - Larry Wayne Harris & Bill Levitt arrested for possession of anthrax

 

 

• 02/16/0374- 9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
• 02/16/0600- Pope Gregory the Great decreea saying "God bless You" is the correct response to a sneeze
• 02/16/1486- Diet of Frankfort
• 02/16/1512- Battle at Valeggio: French troops beat Venetianen
• 02/16/1559- Pope Paul IV calls for deposition of sovereigns supporting heresy
• 02/16/1641- English king Charles I accept Triennial Act
• 02/16/1655- Dutch Grand Pensionary advisor Johan de Witt marries Wendela Bicker
• 02/16/1659- 1st known check (œ400) (on display at Westminster Abbey)
• 02/16/1666- Netherlands & Brandenburg sign treaty
• 02/16/1677- Earl of Shaftesbury arrested/confined in London Tower
• 02/16/1741- Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine (2nd US Mag) begins publishing
• 02/16/1742- Earl of Wilmington becomes British premier
• 02/16/1751- 1st publication of Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard"
• 02/16/1760- Native American hostages killed in Ft Prince George SC
• 02/16/1771- Messier presents his original list of 45 M-objects to French Academy
• 02/16/1777- Messier adds M53 to his catalog (globular cluster in Coma Berenice)
• 02/16/1804- Lt Stephen Decatur raids Tripoli Harbor & burns Navy frigate "Philadelphia" after pirates seized it
• 02/16/1824- Athenaeum founded
• 02/16/1832- HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches St-Pauls (1øN, 29øW)
• 02/16/1838- Kentucky passes law permitting women to attend school under conditions
• 02/16/1840- American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica
• 02/16/1846- Battle of Sobraon ends 1st Sikh War in India
• 02/16/1854- Franz Liszts symphony "Orpheus," premieres
• 02/16/1857- Gallaudet College (Natl Deaf Mute college) forms (Wash DC)
• 02/16/1860- Dutch Rochussen/Van Bosse govt resigns
• 02/16/1862- Ft Donelson captured by Gen Grant (1,400 confederates surrender)
• 02/16/1864- Battle of Mobile, AL - operations by Union Army
• 02/16/1868- Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks forms (NY)
• 02/16/1878- Silver dollar became US legal tender
• 02/16/1880- American Society of Mechanical Engineers forms (NYC)
• 02/16/1883- "Ladies Home Journal" begins publishing
• 02/16/1887- 1st newspaper convention (Rochester NY)
• 02/16/1887- Eduard Douwes Dekker writes his last text (Lf8-c5)
• 02/16/1892- Opera "Werther," premieres in Vienna
• 02/16/1894- British troops occupy Ilorin, Gold Coast
• 02/16/1899- Pelham Warner scores 132 on Test Cricket debut (Eng v SA Johannesburg)
• 02/16/1900- 1st Chinese daily newspaper in US publishes (Chung Sai Yat Po-SF)
• 02/16/1900- Stanley Cup: Montreal Shamrocks beat Winnipeg Victorias, 3 games to 1
• 02/16/1903- -59øF (-51øC), Pokegama Dam, Minnesota (state record)
• 02/16/1905- 1st US Esperanto club organizes in Boston
• 02/16/1909- 1st subway car with side doors goes into service (NYC)
• 02/16/1909- Serbia mobilizes against Austria-Hungary
• 02/16/1912- VSV soccer team forms in Ijmuiden
• 02/16/1913- President Taft agrees not to intervene in Mexico
• 02/16/1914- 1st airplane flight (LA to SF)
• 02/16/1915- Frank Home Run Baker, 28, announces retirement following a contract dispute with Connie Mack. He sits out 1915 season
• 02/16/1916- Russian troops conquer Erzurum Armenia
• 02/16/1917- 1st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid
• 02/16/1918- Lithuania declares independence from Russia & Germany (National Day)
• 02/16/1923- Allies accept Latvia's occupation of Memel territory
• 02/16/1923- Howard Carter finds Pharoah Tutankhamen
• 02/16/1923- US female Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld Blanchard
• 02/16/1923- US male Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger
• 02/16/1926- Suzanne Lenglen defeats Helen Wills in Tennis at Cannes France
• 02/16/1927- No‰l Coward's "Marquise," premieres in London
• 02/16/1927- US restores diplomatic relations with Turkey
• 02/16/1929- KID-AM in Idaho Falls ID begins radio transmissions
• 02/16/1931- Extreme right wing Svinhufvud becomes president of Finland
• 02/16/1932- 1st patent issued for a tree, to James Markham for a peach tree
• 02/16/1933- Catholic newspaper Germania warns against nazis/communists
• 02/16/1933- England regains the Ashes, thanks to bodyline tactics
• 02/16/1936- 4th Winter Olympic games close at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
• 02/16/1936- Spanish Frente Popular (People's Front) wins elections
• 02/16/1937- DuPont Corp patents nylon, developed by employee Wallace H Carothers
• 02/16/1937- Jean Anouilh's "Le Voyageur Sans Baggage," premieres in Paris
• 02/16/1938- US Federal Crop Insurance program authorized
• 02/16/1940- British search plane finds German Altmark off Norway
• 02/16/1942- German submarines attack Aruba oil refinery
• 02/16/1943- -32øF (-36øC), Falls Village, Connecticut (state record)
• 02/16/1943- British premier Winston Churchill gets pneumonia
• 02/16/1943- Red army conquers Kharkov
• 02/16/1943- Withdrawing Africa Corps reaches Mareth-line in North-Africa
• 02/16/1943- Sign on Munich facade: "Out with Hitler! Long live freedom!" done by "White Rose" student group, caught on 2/18, beheaded on 2/22
• 02/16/1945- US forces land on Corregidor, complete conquest on March 3
• 02/16/1945- Venezuela declares war on nazi-Germany
• 02/16/1946- "Duchess Misbehaves" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 5 perfs
• 02/16/1946- 1st commercially designed helicopter tested, Bridgeport Ct
• 02/16/1947- Morton Gould's 3rd Symphony, premieres
• 02/16/1948- 1st newsreel telecast, "20th Century Fox-Movietone News" shown on NBC
• 02/16/1948- Miranda, famous moon of Uranus, photographed for 1st time
• 02/16/1950- Longest-running prime-time game show, "What's My Line" begins on CBS
• 02/16/1950- Writers fail to elect anyone to Baseball's Hall of Fame
• 02/16/1951- NYC passes bill prohibiting racism in city-assisted housing
• 02/16/1951- SF City Hall dome fire
• 02/16/1952- Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, 77, retires; Pirates retire his #33
• 02/16/1952- Ian Craig makes NSW cricket debut aged 16 years 249 days (NSW record)
• 02/16/1954- WNEM TV channel 5 in Bay City, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 02/16/1956- Britain abolishes death penalty
• 02/16/1958- Betsy Rawls wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
• 02/16/1959- Fidel Castro named himself Cuba's premier after overthrowing Batista
• 02/16/1959- Leonard Spigelgass' "Majority of One," premieres in NYC
• 02/16/1960- US nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on underwater round-world trip
• 02/16/1961- 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put in orbit, Wallops Island, Va
• 02/16/1961- China uses it's 1st nuclear reactor
• 02/16/1961- US satellite Explorer 9 is launched
• 02/16/1962- Darius Milhaud's 12th Symphony, premieres
• 02/16/1962- US Open Tennis: Jimmy Bostwick defeats brother Pete to win
• 02/16/1963- 1st round-trip swim of Strait of Messina, Italy (Mary Revell of US)
• 02/16/1963- Beatles top British rock charts with "Please, Please Me"
• 02/16/1963- C & A Building in Amsterdam burns down
• 02/16/1964- "Foxy" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 72 performances
• 02/16/1964- Beatles' 2nd appearance on "Ed Sullivan Show"
• 02/16/1965- "Baker Street" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 313 performances
• 02/16/1965- Pegasus 1 launched to detect micro-meteors
• 02/16/1966- Bob Cowper makes 307 v England at the MCG, 727 mins, 20 fours
• 02/16/1966- End of Wally Grout's Test Cricket career, 187 dismissals as Aust WK
• 02/16/1966- France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria
• 02/16/1967- Red Ruffing selected to Hall of Fame
• 02/16/1968- Country's 1st 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville, Ala
• 02/16/1968- Elvis Presley receives gold record for "How Great Thou Art"
• 02/16/1968- Beatles George Harrison & John Lennon & wives fly to India for transcendental meditation study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
• 02/16/1970- Joe Frazier TKOs Jimmy Ellis in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
• 02/16/1972- 1st NBA to score 30,000 points (Wilt Chamberlain in 940 games)
• 02/16/1972- German mass murderers "Three of Breda" freed
• 02/16/1972- Test Cricket debut of Lawrence Rowe WI v NZ Kingston, 214 & 100
• 02/16/1972- Wilt Chamberlain hit 30,000 point mark during a game with Phoenix Suns
• 02/16/1973- WI v Australia at Kingston, 1st time since 1955 without Sobers
• 02/16/1975- Washington Capitals 1st NHL shutout, beating KC Scouts 3-0
• 02/16/1977- USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
• 02/16/1978- 1st Computer Bulletin Board System (Ward & Randy's CBBS, Chicago)
• 02/16/1979- George Harrison releases "Blow Away"
• 02/16/1979- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 02/16/1980- Continuous traffic jam extends 176 km north of Lyons, France
• 02/16/1980- Eric Heiden skates 5k in 7:02.29 (Olympic Record)
• 02/16/1982- Agatha Barbara elected as 1st female president of Malta
• 02/16/1982- Assembled STS-3 vehicle moves from Vandenberg AFB to launch pad
• 02/16/1982- Lee Majors & Farrah Fawcett Majors divorce
• 02/16/1984- Bill Johnson becomes 1st American to win Olympic downhill skiing gold
• 02/16/1984- NJ Devils 1st OT goal, Jan Ludvig beats Hartford Whalers 6-5
• 02/16/1985- Largest NBA crowd to date, 43,816, sees Phila at Detroit
• 02/16/1985- Livingston Bramble defeats Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini to win WBA champ
• 02/16/1985- NJ Devils score their fastest hat trick in 42 seconds
• 02/16/1986- "Uptown... It's Hot!" closes at Lunt-Fontanne NYC after 24 perfs
• 02/16/1986- French air force bombs Ouadi Doum airport in Chad
• 02/16/1986- Hein Vergeer becomes world champion skater
• 02/16/1986- Karlstad skates world record 10 km (14:12.14)
• 02/16/1986- Mario Soares (Socialist) elected Portugal's 1st civilian pres
• 02/16/1987- John Demjanjuk, accused of being "Ivan the Terrible" trial begins
• 02/16/1988- 1st documented combat action by US military advisors in El Salvador
• 02/16/1989- Egypt, Iraq, Jordan & North Yemen form common market
• 02/16/1989- Jane Fonda & Tom Hayden separate after 16 years of marriage
• 02/16/1989- Orel Hershiser, Dodger pitcher signs $7.9M-3 year contract
• 02/16/1989- Roger Clemens, Red Sox pitcher signs $7.5M-3 year contract
• 02/16/1989- William Hayden becomes governor-general of Australia
• 02/16/1991- Dutch PPR, Political Party Radicals, disbands
• 02/16/1991- US female Figure Skating championship won by Tonya Harding
• 02/16/1992- Former silver Goodyear blimps are now painted yellow & blue
• 02/16/1992- LA Lakers retire Magic Johnson's #32 uniform
• 02/16/1993- Sandra V"lker swims world record 50m backstroke (28.33 sec)
• 02/16/1994- 6.5 earthquake strikes SE Sumatra, kills 200
• 02/16/1994- Johann Olav Koss skates world record 1500m (1:51.29)
• 02/16/1994- Premier Alfonso Bustamente ends govt in Peru
• 02/16/1996- Gary Kirsten scores 188* for S Africa v UAE at Rawalpindi
• 02/16/1997- At age 25, Jeff Gordon is youngest winner in Daytona 500 history
• 02/16/1997- GTE Suncoast Senior Golf Classic
• 02/16/1997- Paul Stankowski wins Hawaiian Golf Open
• 02/16/1997- Terry-Jo Myers wins LPGA Los Angeles Women's Championship
• 02/16/1998 - Tellabs Inc acquires Coherent Communications Systems for $670 million

 

On this day...15th Feb 2012

0399 Philosopher Socrates sentenced to death
0732 Ho-tse Shen-hui, Zen teacher disputes founder of Northern Ch'an line
1145 Bernardo elected Pope Eugene III
1313 Peace of Angleur
1386 Duke Philip the Stout forms Council of Flanders
1539 Emperor Charles receives Cardinal Pole in Toledo
1552 Dutch coast hit by heavy storm
1563 Russian troops occupy Polotsk Lithuania
1637 Ferdinand III succeeds Ferdinand II as Holy Roman Emperor
1677 King Charles II reports anti-French covenant with Netherlands
1686 Jean Baptiste Lully's opera "Armide" premieres in Paris
1689 German Parliament declares war on France
1745 Colley Cibbers "Papal Tyranny" premieres in London
1763 Austria, Prussia & Saxony sign Peace of Hubertusburg
1764 St Louis founded as a French trading post by Pierre Laclade Ligue
1768 1st mustard manufactured in America advertised, Philadelphia
1775 Angelo Braschi chosen as Pope Pius VI
1797 Battle of Cape St Vincent
1799 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania
1804 New Jersey becomes last northern state to abolish slavery
1842 1st adhesive postage stamps in US (private delivery company), New York NY
1845 William Parsons, Earl of Rosse, 1st uses 72" (183 cm) reflector
1848 Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston
1851 Black abolitionists invade Boston courtroom rescuing a fugitive slave
1852 Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits 1st patient
1861 Ft Point completed & garrisoned (but has never fired cannon in anger)
1862 Grant's major assault on Ft Donelson TN
1864 Fire in Rotterdam Netherlands damages Museum Boymans
1869 Charges of Treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped
1870 Ground broken for Northern Pacific Railway near Duluth MN
1876 Historic Elm at Boston blown down
1879 Congress authorizes women lawyers to practice before the Supreme Court
1882 1st cargo of frozen meat leaves New Zealand for Britain, on SS Dunedin
1895 23 cm (9") of snow falls on New Orleans
1898 USS Maine blows up in Havana harbor, cause unknown-258 sailors die
1900 General French relieves Kimberley/Cecil Rhodes
1902 Underground railway (U-Bahn)
1903 1st Teddy Bear introduced in America, made by Morris & Rose Michtom
1905 1st race meet at Oaklawn Park (Hot Springs AR)
1906 British Labour Party organizes
1912 Fram reaches latitude 78º 41' S, farthest south ever by ship
1913 1st avant-garde art show in America opens in New York NY
1916 New York Yankees buy Frank "Home Run" Baker from the Athletics for $37,500
1917 San Francisco Public Library (Main Branch at Civic center) dedicated
1918 1st WWI US army troop ship torpedoed & sunk by Germany, off Ireland
1918 Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania adopt the Gregorian calendar
1919 American Legion organizes in Paris
1921 Arthur Mailey completes 9-121 vs England, Australian Test Cricket record
1922 Marconi begins regular broadcasting transmissions from Essex
1926 Contract air mail service begins in US
1926 Brooks Atkinson Theater opens at 256 W 47th St NYC
1929 St Valentine's Day massacre (Chicago)
1930 Weona beats Toluca in Illinois Basketball Tournament in 10 overtimes
1931 1st Dracula movie released
1931 Spring training site of New York Yankees in St Petersburg is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team's late manager
1932 US bobsled team member Eddie Eagan becomes only athlete to win gold in both Summer & Winter Olympics (1920 boxing gold)
1932 3rd Winter Olympics games close at Lake Placid NY
1932 Australia beat South Africa in cricket by an inn in 5 hours 53 minutes playing time
1932 George Burns & Gracie Allen debuted as regulars on "Guy Lombardo Show"
1932 John Van Druten's "There's Always Juliet" premieres in New York NY
1933 President-elect Franklin Roosevelt survives assassination attempt
1933 Karl Radek praises invincible force of German communist party
1933 Social-democratic newspaper "Vorwärts" banned again in Berlin
1936 -60º F (-51º C), Parshall ND (state record)
1936 Sonja Henie, Norway, wins 3rd consecutive Olympics figure skating gold
1936 Hitler announces building of Volkswagens (starting slug-bug game)
1939 German battleship Bismarck was launched
1939 Lillian Hellman's "Little Foxes" premieres in New York NY
1941 Duke Ellington 1st records "Take the A Train"
1942 Singapore surrenders to the Japanese
1942 German U-boat shells at Antillian oil refinery
1942 Japanese troops march into Palembang, South Sumatra
1943 Women's camp Tamtui on Ambon (Moluccas) hit by allied air raid
1944 891 British bombers attack Berlin
1944 Bombing & shooting at Monte Cassino convent Italy, begins
1946 Bank of England nationalized
1947 "Toplitzky of Notre Dame" closes at Century Theater NYC after 60 performances
1948 Mao Zedong's army occupies Yenan
1949 Dmitri Shostakovich's "Song of the Woods" premieres in Leningrad
1950 Walt Disney's "Cinderella" released
1950 KENS TV channel 5 in San Antonio TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
1950 WM Inge's "Come Back, Little Sheba" premieres in New York NY
1950 WSYR (now WSTM) TV channel 3 in Syracuse NY (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 1st bevatron in operation-Berkeley CA
1954 WRDW TV channel 12 in Augusta GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 1st pilot plant to produce man-made diamonds announced
1956 Pirates & Kansas City A's cancel an exhibition game in Birmingham AL, because of local ordinance barring black from playing against white
1956 Urho Kekkonen appointed President of Finland
1957 Andrei A Gromyko succeeds Dmitri Shepilov as Soviet foreign minister
1958 Ice Dance Championship at Paris won by June Markham/Courtney Jones Great Britain
1958 Ice Pairs Championship at Paris won by Barbara Wagner/Rob Paul of CAN
1958 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Carol Heiss of USA
1958 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by David Jenkins USA
1958 Sjafroeddin Prawiranegara forms anti-government of Middle Sumatra
1959 Antonio Segni forms Italian government
1959 Louise Suggs wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Tournament
1961 Entire US figure skating team of 18, dies in Belgian Sabena 707 crash
1961 Australia beat West Indies 2-1 in one of best Test Cricket series ever
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 1st US female world figure skating champion (Tenley Albright)
1963 Ken Lynch records "Misery", 1st Lennon-McCartney song by someone else
1964 Beatles' "Meet the Beatles!" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 11 weeks
1964 Bill Bradley scores 51 points for Princeton
1965 Canada replaces the Union Jack flag with the Maple Leaf
1965 John Lennon passes his driving test
1966 Kees Verkerk becomes world champion all-round skater
1967 1st anti-bootleg recording laws enacted
1967 French Diadème 1-D satellite launches into Earth orbit
1967 Longest dream (REM sleep) on record, Bill Carskadon, Chicago (2:23)
1967 D66 (D'66) wins 7 seats in Dutch 2nd Chamber
1968 Anaheim's Les Salvage scores 10, 3-point baskets in ABA game vs Denver
1968 WVUT TV channel 22 in Vincennes IN (PBS) begins broadcasting
1970 Nationalists disrupt UN session on Congo
1970 Ard Schenk becomes world champion all-round skater
1970 Carol Mann wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
1970 Dominican DC-9 crashes into sea at Santo Domingo, kills 102
1970 KAMU TV channel 15 in College Station TX (PBS) begins broadcasting
1971 After 1200 years Britain abandons 12-shilling system for decimal
1972 Bill Torrey becomes 1st Islander General Manager
1972 Dimitrios Papadopoulos becomes metropolitan of Imbros/Tenedos
1972 President Velasco Ibarra of Ecuador deposed for 4th time
1973 Friendsville Academy (Tennessee) ends 138-game basketball losing streak
1973 USSR launches Prognoz 3 to study sun (589/200,300 km)
1976 12th Winter Olympics games close at Innsbruck, Austria
1976 Joanne Carner wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1977 Social-democrats win Danish parliamentary election
1978 Escaped mass murderer Ted Bundy recaptured, Pensacola FL
1978 Leon Spinks beats Muhammad Ali in 15 for world heavyweight crown
1978 England all out 64 for 1st loss to New Zealand in cricket (Boycott Captain)
1978 Zaire revises constitution
1979 Paul Shirley (21) of Australia, sucked a lifesaver for 4 hours 40 minutes
1979 Temple City Kazoo Orchestra appears on Mike Douglas Show
1979 21st Grammy Awards Just the Way You Are, Taste of Honey win
1979 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 Wayne Gretzky assists on NHL-record-tying 7 goals
1980 Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 500 meter in 38.03 seconds
1981 Rocket-powered ice sled attains 399 kph, Lake George NY
1981 Joanne Carner wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
1982 Dan Issel (NBA-Nuggets), begins streak of 63 consecutive free throws
1982 Ocean Ranger oil-drilling platform lost off Newfoundland, 84 die
1984 500,000 Iranian soldiers move into Iraq
1985 STS 51-E vehicle moves to launch pad
1985 World chess championship match abandoned-Karpov 25, Kasparov 23
1986 44,180 largest NBA crowd to date-Philadelphia at Detroit
1986 Ferdinand Marcos wins rigged Philippines presidential election
1987 ABC-TV begins broadcasting "Amerika" mini-series
1987 Craig Stadler disqualified from Andy Williams Open for kneeling on a towel to make a shot
1987 Karlstad skates world record 10km (14:03,92)
1987 Nikolai Guljajev becomes world champion skater
1988 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1989 Israel attacks border strip Taba near Egypt
1989 Soviet military occupation of Afghánistán ends
1990 Baseball owners lock out players
1991 Freighter with dynamite explodes in Phang Nga Thailand, 120 die
1991 Troy State sets NCAA Division II record with 103 points in 2nd half routing DeVry Institute 187-117
1992 100th episode of "Cops" airs on the Fox Network
1992 Jeffrey Dahmer found sane & guilty of killing 15 boys
1993 Bombings by Mafia drug lords kill 14 in Bogotá Colombia
1993 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Rochester NY on WNVE 95.1 FM
1994 US asks Aristide to adopt a peace plan from Haiti
1995 Burundi premier Anatole Kanyenkiko, resigns
1995 Dow-Jones closes at record 3986.17
1995 Population of People's Republic of China hits 1.2 billion
1997 US female Figure Skating championship won by Tara Lipinski
1997 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldridge
1998 Dale Eggeling wins Los Angeles Women's Golf Championship
1998 Daytona 500 race; Dale Earnhardt wins

On this day... 10th February 2012

0060 St Paul thought to have been shipwrecked at Malta
1098 Crusaders defeat Prince Redwan of Aleppo at Antioch
1535 12 nude Anabaptists run through Amsterdam streets
1549 Tomé de Sousa appointed Governor-General of Brazil
1635 Académie Française is founded in Paris (by Cardinal Richelieu)
1676 Wampanoag Indians under King Philip kill all men in Lancaster MA
1713 Netherlands & England sign accord concerning anti-French Barrier
1716 Scottish pretender to the throne James III Edward returns to France
1720 Edmund Halley appointed 2nd Astronomer Royal of England
1746 English Pelham government resigns
1749 10th (final) volume of Fielding's "Tom Jones" is published
1763 Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, surrenders Canada to England
1774 Andrew Becker demonstrates diving suit
1794 Joseph Haydn's 99th Symphony in E, premieres
1807 US Coast Survey authorized by Congress
1824 Simon Bolívar named dictator by the Congress of Perú
1840 British queen Victoria marries her cousin Albert von Saksen-Coburg
1846 British defeat Sikhs in battle of Sobraon, India
1846 Beginning of Mormon march to west US
1855 US citizenship laws amended all children of US parents born abroad granted US citizenship
1859 General Horsford defeats Begum of Oude & Nana Sahib in Indian mutiny
1860 John Brahms' 2nd Serenade in A, premieres
1862 Dutch 2nd government of Thorbecke forms
1863 1st US fire extinguisher patent granted to Alanson Crane, Virginia
1863 PT Barnum stages wedding of Tom Thumb & Mercy Lavinia Warren (New York NY)
1866 Dutch government Frans van der Putte forms
1868 Conservatives & military, seize Convention Hall in Florida
1870 City of Anaheim incorporates (1st time)
1870 YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) is founded (New York NY)
1878 Peace of Zanjón
1878 Peter Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony in F, premieres
1879 1st electric arc light used (California Theater)
1879 Henry Morton Stanley departs to the Congo
1880 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Arcanum about Christian marriage
1881 Jacques Offenbach's opera "Les Contes d'Hoffman" premieres in Paris
1882 Rimski-Korsakovs opera "Snyegurochka" premieres in St Petersburg
1883 Fire at un-insured New Hall Hotel in Milwaukee WI, kills 71
1890 Around 11 million acres, ceded to US by Sioux Indians opens for settlement
1897 New York Times begins using slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print"
1899 -39ºF (-39ºC), Milligan OH (state lowest temperature record)
1899 US-Spain peace treaty signed by President McKinley; US gets Puerto Rico & Guam
1900 Peter Ostlund skates world record 500 meter (45.2 seconds)
1904 Japan & Russia declares war after Japan's surprise attack on Russian fleet at Port Arthur disabled 7 Russian warships
1906 Britain's 1st modern & largest battleship "HMS Dreadnought" launched
1906 State of siege proclaimed in Zululand
1908 Tommy Burns KOs Jack Palmer in 4 for heavyweight boxing title
1912 Hobbs & Rhodes make 323 cricket opening stand vs Australia at MCG
1913 Edward Sheldons "Romance" premieres in New York NY
1916 Conscription begins in Britain
1917 Johanna Westerdijk installed as Netherlands 1st female professor
1920 Baseball outlaws all pitches involving tampering with the ball
1923 Ink paste manufactured for 1st time by Standard Ink Company
1923 Owen Davis' "Icebound" premieres in New York NY
1923 SDAP speaks out against allied occupation of Ruhrgebied
1924 Bucky Harris, 27, becomes youngest baseball manager (Washington Senators)
1925 1st waterless gas storage tank put into service, Michigan City IN
1925 AL decides to alternate leagues for game 1 of World Series each year
1926 Building of Olympian Stadium Amsterdam, begins
1927 President Coolidge asks for 2nd disarmament conference
1930 Grain Stabilization Corporation authorized by Congress
1931 New Delhi becomes capital of India
1931 Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Harts premieres in New York NY
1933 -54ºF (-48ºC), Seneca OR (state record)
1933 Delivery of 1st singing telegram (Postal Telegram Company NYC)
1933 Dutch sea-plane bombs Dutch ship
1933 Hitler proclaims end of Marxism
1933 Mutiny on "7 Provinces" ends (began Feb 4th), 23 killed
1934 Byrd souvenir sheet issued, NYC; 1st unperforated ungummed US stamp
1934 1st Jewish immigrant ship to break the English blockade in Palestine
1934 Howard Hanson's "Merry Mount" premieres in New York NY
1934 Stalin ends 17th CPSU-congress, says "Life becomes merrier"
1934 Thomson/Gertrude Stein's opera "Four Saints in Three Acts" premieres in New York NY
1935 Pennsylvania RR begins passenger service on new streamlined electric locomotive
1937 Ragnhild Hveger swims world free style record 400 meter (5:14.2)
1938 King Carol II of Romania drives out dictator Goga
1940 "In The Mood" by Glenn Miller hits #1
1940 Tom & Jerry created by Hanna & Barbera debut by MGM
1940 US female Figure Skating championship won by Joan Tozzer
1940 US male Figure Skating championship won by Eugene Turner
1941 1st highway post office makes 1st trip, Washington DC-Harrisonburg, VA
1941 Anti-Nazi "Het Parool" begins publishing in Netherlands
1943 "Manifesto of Algerian People" calls for equality & self-determination
1943 8th Army sweeps through North Africa to Tunisia
1943 Van der Veen Resistance starts fire in Amsterdam employment bureau
1944 Belgium resistance fighter/author Kamiel van Baelen arrested
1944 U-666/U-545/U-283 sink off Ireland
1945 "Rum & Coca Cola" by Andrews Sisters hits #1
1946 1st black pro-baseball player Jackie Robinson marries Rachel Isum
1947 Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia
1947 Province of Petsamo returned to Soviet Union by Finland
1947 Netherlands Radio Union forms
1947 WWII peace treaties signed
1948 Greek General Markos' guerrilla army bombs Saloniki
1949 Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" opens at Morosco Theater, NYC
1951 "John & Marsha" by Stan Freberg peaks at #21
1951 Shah of Persia marries 19 year old Soraja Esfandiara Bakhtiari
1953 Ice Dance Championship at Davos won by Jean Westwood & Lawrence Demmy of Great Britain
1953 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Jennifer & John Nicks of Great Britain
1953 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Tenley Albright USA
1953 Men's Figure Skating Champion in Davos won by Hayes Alan Jenkins USA
1954 Eisenhower warns against US intervention in Vietnam
1954 Ice Dance Championship at Oslo won by Jean Westwood/Lawrence Demmy Great Britain
1954 Ice Pairs Championship at Oslo won by Frances Dafoe/Norris Bowden CAN
1954 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Oslo won by Gundi Busch Germany
1954 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Oslo won by Hayes Alan Jenkins US
1956 "My Friend Flicka" premieres on CBS (later NBC) TV
1956 Elvis Presley records "Heartbreak Hotel" for RCA
1957 Fay Crocker wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open
1957 Southern Christian Leadership Conference forms
1959 Dutch Princess Wilhelmina publishes "Lonely, but not alone"
1959 Tornado in St Louis kills 19 & injures 265
1960 "Unsinkable Molly Brown" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 532 performances
1960 Charles Ives' "Lincoln, the Great Commoner" premieres
1961 AFL's Los Angeles Chargers move to San Diego
1961 Niagara Falls hydroelectric project begins producing power
1961 Walter Piston's 7th Symphony, premieres
1962 Jim Beatty sets American indoor mile record (3 minutes 58.9 seconds) in Los Angeles CA
1962 USSR swaps spy Francis Gary Power to US for Rudolph Abel
1963 Mickey Wright wins LPGA St Petersburg Women's Golf Open
1963 US female Figure Skating championship won by Lorraine Hanlon
1963 US male Figure Skating championship won by Thomas Litz
1964 Australian destroyer "Voyager" sinks in collision, killing 82
1964 Destroyer Voyager sinks off Australia after colliding with aircraft carrier Melbourne
1964 WBGU TV channel 27 in Bowling Green OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1966 Harmel government in Belgium resigns
1967 25th Amendment (Presidential Disability & Succession) in effect
1968 "Spooky" by Classics IV hits #3
1968 Peggy Fleming wins Olympics figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France
1969 LSU Pete Maravich scores 66, despite losing to Tulane 101-94
1970 Dry powder avalanche moving at 120 mph smashes into youth hostel killing 40 Belgian, French, & German youths (Val d'Isere, France)
1970 26.4 cm precipitation falls on Mount Washington NH (state record)
1971 American Mensa, Ltd incorporates in New York
1971 John Guares "House of Blue Leaves" premieres in New York NY
1971 Royal Albert Hall bans scheduled concert featuring Frank Zappa
1972 BBC bans "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" by Wings
1972 Ras al Khaima joins the United Arab Emirates
1972 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1973 2nd time Rangers shut-out Islanders 6-0
1973 83 meter wide gas tank on Staten Island NY explodes, crushing 40
1973 Mushtaq Mohammad follows up 201 to take 5-49 vs New Zealand Dunedin
1974 Silver futures hit record $4.81½ an ounce in London
1974 "Gigi" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 103 performances
1974 Gail Denenber wins LPGA Sears Women's Golf Classic
1974 Iran/Iraqi border fight breaks out
1974 Judy Ikenberry wins 1st Us women's marathon (2:55:17)
1975 William "Judy" Johnson selected to baseball Hall of Fame
1977 Yehonathan Netanyou Lane in the Bronx named in honor of Bronx-born Israeli soldier who died freeing hostages in Entebbe Raid (1976)
1977 "Party with Comden & Green" opens at Morosco Theater NYC for 92 performances
1977 Bomb explosion in Moskouse metro
1978 Frank C Carlucci succeeds John F Blake as deputy director of CIA
1979 "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart peaks at #1
1979 Border is named 12th man for Australia, only Test Cricket he missed
1980 Ianford Wilsons "Talley's Folly" premieres in New York NY
1980 Jane Blalock wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1981 8 killed & 198 injured by fire at Las Vegas Hilton
1981 33rd NHL All-Star Game Campbell beat Wales 4-1 at Los Angeles CA
1981 Dennis Lillee becomes Australian Cricket's top wicket-taker with 249
1982 28 skiers perform backflips while holding hands, Bromont Québec
1983 Anglican synod vote 338-100 against unilateral UK nuclear disarmament
1985 -61ºF (-52ºC), Maybell CO (state record)
1985 Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 51-E mission
1985 35th NBA All-Star Game West beats East 140-129 at Indiana
1985 Andrea Schöne skates ladies world record 5 km (7:32.82)
1985 Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
1985 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1986 John Lennon's "Live in NYC" album is released
1987 Philippine troops murder 17 civilians-Lupao Massacre
1988 3-judge panel of 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco strikes down Army's ban on homosexuals (later overturned by appeal)
1988 Rocky Malebane-Metsing coup in Bophuthatswana fails
1989 Miami Vice's 100th episode seen on TV
1989 Minor League Football System opens organizational meeting, St Louis MO
1989 To gain deregulation WWF admits pro wrestling is an exhibition & not a sport, in a New Jersey court
1989 Celtic Kansas City Jones & Cavalier Lenny Wilkens elected to NBA Hall of Fame
1989 Ron Brown chosen 1st black chairman of a major US party (Democrats)
1989 Test Cricket debut of Aaqib Javed, Pakistan vs New Zealand age 16 years 189 days
1989 Tony Robinson of Jamaica becomes Nottingham's 1st black sheriff
1989 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1990 Buster Douglas KOs Mike Tyson in 10 to become heavyweight boxing champion
1990 Perrier Water pulls product from shelf due to benzene in water
1990 South Africa President de Klerk announces Nelson Mandela will be free Feb 11th
1990 6th Largest wrestling crowd (63,900-Tokyo Dome)
1990 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jill Trenary
1991 NBA All Star Game at Charlotte NC
1991 "La Bete" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 24 performances
1991 41st NBA All-Star Game East beats West 116-114 at Charlotte
1991 Beth Daniel wins LPGA Phar-Mor at Inverrary Golf Tournament
1991 Johann Koss skates world record 10 km (13:43.54)
1991 Lithuania votes for independence from USSR
1992 "Dangerous Women" final episode on WWOR-TV
1992 Bonnie Blair wins 1992 Olympics 1st gold medal for the USA
1992 Mike Tyson convicted of raping Desiree Washington in Indiana
1993 "Michael Jackson Talks To Oprah Winfrey" airs on ABC & drew an astounding 39.3 rating/56 share, 90 million people
1993 Jani Sievinen swims world record 200 meter backstroke (1:55.59)
1993 US officially backs peace plan in Bosnia
1995 Chelsi Smith, 21, (Texas), crowned 44th Miss USA
1995 Sun Cayun pole vaults female indoor world record (4.12 meters)
1995 US female Figure Skating championship won by Nicole Bobek
1996 IBM's Deep Blue defeats chess champion Gary Kasparov
1997 13th Soap Opera Digest Awards
1997 5th annual ESPY Awards presented
1997 Comet Shoemaker-Holt 2 Closest Approach to Earth (1.9245 AU)
1997 Lemrick Nelson found guilty in the fatal stabbing on Hasidic Jew Yankel Rosenbaum in Crown Heights Brooklyn in 1991
1997 O J Simpson jury reaches decision on $25 million in punitive damages
1997 Soyuz TM-25 launches to the MIR
1998 AOL raises monthly flat rate Internet access from $19.95 to $21.95
1998 Olympics figure skater Peggy Fleming undergoes breast cancer surgery

 

On this day... 9th February 2012

1267 Synod of Breslau orders Jews of Silesia to wear special caps
1499 France & Venice sign treaty against Milan
1537 Pope Paul III routes Cardinal Pole to England
1540 The 1st recorded race meet in England (Roodee Fields, Chester)
1554 Battle at London Sir Thomas Wyatt defeated
1574 Louis of Nassau ends siege of Maastricht
1621 Alexander Ludovisi is elected Pope Gregory XV
1667 Treaty of Andrussovo Russia/Poland signs peace treaty
1674 English re-conquer New York from Netherlands
1682 Thomas Otway's "Venice Preserved" premieres in London
1742 British ex-premier Walpole becomes earl of Orford
1744 Battle at Toulon (French/Spanish vs English fleet of Admiral Matthews)
1775 English Parliament declares Massachusetts colony is in rebellion
1788 Austria declares war on Russia
1799 USS Constellation captures French frigate Insurgente off Nevis, West Indies
1801 France & Austrian sign Peace of Lunéville
1807 French Sanhedrin convened by Napoleon
1822 American Indian Society organizes
1825 House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams 6th US President
1849 Roman Republic declared
1861 Jefferson Davis & Alexander Stephens elected president & Vice President of CSA
1861 Tennessee votes against secession
1861 Confederate Provisional Congress declares all laws under the US Constitution were consistent with constitution of Confederate states
1863 Fire extinguisher patented by Alanson Crane
1867 Nebraska becomes 37th US state
1870 Grant signs the bill establishing Federal Meteorological Service
1871 Federal fish protection office authorized by Congress
1885 1st Japanese arrive in Hawaii
1886 President Cleveland declares a state of emergency in Seattle because of anti-Chinese violence
1891 1st shipment of asparagus arrives in San Francisco from Sacramento
1893 Canal builder De Lesseps & others sentenced to prison for fraud
1893 Verdi's opera "Falstaff" premieres in Milan
1895 1st intercollegiate basketball game (Minnesota Agricultural beats Hamline, 9-3)
1895 Volleyball invented by W G Morgan in Massachusetts
1900 Dwight Davis established a new tennis trophy, the Davis Cup
1904 Japan declares war on Russia
1906 Natal proclaims state of siege in Zulu uprising
1909 1st federal legislation prohibiting narcotics (opium)
1909 1st forestry school is incorporated at Kent OH
1912 US Tennis Association amends rule taking bye away from defending champion
1913 10 Day Tragedy of Mexico-City; 3,000 die
1916 Britain's military service act enforced (conscription)
1916 NL votes down a proposal by Giants, Braves, & Cubs to increase club player limit from 21 to 22 (The Reds want to decrease to 20)
1918 Army chaplain school organized at Fort Monroe VA
1918 Sacha Guitry's "Deburan" premieres in Paris
1920 International treaty recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard
1920 Joint Rules Commission bans foreign substances & alterations to baseballs
1922 Snow on Mauna Loa, Hawaii
1922 Italian government of Bonomi falls
1923 Soviet Aeroflot airlines established
1924 Nakhichevan ASSR constituted within Azerbaijan SSR
1925 Haifa Technion (Israel), opens
1925 German Minister Stresemann proposes security treaty with France
1926 Teaching theory of evolution forbidden in Atlanta GA schools
1929 USSR, Estonia, Latvia, Poland & Romania sign Litvinov Pact
1932 America enter Olympics 2-man bobsled competition for 1st time
1932 US airship Columbia crashes during storm (Flushing NY)
1933 -63ºF (-53ºC), Moran WY (state record)
1934 -14.3ºF (-25.8ºC), coldest day in New York City NY
1934 -51ºF (-46ºC), Vanderbilt MI (state record)
1934 Balkan Entente alliance forms (Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey & Romania)
1935 US female Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson
1935 US male Figure Skating championship won by Robin Lee
1939 Belgian Spaak government falls
1940 Joe Louis beats Arturo Godoy in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1941 British troops conquer El Agheila
1941 Nazi collaborators destroy pro-Jewish café Alcazar Amsterdam (Alcazar refused to hang "No Entry for Jews" signs in front of cafe)
1942 Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in US
1942 Philadelphia "Phillies" change nickname (temporarily) to "Phils"
1942 Japanese troops land near Makassar, South Celebes
1943 Japanese evacuate Guadalcanal, epic battle ends
1943 FDR orders minimal 48 hour work week in war industry
1943 German riots at "plutocratenzoontjes", 1,200 in Vught Camp
1943 Nazis arrest Dutch sons of rich parents
1943 NL seeks buyer for Phillies, as owner Gerry Nugent, falls in arrears
1944 U-734/U-238 sunk off Ireland
1945 Germany destroys Ruhrdammen
1945 WAAF-corporal flies along the tail of a Spitfire
1946 Dutch Labor Party (Dutch Social Democratic Party) forms
1947 Bank robber Willie Sutton escapes jail in Philadelphia PA
1948 WLWT TV channel 5 in Cincinnati OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
1950 Senator Joseph McCarthy charges State Dept infested with 205 communists
1951 St Louis Browns sign pitcher Satchel Paige, 45
1953 "The Adventures of Superman" TV series premieres in syndication
1953 General Walter Bedell Smith, USA, ends term as 4th director of CIA Allen W Dulles, becomes acting director of CIA
1953 WNEP TV channel 16 in Scranton Wilkes-Barre, PA (ABC) 1st broadcast
1954 Mario Scelba forms new government in Italy
1955 Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts crematory law
1955 US federations of trade unions merge into AFL/CIO
1956 -5ºF (15ºC) in Sicily
1956 KHPL (now KWNB) TV channel 6 in Hayes Center NB (ABC) 1st broadcast
1956 R Lacoste follows Catroux as premier of Algeria
1959 Coasters's "Charlie Brown" peaks at #2
1960 AFL & NFL agree verbally to a no tampering pact
1961 Joseph Ileo appointed premier of Congo
1962 Jamaica signs agreement to become independent
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 1st flight of Boeing 727 jet
1963 7th largest snowfall in NYC history (42.4 cm, 16.7")
1964 1st appearance of Beatles on "Ed Sullivan Show" (73.7 million viewers)
1964 GI Joe character created
1964 NYC news anchor Jim Jenson's 1st appearance on WCBS-TV
1964 9th Winter Olympics games close at Innsbruck, Austria
1964 Hanumant Singh scores 105 India vs England on debut at Delhi
1966 Dow-Jones Index hits record 995 points
1968 Rotterdam metro opened by princess Beatrix
1969 World's largest airplane, Boeing 747, makes 1st commercial flight
1969 KGTO TV channel 36 in Fayetteville AR (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
1971 Apollo 14 returns to Earth
1971 Quake in San Fernando Valley kills 65 & causes over $½ billion damage
1971 Satchel Paige becomes 1st negro-league player elected to baseball HOF
1971 Probably 1st gay theme TV episode - All in the Family
1972 British government declares state of emergency after month-long miners' strike
1974 "Daddy What If" by Bobby Bare peaks at #41
1974 "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" by Gordon Sinclair peaks at #24
1974 US female Figure Skating championship won by Dorothy Hamill
1974 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr
1975 Soyuz 17 returns to Earth
1975 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Naples Lely Golf Classic
1976 Oscar Charleston selected to baseball's the Hall of Fame
1978 Ted Bundy kills Kimberly Leach, 12, Lake City FL; later executed
1979 ABC airs "Heroes of Rock N Roll" special
1979 Beginning of James Clavell's novel "Whirlwind"
1979 21st Grammy Awards Just the Way You Are, Taste of Honey
1979 Nigeria amends constitution
1980 Rick Barry, Houston, is 1st in NBA to score 8, 3-point goals in a game
1982 34th NHL All-Star Game Wales beat Campbell 4-2 at Washington
1983 Belgium buys 44 F-16s
1984 "Rink" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 204 performances
1985 Madonna's "Like a Virgin" album goes #1 for 3 weeks
1986 Halley's Comet reaches 30th perihelion (closest approach to Sun)
1986 Marvin Johnson wins record 3rd time, light heavyweight boxing title
1986 36th NBA All-Star Game East beats West 139-132 at Dallas
1986 Haydar Bakr al-Attas appointed President of South Yemen
1986 Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
1986 West German team swims world record 4x200 meter freestyle (7:05.17)
1987 Former national security adviser Robert McFarlane attempts suicide
1987 New York Stock Exchange installs ladies restroom in the Exchange Luncheon Club
1988 39th NHL All-Star Game Wales beat Campbell 6-5 (OT) at St Louis
1988 New Hampshire begins a NCAA record 32-game losing streak at home (ends Feb 1991)
1989 Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) ends NBA free throw streak of 57 games
1989 Michael Manley's Socialist Party wins Jamaica parliamentary election
1990 "The Bradys" return to TV for 6 episodes on CBS TV
1990 Galileo flies by Venus
1990 Doina Melinte runs world indoor record 1.5k (4:00:27) & mile (4:17:13)
1990 Namibia's constitution ratified
1991 US Supreme Court agrees to hear Joseph Doherty case
1991 Voters in Lithuania vote for independence
1991 "This Is Ponderous" by 2nu peaks at #46
1991 Johann Olav Koss skates world record 5k (6:41:73)
1991 Terry Norris knocks down Sugar Ray Leonard twice & beats him
1991 Wally Joyner wins record $2.1 million salary arbitration
1992 "2 Shakespearean Actors" closes at Cort Theater NYC after 29 performances
1992 42nd NBA All-Star Game West beats East 153-113 at Orlando
1992 Fastest yodeler-22 tones/15 falsetto in 1 second by Thomas School of Germany
1992 Heike Henkel high jumps female indoor world record (2.07 meters)
1992 Jani Sievinen swims world record 400 meter medley (4:07.10)
1992 Shelley Hamlin wins LPGA Phar-Mor Golf Tournament at Hamlin Inverrary
1993 Army of opium king Khun Sa kills 60 in NE Burma
1994 Israeli minister Shimon Perez signs accord with PLO's Arafat
1995 "Heiress" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 340 performances
1995 Irina Privalova runs female world record 50 meter (5.96 seconds)
1996 WYNY-FM in New York NY changes calls to WKTU-FM
1997 11th American Comedy Award Debbie Reynolds
1997 47th NBA All-Star Game East beats West 132-120 at Cleveland
1997 Fox cartoon series "Simpsons" airs 167th episode the longest-running animated series in cartoon history
1997 Kelly Robbins wins LPGA Diet Dr Pepper National Pro-Am
1997 LG Senior Golf Championship
1997 Mark O'Meara wins Buick golf invitational
1997 Palm Beach National LPGA Pro-Am
1997 Scotty Bowman, is 1st NHL coach to win 1,000 games
1998 6th annual ESPY Awards
1998 Failed assassination attempt on Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze
2002 XIX Winter Olympics opens in Salt Lake City UT/Québec City

On this day... 8th February 2012

0421 Flavius Constantine becomes emperor Constantine III of West Roman empire
1526 Heavy storm strikes Dutch coast, many die
1575 University of Leiden Netherlands opens
1587 Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded
1600 Vatican convicts scholar Giordano Bruno to death
1601 Earl Robert Devereux of Essex armies draws into London
1622 King James I disbands the English parliament
1672 Isaac Newton reads 1st optics paper before Royal Society in London
1690 French & Indian troops set Schenectady settlement New York on fire
1690 Lord Halifax resigns as Lord Privy Seal
1693 William & Mary college is 2nd college chartered in US
1735 1st opera in US, "Flora", opens in Charleston SC
1743 Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1744 French/Spanish fleet leaves Toulon
1750 Minor earthquake in London
1775 Leidse University 400th anniversary dinner
1776 Wolfgang von Goethes' "Stella" premieres in Hamburg
1802 Simon Willard patents banjo clock
1807 Napoleon defeats Russians in battle of Eylau
1809 Franz I of Austria declares war on France
1837 1st Vice President chosen by the Senate, Richard Johnson (Van Buren administration)
1861 Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery AL
1862 Dion Boucicault's opera "The Lily of Killarney" is produced (London)
1862 Battle of Roanoke Island NC, Federals gain control of Pamlico Sound
1865 1st black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany
1883 Louis Waterman begins experiments to invent the fountain pen
1887 Dawes Act passed (Indians living apart from tribe granted citizenship)
1887 Aurora Ski Club of Red Wing MN became the 1st US ski club
1889 Flood ravages Dutch coast
1894 Enforcement Act repealed, making it easier to disenfranchise blacks
1895 Tchaikovsky/Petipa's "Swan Lake" premieres in Petersburg
1896 Georges Feydeaus' "Le Dindon" premieres in Paris
1896 Western Conference forms of Midwestern U, later renamed Big 10 Conference
1898 John Ames Sherman patents 1st envelope folding & gumming machine (Massachusetts)
1904 Outbreak of hostilities in Russo-Japanese war
1905 Cyclone hit Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people
1908 Wilhelmina '08 soccer team forms in Weert Netherlands
1909 France & Germany sign treaty about Morocco
1910 Boy Scouts of America incorporated & chartered (William D Boyce-Chicago)
1911 US helps overthrow President Miguel Dávila of Honduras
1911 Victor Herbert's opera "Natoma" premieres in New York NY
1912 1st eastbound US transcontinental flight lands in Jacksonville FL
1914 General Zamon becomes President of Haiti
1915 "Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles CA
1916 French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374
1916 NL votes down Charlie Ebbets proposal to limit 25¢ seats
1918 "Stars & Stripes", weekly US armed forces newspaper, 1st published
1920 Swiss men vote against women's suffrage
1922 Radio arrives in the White House
1923 Coal mine explosion at Dawson NM kills 120
1923 German NSDAP Volkischer Beobachter newspaper becomes a daily
1924 1st coast-to-coast radio hookup General John Joseph Carty speech in Chicago
1925 Marcus Garvey enters federal prison in Atlanta GA
1925 Kaufman & Berlin's "Coconuts" premieres in New York NY
1926 Sean O'Casey's "The Plough & the Stars" opens at Abbey Theatre Dublin
1926 Walt Disney Studios is formed
1926 German Reichstag decides to apply for League of Nations membership
1927 Belgian-Swiss treaty signed
1928 1st transatlantic TV image received, Hartsdale NY
1928 Scottish inventor J Blaird demonstrates color-TV
1929 KOY-AM in Phoenix AZ begins radio transmissions
1930 "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Benny Mereoff hits #1
1931 Gas explosion Fire in Fushun-coal mine, Manchuria kills 3,000
1933 -23ºF (-31ºC), Seminole TX (state record)
1933 1st flight of all-metal Boeing 247
1934 Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington DC
1934 Gaston Doumergue forms new French government
1935 1st NFL draft; Jay Berwanger of University of Chicago is 1st pick (by Eagles); He never plays in the NFL
1936 1st ski jumping tournament, Red Wing MN
1936 1st successful Toronto Maple Leaf penalty shot, Conacher vs Rangers
1936 Pandit Jawaharlal follows Gandhi as chairman of India Congress Party
1937 Maxwell Anderson's "Masque of Kings" premieres in New York NY
1940 Lewis & Hamilton's musical "Two for the Show" premieres in New York NY
1940 Lodtz, 1st large ghetto established by Nazis in Poland
1941 Japanese armored barges cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore
1941 NSB'er Max Blokzijl begins Nazi propaganda on Dutch radio
1942 Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort
1942 Stravinsky's "Danses Concertantes" premieres in Los Angeles
1943 Red Army recaptures Kursk
1944 1st black reporter accredited to the White House, Harry McAlpin
1944 U-762 sunk off Ireland
1945 Allied air attack on Goch/Kleef/Kalkar/Reichswald
1946 Béla Bartòks 3rd Concert for piano/orchestra premieres in Philadelphia PA
1946 Premier Salazar of Portugal forbids opposition parties
1947 Jan van der Hoorn wins 8th Dutch 11-cities skating race (10:51)
1947 KSD (now KSDK) TV channel 5 in St Louis MO (NBC) begins broadcasting
1948 5th Winter Olympics games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
1949 Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty sentenced to life in prison
1952 "RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day" debuts on NBC TV
1953 Betty Jameson wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open
1953 WLVA (now WSET) TV channel 13 in Lynchburg-Roanoke VA (ABC) begins
1955 Malenkov resigns as USSR premier, Bulganin replaces him
1956 Mine disaster in Quaregnon Belgium, 8 die
1957 San Francisco Public Library's bookmobile initiated in front of City Hall
1958 Edgar Whitehead succeeds Garfield Todd as premier of South Rhodesia
1958 French planes bomb Sakiet Tunisia, 75 die
1958 KIRO TV channel 7 in Seattle WA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1960 Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes 1st NBAer with 50 rebounds (51)
1960 Congress opens hearings looking into payola
1962 KACB TV channel 3 in San Angelo TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 1st transmission of Clandestine Voice of Iraqi People (Communist)
1963 AFL's Dallas Texans become Kansas City Chiefs
1963 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 Peter Shaffer's "Royal Hunt of the Sun" premieres in London
1964 Representative Martha Griffiths address gets civil rights protection for women being added to the 1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic off Jones Beach NJ, kills 84
1965 Supremes release "Stop In the Name of Love"
1967 French Diadème D-1C satellite launches into Earth orbit
1967 Longest losing streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history (10 games)
1967 Pirate Radio UKGM (England) closes down
1967 Peter (Asher) & Gordon (Waller) discontinue their singing partnership
1967 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 Officers kill 3 students demonstrating in South Carolina State (Orangeburg)
1969 Meteorite weighing over 1 ton falls in Chihuahua, México
1969 Last edition of Saturday Evening Post
1971 Pedro Morales beats Ivan Koloff in New York, to become WWF wrestling champion
1971 South Vietnamese troops invade Laos
1972 Josh Gibson & Buck Leonard selected to Hall of Fame
1973 Jean Kerrs "Finishing Touches" premieres in New York NY
1973 Mushtaq & Asif Iqbal make 350 stand for 4th wicket vs New Zealand
1973 Senate names 7 members to investigate Watergate scandal
1974 Ringo Starr releases "You're 16"
1974 Skylab 4's astronauts land
1974 Soap opera "The Secret Storm" ends a 20 year run
1974 "Good Times" debuts on CBS TV
1975 1800 Unification church couples' wed in Korea
1975 Capitals only got one shot in a period against the Islanders
1976 Largest crowd at Cleveland Coliseum (Cavaliers vs Washington-21,130)
1976 Hua Guofeng becomes premier of China PR
1976 Jan Stephens wins LPGA Sarah Coventry Naples Golf Classic
1977 Earthquake in San Francisco CA, at 5.0, strongest since 1966
1977 Hustler publisher Larry Flynt sentenced
1978 Crown Prince Sad Abdallah al-Salim Al Sabah becomes PM of Kuwait
1979 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1981 "5 O'Clock Girl" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 12 performances
1981 "Brigadoon" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 133 performances
1981 Sally Little wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1981 US female Figure Skating championship won by Elaine Zayak
1981 US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton
1982 Dodgers trade Davey Lopes to A's breaking up the longest-playing infield (Cey-Russell-Lopes-Garvey)
1983 Champion thoroughbred Shergar kidnapped in Ireland; never found Lloyds of London pays $10.6 million insurance
1983 Eric Peters sets transatlantic sailboat record (E-W)-46 days
1983 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
1983 35th NHL All-Star Game Campbell beat Wales 9-3 at New York Islander
1983 Baseball orders Mickey Mantle to sever ties with Claridge Casino
1983 Tina Howe's "Painting Churches" premieres in New York NY
1984 14th Winter Olympics games opens in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1984 Soyuz T-10 launches with crew of 3 to Salyut 7
1984 1st time 8 people in space
1984 A's take Yankees pitcher Tim Belcher as Type A free agent compensation
1985 Bruce Morris, Marshall University, makes a 92' 5¼" basketball shot
1985 1st-class cricket debut of Jimmy Adams (age 17), Jamaica vs Barbados
1985 Michael Gross swims world record 800 meter freestyle (7:38.75)
1985 Opposition leader Kim Dae Jung returns to South-Korea
1986 5' 7" Spud Webb of Atlanta Hawks wins NBA Slam Dunk Competition
1986 US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano
1987 37th NBA All-Star Game West beats East 154-149 (OT) at Seattle
1987 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
1988 NASA launches DOD-2
1989 5 cm of snow falls in outskirts of Los Angeles
1989 Jockey Chris Antley begins record of 64 consecutive winning days
1989 US Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain, 145 die
1990 "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine
1990 David Hares "Racing Demon" premieres in London
1991 Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract
1992 Ulysses spacecraft passes Jupiter
1992 "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred peaks at #1
1992 16th Winter Olympics games open in Albertville, France
1993 GM sues NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" program had rigged 2 car-truck crashes to show that 1973-87 GM pickups were prone to fires
1993 Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die
1994 Jack Nicholson uses a golf club to attack a car
1994 Kapil Dev sets world record for Test Cricket wickets with 432
1994 Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee charge with possession of loaded firearm
1995 6.4 earthquake at Trujillo, Colombia (46+ killed)
1996 NFL & Cleveland allows Art Modell to move his NFL franchise to Baltimore but he had to leave the Browns' name behind
1998 1st female ice hockey game in Olympics history Finland beats Sweden 6-0
1998 48th NBA All-Star Game East beats West 135-114 at NYC
1998 NHL stops season until Feb 24th to accommodate the Olympics

On this day... 6th February 2012

0337 St Julius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1189 Riots of Lynn in Norfolk spread to Norwich England
1508 Maximilian I crowned Holy Roman Emperor
1577 King Henri de Bourbon of Navarra becomes leader of Huguenots
1626 Huguenot rebels & the French sign Peace of La Rochelle
1651 Cardinal Mazarin flees Paris
1693 Royal charter granted College of William & Mary, Williamsburg VA
1716 England & Netherlands renew alliance
1778 France recognizes US, signs treaty of aid in Paris; 1st US treaty
1778 England declares war on France
1788 Massachusetts becomes 6th state to ratify constitution
1815 NJ issues 1st US railroad charter (John Stevens)
1819 Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds freeport harbor Singapore
1820 86 free black colonists sail from New York NY to Sierra Leone, Africa
1820 US population announced at 9,638,453 (1,771,656 blacks (18.4%))
1832 1st appearance of cholera at Edinburgh, Scotland
1832 US ship destroys Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy
1836 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reach Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
1840 Waitangi Day; treaty signed between Britain & Maoris of New Zealand
1851 Robert Schumann's 3rd Symphony "Rhenisch" premieres in Düsseldorf
1854 Composer R Schumann is saved from suicide attempt into the Rhine
1861 English Admiral Robert Ritzroy issues 1st storm warnings for ships
1861 1st meeting of Provisional Congress of Confederate States of America
1862 Victory for General Ulysses S Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson; Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant
1862 Naval Engagement at Tennessee River-USS Conestago vs CSS Appleton Belle
1864 Skirmish at Barnett's Ford Virginia
1865 2nd day of battle at Dabney's Mills (Hatcher's Run)
1867 Peabody Fund forms to promote Black education in South
1869 Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers
1891 1st great train robbery by Dalton Gang (Southern Pacific #17)
1899 Spanish-American War ends, peace treaty ratified by Senate
1900 Battle at Vaalkrans, South-Africa (Boers vs British army)
1902 Young Women's Hebrew Association organized in New York NY
1904 Russian-Japanese war began
1911 1st old-age home opened in Prescott AZ
1911 Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople/Istanbul Turkey
1918 Britain grants women (30 & over) the vote
1919 1st day of 5-day Seattle general strike
1920 Saarland administrated by League of Nations
1921 "The Kid", starring Charlie Chaplin & Jackie Coogan, released
1922 Cardinal Achille Ratti elected Pope Pius XI
1922 US, UK, France, Italy & Japan sign Washington naval arms limitation
1926 NFL rules college students ineligible until college classes graduates
1926 St Louis Browns acquire catcher Wally Schang from New York Yankees
1929 Rudy Vallee recorded "Deep Night"
1932 1st Olympics dog sled race, Lake Placid New York (demonstration sport)
1932 Fascist coup in the Memel territory
1933 -90ºF (-68ºC), Oymyakon, USSR (Asian record)
1933 Highest recorded sea wave (not tsunami), 34 meters (112 feet), in Pacific hurricane near Manila
1933 20th Amendment goes into effect; Presidential term begins in Jan not March
1933 President von Hindenburg & von Papen end Prussian parliament
1934 Reds purchase 43-year-old Dazzy Vance from the Cards for $7,500
1935 Board game "Monopoly" goes on sale for the 1st time
1935 1st election to allow women to vote in Turkey
1936 4th Winter Olympics games open in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
1936 Pravda criticizes Shostakovich's ballet "Clear Brook"
1937 K Elizabeth Ohi becomes 1st Japanese-US female lawyer
1939 Spanish government flees to France
1941 Auke Adema win 6th official Dutch 11 Cities Skating Race (9:19)
1941 Battle of Beda Fomm Italian 10th army destroyed
1941 British troops conquer Bengazi, Libya
1943 1st Spitfire in action above Darwin, Australia, Mu Ki-46 shot down
1943 Singer Frank Sinatra debuts on radio's "Your Hit Parade"
1945 8th Air Force bombs Magdeburg/Chemnitz
1945 Russian Red Army crosses the river Oder
1946 "Lute Song" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 142 performances
1947 Compton & Arthur Morris both complete dual tons in same Test Cricket
1948 1st radio-controlled airplane flown
1948 Bradman retires hurt, 57 in his last Test Cricket innings in Australia
1948 KNXT (now KCBS) TV channel 2 in Los Angeles CA (CBS) 1st broadcast
1951 "Broker Special" train crashes in Woodbridge NJ, killing 84
1951 Radio commentator Paul Harvey arrested for trying to sneak into the Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago IL
1951 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site Argonne Atomic Lab (Illinois), to demonstrate lax in security
1952 England replaces King George VI stamp series with Queen Elizabeth II
1953 Ian Craig makes Test Cricket debut at 17 years 239 days, youngest Aussie
1953 US controls on wages & some consumer goods were lifted
1956 Chicago's Daily Defender, begins publishing
1956 French premier Guy Mollet pelted with tomatoes in Algiers
1956 University of Alabama refuses admission to Autherine Lucy (because he's black)
1958 7 members on Manchester United football team die in an air crash
1958 Ted Williams signs with Red Sox for $135,000, making him highest paid
1959 Fidel Castro is interviewed by Edward R Murrow
1959 US 1st successful Titan intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
1961 "Jail, No Bail" Jail-in movement starts in Rock Hill SC
1961 KOAP TV channel 10 in Portland OR (PBS) begins broadcasting
1962 Schoolman Athletic Field in the Bronx named
1964 "Rugantino" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 28 performances
1964 France & Great-Britain sign accord over building channel tunnel
1964 WCIU TV channel 26 in Chicago IL (IND) begins broadcasting
1965 "Kelly" opens & closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC
1965 Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" hits #1
1967 Cultural Revolution in Albania
1967 Heavyweight Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) TKOs Ernie Terrell in 15 in Houston for heavyweight boxing title
1968 10th Winter Olympics games opens in Grenoble, France
1968 Former President Dwight Eisenhower shot a hole-in-one
1968 Dutch 2nd Chamber condemns US bombing of North Vietnam
1968 KESD TV channel 8 in Brookings SD (PBS) begins broadcasting
1969 Jerry Herman's "Dear World" premieres at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 132 performances
1970 Graeme Pollock completes 274 vs Australia at Durban
1970 NBA expands to 18 teams with Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston & Portland
1971 1st time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shepard)
1973 Bernice Fekete skips her curling rink to 2nd straight 8-ender, Edmonton
1973 "Shelter" opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 31 performances
1973 6th ABA All-Star Game West 123 beats East 111 at Utah
1974 3rd time Rangers shut-out Islanders 6-0
1974 Dutch speed limit set at 100 km due to oil crisis
1974 US House of Representatives begins determining grounds for impeachment of Nixon
1975 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1976 George Harrison releases "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)"
1977 4th time Rangers shut-out Islanders 4-0
1977 Alain Prieur jumps his motorcycle 65 meter over 16 buses, near Paris
1977 Harley Race beats Terry Funk in Toronto, to become NWA wrestling champion
1978 Muriel, wife of late Hubert Humphrey (Senator-D-MN) takes his office
1978 Snowstorm hits New England (54" (137cm))
1979 Supreme court of Lahore affirms death sentence against premier Bhutto
1981 "Brady Brides" debuts on NBC TV
1981 Beatles McCartney, Starr & Harrison record a tribute to John Lennon
1981 Suleiman Nyambui runs world record 5k indoor (13:20.4)
1982 "Centerfold" by J Geils Band hit #1 on pop chart
1983 13th NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 20-19
1983 Nancy Lopez win LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1984 Moslem militiamen take over West Beirut from Lebanese army
1986 New Jersey Devil Peter McNab becomes the 42nd NHLer to score 350 goals
1987 No-smoking rules take effect in federal buildings
1987 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jill Trenary
1988 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1989 Lech Walesa begins negotiating with the Polish government
1990 Brett Hull becomes 1st son of NHL 50 goal scorer (Bobby) to score 50
1990 Ground breaking begins on Baltimore Orioles' new $102 million stadium
1990 Steve Briers of Wales recited the entire lyrics of Queen's album "A Night At The Opera" in 9 minutes & 58.44 seconds backwards!
1991 Mousey Davis becomes the 1st coach of the New York-New Jersey Knights
1992 "Late Night's 10th Anniversary Show At Radio City Music Hall" on NBC
1993 44th NHL All-Star Game Wales beat Campbell 16-6 at Montréal
1993 Riddick Bowe TKOs Michael Dokes in 1 for heavyweight boxing title
1994 "Government Inspector" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 37 performances
1994 Dawn Coe-Jones win LPGA Healthsouth Palm Beach Golf Classic
1994 José Maria Figueres elected President of Costa Rica
1994 Leonid Voloshin triple jumps world record 17.77 meters
1994 Martti Ahtisaari elected President of Finland
1994 NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 17-3
1995 Beachboy Brian Wilson wed Melinda Ledbetter
1995 Darryl Strawberry suspended from baseball for 60 days
1995 Greg Blewett scores his 2nd century in his 2nd Test Cricket
1996 Heidi Fleiss scheduled to begin her 7 year jail sentence
1997 Diane Blood, 32, in England, won right to use her dead husbands sperm
1998 Mary Kay LeTourneau, 36, former teacher, who violated probation by seeing 14 year old father of her baby, sentenced to 7½ years
1998 Twin trade Chuck Knoblauch to New York Yankees for $3 million & 4 minor leaguers

On this day... 2nd February 2012

0506 King Alarik II of Visigoten delegates Lex Romania Visigothorum out
0962 Pope John XII crowns German King Otto I the Great Emperor
1032 Koenraad II succeeds Rudolf III as king of Bourgundy
1119 Guido di Borgogna elected Pope Callistus II
1141 Battle at Lincoln King Stephen captured
1461 2nd battle of St Alban's-Lancastrians defeat Yorkists
1536 Pedro de Mendoza finds the Argentine city of Buenos Aires
1550 English Edward Seymour duke of Somerset, freed
1633 M Rossi's opera "Erminia sul Giordano" premieres in Rome
1637 Zorilla's "El más Impropio Verdugo Para Las" premieres in Madrid
1653 New Amsterdam becomes a city (later New York NY)
1714 Nicholas Rowe's "tragedy of Jane Shore" premieres in London
1731 Georg F Händels opera "Poro" premieres in London
1732 King Frederik Willem I moves Lutherans towards East-Prussia
1742 British Walpole government resigns
1762 Thomas Arnes opera "Artaxerxes" premieres in London
1795 Joseph Haydns 102nd Symphony in B, premieres
1798 Federal St Theater, Boston, becomes 1st in US destroyed by fire
1802 1st leopard exhibited in US, Boston (admission 25¢)
1811 Russian settlers establish Fort Ross trading post, north of San Francisco
1823 Rossini's opera "Semiramide" premieres in Venice
1829 Madman Jonathan Martin sets York Cathedral afire, does £60,000 damage
1843 US & British settlers in Oregon Country choose governmental committee
1848 1st shipload of Chinese arrive in San Francisco
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican War; US acquires Texas, California, New Mexico & Arizona for $15 million
1852 1st British public men's toilet opens (Fleet St London)
1852 Alexandre Dumas Jr's "Le Dame aux Camélias" premieres in Paris
1854 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On the persecution of Armenians"
1863 Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for 1st time
1864 Cruise of CSS Florida
1869 James Oliver invents the removable tempered steel plow blade
1870 Mark Twain, 34, marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira NY
1870 The Cardiff Giant (supposed petrified human) proved to be gypsum
1876 Baseball's National League forms with teams in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, St Louis
1878 Greece declares war on Turkey
1880 SS Strathleven arrives in London with 1st Australian frozen mutton
1882 Knights of Columbus forms in New Haven CT
1892 Longest boxing match under modern rules; 77 rounds in Nameoki, Illinois between Harry Sharpe & Frank Crosby
1892 Bottle cap with cork seal patented by William Painter (Baltimore)
1892 Johnny Briggs takes a hat-trick, England vs Australia SCG
1893 1st movie close-up (of a sneeze), Edison studio, West Orange NJ
1894 US warship Kearsarge wrecked on Roncador Reef, near Solomon Island
1900 Gustave Charpentiers opera "Louise" premieres in Paris
1901 Female Army Nurse Corps established as a permanent organization
1904 US blues singer Gertrude Pridgett marries comic William Rainey
1906 Pope encyclical against separation of church & state
1909 Italian writer Marinetti publishes Futurist Manifest in Paris
1912 Frederick R Law, parachutes from Statue of Liberty (stunt for Pathe)
1913 New York football Giants sign Jim Thorpe
1913 NYC's Grand Central Terminal opens
1914 James Royce Shannon's musical "Shameen Dhu" premieres in New York NY
1919 Monarchist riot in Portugal
1920 Estonia declares its Independence from Russia (Dorpat Peace)
1920 France occupies (German) Memel territory
1920 Tarto/Dorpat peace treaty USSR recognizes Estonian independence
1922 James Joyce's "Ulysses" published in Paris (1,000 copies)
1923 Ethyl gasoline 1st marketed, Dayton OH
1923 US signs friendship treaty with Central American countries
1924 International Ski Federation (FIS) founded
1925 Dogsleds reach Nome with emergency diphtheria serum after 1000-km
1925 Belgian episcopacy rejects liberalism, communism & socialism
1925 NL holds Golden Jubilee Year meeting at same hotel where NL began
1926 3 men dance the Charleston for 22½ hours
1927 Harry Tierney/Joseph McCarthy's "Rio Rita" premieres in New York NY
1927 Ziegfeld Theater (Loew's Ziegfeld) opens at 6th Ave & 54th St New York NY
1931 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria)
1931 1st siyyum of Talmud celebrated by Daf Yomi students
1932 Geneva disarmament conference begins with 60 countries
1932 Reconstruction Finance Corp organized
1932 Al Capone sent to prison (Atlanta GA)
1932 Grimmett takes 14 wickets vs South Africa (7-116 & 7-83)
1933 2 days after becoming chancellor, Adolf Hitler dissolves Parliament
1933 Göring bans communist meetings/demonstrations in Germany
1933 Ucicky's "Rotten Morning" premieres in Berlin
1934 Dutch Roman Catholic Bishops warn against fascism/Nazism
1935 Lie detector 1st used in court (Portage WI)
1940 Frank Sinatra's singing debut in Indianapolis (Tommy Dorsey Orchestra)
1942 Los Angeles Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans
1942 US auto factories switch from commercial to war production
1943 Battle of Stalingrad ends with final surrender of the German army, turning point of WWII
1943 Cubs return to original uniform after experimenting with a vest
1944 4th US marine division conquerors Roi, Marshall Islands
1944 Allied troops 1st set foot on Japanese territory
1944 Baseball meets in New York NY to discuss postwar action
1944 Edward Chodorov's "Decision" premieres in New York NY
1945 Escape attempt at Mauthausen concentration camp
1946 "Nellie Bly" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 16 performances
1948 President Truman urges congress to adopt a civil rights program
1949 Golfing champion Ben Hogan seriously injured in an auto accident
1950 "Arms & the Girl" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 134 performances
1950 1st broadcast of "What's My Line" on CBS-TV
1951 -35ºF (-37ºC), Greenburg, Indiana (state record until 1994)
1951 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1954 Bevo Francis, Rio Grande College, scores 113 points in basketball game
1954 President Eisenhower reports detonation of 1st H-bomb (done in 1952)
1954 Snow falls on Gibraltar
1955 1st Presidential news conference on network TV-Eisenhower on ABC
1956 Coasters sign with Atlantic Records
1957 Liz Taylor's 3rd marriage (Mike Todd)
1957 UN adopts a resolution calling for Israeli troops to leave Egypt
1957 "Candide" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 73 performances
1958 Syria joins Egypt in United Arab Republic
1958 Fay Crocker win LPGA Havana Biltmore Golf Open
1958 WRIK (now WLUZ) TV channel 7 in Ponce PR (PTC) begins broadcasting
1959 Buddy Holly's last performance
1959 Vince Lombardi signs a 5 year contract to coach the Green Bay Packers
1960 Michale Eufemia sinks 625 balls in pool match without a miss
1961 Prince Bernhard opens new RAI building in Amsterdam
1962 1st pole vault over 16' (4.88 meter) (John Uelses-16¼', Milrose Games)
1962 8 of 9 planets align for 1st time in 400 years
1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1963 Helen Shapiro begins tour (Beatles are part of the undercard)
1964 GI Joe, debuts as a popular American boy's toy
1964 Red Faber, Burleigh Grimes, Tim Keefe, Heinie Manush, John Montgomery Ward, & Miller Huggins are selected to Hall of Fame
1964 Sjoukje Dijkstra (Netherlands) win Olympics gold for figure skating
1965 Joe Ortons "Loot" premieres in Brighton
1967 Formation of the American Basketball Association is announced
1967 Bolivia adopts its constitution
1968 Springer Publishers in West Berlin, bombed
1969 KMST TV channel 46 in Monterey-Salinas CA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1969 Stan Coveleski & Waite Hoyt are voted into baseball Hall of Fame
1970 Pete Maravich becomes 1st to score 3,000 college basketball points
1971 Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote to become dictator of Uganda
1972 Lefty Gomez, Ross Youngs & William Harridge selected for Hall of Fame
1972 Tom Stoppard's "Jumpers" premieres in London
1973 James R Schlesinger becomes director of the CIA (until July)
1973 "Midnight Special" rock music show debuts on NBC-TV
1973 Richath Helms, ends term as 8th director of CIA
1973 Test Cricket debut of Richard John Hadlee, New Zealand vs Pakistan, Wellington
1974 Pope Paul VI encyclical "To Honor Mary"
1974 Smallest crowd at Cleveland Arena (Cavaliers vs Golden State-1,641)
1974 Barbra Streisand's 1st #1 hit, "The Way We Were"
1975 Army offensive against rebels in Eritrea Ethiopia
1975 Donna Caponi Young win LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
1975 US female Figure Skating championship won by Dorothy Hamill
1975 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr
1976 "Honeymooners Second Honeymoon" airs on TV
1976 "Rich Little Show" debuts on NBC-TV
1976 Roger Connor, Fred Lindstrom & umpire Cal Hubbard elected to Hall of Fame
1977 Radio Shack officially begins creating the TRS-80 computer
1977 Toronto's Ian Turnbull scores 5 goals, NHL record for a defenseman
1977 Burn up of Salyut 4 Space Station (USSR)
1980 FBI releases details of Abscam, a sting operation that targeted 31 elected & public officials for bribes for political favors
1982 "Late Night with David Letterman" premieres on NBC
1982 Government troops & Moslem-fundamentalists battle in Hamah Syria
1983 Chicago Archbishop Joseph L Bernardin is among 18 new cardinals invested
1983 Pope John Paul II names 18 new cardinals
1984 8th Soap Opera Digest Poll Awards
1984 Lebanese army fight in Beirut
1985 US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano
1986 Dalai Lama meets Pope John Paul II in India
1986 "Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood" closes at Ritz NYC after 13 performances
1986 Ayako Okamoto win LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1986 NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 28-24
1986 Oscar Arias Sanchez elected President of Costa Rica
1987 Kansas City Royal pitcher Dennis Leonard (3X 20 game winner), retires
1987 Philippines adopts constitution
1988 David Boon's 6th Test Cricket century, 184 vs England at Sydney
1989 0ºF (-18ºC) or below in 15 US states
1989 F[rederik] W[illem] de Klerk replaces Botha as South Africa's Nationalist Party leader
1989 NL announces Yanks' broadcaster Bill White will be 1st black president
1990 Marina Ogilvy (daughter of English princess Alexandra) weds Paul Mowatt
1990 South Africa's President F[rederik] W[illem] de Klerk promises to free Nelson Mandela & legalizes African National Congress & 60 other political organizations
1991 US postage is raised from 25¢ to 29¢
1991 Aravinda De Silva scores 267 vs New Zealand at Wellington
1991 New Hampshire snaps its 32-game losing streak at home beating Holy Cross, 72-56
1992 Colleen Walker win Oldsmobile LPGA Golf Classic
1992 Danny Everett runs world record 400 meter indoor (45.02 seconds)
1992 David Boon's 13 Test Cricket century, 107 vs India at Perth
1992 IRS & Willie Nelson settle on $9 million tax bill (of $16.7 million)
1992 Kieren Perkins swims world record 1500 meter freestyle (14 minutes 32.40 seconds)
1992 NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 21-15
1993 Frito Lay pays court ordered $2,500,000 to Tom Waits for using his song, "Step Right Up"
1993 Irina Privalova runs world record 50 meter indoor (6.05 seconds)
1995 "Moliere Comedies" opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 56 performances
1995 Henry Olonga no-balled for throwing in Zimbabwe-Pakistan Test Cricket
1995 US space shuttle Discovery launched
1996 Ali Landry, 22, (Louisiana), crowned 45th Miss USA
1997 "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" closes at Gershwin NYC
1997 Mark O'Meara win Pebble Beach National Golf Pro-am
1997 NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 26-23 (OT)
1997 Royal Caribbean Senior Golf Classic
1998 Daniel Baldwin hospitalized in New York NY for cocaine overdose
1998 Philippine DC-9 crashes apparently killing all 104 on board

On this day... 1st February 2012

0772 Adrian I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1539 Emperor Karel & King François I sign anti-English treaty
1587 English queen Elizabeth I signs Mary Stuart's death sentence
1662 Dutch garrison on Formosa surrenders for Chinese pirates
1669 French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion
1709 British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being marooned on a desert island (Fernandez Island) for 5 years, his story is the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe"
1717 Henri d'Aguesseau's 1st appointment as chancellor of France
1720 Sweden & Prussia sign peace treaty
1732 Parliament of Ratisborn accept Pragmatic Sanctions
1742 Sardinia & Austria sign alliance
1783 William Herschel announces star Lambda Herculis as apex
1788 1st US steamboat patent issued, by Georgia to Briggs & Longstreet
1789 Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long
1790 Supreme Court convenes for the 1st time (New York NY)
1793 Patent granted Ralph Hodgson, New York, for oiled silk & linen
1793 France declares war on England & Netherlands
1809 Dutch King Louis Napoleon accepts metric system
1810 1st insurance company managed by blacks (American Insurance Company of Philadelphia)
1810 Seville, Spain surrenders to the French
1810 US Population - 7,239,881; Black population - 1,377,808 (19%)
1814 Lord Byron's "The Corsair" sells 10,000 copies on the day of publication
1814 Volcano Mayon on Luzon Philippines erupts killing 1,200
1840 Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 1st in US, incorporated
1860 1st rabbi to open House of Representatives, Morris Raphall of New York NY
1861 Dike breaks in Gelderland Netherlands
1861 Texas becomes 7th state to secede
1862 Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
1864 2nd German-Danish war begins
1864 Austrian/Prussian troops occupy Sleeswijk/Holstein
1864 Battle of Yazoo River, Mississippi
1865 13th amendment approved (National Freedom Day)
1865 General Sherman's march through South Carolina begins
1865 JS Rock, 1st black lawyer to practice in Supreme Court, admitted to bar
1867 Bricklayers start working 8-hour days
1871 Jefferson Long of Georgia is 1st black to make an official speech in House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates)
1881 US Assay Office in St Louis MO authorized
1883 French Lieutenant-Colonel Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger
1884 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published
1887 Harvey Wilcox of Kansas subdivides 120 acres he owned in Southern California & starts selling it off as a real estate development (Hollywood)
1892 Mrs William Astor invites 400 guests to a grand ball at her mansion thus beginning the use of the "400" to describe the socially elite
1893 Thomas Edison completes worlds 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)
1893 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "Manon Lescaut" premieres in Turin
1896 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme" premieres in Turin
1898 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Company
1902 China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet
1902 Hermann Sudermanns "Es lebe das Leben" premieres in Berlin
1905 Hague soccer team ADO forms
1905 Hungarian premier Tisza resigns
1906 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth KS
1906 English Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Grey's wife Dorothy fatally injured
1909 US Assay Office in Salt Lake City, Utah opens
1910 1st British labour exchange opens
1910 Dragoumis government forms in Greece
1914 New York Giants & Chicago White Sox play an exhibition baseball game in Egypt
1914 Pennsylvania State Board of [motion picture] Censors appointed
1914 Tanganyika Railway opens
1917 Admiral Tirpitz announces unlimited submarine war
1918 Franz Lehárs opera "Wo die Lerche singt" premieres in Budapest
1918 Kern, Bolton & Wodehouse's musical premieres in New York NY
1918 Russia adopts Gregorian calendar (becomes Feb 14)
1919 Dodgers trade Jake Daubert to Reds for Tommy Griffith Daubert
1920 1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul MN)
1920 Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police
1920 Soccer team Quick Boys forms
1923 Allied ultimatum on Lithuanian occupation of Memel
1923 Fascists Voluntary Militia forms in Italy under Mussolini
1923 Noël Coward's "Young Idea" premieres in London
1924 Amsterdam's Netherlands Press Museum opens
1924 New British MacDonald government recognizes USSR
1924 Soccer team VSV Tonido forms in Voorburg
1925 1st national conference of KPD's Rotfrontkämpferbund in Berlin
1926 Kirghiz Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kirghiz ASSR
1926 Land at Broadway & Wall Street sold at a record $7 per square inch
1929 1st clean & jerk of 400 lbs (182 kg), Charles Rigoulet, 402½ lbs
1930 Arnold Schönbergs opera premieres in Frankfurt
1932 Bradman makes 299 vs South Africa, runs out partner going for 300th
1933 Colonial government arrests Anton de Kom in Paramaribo Suriname
1933 Dutch bishops forbid membership in non-catholic unions
1933 German Parliament dissolves, General Ludendorf predicts catastrophe
1934 Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss dissolves all political parties but his own
1935 James T Farrell finishes his "Studs Lonigan" trilogy
1935 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol
1937 Stapleton, Staten Island becomes a customs-free port
1940 Russia begins new offensive against Finland
1941 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jane Vaughn
1941 US male Figure Skating championship won by Eugene Turner
1942 2nd Norwegian government of Quisling forms
1943 German occupiers make Vidkun Quisling Norwegian premier
1943 Mussert forms pro Nazi shadow cabinet (Netherlands)
1944 Supreme Soviet enlarges soviet republics' autonomy
1944 US 7th Infantry/25th Marine Division lands on Kwajalein/Roi/Namur
1945 US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie
1946 Trygve Lie, a Norwegian socialist, becomes 1st Secretary-General of UN
1946 Republic of Hungary proclaimed, Zolt n Tildy as communist president
1947 Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of Christian-democrats & communists
1947 Dmitri Shostakovich named professor at conservatory of Leningrad
1947 NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established
1948 Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
1948 Federation Malaysia forms from 9 sultanates
1949 200" (5.08-meter) Hale telescope 1st used
1949 RCA releases 1st single record ever (45 rpm)
1950 Urko Kekkonen elected president of Finland
1950 USSR demands condemnation of Emperor Hirohito for war crimes
1951 1st telecast of atomic explosion - US nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1951 1st X-ray moving picture process demonstrated
1951 -50ºF (-46ºC), Gavilan NM (state record)
1951 Alfred Krupp & 28 other German war criminals freed
1951 UN condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea
1952 General strike against French colonial management in Tunisia
1952 S[amuel] N[athaniel] Behrman's "Jane" premieres in New York NY
1953 "General Electric Theater" premieres on CBS TV; Reagan later hosts
1953 "You Are There" with Walter Cronkite premieres on CBS television
1953 Dr A de Waal appointed as Netherlands 1st female assistant Secretary of state
1953 Flooding in Netherlands, kills 1,835
1953 WEEK TV channel 25 in Peoria IL (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 1st TV soap opera "Secret Storm" premieres
1954 Scapino Ballet Studio in Amsterdam destroyed by fire
1954 Soccer team The County forms in Doetinchem
1955 H C Hansen appointed premier of Denmark
1956 Hague Daily Newspaper reveals war crimes of Hague mayor Schokking
1956 WSAV TV channel 3 in Savannah GA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 1st black pilot (PH Young) on a US scheduled passenger airline
1957 Gijsbert of Hall appointed mayor of Amsterdam
1958 1st US satellite (Explorer I) launched
1958 Egypt & Syria announce plans to merge into United Arab Republic
1958 WFTV TV channel 9 in Orlando FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
1959 Swiss males vote against voting rights for women
1959 Texas Instruments requests patent of IC (Integrated Circuit)
1959 US female Figure Skating championship won by Carol Heiss
1959 US male Figure Skating championship won by David Jenkins
1959 Wiffi Smith win LPGA Havana Golf Tournament
1959 WVUE TV channel 8 in New Orleans LA (ABC) begins broadcasting
1959 Zack Wheat unanimously elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1960 4 students stage 1st civil rights sit-in, at Greensboro NC Woolworth
1960 34th Australian Women's Tennis Margaret Smith beats J Lehane (7-5 6-2)
1960 48th Australian Men's Tennis Rod Laver beats N Fraser (5-7 3-6 6-3 8-6 8-6)
1960 Extreme right-wing rebels in Algiers surrender
1961 1st full-scale test of US Minuteman ICBM is successful
1961 British minister Enoch Powell makes medical insurance more expensive
1961 Mackay & Kline hang on for 100 minutes for cricket draw vs West Indies
1962 "New Faces of '62" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 28 performances
1962 NL releases its 1st 162-game schedule
1963 Nyasaland (now Malawi) becomes self-governing under Hastings Banda
1964 Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" 1st #1 hit & stays #1 for 7 weeks
1964 "Stop the World, I Want to..." closes at Shubert NYC after 556 performances
1964 Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tries to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity
1964 Suriname River dammed
1965 Martin Luther King Jr & 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma AL
1965 Dutch Queen Juliana opens Brienenoord Bridge in Rotterdam
1965 NL adopts emergency team replacement plan to restock any club struck by disaster
1965 Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news
1967 Severe brush fires in Tasmania destroy $11 million & 60 lives
1967 WCLP TV channel 18 in Chatsworth GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 Famous photo Saigon police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head
1968 Vince Lombardi resigns as coach of the Green Bay Packers
1968 Former Vice-President Richard Nixon announces candidacy for President
1968 World trade conference Unctad 2 opens in New Delhi
1969 Jim Morrison arrested for exposing himself in concert
1969 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
1969 US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
1969 WPGH TV channel 53 in Pittsburgh PA (IND) begins broadcasting
1970 Stalled commuter train rammed by express in Argentina, 139 die
1970 Ford Frick, Earle Combs & Jesse Haines elected to Hall of Fame
1970 West-Germany & USSR sign gas contract
1970 WMAA TV channel 29 in Jackson MS (PBS) begins broadcasting
1972 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)
1972 Wings release "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" in UK
1973 Monte Irvin elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1974 "Good Times" (spinoff from "Maude") premieres on CBS TV
1975 1st successful Washington Capitals penalty shot, Ken Lockett vs Vancouver Canucks
1975 Lorne Henning scores on 3rd Islander penalty shot
1975 "Hoppy, Gene & Me" by Roy Rogers peaks at #65
1975 "Men on the Moon" closes at Little Theater NYC after 5 performances
1975 Otis Francis Tabler is 1st open homosexual to get security clearance to work for the Defense Department
1976 "Rich Man, Poor Man" mini-series premieres on ABC TV
1976 Sonny & Cher resume TV show, despite real-life divorce
1976 East Lansing police arrest Dodgers reliever Mike Marshall for taking batting practice at Michigan State University after he is warned not to
1976 Judy Rankin win LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
1977 Heavy blizzard in New England claims 100 lives
1977 Hillsdale High School defeats Person High School 2-0 in basketball
1978 Director Roman Polanski skips bail & fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1978 Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp
1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile
1979 Patricia Hearst is released from a San Francisco prison for bank robbery
1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 Soap opera "Love of Life" ends a 28 year run
1980 Sears Radio Theater moves from CBS to Mutual Broadcasting System
1981 11th NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 21-7
1981 31st NBA All-Star Game East beats West 123-120 at Cleveland
1981 Duke Ellington-musical "Sophisticated Ladies" premieres in New York NY
1981 Dutch Antilles census is 231,932
1981 French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq
1981 Sandra Palmer win LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek
1981 Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to Brian McKechnie, WSC Final MCG
1982 Senegal & Gambia form loose confederation (Senegambia)
1982 "Late Night With David Letterman" debuts on NBC-TV
1983 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1984 Daniel Stern becomes NBA commissioner
1984 Ravindara Mhatrem, Indian diplomat, kidnapped in England (killed 0203)
1984 China & Netherlands regain diplomatic relations
1985 -69ºF (-56ºC), Peter's Sink UT (state record)
1985 -61ºF (-52ºC), Maybell CO (state record)
1985 Azharuddin scores 3rd Test century in 3rd Test Cricket (122 vs England)
1985 Cards trade D Green, Jose Uribe, Dave LaPoint to Giants for Jack Clark
1985 US female Figure Skating championship won by Tiffany Chin
1986 KHJ-AM in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KRTH
1986 Singer Diana Ross marries Norwegian businessman Arne Naess in Switzerland
1987 163 day strike against Deere & Company ends, workers accept wage freeze
1987 38,873 NBA crowd watch Chicago at Detroit
1987 Kathy Postlewait win LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1987 NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 10-6
1989 Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at perihelion
1989 Princess Diana of England visits New York NY
1991 President F W de Klerk, says he would repeal all apartheid laws
1991 Afghanistan/Pakistan hit by earthquake, 1,200 die
1991 Craig McDermott takes 8-97 vs England at the WACA
1991 US Air & Skywest Fairchild commuter jet collide at Los Angeles Airport killing 32
1992 Barry Bonds signs baseball's highest single year contract ($4.7 million)
1992 Denis Potvin's #5 becomes the 1st number retired by the New York Islanders
1992 "Crazy He Calls Me" closes at Walter Kerr Theater NYC after 7 performances
1993 New York Judge Sol Wachtler indicted for harassing Joy Silverman
1993 Soyuz TM-16 lands
1994 Irina Privalova runs world record 50 meter indoor (6.03 seconds)
1994 Large meteorite falls near Kusaie, Pacific Ocean
1995 Amtrak New York-Tampa run ends
1995 Amy van Dikes swims woman's world record 50 meter butterfly (26.73)
1995 Andy & Grant Flower make 269 stand vs Pakistan, brotherly record
1995 Belgium's TV channel VT4 goes on the air
1998 "Street Corner Symphony" closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 79 performances
1998 86th Australian Mens Tennis Petr Korda beats Marcelo Rios (6-2 6-2 6-2)
1998 Australian Mixed Doubles Tennis J Gimelstob & V Williams beat Suk & Sukova (6-2 6-1)
1998 NFL Pro Bowl Game, AFC beats NFC 29-24


 

Back in the day, today... on the 31th of January

0314 St Silvester I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0876 Charles becomes king of Italy
1504 By treaty of Lyons, French cede Naples to Ferdinand of Aragon
1531 Kings Ferdinand of Austria/János Zápolyai of Hungary accept each other
1560 Spanish king Philip II marries Elisabeth van Valois
1578 Battle of Gembloers
1596 Catholic League disjoins
1609 Wisselbank of Amsterdam established
1627 Spanish government goes bankrupt
1675 Cornelia/Dina Olfaarts found not guilty of witchcraft
1679 Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera "Bellérophon" premieres in Paris
1696 Revolt of undertakers after funeral reforms (Amsterdam)
1779 Charles Messier adds M57 (Ring Nebula in Lyra) to his catalog
1804 British Vice-Admiral William Bligh's fleet reaches Curaçao
1817 Franz Grillparzer's "Die Ahnfrau" premieres in Vienna
1842 John Tyler's daughter Elizabeth marries in the White House
1849 Corn Laws abolished in Britain
1851 San Francisco Orphan's Asylum, 1st in California founded
1851 Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk
1854 Dutch KNMI established (Royal Meteorological Institute)
1855 Western railroads blocked by snow
1861 State of Louisiana takes over US Mint at New Orleans
1861 Friedrich Hebbel's "Siegfrieds Tod" premieres in Weimar
1862 Telescope maker Alvin Clark discovers dwarf companion of Sirius
1863 1st black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, mustered into US army
1865 Congress passes 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (121-24)
1871 Millions of birds fly over western San Francisco, darken the sky
1874 Jesse James gang robs train at Gads Hill MO
1893 "Westminster Gazette" begins publishing
1895 José Martí & others leave New York City NY for invasion of Spanish Cuba
1901 Chekhov's "Three Sisters" opens at the Moscow Art Theater
1901 Winnipeg Victorias sweep Montréal Shamrocks in 2 for the Stanley Cup
1901 Boer General John Smuts & De la Rey conqueror Mud river Transvaal
1904 Béla Bartók's symphony "Kossuth" premieres
1905 1st auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach
1905 Carroll Wright appointed 1st US Commissioner of Labor
1906 Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter
1911 Congress names San Francisco as Panamá Canal opening celebration site
1915 1st (German) poison gas attack, against Russians
1916 Dutch Girl Guides form
1917 Germany notifies US that U-boats will attack neutral merchant ship
1920 1st Ukrainian daily newspaper in US (New York City NY) begins publication
1920 Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, at Howard University, incorporates
1920 Joe Malone, Québec Bulldogs, sets NHL record with 7 goals in a game against Toronto
1925 Premier Ahmed Zogu (Zogu I) becomes President of Albania
1927 International allies military command in Germany disbands
1927 National League President John Heydler rules Roger Hornsby can't hold stock in the Cardinals & play for the Giants
1928 Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company
1929 Erich Maria Remarque publishes "Im West nieces Neues" in Berlin
1929 Leon Trotsky expelled from Russia to Turkey
1930 1st US glider flight from a dirigible, Lakehurst New Jersey
1931 Philip Barry's "Tomorrow & Tomorrow" premieres in New York City NY
1932 US railway unions accept 10% wage reduction
1933 French government of Daladier takes power
1933 Hitler promises parliamentary democracy
1934 FDR devalues the dollar in relation to gold at $35 per ounce
1935 30.5 cm (12.0") of rain falls, Quinault RS WA (state record)
1936 "Green Hornet" radio show is 1st heard on WXYZ Radio in Detroit
1940 40 U boats sunk this month (111,000 ton)
1940 C Turney & J Horwin's "My Dear Children" premieres in New York City NY
1941 21 U boats sunk this month (127,000 ton)
1941 Anti-German demonstration in Haarlem Netherlands
1941 Joe Louis KOs Red Burman in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1942 62 U boats sunk this month (327,000 ton)
1943 39 U boats sunk this month (203,100 ton)
1943 Chile breaks contact with Germany & Japan
1943 General Friedrich von Paul surrenders to Russian troops at Stalingrad
1944 Operation-Overlord (D-Day) postponed until June
1944 U-592 sunk off Ireland
1944 US forces invade Kwajalein Atoll
1945 Eddie Slovik, 1st American executed for desertion since Civil War
1945 US 4th Infantry division occupies Elcherrath
1946 Yugoslavia adopts new constitution, becomes a federal republic
1948 J D Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish" appears in NY
1948 Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway
1949 1st daytime soap on TV "These Are My Children" (NBC in Chicago)
1950 President Truman reveals that he ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to develop the hydrogen bomb
1952 Dutch Lutheran Church reunites after 1½ centuries
1952 Harry Heilmann & Paul Waner elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1953 "Princess Victoria" capsized off Stanraer Scotland; 133 die
1953 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning nearly 2,000
1953 New York, Cleveland & Boston retaliate at Bill Veeck, forcing the Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues
1955 RCA demonstrates 1st music synthesizer
1956 French government of Mollet forms
1956 Juscelino Kubitschek becomes President of Brazil
1957 Liz Taylor's 2nd divorce (Michael Wilding)
1957 Trans-Iranian oil pipe line finished
1958 "Jackpot Bowling" premieres on NBC with Leo Durocher as host
1958 James van Allen discovers radiation belt
1958 US launches their 1st artificial satellite, Explorer 1
1959 Joe Cronin signs 7 year pact to become head of AL
1960 Songwriter Adolph Green marries actress/singer Phyllis Newman in New York City NY
1961 Ham is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2
1961 USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights
1961 David Ben-Gurion resigns as premier of Israel
1961 Houston voters approve bond to finance luxury domed stadium
1961 Kanhai completes twin tons (117 & 115) vs Australia at Adelaide
1961 NATO secretary-General Paul-Henri Spaak says he'll resign
1962 Samuel Gravely assumes command of destroyer escort "USS Falgout"
1962 General Charles P Cabell, USAF, ends term as deputy director of CIA
1963 Tony Sheridan & the Beat Brothers record "What'd I Say" & "Ruby Baby"
1964 US report "Smoking & Health" connects smoking to lung cancer
1965 Pud Galvin elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1966 USSR launches Luna 9 toward the Moon
1966 Belgian state police kills 2 striking mine workers
1968 Record high barometric pressure (1083.8 mb, 32"), at Agata, USSR
1968 Viet Cong's Tet offensive begins
1968 Bobby Simpson takes 5-59 vs India in his last Test for ten years
1968 Nauru (formerly Pleasant Island) declares independence from Australia
1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1969 Vice Admiral Rufus L Taylor, USN, ends term as deputy director of CIA
1970 Grateful Dead members busted on LSD charges
1971 Apollo 14 launched, 1st landing in lunar highlands
1971 "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison hit #1 on UK pop chart
1971 Jake Beckley, Joe Kelley, Harry Hooper, Rube Marquard, Chick Hafey & Dave Bancroft & George Weiss elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1971 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
1971 US male Figure Skating championship won by John Misha Petkevich
1972 Military coup ousts civilian government of Ghana
1972 US launches HEOS A-2 for interplanetary observations (396/244,998)
1972 Aretha Franklin sings at Mahalia Jackson's funeral
1972 Birenda, becomes leader of Nepal
1974 McDonald's founder Ray Kroc buys San Diego Padres
1975 John Lennon's "#9 Dream" is released
1975 Barry Manilow's "Mandy" goes gold
1975 UCLA wins NCAA basketball championship
1976 "Love Rollercoaster" by Ohio Players hits #1
1976 Lance Gibbs becomes highest Test wicket-taker at 308
1977 Frenchman François Claustre freed, after 33 months as hostage in Chad
1977 Joe Sewell, Amos Rusie, & Al Lopez elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1978 Israel turns 3 military outposts in West Bank into civilian settlements
1978 "Elvis The Legend Lives!" opens at Palace Theater New York City NY for 101 performances
1980 Police storm occupied Spanish embassy in Guatemala City, killing 41
1981 "The Tide Is High" by Blondie hits #1
1981 38th Golden Globes Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter
1981 Gaetan Boucher skates world record 1000m (1 13.39)
1982 10 Arabian oryx (extinct except in zoos) released in Oman
1982 12th NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 16-13
1982 32nd NBA All-Star Game East beats West 120-118 at New Jersey
1982 Gustafson skates world record 10 km (14 26.59)
1982 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek
1982 US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton
1984 36th NHL All-Star Game Wales beat Campbell 7-6 at New Jersey
1984 Edwin Newman retires from NBC News after 35 years with the network
1984 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 South African President PW Botha offers to free Mandela if he denounces violence
1985 "Harrigan 'n Hart" opens at Longacre Theater New York City NY for 5 performances
1986 Mary Lund of Minnesota, is 1st female recipient of an artificial heart
1987 United Steelworkers union ratified a concessionary contract with USX Corp
1987 44th Golden Globes Platoon, Marlee Matlin win
1988 Barge sinks near Anacortes WA, spills 70,000 gallons of oil
1988 Super Bowl XXII Washington Redskins beat Denver Broncos, 42-10 in San Diego; Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams, Washington, Quarterback
1990 1st McDonald's in Russia opens in Moscow, world's biggest McDonald's
1990 The 1st ever all-sports daily "The National" begins publishing
1990 Jushin "Thunder" Liger beats Naoki Sano to become New Japan IWGP champ
1991 Battle for Khafji in Saudi Arabia (ends after 3 days)
1991 Nugget's Michael Adams becomes shortest NBAer to get a triple-double
1992 MTA raised tolls on most New York City NY bridges from $2.50 to $3.00
1992 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires
1993 "St Joan" opens at Lyceum Theater New York City NY for 49 performances
1993 81st Australian Men's Tennis Jim Courier beats Stefan Edberg (62 61 26 75)
1993 Super Bowl XXVII Dallas Cowboys beat Buffalo Bills, 52-17 in Pasadena; Super Bowl MVP Troy Aikman, Dallas, Quarterback
1994 Barcelona opera theater "Gran Teatro del Liceo" burns down
1994 Dow Jones hits a record 3,978.36
1998 72nd Australian Women's Tennis Martina Hingis beats C Martinez (63 63)
1998 STS 89 (Endeavour 12) lands
1999 Super Bowl XXXIII Denver Broncos beat Atlanta Falcons in Miami; Super Bowl MVP John Elway, Denver, Quarterback

Back in the day, today... on the 30th of January

 

1077 Pope Gregory VII pardons German emperor Henry IV
1349 Jews of Freilsburg Germany are massacred
1349 Günther of Schwarzburg chosen German anti-king
1467 Battle at Velke Kostolany Hung king Mátyás Corvinus beats Bratríci
1487 Bell chimes invented
1522 Duke of Albany takes captured French back to Scotland
1544 Adrian van Goes becomes land advocate of Holland
1592 Ippolito Aldobrandini elected Pope Clement VIII
1647 Scots agree to sell King Charles I to English Parliament for £400,
1648 Spain & Netherlands sign Peace of Münster, ending Tachtigjarige War
1667 Treaty of Andrussovo Russia & Poland sign peace treaty
1713 England & Netherlands sign 2nd anti-French boundary treaty
1774 Captain Cook reaches 71º 10' S, 1820 km from S pole (record)
1781 Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland
1790 Lifeboat 1st tested at sea, by Mr Greathead, the inventor
1797 Congress refuses to accept 1st petitions from American blacks
1798 Representative Matthew Lyon (Vermont) spits in face of Representative Roger Griswold (Connecticut) in US House of Representatives, after an argument
1800 US population 5,308,483; Black population 1,002,037 (18.9%)
1804 Mungo Park leaves England seeking source of Niger River
1806 Prussia takes possession of Hanover
1815 Burned Library of Congress reestablished with Jefferson's 6500 volumes
1818 Keats composes his sonnet, "When I Have Fears"
1820 Edward Bransfield aboard Williams discovers Antarctica (UK claim)
1835 Richard Lawrence misfires at President Andrew Jackson in Washington DC
1847 Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco
1853 Emperor Napoleon III marries Eugénie Maria de Montijo y de Guzman
1854 1st election in Washington Territory; 1,682 votes cast
1858 Charles Hallé founds Hallé Orchestra in Manchester
1858 William Wells Brown published 1st Black drama, "Leap to Freedom"
1862 US Navy's 1st ironclad warship (Monitor) launched
1877 Storm flood ravages Dutch coastal provinces
1879 French President MacMahon resigns
1883 England team presented with ashes of a bail after Sydney Test
1888 Harry Moses 297 not out for New South Wales against Victoria
1889 John Herschel uses camera obscura to photograph 48" (120cm) telescope
1889 Victoria beat New South Wales after following on (New South Wales all out 63 needed 76)
1892 Bobby Abel carries his bat for 132* for England in SCG Test
1892 Captain Lugard occupies Uganda's King Mwanga's hide out
1894 Pneumatic hammer patented by Charles King of Detroit
1894 US flag fired on in Rio; prompt satisfaction exacted by Admiral Benham
1895 C J Eady (Tasmania) 1st Australian to score twin centuries (vs Victoria)
1895 SS Elbe sinks after collision in North Sea, 332 killed
1895 Tasmania beat Victoria for 1st F-C victory in 41 years
1911 1st rescue of an air passenger by a ship, near Havana, Cuba
1913 House of Lords rejects Irish Home Rule Bill
1915 German submarine attack on Le Havre
1915 No 10 batsman F W Hyett scores century on debut, Victoria vs Tasmania
1917 1st jazz record recorded (Dark Town Strutters Ball)
1919 Reds hire Pat Moran as manager as Christy Mathewson, is still in France with US Army
1920 Québec's Joe Malone sets NHL record of 7 goals in a game
1921 French rapist-murderer Henri-Désiré Landru sentenced to death
1922 World Law Day, 1st celebrated
1922 Ted McDonald takes 8-58 in big Victorian win over New South Wales
1924 Ponsford scores second 110 of the game in Victoria win over New South Wales
1925 Turkish government throws out Constantine VI of Constantinople
1927 Left wins national election in Thüringen
1928 1st radio telephone connection between Netherlands & US
1928 Bradman scores 134 not out (225 minutes, 13 fours) New South Wales vs Victoria
1928 Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude" premieres in New York City NY
1930 Vladimir Mayakovsky's "Banya" premieres in Leningrad
1931 Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" premieres at Los Angeles Theater
1932 Grimmett 7-116 in South Africa 1st innings at Adelaide Oval
1933 "The Lone Ranger" premieres on ABC radio
1933 German President von Hindenburg appoints Hitler chancellor, Hitler forms government with Von Papen
1933 Grimmett takes 7-86 for South Africa in Queensland 2nd inn, 13-135 for match
1934 1st theatrical presentation sponsored by the US government, New York City NY
1934 Bert Ironmonger ends Sheffield Shield career age 51 years 298 days
1934 Hitler proclamation on German unified states
1935 Ezra Pound meets Mussolini, reads from a draft of "Cantos"
1936 Fans asked to pick a new name for Boston Braves; they choose "The Bees" it doesn't catch on & is scrapped by 1940 season
1936 Victoria need 442 to win against New South Wales, but lose, all out for 415
1937 2nd of Stalin's purge trials; Pyatakov & 16 others sentenced to death
1939 Hitler calls for the extermination of Jews
1939 Heavy after shocks destroy some of Chile
1940 Benjamin Britten's "Lesson Illuminations" premieres in London
1940 Cor Jongert wins 6th Dutch 11 Cities Skating Race
1940 Hassett's second 122 of the game for Victoria can't stop a New South Wales win
1941 Australian troops conquer Derna Libya
1942 Japanese troops land on Ambon
1943 6 British Mosquito's daylight bomb Berlin
1943 German assault on French in Tunisia
1943 German under officers shot down in Haarlem Netherlands
1943 Hitler promotes Friedrich von Paul to General - field marshal
1943 Illegal opposition newspaper Loyal begins publishing
1943 USS Chicago sinks in Pacific Ocean
1944 US invades Majuro, Marshall Islands
1945 German ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" torpedoed off Danzig by Soviet sub-c 7,700 die
1946 1st issue of Franklin Roosevelt dime
1948 5th Winter Olympic games open in St Moritz, Switzerland
1950 "Robert Montgomery Presents" dramatic anthology premieres on NBC TV
1951 Belgium refuses to allow communists to make speeches on radio
1952 Lehmer verifies 2^521-1 & 2^607-1 (183 ciphers) Mersenne-prime #
1952 Paul Creston's 4th Symphony, premieres
1954 Belgium ends trade agreement with USSR
1954 Italy's Fanfani government resigns
1956 Martin Luther King Jr's home bombed
1956 Elvis Presley records his version of "Blue Suede Shoes"
1956 KRMA TV channel 6 in Denver CO (PBS) begins broadcasting
1956 KTXS TV channel 12 in Sweetwater-Abilene TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
1957 US Congress accepts "Eisenhower-doctrine"
1958 1st 2-way moving sidewalk in service, Dallas TX
1958 House of Lords passes bill allowing women in
1958 Baseball announces players & coaches rather than fans pick all stars
1958 Dore Schary's "Sunrise at Campobello" premieres in New York City NY
1959 Australia 1-200 1st day 4th Test vs England, Adelaide Oval
1959 Paul Hindemith's symphony "Pittsburgh" premieres
1960 CIA oks Lockheed to produce a new U-2 aircraft (Oxcart)
1960 Dutch communist trade union EVC'58 disbands
1960 Riot curtails third day's play at Port-Of-Spain West Indies vs England
1960 US female Figure Skating championship won by Carol Heiss
1960 US male Figure Skating championship won by David Jenkins
1961 Bobby Darin is youngest performer to headline a TV special on NBC
1961 JFK asks for an Alliance for Progress & Peace Corps
1961 KAET TV channel 8 in Phoenix AZ (PBS) begins broadcasting
1961 Lance Gibbs takes hat-trick (Mackay, Grout, Misson) at Adelaide
1962 UN General Assembly censures Portugal (because of Angola)
1962 2 members of Flying Wallendas' high-wire act killed when their 7-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 Ranger 6 launched; makes perfect flight to Moon, but cameras fail
1964 Military coup of General Nguyen Khanh in South Vietnam
1965 "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis hits #3
1965 State funeral of Winston Churchill
1966 -19ºF (-28ºC), Corinth MS (state record)
1966 -27ºF (-33ºC), New Market AL (state record)
1966 Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2 05.2)
1966 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 11th string quartet
1968 Bobby Goldsboro records his biggest hit, "Honey"
1968 Vietcong launch Tet-offensive on US embassy in Saigon
1969 Beatles perform their last gig together, a 42-minute free concert on the roof of Apple HQs
1969 US/Canada ISIS 1 launched to study ionosphere
1971 "Ari" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City NY after 19 performances
1971 Dennis Lillee takes 5-84 in his 1st Test bowl, vs England
1971 UCLA starts 88 basketball game win streak
1972 Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth
1972 Bloody Sunday British soldiers shoot on catholics in Londonderry, 13 die
1973 Jury finds Watergate defendants Liddy & McCord guilty on all counts
1973 26th NHL All-Star Game East beat West 5-4 at New York Rangers
1973 KISS plays their 1st show (Coventry Club in Queens NY)
1974 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakstan/Semipalatinsk USSR
1976 1st-class debut of Dav Whatmore, in Johannesburg
1976 George Bush becomes 11th director of CIA (until 1977)
1976 William E Colby, ends term as 10th director of CIA
1977 8th (final) part of "Roots" is most-watched entertainment show ever
1977 Allan Border scores 36 in his 1st-class innings (New South Wales vs Queesland)
1977 Edward W Stack replaces Paul Kerr president of Hall of Fame
1978 Addie Joss & Larry MacPhail elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1978 Mutual Broadcasting Network begins airing Larry King Show on radio
1979 Rhodesia agrees to new constitution
1980 Edward Albee's "Lady from Dubuque" premieres in New York City NY
1981 8th American Music Award Kenny Rogers wins
1982 US female Figure Skating championship won by Rosalynn Sumners
1983 Hilbert van Thumb becomes European skating champ
1983 Pat Bradley wins LPGA Mazda of Deer Creek Golf Classic
1983 Super Bowl XVII Washington Redskins beat Miami Dolphins, 27-17 in Pasadena; Super Bowl MVP John Riggins, Washington, Running Back
1988 Hansie Cronje gets a pair in 2nd 1st-class game (OFS vs N Tvl)
1989 Joel Steinberg found guilty of 1st degree manslaughter of daughter
1989 Olympian, Bruce Kimball, is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident
1989 16th American Music Award Randy Travis & George Michael win
1989 5 pharoah sculptures from 1470 BC found at temple of Luxor
1989 Last day of 1st class cricket for Dav Whatmore
1991 Battle for Khafji in Saudi Arabia (2nd day)
1992 Space Shuttle STS-42 (Discovery 15) lands
1993 100,000n Europeans demonstrate against fascism & racism
1993 67th Australian Open Women's Tennis Monica Seles beat Graf (46 63 62)
1994 68th Australian Open Women's Tennis Steffi Graf beats Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (60 62)
1994 82nd Australian Open Men's Tennis Pete Sampras beats Todd Martin (76 64 64)
1994 Dan Jansen skates world record 500m (35.76)
1994 Kapil Dev equals Richard Hadlee's world record of 431 Test wickets
1994 Super Bowl XXVIII Dallas Cowboys beat Buffalo Bills, 30-13 in Atlanta; Super Bowl MVP Emmitt Smith, Dallas, Running Back
1995 22nd American Music Award Boyz II Men & Ace of Base win
1995 Belgium's TV channel 2 in Flanders goes on the air
1995 Car bomb explodes in Algiers, 42 killed/296 injured
1995 Kevin Eubanks officially becomes band leader of "Tonight Show"
1997 Minuteman III launches
1998 All-Star Florida Marlin catcher Darren Daulton, retires
1998 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Indianapolis IN on WNAP 93.1 FM
1998 Paul Simon's "The Capeman" premieres
2000 NFL Pro Bowl


Back in the day, today... on the 27th of January

0672 St Vitalian ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0847 Sergius II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1302 Dante becomes a Florentine political exile
1538 States of Gelderland accepts Willem van Kleef as viceroy
1556 Willem of Orange becomes knight of Guilder Flies
1593 Vatican opens 7 year trial against scholar Giordano Bruno
1662 1st American lime kiln begins operation (Providence RI)
1671 Pirate Henry Morgen lands at Panama City
1710 Czar Peter the Great sets 1st Russian state budget
1736 Abdication of Stanislas, last king of Poland
1778 Piccinni's opera "Roland" premieres, Paris
1785 1st US state university chartered, Athens GA
1823 President Monroe appoints 1st US ambassadors to South America
1864 Civil War skirmish at Kelly's Ford VA
1864 Battle of Fair Gardens, Tennessee
1870 1st sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) (DePauw University in Greencastle IN)
1870 Manitoba & Northwest Territories incorporated
1870 After accepting 15th amendment, Virginia is readmitted to Union
1880 Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp
1886 1st British government of Salisbury resigns
1888 National Geographic Society organizes (Washington DC)
1891 Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant PA
1894 1st college basketball game, University of Chicago beats Chicago YMCA 19-11
1894 Midwinter Fair opens in Golden Gate Park
1896 Tasmania bowl out Victoria for 65 for their 1st ever innings victory
1897 British troops occupy Bida Gold Coast (Ghana)
1900 Social Democrat Party of America (Debs' party) holds 1st convention
1902 5 workers killed on explosion during IRT subway construction (New York City NY)
1905 Maurice Rouvier forms government in France
1906 Rudolf Gundersen skates world record 500m at 44.8 seconds
1908 Pasiphaë, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Melotte
1915 US Marines occupy Haiti
1916 Communist party "Spartacus Letters" 1st published in Berlin
1917 Coen de Koning wins 2nd official 11 cities race (9 53) (record)
1918 "Tarzan of the Apes", 1st Tarzan film, premieres at Broadway Theater
1924 Egyptian king Foead nominates Saad Zaghloel Pasja premier
1924 Lenin placed in Mausoleum in Red Square
1926 US Senate agrees to join World Court
1927 Harlem Globetrotters play their 1st game
1933 Otto Meisnner dines with British ambassador Rumbold
1934 27th Australian Men's Tennis Open Fred Perry beat Crawford (63 75 61)
1934 French government of Chautemps falls (Stavisky Affair)
1934 VARA refuses to hire after commemoration of Marinus Van de Lubbe
1940 -17ºF (-27ºC), CCC Camp F-16, Georgia (state record)
1941 Peruvian agent Rivera-Schreibér warns of Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor
1942 -19ºF (-27.4ºC), Netherlands' coldest day since 1850
1943 1st US air attack on Germany (Wilhelmshafen)
1944 Casey Stengel, manager of the Boston Braves since 1938, resigns Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, & Joseph Maney buy control of Boston Braves
1944 Leningrad liberated from Germany in 880 days with 600,000 killed
1945 Nazi occupiers forbid food transport to West (The Netherlands)
1945 Russia liberates Auschwitz & Birkenau Concentration Camp (Poland)
1945 S Romberg, H&D Fields' musical premieres in New York City NY
1945 Wally van Hall, "banker in defiance", arrested
1948 1st locomotive to carry 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) operates
1948 1st tape recorder sold
1949 Chinese liner "Taiping" collides with a collier off south China
1950 2nd Emmy Awards Ed Wynn Show & Texaco Star Theater win
1951 "Peter Pan" closes at Imperial Theater New York City NY after 320 performances
1951 US begins 126 nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site
1953 Netherlands end Marshall aid
1955 "Plain & Fancy" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City NY for 476 performances
1956 NFL's New York Giants switches games from Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium
1957 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Lake Worth Golf Open
1958 Ferenc Münnich follows Kádár as premier of Hungary
1961 "Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres on NBC TV
1962 "Family Affair" opens at Billy Rose Theater New York City NY for 65 performances
1963 Jevgeni Grishin skates world record 500m in 39.6 seconds
1963 Sam Rice, Eppa Rixey, Elmer Flick, & John Clarkson elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1964 "Introducing the Beatles" album released in US
1964 Margaret Chase Smith (Senator-R-ME) tries for Republican Presidential bid
1964 Barlow & Graeme Pollock complete 341 stand at Adelaide Oval
1965 1st ground station-to-aircraft radio communication via satellite
1965 Ground breaking for "Dragon Gateway" at Grant Avenue
1966 Wisconsin State Circuit Court Judge Elmer W Roller rules either the Braves stay in Milwaukee or National League must promise Wisconsin an expansion team for 1966
1967 Apollo 1 fire kills astronauts Grissom, White & Chaffee
1967 Beatles sign a 9 year worldwide contract with EMI records
1967 New Orleans Saints sign their 1st player (Paige Cothren-kicker)
1967 Treaty banning military use of nuclear weapons in space, signed
1968 "Darling of the Day" opens at George Abbott Theater New York City NY for 31 performances
1969 Actress Thelma Ritter suffers a heart attack (she dies Feb 4th)
1969 14 spies hung in Baghdad
1969 9 Jews publicly executed in Damascus Syria
1969 Noordiers vicar Ian Paisley sentenced to 3 years
1970 Movie rating system modifies "M" rating to "PG"
1971 Montgomery St Station, last link in BART, `holed thru'
1973 UCLA's basketball team wins 61st consecutive game (NCAA record)
1973 US & Vietnam sign cease-fire, ending longest US war & military draft
1973 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn (her 5th consecutive win)
1973 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr
1973 William Rogers & Nguyen Duy Trinh sign US-N Vietnam treaty
1974 "Lorelei" opens at Palace Theater New York City NY for 320 performances
1976 "Laverne & Shirley" spin-off from "Happy Days" premieres on ABC TV
1976 9th ABA All-Star Game Denver 144 beats ABA 138 at Denver
1976 Morocco-Algeria battles in Westerly Sahara
1976 Viv Richards scores his 1st Test century against Australia
1977 President Carter pardons most Vietnam War draft evaders (10,000)
1977 1st broadcast of "Roots" mini-series on ABC TV
1979 Islanders ends 23 undefeated games at home streak (15-0-8)
1979 36th Golden Globes Midnight Express, Jon Voight & Jane Fonda
1980 "Comin' Uptown" closes at Winter Garden Theater New York City NY after 45 performances
1980 10th NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 37-27
1982 "Joseph & the Amazing Dreamcoat" opens at Royale New York City NY for 747 performances
1982 Mauno Koivisto installed as President of Finland
1982 Philadelphia trades Larry Bowa & Ryne Sandberg to Cubs for Ivan DeJesus
1982 Roberto S Cordova installed as President of Honduras
1982 West Indies beat Australia 3-1 to win World Series Cup
1983 World's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.90 km) opens, Honshu-Hokkaid
1984 John & Yoko release "Milk & Honey" album
1984 Los Angeles Kings end Wayne Gretzky's NHL-record 51-game scoring streak
1984 Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi commercial
1985 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 returns to Earth
1985 "Doug Henning & His World..." closes at Lunt-Fontanne NY after 60 performances
1985 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1985 Mark Mckoy cycles world record 50m hurdles indoor (5.25)
1985 NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 22-14
1986 13th American Music Award Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis & Crystal Gayle
1987 Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers for AWA World Tag Team
1988 Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves nomination of Judge Anthony M Kennedy to US Supreme Court
1989 Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games
1989 Oklahoma's linebacker, Mark VanKeirsblilck assaults an Oklahoma grad student
1989 German war criminals Fischer & Austrian der Fünten freed
1990 Dissolution of Polish communist party
1990 64th Australian Open Women's Tennis Steffi Graf beats Mary Jo Fernandez (63 64)
1991 79th Australian Open Men's Tennis Boris Becker beats Ivan Lendl (16 64 64 64)
1991 Dutch PSP, Pacifist Socialistic Party, disbands
1991 Nadine Strossen is 1st female president of the ACLU
1991 Super Bowl XXV New York Giants beat Buffalo Bills, 20-19 in Tampa; Super Bowl MVP Ottis Anderson, New York Giants, Running Back
1992 Mike Tyson goes on trial for rape (he is found guilty)
1992 "Crazy He Calls Me" opens at Walter Kerr Theater New York City NY for 7 performances
1992 19th American Music Award C & C Music Factory, Michael Bolton win
1992 Jane Fonda undergoes arthroscopic surgery on her right knee
1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) & Genifer Flowers accuse each other of lying over her assertion they had a 12-year affair
1993 DC-3 crashes in Kinshasa, killing 12
1994 "No Man's Land" opens at Criterion Theater New York City NY for 61 performances
1994 Carlos Reina succeeds President Callejas in Honduras
1994 Romanian social-democrats form government with anti-Semites
1995 69th Australian Open Women's Tennis Mary Pierce beats A S Vicario (63 62)
1996 15 day old siamese twins separated-Sarah Morales survives, Sarahi dies
1996 70th Australian Open Women's Tennis Monica Seles beats Anke Huber (64 61)
1996 Catherine Roskam becomes the 1st New York female Episcopal bishop
1996 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1996 Germany celebrates its 1st Holocaust Remembrance Day
1996 Shiv Chanderpaul scores 303* for Guyana vs Jamaica at Kingston
1997 "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" opens at Gershwin New York City NY
1997 24th American Music Award Toni Braxton & Alanis Morissette win
1998 Crane crashes into Roosevelt Is (New York City NY) Tram, injuring 10
1998 Roland Clarkson discovers 2^3021377-1 (37th known Mersenne prime)
1998 WNBA begins filling rosters of Washington Mystics & Detroit Shock

Back in the day, today... on the 26th of January

0066 5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1340 English king Edward III proclaimed king of France
1531 Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die
1654 Portuguese troops conquer last Dutch base on Recife
1666 France declares war on England & Münster
1689 Jean Racine's "Esther" premieres in Saint-Cyr
1697 Isaac Newton receives Jean Bernoulli's 6 month time-limit problem, solves problem before going to bed that same night
1699 Venice, Poland & Austria sign peace treaty with Turkey
1736 Stanislaw Lesczynski flees Polish throne
1748 England, Netherlands, Austria & Sardinia sign anti-French treaty
1784 Ben Franklin expresses unhappiness over the eagle as America's symbol
1788 Captain Arthur Phillip forms English colony at Sydney, Botany Bay New South Wales as a penal colony
1789 John Odell signs contract for £336 to build St Peter's church (Bronx)
1790 Mozart's opera "Cosi Fan Tutte" premieres in Vienna
1797 Russia, Prussia & Austria sign treaty
1802 Congress passes an act calling for a US Capitol library
1833 Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Lucrezia Borgia" premieres in Milan
1837 Michigan admitted as 26th US state
1838 Tennessee becomes 1st state to prohibit alcohol
1841 Hong Kong proclaimed a sovereign territory of Britain
1850 1st German-language daily newspaper in US published, New York City NY
1861 Louisiana becomes 6th state to secede
1862 Lincoln issues General War Order #1, calling for a Union offensive McClellan ignores order
1863 War Department authorizes Massachusetts Governor to recruit black troops
1863 54th Regiment (Black) infantry forms
1870 Virginia rejoins the US
1871 US income tax repealed
1871 British Rugby Union forms
1875 Electric dental drill is patented by George F Green
1881 Union of Baptists Communities forms in Foxholl
1882 France government of Gambetta falls
1884 1st Dutch Wagner version of Elizabeth aria
1885 Muhammad Ahmed ("Mahdi") rebels conquer Khartoum
1886 Karl Benz patents 1st auto with burning motor
1887 Battle of Dogali Abyssinian Emperor John IV defeats Italians
1891 Oscar Wilde's "Duchess of Padua" premieres in New York City NY
1897 Battle at Bida Gold Coast British troops beat Nupe's army
1900 Henrik Ibsen's "Naar vi Dode Vaaguer" premieres in Stuttgart
1905 Arnold Schönberg's "Pelleas und Melissande" premieres in Vienna
1905 Han Yong-woon [Bongwan, Manhae] (1879-1944) ordained a monk in Korea
1905 World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found in South Africa
1907 1st federal corrupt election practices law passed
1907 J M Synge's "Playboy of the Western World" opens; police are called
1910 Heavy rains cause floods in Paris
1911 Glenn Curtiss pilots 1st successful hydroplane, San Diego CA
1911 Richard Strauss's opera "Die Rosenkavalier" premieres, Dresden
1913 Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for being a pro
1914 600 Dutch textile workers go on strike
1914 Vatican puts Belgian Nobel winner Maeterlinck's works in their index
1915 Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado established
1918 US food administrator Hoover calls for "wheatless" & "meatless" days for war effort
1920 Amadeo Modigliani's mistress jumps out of a window
1921 Toronto St Pat Corb Denneny scores 6 goals vs Hamilton Tigers
1921 Soccer team GVAV of Groningen Netherlands forms
1922 Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Pastoral Symphony" premieres in London
1924 Charles Jewtraw, US 500m skater, takes 1st Winter Olympics gold medal
1926 Television 1st demonstrated (John L Baird, London)
1927 Maxwell Anderson's "Saturday's Children" premieres in New York City NY
1929 Indian National Congress proclaims goal for India's independence
1930 Cleveland's Terminal Tower opens (52 stories)
1931 Hungary-Austria sign peace treaty
1931 Lynn Riggs' "Green Grow the Lilacs" premieres in New York City NY
1932 KUT-AM in Austin Texas changes call letters to KNOW
1932 British submarine M-2 sinks in Channel (60 dead)
1934 Bradman scores 128 New South Wales vs Victoria, 96 minutes, 17 fours 4 sixes
1934 Nazi Germany & Poland sign non-attack treaty for 10 years
1939 Federal Hall National Monument established
1939 Filming begins on "Gone With the Wind"
1939 Franco conquers Barcelona
1940 Nazis forbid Polish Jews to travel on trains
1942 1st US force in Europe during WWII goes ashore in Northern Ireland
1942 Italian supreme command demands dismissal of German marshal Rommel
1945 Soviet forces reach Auschwitz concentration camp
1947 KLM Dakota crashes near Copenhagen, 22 die
1948 Executive Order 9981, end segregation in US Armed Forces signed
1949 WHIO TV channel 7 in Dayton, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting
1950 India becomes a republic ceasing to be a British dominion
1951 Mel Ott & Jimmie Foxx elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1954 Ground breaking begins on Disneyland
1956 7th Winter Olympic games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
1956 Porkkala military base returned to Finland by USSR
1956 Buddy Holly's 1st formal recording session
1956 Hank Greenberg & Joe Cronin are elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1957 Bernanos & Poulenc's opera "Dialogue des Carmelites" premieres
1957 Dutch PSP, Pacifist Socialistic Party, forms
1957 India annexes Kashmir
1957 Joseph F Cairnes succeeds Lou Perini as president of Milwaukee Braves
1958 Jack Smith takes over for Art Baker as TV host of "You Asked for It"
1958 H Laskow replaces Moshe Dayan as Israeli minister of Defense
1958 Marlene Hagge wins LPGA Lake Worth Open Golf Invitational
1959 Italy government of Fanfani resigns
1959 KOKH TV channel 25 in Oklahoma City OK, (IND/PBS) begins broadcasting
1960 Danny Heater scores 135 points in basketball game (Boys' High School)
1960 Oakland enters the AFL
1960 Pete Rozelle elected NFL commissioner on the 23rd ballot
1961 1st woman "personal physician to President"-JG Travell
1961 "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" by Elvis Presley peaks to #1
1962 US launches Ranger 3, misses Moon by 22,000-mile (37,000-km)
1962 Bishop Burke of Buffalo Catholic dioceses declares Chubby Checker's "Twist" is impure & bans it from all Catholic schools
1962 Canadian Marine Service renamed Coast Guard
1962 David Diamond's 7th Symphony, premieres in Philadelphia
1963 "Milk & Honey" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City NY after 543 performances
1963 Major League Rules Committee votes to expand strike zone
1965 South Vietnam military coup under General Nguyen Khanh
1966 Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2 06.2)
1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1968 Israeli submarine Dakar crashes in Mediterranean Sea, 69 die
1969 "Red, White, & Maddox" opens at Cort Theater New York City NY for 41 performances
1970 Pendleton, Ford & Cryer's "Last Sweet Days of Isaac" premieres in New York City NY
1971 Dutch 2nd Chamber accept law against limitation of war crimes
1972 Stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160m fall without parachute
1973 Belgium government of Leburton forms
1975 Edward Albee's "Seascape" premieres in New York City NY
1976 Israel opens "Good Fence" to Lebanon
1976 6th NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 23-20
1976 Belgium catholic elite start amnesty campaign for war criminals
1976 David Mamet's "American Buffalo" premieres in New York City NY
1977 Soviet figure skaters Sergei Shakrai & Marine Tcherkasova are 1st to perform a quadruple twist lift, Helsinki
1978 Frank Herbert completes his novel "Destination Void"
1978 International Ultraviolet Explorer placed in Earth orbit
1978 Mario Soares forms Portuguese government
1978 Strikers riot in Tunisia, killing about 40
1979 "The Dukes of Hazzard" premieres on CBS's vast wasteland
1979 Music Center Vredenburg opens in Utrecht Netherlands
1980 175,000 pay to hear Frank Sinatra sing in Rio de Janeiro!
1980 Islanders & Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game
1980 Israel & Egypt establish diplomatic relations
1980 Mary Decker became 1st woman to run a mile in under 4½ minutes
1981 Sandeep Patil scores memorable 174 vs Australia at Adelaide Oval
1982 Islanders score 4 goals within 1 38, 5 within 2 37 vs Penguins
1982 Mauno Koivisto elected President of Finland
1983 Dutch/British infrared satellite IRAS launched from California
1984 Nordiques' Michel Goulet scored on 9th penalty shot against Islanders
1984 US navy exhibits Piasecki helistat-4 helicopters & a blimp able to lift 26 tons-Lakehurst New Jersey
1985 Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season
1985 42th Golden Globes Amadeus wins
1986 Hein Vergeer becomes European skating champ
1986 Super Bowl XX Chicago Bears beat New England Patriots, 46-10 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Richard Dent, Chicago, Defensive End
1986 Val Skinner wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1986 Yoweri Museveni's rebel army conquerors Kampala Uganda
1987 14th American Music Award Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie & Alabama
1987 Hart Foundation beat British Bulldogs for WWF tag team title
1988 Australia's 200th anniversary-parade of tall ships in Sydney Harbor
1988 "Phantom of the Opera" opens at Majestic Theater New York City NY for 4,000+ performances
1989 AT&T reports 1st loss in 103 years; $1.67 B in 1988
1989 Madison Square Garden announces 2-year $100 M renovation plan
1989 US computer security expert warns of catastrophic virus
1989 "Black & Blue" opens at Minskoff Theater New York City NY for 829 performances
1989 Allan Border takes 7-46 against the West Indies at the SCG
1989 Test debut of Mark Taylor, Australia vs West Indies, Sydney
1990 Annular eclipse visible over Antarctica & South Atlantic
1990 Boston Red Sox hires Elaine Weddington as assistant GM (highest-ranking black female in a major-league front office)
1991 "Few Good Men" closes at Music Box Theater New York City NY after 497 performances
1991 65th Australian Womens Tennis Monica Seles beats J Novotna (57 63 61)
1991 Alfaro Vive guerrilla group of Ecuador gives arms to Catholic church
1991 Houston guard Vernon Maxwell is 4th NBAer to score 30 points in a quarter
1991 Jan Stenerud becomes 1st pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame
1991 New York Lotto pays $90 million to nine winner (#s are 5-15-30-35-46-50)
1992 "Little Hotel on the Side" opens at Belasco Theater New York City NY for 41 performances
1992 80th Australian Mens Tennis Jim Courier beats Stefan Edberg (63 36 64 62)
1992 Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect
1992 Super Bowl XXVI Washington Redskins beat Buffalo Bills, 37-24 in Minnesota; Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien, Washington, Quarterback
1993 West Indies defeat Australia by one run in 4th Test at Adelaide
1995 New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman, dedicates a rest stop to Howard Stern
1996 "Les Miserables" opens at Musichall Theatre, Duisburg
1997 "Ideal Husband" closes at Barrymore Theater New York City NY after 308 performances
1997 85th Australian Mens Tennis Pete Sampras beats Carlos Moya (62 63 63)
1997 Brunswick World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by John Gant
1997 Super Bowl XXXI Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard, Green Bay, Kick Returner
1998 25th American Music Award Spice Girls & Babyface win
1998 Intel launches 333 MHz Pentium II chip
1998 President Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky"

Back in the day, today.... on the 25th of January

0844 Gregory IV begins & ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1139 Godfried II the Young becomes duke of Brabant
1327 King Edward III accedes to British throne
1348 Earthquake destroys Villach, killing 5,000
1494 Alfonso II replaces his father as king of Naples
1533 England's King Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn (approximate date)
1554 Sir Thomas Wyatt gathers an army in Kent, rebels against Queen Mary
1565 Battle at Talikota India Moslems destroy Vijayanagar's army
1579 Treaty of Utrecht signed, marks beginning of Dutch Republic
1721 Czar Peter the Great ends Russian-orthodox patriarchy
1775 Americans drag cannon up hill to fight British (Gun Hill Road, Bronx)
1787 Shays' Rebellion suffers a setback when debt-ridden farmers, led by Captain Daniel Shays, fail to capture an arsenal at Springfield MA
1799 1st US patent for a seeding machine, Eliakim Spooner, Vermont
1802 Napoleon elected President of the Italian (Cisalpine) Republic
1817 Rossini's opera "La Cenerentola" premieres in Rome
1825 1st US engineering college opens, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Troy NY
1835 Vincenzo Bellini's opera "I Puritani" premieres in Paris
1844 Recontre between Representatives Weller & Shriver, US House of Representatives
1851 Sojourner Truth addresses 1st Black Women's Rights Convention (Akron)
1854 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's "Bednost ne Porok" premieres in Moscow
1856 Battle of Seattle; skirmish between settlers & Indians
1858 Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" 1st played, at wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria, to crown prince of Prussia
1863 Battle of Kinston NC
1863 General Joseph Hooker replaces Burnside as head of Army of Potomac
1865 The CSS Shenandoah arrives in Melbourne, Australia
1870 Soda fountain patented by Gustavus Dows
1875 Anti-slavery society formed in NY
1877 Congress determines presidential election between Hayes-Tilden
1882 Bilu, a Russian Zionist organization, forms
1885 Vincent d'Indy's "Saugefleurie" premieres
1890 National Afro-American League forms in Chicago
1890 Nellie Bly beats Phileas Fogg's time around world by 8 days (72 days)
1890 United Mine Workers of America forms
1894 James J Corbett KOs Charley Mitchell in 3 for heavyweight boxing title
1902 Aleksandr Skriabin's 2nd Symphony in C premieres in St Petersburg
1904 179 die in coal mine explosion at Cheswick PA
1904 J M Synge's "Ruders to the Sea" premieres in Dublin
1906 Del Valle Inclans "El Marqués de Bradomin" premieres in Madrid
1907 Julia Ward Howe is 1st woman elected to National Institute of Arts & Letters
1908 John Blocks' opera "Baldie" premieres in Antwerp
1909 Richard Strauss' premier of "Electricity" in Dresden
1910 1st stumping by a 12th man in Tests (N C Tufnell, South Africa vs England)
1910 Children initiate idea of planting trees in Jerusalem
1915 Transcontinental telephone service inaugurated (New York to San Francisco)
1915 Giordano, Sardou & Moreau's opera "Madame Sans Gêne" premieres in New York City NY
1916 Montenegro surrenders to Austria-Hungary
1918 Russia declared a republic of Soviets
1919 Founding of League of Nations, 1st meeting 1 year later
1921 Karel Capék's "RUR" premieres in Prague
1923 NVV donates ƒ100,000 to mine workers of Ruhrgebied
1924 1st Winter Olympic games open in Chamonix, France
1929 Bradman scores 340* for New South Wales vs Victoria, 488 minutes, 38 fours
1932 1st commencement exercises at Hebrew University in Jerusalem
1932 Bradman scores 167 New South Wales vs Victoria, 224 minutes, 22 fours
1937 Miami-to-Tampa bus overturned in a canal, kills 13
1937 Soap Opera "Guiding Light" premieres on NBC radio
1938 Ian Hay's "Bachelor Born" premieres in New York City NY
1939 Earthquake hits Chillán Chile, 10,000 killed
1939 Joe Louis KOs John Henry Lewis in 1 for heavyweight boxing title
1940 Nazi decrees the establishment of Jewish ghetto in Lodz Poland
1945 Grand Rapids MI becomes 1st US city to fluoridate its water
1945 Dan Topping, Del Webb & Larry MacPhail purchase New York Yankees for $2.8 million
1945 Japanese occupiers of Batavia arrest Indo-European youths
1945 West Africa 82nd division occupies Myohaung, Burma
1946 United Mine Workers union rejoins American Federation of Labor
1946 Richard Strauss' "Metamorphosis" premieres in Zurich
1949 1st Emmy Awards NBC's "The Necklace", Shirley Dinsdale & Pantomime Quiz (KTLA) win
1949 1st Israeli election - Ben-Gurion's Mapai party wins
1950 73ºF (23ºC) highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in January
1951 UN begins counter offensive in Korea
1952 Test debut of Richie Benaud, vs West Indies at the SCG
1953 WABI TV channel 5 in Bangor ME (CBS) begins broadcasting
1953 Yuri Sergejev skates world record 500m in 40.9 seconds
1955 Jill Kinmont hits a tree & breaks her back in Snow Cup Ski Race
1955 Russia ends state of war with Germany
1955 Columbia University scientists develop an atomic clock accurate to within one second in 300 years
1955 US & Panamá sign canal treaty
1956 96.5 cm (38.0") of rainfall, Kilauea Plantation, HI (state record)
1957 FBI arrests Jack & Myra Sobel, charged with spying for the USSR
1959 1st transcontinental commercial jet flight (American) (Los Angeles to New York for $301)
1959 Pope John XXIII proclaims 2nd Vatican council
1961 1st live, nationally televised Presidential news conference (JFK)
1961 Walt Disney's "101 Dalmations" released
1961 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Naples Pro-Am Golf Tournament
1961 Military coup in El Salvador
1964 Beatles 1st US #1, "I Want to Hold your Hand" (Cashbox)
1964 Echo 2, US communications satellite launched
1966 WCMC (now WMGM) TV channel 40 in Wildwood New Jersey (NBC) 1st broadcast
1968 Risse St in the Bronx named for Louis Risse (engineer who pioneered underpasses at major intersections)
1968 Robert Anderson's "I Never Sang for My Father" premieres in New York City NY
1969 US-North Vietnamese peace talks begin in Paris
1970 Robert Altman's "M*AS*H" premieres
1971 Charles Manson & 3 women followers convicted of Tate-LaBianca murders
1971 Himachal Pradesh becomes 18th Indian state
1971 Philadelphia mint's 1st trial strike of the Eisenhower dollar
1971 Military coup in Uganda under General Idi Amin Dada
1971 WHMB TV channel 40 in Indianapolis IN (IND) begins broadcasting
1972 7' Ohio State center Luke Witte is stomped in face during a brawl in a game with Minnesota
1972 25th NHL All-Star Game East beats West 3-2 at Minnesota
1974 Bülent Ecevit forms government in Turkey
1974 Ray Kroc, CEO (McDonald's), buys San Diego Padres for $12 million
1974 South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard transplanted the first human heart without removal of the old one
1975 10th hat trick in Islander history-Denis Potvin's 1st
1975 Parliament disposes of premier sheik Mujib ur-Rahman
1976 Surinder Amarnath scores 124 on Test debut India vs New Zealand Auckland
1978 Muriel Humphrey (D-MN) appointed to fill late husband's Senate seat
1978 Padres trade pitcher Dave Tomlin & $125,000 to Rangers for Gaylord Perry (He wins 1978 Cy Young Award)
1979 22.2-km Oshimizu railroad tunnel holed through, central Honshu, Japan
1979 Pope John Paul II's 1st overseas trip as supreme pontiff
1980 Highest speed attained by a warship, 167 kph, USN hovercraft
1980 Paul McCartney is released from Tokyo jail & deported
1980 Bani Sadr elected President of Iran
1980 Dutch Government demands boycott of Olympics
1981 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived back in US
1981 Mao's widow Jiang Qing sentenced to death
1981 Super Bowl XV Oakland Raiders beat Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Jim Plunkett, Oakland, Quarterback
1982 9th American Music Award Kenny Rogers win
1983 China's supreme court commutes Chiang Ch'ing's death sentence to life
1983 Infrared telescope satellite launched into polar orbit
1983 Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie arrested in Bolivia
1985 "Black & Blue" premieres in Paris
1985 Test debut of Wasim Akram, vs New Zealand at Auckland (2-105)
1986 General Tito Okello's government flees Kampala Uganda
1987 75th Australian Mens Tennis S Edberg beats Pat Cash (63 64 36 57 63)
1987 Super Bowl XXI New York Giants beat Denver Broncos, 39-20 in Pasadena; Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms, New York Giants, Quarterback
1988 George Harrison releases "When We Was Fab"
1988 Longest winless streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history (15 games)
1988 Vice President Bush & Dan Rather clash on "CBS Evening News" as Rather attempts to question Bush about his role in the Iran-Contra affair
1988 15th American Music Award Anita Baker, Paul Simon & Whitney Houston
1988 Ramsewak Shankar sworn in as President of Suriname
1989 Michael Jordan scores his 10,000th NBA point in his 5th season
1989 Yank owner George Steinbrenner meets with Pope John Paul II
1989 Augusto Alcalde, 1st South American Zen teacher, receives Dharma Transmission
1990 Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is transferred to a Miami jail
1990 Avianca Flight 52, runs out of fuel & crashes in Cove Neck NY, 73 die
1990 West-Europe's strongest hurricane
1991 Manuel Noriega is given access to assets frozen by US government
1991 Brett Hull is 3rd NHLer to score 50 goals in less than 50 games (49)
1991 Mark Waugh scores ton in 1st Test Cricket innings, vs England Adelaide
1991 Soap opera "Generation's" last episode after a 2½ year run
1992 66th Australian Women's Tennis Monica Seles beats M Fernandez (62 63)
1992 Dan Jansen skates world record 500m in 36.41"
1992 Hubble space telescope optics finds NGC3862/3C264
1993 20th American Music Award Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey win
1993 Puerto Rico adds English as its 2nd official language
1993 Sears announces it is closing its catalog sales department after 97 years
1994 Accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy, Michael Jackson settles a civil lawsuit out of court
1994 Australia beat South Africa 2-1 to win the World Series Cup
1994 Mine fire at Asansol India, kills 55
1994 US space probe Clementine launched
1995 Jacques Santer succeeds Jacques Delors as chairman of European Committee
1997 71st Australian Women's Tennis Martina Hingis beat Mary Pierce (62 62)
1998 "Grease" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater New York City NY after 1,503 performance
1998 "Patti LaBelle On Broadway" closes at St James Theater New York City NY
1998 Britain's Queen Mother, 97, gets an emergency hip replacement
1998 Helen Alfredsson wins Office Depot LPGA tournament
1998 Spice Girl Victoria Adams (Posh) & soccer David Beckham gets engaged
1998 Super Bowl XXXII Denver Broncos beat Green Bay Packers 31-24 in San Diego; Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis, Denver, Running Back
1985 "We are the World" is recorded

Back in the day, today... on the 24th of January

0772 Stephen III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0817 Stephen IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0817 St Paschal I begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Stephen IV
1076 Synod of Worms German King Henry IV fires Pope Gregory VII
1118 Giovanni Caetani elected Pope Gelasius II
1328 King Edward III of England marries Philippa of Henegouwen
1458 Matthias I Corvinus chosen king of Hungary
1534 François I signs classified treaty with evangelical German monarchy
1568 In the Netherlands, Duke of Alva declares William of Orange an outlaw
1568 Abdij Church in Middelburg destroyed by fire
1613 Amsterdam merchant Hans Bontemantel baptized
1616 Jacques Le Maire discovers Street Lemaire/Cape Receiver
1634 Emperor Ferdinand II declares Albrecht von Wallenstein a traitor
1639 Connecticut colony organizes under Fundamental Orders
1644 Battle at Nantwich Cheshire Parliamentary armies win
1652 Duke of Orléans joins Fronde rebels
1656 1st Jewish doctor in US, Jacob Lumbrozo, arrives in Maryland
1659 Pierre Corneille's "Oedipe" premieres in Paris
1679 King Charles II disbands English parliament
1722 Edward Wigglesworth appointed 1st US divinity professor (Harvard)
1722 Czar Peter the Great begins civil system
1742 German leaders elect Charles VII Albert Emperor
1764 Governor Winthrop Telescope, is destroyed in a Harvard fire
1839 Charles Darwin elected member of Royal Society
1847 1,500 New Mexican Indians & Mexicans defeated by US Colonel Price
1848 James Marshall finds gold in Sutter's Mill in Coloma CA
1861 Arsenal at Augusta GA seized by Confederacy
1861 Federal troops from Fort Monroe are sent to Fort Pikens
1862 Romania principality arises under King Alexander Cuza
1874 General J van Swieten conquers Kraton Atjeh, after 1000's die
1874 Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov" premieres in St Petersburg Russia
1875 Camille Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre" premieres
1892 Battle at Mengo, Uganda French missionaries attack British missionaries
1899 Rubber heel patented by Humphrey O'Sullivan
1899 Belgium government of Vandenpeereboom forms
1900 Newcastle Badminton Club, world's oldest, formed in England
1900 Battle at Tugela-Spionkop, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
1901 1st games played in baseball's American League
1901 Emily Hobhouse views Lord Kitchener's concentration camp at Bloemfontein
1902 Denmark sells Virgin Islands to USA
1908 General Baden-Powell starts Boy-Scouts
1913 Franz Kafka stops working on "Amerika"; it will never be finished
1914 The opera "Madeleine" is produced (New York City NY)
1915 German-British sea battle at Doggersbank & Helgoland
1922 -54ºF (-48ºC), Danbury WI (state record)
1922 Eskimo Pie patented by Christian K Nelson of Iowa (not an Eskimo)
1922 Lehman Caves National Monument established
1923 Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico established
1924 Mussolini disallows non-fascists work union
1924 Russian city of St Petersburg renamed Leningrad
1925 Moving picture of a solar eclipse taken from dirigible over Long Island
1925 Sandler follows Branting as premier of Sweden
1930 J E Mills scores 117 on Test Cricket debut, New Zealand vs England, Wellington
1930 Stewie Dempster scores New Zealand's 1st Test century
1933 Noël Coward's "Design for Living" premieres in New York City NY
1935 1st canned beer, "Krueger Cream Ale", is sold by Kruger Brewing Co in Richmond VA
1936 Benny Goodman & orchestra record "Stompin' at the Savoy" on Victor Records
1939 30,000 killed by earthquake in Concepcion Chile
1939 Eddie Collins, Willie Keeler & George Sisler elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1939 Spanish government moves to Figueras
1941 British troops march into Abyssinia
1942 Musical "Star & Garter" premieres in New York City NY
1943 Hitler orders nazi troops at Stalingrad to fight to death
1943 Jewish patients/nurses/doctors incinerated at Auschwitz-Birkenau
1944 Allied troops occupy Nettuno Italy
1945 Scottish 52nd Lowland division occupies Heinsberg
1947 NFL adds 5th official (back judge) & allows sudden death in playoffs
1948 "Music in My Heart" closes at Adelphi Theater New York City NY after 124 performances
1948 Australia all out 674 vs India (Bradman 201, Hassett 198*)
1948 Dutch Liberal Party forms-People's party for Freedom & Democracy (VVD)
1950 Jackie Robinson signs highest contract ($35,000) in Dodger history
1951 Dutch government Drees-van Schaik resigns
1952 Fire in main building of French Port Martin Antarctic base
1952 1st NFL team in Texas, Dallas Texans formerly New York Yankees
1954 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Tampa Women's Golf Open
1954 BPAA All-Star Tournament won by Don Carter
1956 96.5 cm precipitation at Kilauea Plantation, Hawaii (state record)
1958 After warming to 100,000,000º, 2 light atoms are bashed together to create a heavier atom, resulting in 1st man-made nuclear fusion
1959 "Party with Comden & Green" closes at John Golden New York City NY after 38 performances
1959 Dmitri Shostakovich's comedy "Cheryomushk" premieres in Moscow
1959 WHCT TV channel 18 in Hartford CT (IND) begins broadcasting
1960 Algeria uprises against French President De Gaulle
1961 Lazard Brithers Ltd draw a check for $334,867,807.68
1961 Edward Albee's "American Dream" premieres in New York City NY
1962 28 refugees escape from East to West Germany
1962 Brian Epstein signs management contract with the Beatles
1962 Jackie Robinson is 1st Black elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1962 Mickey Wright/Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Naples Pro-Am Golf Tournament
1963 Buddy Rogers & Lou Thesz wrestle in Toronto, Rogers becomes WWF wrestling champ & Thesz becomes NWA champ
1964 CBS purchases 1964 & 1965 NFL TV rights for $28.2 million
1964 24th Amendment to US Constitution goes into effect & states voting rights could not be denied due to failure to pay taxes
1964 Martin Kresses final comic strip of Eric the Viking
1966 WDIO TV channel 10 in Duluth MN (ABC) begins broadcasting
1969 Queen Juliana appointed honorary citizen of Addis Ababa
1969 Spanish General Franco announces state of emergency
1970 3rd ABA All-Star Game West 128 beats East 98 at Indiana
1970 Valeri Muratov skates world record 500m (38.99 seconds)
1971 NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 27-6 (1st Pro Bowl after NFL-AFL merger)
1972 WRIP (now WDSI) TV channel 61 in Chattanooga TN (IND) 1st broadcast
1973 Warren Spahn is elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1975 "Hot l Baltimore" situation comedy premieres on ABC TV
1975 Fastest Earth-bound object, 7200 kph, in vacuum centrifuge, England
1976 Cleveland Cavaliers biggest margin victory-43 points (beat Milwaukee 132-89)
1976 George Foreman KOs Ron Lyle in 5th round of a real slugfest
1977 5 lawyers murdered by fascist in Madrid
1978 31st NHL All-Star Game Wales beat Campbell 3-2 (OT) at Buffalo
1978 Carter Executive Order on Intelligence (#12036)
1979 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1981 Islanders scored 5 power play goals against Nordiques
1981 Kim Hughes scores 213 vs India at Adelaide
1982 Super Bowl XVI San Francisco 49ers beat Cincinnati Bengals, 26-21 in Pontiac MI; Super Bowl MVP Joe Montana, San Francisco, Quarterback
1983 Hulk Hogan pins the Iron Sheik for World Wrestling Federation title
1984 Apple Computer Inc unveils its Macintosh personal computer
1985 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 is launched
1986 New York Islander Mike Bossy scores his 1,000th point
1986 Voyager 2 makes 1st fly-by of Uranus (81,593 km), finds new moons
1986 43rd Golden Globes Whoopi Goldberg, Color Purple win
1986 South Yemen Premier Haydar Bakr al-Attas becomes interim-president
1987 61st Australian Women's Tennis H Mandlikova beat M Navratilova (75 76)
1988 1st WWF Royal Rumble - Jim Duggan wins
1988 76th Australian Men's Tennis M Wilander beats P Cash (63 67 36 61 86)
1988 9th ACE Cable Awards
1988 Australia beat New Zealand 2-0 to win the World Series Cup
1988 Cerebral Palsy telethon
1989 1st reported case of AIDS transmitted by heterosexual oral sex
1990 Japanese MUSES-A (Hiten) launched towards moon
1991 "Les Miserables" opens at Theatre St Denis, Montréal
1993 14th annual star-athon $24,000,000
1993 Polish ferry boat John Heweliusz sinks, 52 killed
1993 Soyuz TM-16 launches
1993 US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Davis
1994 Dow Jones closes above 3,900 for 1st time (3,914.48)

Back in the day, today... on the 23rd of January

0638 Start of Islamic calendar
1265 1st English Parliament formally convened (some authorities)
1490 1st printing of Ramban's Sha'ar ha-Gemul
1492 "Pentateuch" (Jewish holy book) 1st printed
1552 2nd version of Book of Common Prayer becomes mandatory in England
1556 Most deadly earthquake kills 830,000 in Shansi Province, China
1570 Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland, assassinated; civil war breaks out
1571 Queen Elizabeth I opens Royal Exchange in London
1579 Union of Utrecht signed, forming protestant Dutch Republic
1631 France & Sweden sign anti-German Treaty of Bärwald
1637 Dutch Governor Johan Mauritius lands in Pernambuco Brazil
1643 Sir Thomas Fairfax takes Leeds for the Parliamentarians
1647 Scottish Presbyterians sell captured Charles I to English parliament
1663 King Louis XIV affirms covenant with Rÿnstaten
1668 England, Netherlands & Sweden signs Triple Alliance against French
1719 Principality of Liechtenstein created within Holy Roman Empire
1723 Georg Friedrich Händel's opera "Ottone" premieres in London
1779 Charles Messier catalogs M56 (globular cluster in Lyra)
1789 Georgetown, 1st US Catholic college, founded
1793 2nd partition of Poland, between Prussia & Russia
1793 Humane Society of Philadelphia (first aid society) organized
1796 Armand-Gaston Camus becomes chairman of Council of 500
1812 7.8 earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri
1833 Joseph Pease, a Quaker, admitted to Parliament on his affirmation
1845 Uniform US election day for President & Vice President authorized
1849 Mrs Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman physician in US
1849 Patent granted for an envelope-making machine
1856 Steamer Pacific lost
1861 Agoston Haraszthy, 1st vintner in Sonoma Valley, imports 100,000 cuttings of 350 varieties from Europe
1865 Battle of City Point, VA (James River, Trent's Reach)
1865 General Robert E Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies
1870 173 Blackfoot Indians (140 women & children) killed in Montana by US Army
1879 National Archery Association formed, Crawfordsville IN
1889 Dr Daniel Hale Williams forms Provident Hospital in Chicago
1894 G W Bunbury of Dublin sets shorthand record of 250 wpm for 10 minutes
1896 Edward Macdowell's 2nd Suite in E, premieres
1897 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" (BG)
1902 Winnipeg Victorias sweep Toronto Wellingtons in 2 for the Stanley Cup
1907 Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes 1st Native American US senator
1908 US & Great-Britain demand end of abuses in Congo
1909 1st radio rescue at sea
1916 Temp falls from 44ºF (7ºC) to -56ºF (49ºC) night of 23-24, Browning MT
1920 Dutch government refuses to turn over ex-Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany to the allies
1923 Taxi strike in Amsterdam begins (through March 9th)
1924 Ramsey MacDonald forms 1st Labour government in Britain
1926 Eugene O'Neill's "Great God Brown" premieres in New York City NY
1928 "Abenteuer of brave Soldier Schwejk" premieres in Berlin
1930 George Washington Birthplace National Monument VA established
1930 Clyde Tombaugh photographs planet Pluto
1932 El Salvador army kills 4,000 protesting farmers
1933 20th amendment changes date of Presidential Inaugurations to 1/20
1936 Catholic People's Party (KVP) of Curaçao forms
1937 Karl Radek & 16 others go on trial in Stalin's great purge
1940 Pianist Ignaz Paderewski becomes premier of Polish government in exile
1941 Ground breaking for NACA (now NASA) Lewis Research Center
1941 WOR-AM in Newark NJ moves to New York City
1942 Japanese troops occupy Rabaul New Britain
1942 Tank battle at Adzjedabia, African corps vs British army
1943 66.34 cm (26.12"), Hoegees Camp CA (state precipitation record)
1943 Detroit Red Wings scores NHL record 8 goals in 1 period
1943 British 8th army marches into Tripoli
1943 Japanese Mount Austen on Guadalcanal captured
1944 Detroit Red Wings score 15 goals against New York Rangers & NHL record 37 points, also most consecutive goals & most lopsided game 15-0
1944 Arnold Schoenberg's "Ode to Napoleon" premieres in New York City NY
1945 Dutch Premier Gerbrandy, exiled in London, offers his resignation
1946 Rear Admiral Sidney W Souers, USNR, becomes 1st director of CIA
1948 Bradman scores 201 in 272 minutes vs India, 21 fours 1 six
1948 Huston's "Treasure of Sierra Madre" starring Humphrey Bogart opens
1948 Test debut of Neil Harvey, vs India at Adelaide
1950 3rd edition of Joseph Kane's Famous 1st Facts published
1950 Israeli Knesset resolves that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel
1950 NFL rule changes open way for 2-platoon system (offense & defense)
1950 AP picks "Miracle Braves" of 1914 as greatest sports upset
1950 Rebel army of cap Raymond Westerner occupies Bandung
1951 3rd Emmy Awards Alan Young Show, Alan Young & Gertrude Berg
1953 NFL Dallas Texans become Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts)
1953 NFL's National & American conferences become Eastern & Western conferences
1953 Bobby Simpson makes 1st-class debut for New South Wales 16 years 357 days
1954 Longest undefeated streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history (18 games)
1954 Harry van Thorn chosen chairman of Dutch KVP
1955 Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1955 KORK (now KVBC) TV channel 3 in Las Vegas, NV (NBC) 1st broadcast
1958 "Body Beautiful" opens at Broadway Theater New York City NY for 60 performances
1958 Dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez flees Venezuela, Larrazábal takes power
1958 Hanif Mohammad completes 337 in 970 minutes vs West Indies
1960 Piccard & Walsh in bathyscaph "Trieste" reach 10,900 meters in Mariana Trench
1961 Supreme Court rules cities & states have right to censor films
1961 Venezuela adopts constitution
1962 Libya, Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia plan to form United Arab Maghreb
1962 Bob Feller & Jackie Robinson elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1962 British spy Kim Philby defects to USSR
1964 24th Amendment ratified, barring poll tax in federal elections
1964 Arthur Miller's "After the Fall" premieres in New York City NY
1965 "The King Family Show" (musical variety) premieres on ABC TV
1965 Boston Celtic center Bill Russell misses all 14 shots in loss to Philadelphia Warriors led by Wilt Chamberlain
1965 BPAA All-Star Tournament won by Dick Weber
1967 Stan Musial is named GM of Cards
1968 Spy ship USS Pueblo & 83-man crew seized in Sea of Japan by N Korea
1968 Joe Medwick elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1969 Cream releases their last album "Goodbye"
1970 Australia's 1st amateur radio satellite (Oscar 5) launched (California)
1970 US launches 2nd generation weather satellite, ITOS 1
1970 Dolle Mina burns her bra in Amsterdam
1970 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1971 -80ºF (-62ºC), Prospect Creek Camp AK (US record)
1971 UCLA loses to Notre Dame, UCLA then wins next 88 games in a row
1971 4th ABA All-Star Game East 126 beats West 122 at Carolina
1972 2nd AFC-NFC pro bowl, AFC wins 26-13
1972 Bootlegger sells wood alcohol to wedding party-100 die-New Delhi
1972 Ard Schenk becomes European all-round skating champ
1972 Entire population of Istanbul under 24 hour house arrest
1972 NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 26-13
1973 Helgafell, island of Heimaey Iceland erupts for 1st time in 7,000 years
1973 Jordan Air crash at Kano, Nigeria kills 176 Moslem pilgrims
1973 President Nixon announces an accord has been reach to end the Vietnam War
1973 23rd NBA All-Star Game East beats West 104-84 at Chicago
1974 1st edition of women's magazine "Story"
1975 "Barney Miller" premieres on ABC TV
1975 Ralph Kiner elected to baseball's Hall of Fame
1976 Washington Capitals end 25 game winless streak (0-22-3) beat New York Rangers 7-5
1976 Ian Redpath hits his only 2 sixes in Cricket Tests, vs West Indies Adelaide
1977 $1.5-million Serge Lepage dress exhibited, Paris
1977 Miniseries "Roots" premieres on ABC
1978 8th NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 14-13
1978 Belgian industrial Haron Empain kidnapped in Paris
1979 Willie Mays elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1981 1st Richard Nixon museum opens (San Clemente CA)
1981 Mike Bossy becomes 1st in NHL to score 50 goals in 50 games
1981 Jochem Bird elected mayor of West Berlin
1981 Red Sox trade Fred Lynn to Angels for Frank Tanana & Joe Rudi
1982 Urbe Blanca (cow) produces record 110 kg of milk, Cuba (approximate date)
1982 World Airways DC-10 skids at Boston Logan Airport killing 2
1983 "A-Team" with Mr T premieres on NBC
1983 Björn Borg announces his retirement from tennis
1983 In NBA, Portland scores all 17 points in overtime to beat Houston 113-96
1983 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $14,700,000
1983 Russian radioactive satellite falls into Indian Ocean
1983 Schöne skates ladies world record 5 km (7 40.97)
1984 Buffalo Sabres win NHL record 10th straight road game
1984 Greatest unpaced 1-hour bicycle distance, F Moser (Italy), 51.15 km
1984 Hulk Hogan defeats Iron Sheik to become WWF champ
1985 Britains House of Lords debate 1st televised
1986 Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB
1986 "Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood" opens at Ritz Theater New York City NY for 13 performances
1986 1st induction of Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Domino, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis & Elvis Presley)
1987 Dow Jones rises 64 points then drops 110 points (44.15 point loss)
1987 Japan 1st exceeds military spending cap of 1% of GNP ($23 billion)
1988 Bob Benoit bowls 1st 300-point game in a televised title match
1988 45th Golden Globes Last Emperor, Sally Kirkland, Michael Douglas
1988 62nd Australian Women's Tennis Steffi Graf beats Chris Evert (61 76)
1988 Experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan & Jeana Yeager, complete 1st nonstop, round-the-world flight without refueling lands
1989 Challenge to "who is a Jew" law filed in Israeli Supreme Court
1989 NBA New Jersey Nets begin a 32+ game road losing streak
1990 Dean Jones scores twin Test tons vs Pakistan at Adelaide Oval
1991 High-denomination banknotes withdrawn in USSR
1991 "Seinfeld" debuts on NBC-TV
1991 World's largest oil spill, caused by embattled Iraqi forces in Kuwait
1992 "Visit" opens at Criterion Theater New York City NY for 45 performances
1993 50th Golden Globes Scent of a Woman, wins
1993 Graham Gooch scores his 100th 100, on tour at Cuttack
1993 Indian Airlines B737 crashes art Aurangabad, 61 die
1993 New York Newsday reports Oregon's Senator Bob Packwood sexually harassed 23 women
1993 US female Figure Skating championship won by Nancy Kerrigan
1994 Bernie Kosar is 2nd QB to throw TD passes in AFC & NFC Championship games
1994 Worldwide Day for peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina
1996 Chris Cairns scores 120, 96 balls, 10x4, 9x6 in Test New Zealand vs Zimbabwe
1998 Pope John Paul II condemns US embargo against Cuba

Back in the day, today... on the 18th of January

0336 St Mark begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0350 General Maxentius drives out Western Roman emperor Constans
0532 Nika uprising at Constantinople fails, 30-40,000 die
1307 German king Albrecht I makes his son Rudolf king of Bohemia
1478 Grand Duke Ivan II of Moscow occupies Novgorod
1486 King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV
1520 Christian II of Denmark & Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde
1535 Francisco Pizarro founds Lima Peru
1644 Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston reported America's 1st UFO sighting
1650 French Prince Louis II of Condé captured
1671 Pirate Henry Morgan defeats Spanish defenders, captures Panamá
1691 English king Willem III travels to The Hague
1701 Frederik I/Sophie Charlotte van Hanover crowned king/queen of Prussia
1733 1st polar bear exhibited in America (Boston)
1777 San Jose CA founded
1778 Captain James Cook stumbles over Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands)
1795 French admitted to Amsterdam without resistance
1795 Governor/Viceroy Willem V flees Scheveningen to England
1817 San Martin leads a revolutionary army over Andes
1840 Electro-Magnetic Intelligencer, 1st US electrical journal, appears
1850 British blockade Piræus, Greece to enforce mercantile claims
1854 Filibuster William Walker proclaims Republic of Sonora in NW México
1862 Confederate Territory of Arizona is formed
1865 Battle of Fort Moultrie SC
1869 Elegant California Theatre opens in San Francisco CA
1871 2nd German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I & Bismarck
1884 General Charles Gordon departs London for Khartoum
1895 Amsterdam's AFC soccer team forms
1896 1st demonstration of an x-ray machine in the US, New York City NY
1896 British troops occupy Kumasi, West Africa
1900 Jan Blockx's "Tÿl Uilenspiegel" premieres in Brussels
1901 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Graves De Communi Re
1905 French government of Combes falls
1908 Frederick Delius' "Brigg Fair" premieres
1911 1st shipboard landing of a plane (Tanforan Park to USS Pennsylvania)
1913 Turkish-Greek sea battle near Troy
1915 Train crashes at Colima-Guadalajara Mexico, about 600 die
1919 WWI Peace Congress opens in Versailles, France
1921 William Archer's "Green Goddess" premieres in New York City NY
1922 Irish author Liam O'Flaherty & others occupy the Rotunda in Dublin
1923 1st radio telegraph message from Netherlands to Dutch East Indies
1929 "New York Daily Mirror" columnist Walter Winchell debuts on radio
1929 Stalin proposes to ban Trotsky from the Politburo
1930 -27ºF (-33ºC), Watts OK (state record)
1930 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "The Nose" premieres in Leningrad
1933 White Sands National Monument, NM established
1934 Eugene O'Neill's "Days Without End" premieres in New York City NY
1938 Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame
1938 Bradman scores 104* for South Australia vs New South Wales at the SCG
1939 South African wicketkeeper Bradman gets his 6th straight ton, 135* vs New South Wales
1942 Nazis arrest journalists Frans Goedhart & Wiardi Beckman
1943 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin resistance of Nazis
1943 Presliced bread sale banned to reduce bakery demand for metal parts
1943 Soviets announce they broke the long Nazi siege of Leningrad
1944 1st Chinese naturalized US citizen since repeal of exclusion acts
1947 Small river steamer sank on Yangtze River, kills 400
1947 "Red Mill" closes at Ziegfeld Theater New York City NY after 831 performances
1947 Detroit Tigers sell Hank Greenberg to Pirates (for $25-35,000)
1948 1st courses begin at University of Ibadan, Nigeria
1948 Ted Mack's "Original Amateur Hour" begins, DuMont (later NBC/ABC/CBS)
1949 "They Stand Accused" courtroom drama premieres on CBS (later DuMont)
1949 1st US Congressional standing committee headed by Negro (W Dawson)
1949 South African Reverend Andries P Treurnicht marries Engela Dreyer
1950 Christopher Fry's "Venus Observed" premieres in London
1950 Indians pitcher Bob Feller, after 15-14 season, takes $20,000 salary cut to $45,000, pay cut is Feller's own suggestion
1951 NFL rules tackles, guards & centers ineligible for forward pass
1951 NFL takes control of the failing Baltimore Colts
1951 1st use of lie detector in Netherlands
1951 Hermann Flake sentenced to death due to "hate campaign against German Democratic Republic"
1953 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1954 Fanfani forms Italian government
1956 German Democratic Republic forms own army (National People's Army)
1957 3 B-52's set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours 19 minutes
1958 1st black in the NHL (William O'Ree, Boston Bruins)
1959 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1960 US & Japan sign joint defense treaty
1961 Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi party wins 1 seat by a single vote & parliament by a single seat
1962 Southern University closed due to demonstrations
1962 US begins spraying foliage in Vietnam to reveal Viet Cong guerrillas
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 Reinier Paping wins Dutch 11-Cities Skating Race (10 59)
1964 Beatles 1st appearance in Billboard Chart (I Want to Hold Your Hand-#35)
1964 Plans for the World Trade Center announced (New York City NY)
1965 H L de Vries appointed Dutch Governor of Suriname
1966 Robert C Weaver, confirmed as 1st black cabinet member (HUD)
1967 Yellowknife replaces Ottawa as capital of NW Territories, Canada
1967 20th NHL All-Star Game: Montréal beats All-Stars 3-0 at Montréal
1967 Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison
1967 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 "Happy Time" opens at Broadway Theater New York City NY for 286 performances
1968 Hester & Appolinar's musical "Your Own Thing" premieres in New York City NY
1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakstan/Semipalatinsk USSR
1969 Expanded 4 party Vietnam peace talks began in Paris
1969 Soyuz 5 returns to Earth
1970 Hasse Börjes skates world record 500 minutes in 38.9 seconds
1970 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 16-13
1971 Ivan Koloff beats Bruno Sammartino in NY, to become WWF champ
1973 Islanders break 12 game losing streak, 20 game road winless streak
1973 Boston Red Sox sign Orlando Cepeda as 1st player signed as a DH
1973 John Cleese's final episode on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on BBC
1974 "The $6 Million Man" starring Lee Majors premieres on ABC TV
1974 Israel & Egypt sign weapons accord
1975 "The Jeffersons" spin-off from "All in the Family" premieres on CBS
1976 Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh, Wide Receiver
1977 Imran Khan takes 12 wickets in match for Pakistan win at the SCG
1978 Roof of 3-year-old Civic Center in Hartford CT collapses (no injuries)
1978 Thiokol conducts 2nd test firing of space shuttle's SRB
1978 Geoff Boycott captains England for the 1st time, vs Pakistan Karachi
1979 Peter Jenkins finishes "A Walk Across America", Florence OR
1980 Gold reaches $1,000 an ounce
1980 Pink Floyd's "The Wall" hits #1
1980 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager sentenced to 3½ years in prison for tax evasion & fined $20,000
1981 Iran accepts US offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets
1981 Wendy O Williams arrested in Milwaukee for on-stage obscenity
1983 IOC restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals 70 years after they were taken from him for being paid $25 in semipro baseball
1984 80th Islander & 3rd dual hat trick (Carroll & Bossy) 9-1 win
1985 US renounces jurisdiction of World Court despite previous promise
1986 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission-Columbia 7-returns to Earth
1986 AIDS charity record "That's What Friends are For" hits #1
1986 New York Lotto pays $30.5 million to one winner (#s are 19-20-27-34-41-46)
1987 11th Soap Opera Digest Poll Awards - Days of Our Live wins
1988 Airliner crashes in SW China, killing all 108 on board
1989 Astronomers discover pulsar in remnants of Supernova 1987A (LMC)
1989 Candace Thomas marries Steve Garvey
1989 IBM announces earnings up 10.4% in 1988
1989 Otis Redding, Dion, Rolling Stones, Temptations & Stevie Wonder inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1989 West Indies beat Australia 2-1 to win the World Series Cup
1990 South Africa says its reconsidering ban on African National Congress
1990 Washington DC, Mayor Marion Barry arrested in drug enforcement sting
1991 Eastern Airlines goes out of business after 62 years
1991 Iraq launches SCUD missiles against Israel
1991 US acknowledges CIA and US Army paid Noriega $320,000 over his career
1991 WLAF's New York Knights become New York-New Jersey Knights
1991 Longest tennis match at the Australian Open, Boris Becker beats Italy's Omar Camporese in 5 hours & 11 minutes
1992 Comedian Pat McCormick injured in a car accident
1992 43rd NHL All Star Game - Campbell-10, Wales-6 (Brett Hull, MVP) at Philadelphia
1992 49th Golden Globes
1992 Actress Joan Chen (Twin Peaks) marries Dr Peter Hui
1993 Martin Luther King Jr holiday observed in all 50 states for 1st time
1993 West Indies win the World Series Cup, beating Australia 2-0
1995 Kumble takes 16-99 in match for Karnataka vs Kerala
1995 Pope John Paul II begins visit to Australia
1996 Baseball owners unanimously approve interleague play in 1997
1996 Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson in NY
1997 47th NHL All-Star Game East beat West 11-7 at San Jose Arena
1998 "Ragtime" opens at Ford Theater New York City NY
1998 48th NHL All-Star Game North America beats World 8-7 at Vancouver
1998 55th Golden Globes Awards
1998 ABL All-Star Game at Disney complex in Orlando FL (West beats East 102-73)
1998 Boston Celtics retire Robert Parrish's #00
1998 Kelly Robbins wins Healthsouth Golf Inaugural
1998 UCP Telethon

Back in the day, today... on the 13th of January

0888 Duke Odo becomes king of West-France 
1099 Crusaders set fire to Mara Syria 
1547 Earl Henry Howard of Surrey sentenced to death 
1559 Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey 
1610 Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th satellite of Jupiter 
1621 Jan Pieterszoon Coen's fleet sets sail to Moluccas (from Jacarta) 
1630 Patent to Plymouth Colony issued 
1673 Jean Racine's "Mithridate" premieres in Paris 
1695 Jonathan Swift ordained an Anglican priest in Ireland 
1733 James Oglethorpe & 130 English colonists arrive at Charleston, SC 
1770 De Beaumarchais' "Les Deux Amis" premieres in Paris 
1785 John Walter publishes 1st issue of London Times 
1794 Congress changes US flag to 15 stars & 15 stripes 
1830 Great fire in New Orleans thought to be set by rebel slaves 
1849 Vancouver Island granted to Hudson's Bay Co 
1854 Anthony Foss patents the accordion 
1863 Chenille manufacturing machine patented by William Canter, New York City NY 
1863 Thomas Crapper pioneers one-piece pedestal flushing toilet 
1865 Federals attack Fort Fisher NC 
1869 National convention of black leaders meets in Washington DC 
1869 Colored National Labor Union, 1st Black labor convention 
1873 PBS Pinchback relinquishes office at Louisiana Governor 
1874 Battle between jobless & police in New York City NY, 100s injured 
1874 US troops land in Honolulu to protect the king 
1882 Richard Wagner completes his opera "Parsifal" 
1883 Fire in circus Ferroni in Berditschoft Poland kills 430 
1883 Henrik Ibsen's "En Folkefiende" premieres in Oslo 
1888 National Geographic Society founded (Washington DC) 
1893 British Independent Labor Party forms (Keir Hardie as its leader) 
1894 Revolution in Sicily crushed by government troops 
1895 Oscar Wilde's "Ideal Husband" premieres in London 
1898 Emile Zola publishes his open letter (J'accuse) in defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus in Paris 
1902 Textile workers strike in Enschede Netherlands till June 1 
1906 1st radio set advertised (Telimco for $7.50 in Scientific American) claimed to receive signals up to one mile 
1908 Montréal Wanderers sweep Ottawa Victorias in 2 for the Stanley Cup 
1908 French pilot Henry Farman is 1st European to fly roundtrip 
1910 JM Synge's "Deirdre of the Sorrows" premieres in Dublin 
1911 Gerhart Hauptmann's "Die Ratten" premieres in Berlin 
1911 Roald Amundsens anchors at Walvis Bay 
1911 South Africa's 1st win over Australia, at Adelaide 
1912 -40ºF (-40ºC), Oakland MD (state record) 
1914 IWW-leader/songwriter Joe Hill arrested "Girl from Utah" East-Prussia 
1915 Earthquake in Avezzano Italy kills 30,000 
1915 W Churchill presents plan for assault on Dardanelles 
1919 Dutch Soccer team OSV forms 
1920 New York Times editorial (falsely) reports rockets can never fly 
1922 WHA-AM in Madison WI begins radio transmissions 
1922 Buck Weaver, a Black Sox, applies unsuccessfully for reinstatement 
1922 Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments ended 
1924 Nationalist Wafd-party wins Egyptian parliament elections 
1927 US & Mexico battle over oil interests 
1929 Humanist Society established, Hollywood CA 
1930 "Mickey Mouse" comic strip 1st appears 
1935 Plebiscite in Saar, indicates a desire (90.3%) to join Nazi Germany 
1939 Belgian premier signs Burgos-treaty for trade relations with Franco 
1942 German U-boats begin harassing shipping on US east coast 
1942 Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies 
1942 Allied Conference for war trials 
1942 Interallied war trial conference publishes St James Declaration 
1943 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Casablanca 
1943 Hitler declares "Total War" 
1943 Russian offensive at Don under General Golikov 
1943 US infantry captures Galloping Horse-ridge Guadalcanal 
1945 Prokofchev's 5th Symphony premieres in Moscow 
1948 1st country music TV show, Midwestern Hayride, premieres on WLW Cincinnati OH 
1949 "Along 5th Avenue" opens at Broadhurst Theater New York City NY for 180 performances 
1951 German General F Christian freed early from Dutch prison 
1951 9 Jewish Kremlin physicians "exposed" as British/US agents; known as the Doctors' Plot 
1953 Gas explosion in Belgium coal mine kills 14 
1953 KOLD TV channel 13 in Tucson, AZ (CBS) begins broadcasting 
1953 Marshal Josip Tito chosen president of Yugoslavia 
1954 Military rule in Egypt; 318 Mohammedan Brotherhood arrested 
1954 WEAR TV channel 3 in Pensacola-Mobile, FL (ABC) begins broadcasting 
1957 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Allen Tate 
1957 Mickey Wright wins Sea Island Golf Open 
1957 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 19-10 
1957 Wham-O Company produces the 1st Frisbee 
1958 9,000 scientists of 43 nations petition UN for nuclear test ban 
1958 US newspaper "Daily Worker" ceases publication 
1959 De Gaulle grants amnesty to 130 to Algerian death row convicts 
1959 King Boudouin promises Belgian Congo independence 
1962 Wilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia Warriors scores NBA-record 73 points vs Chicago 
1962 "Do Re Mi" closes at St James Theater New York City NY after 400 performances 
1963 AFL Pro Bowl West beats East 21-14 
1963 NFL Pro Bowl East beats West 30-20 
1964 Karol Wojtyla becomes archbishop of Krakow 
1966 1st black selected for Presidential cabinet (LBJ selects Robert C Weaver-HUD) 
1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1967 Coup in Togo 
1967 Rolling Stones appear on Ed Sullivan Show 
1968 "Hallelujah, Baby!" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City NY after 293 performances 
1968 "Illya Darling" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City NY after 320 performances 
1968 Beginning of Tet-offensive in Vietnam 
1968 Minnesota North Stars center Bill Masterton fatally injured (dies on 15th) 
1969 Beatles release "Yellow Submarine" album 
1971 "Soon" closes at Ritz Theater New York City NY after 3 performances 
1972 Former umpire, now housewife Bernice Gera wins her suit against baseball, initiated on March 15, 1971 to be allowed to umpire 
1973 "Tricks" closes at Alvin Theater New York City NY after 8 performances 
1973 Efskind skates world record 1000m (1 17.6) 
1974 Super Bowl VIII Miami Dolphins beat Minnesota Vikings, 24-7 in Houston; Super Bowl MVP Larry Csonka, Miami, Running Back 
1976 Sarah Caldwell is 1st woman to conduct at NY's Metropolitan Opera House as she led orchestra in a performance of "La Traviata" 
1979 Charlie Daniels hosts the Volunteer Jam 
1979 YMCA files libel suit against Village People's YMCA song 
1980 "King of Schnorrers" closes at Playhouse Theater New York City NY after 63 performances 
1980 Head of narcotic brigade arrested for drug smuggling in Belgium 
1980 Togo's constitution becomes effective 
1981 Barbara Sonntag, Colorado, crochets record 147 stitches/minutes for 30 minutes 
1981 Islander's Mike Bossy's 15th career hat trick-4 goals 
1981 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to May Swenson & Howard Nemerov 
1982 Air Florida 737 took off in a snowstorm, crashes into the 14th St Bridge in Washington, DC, & falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 
1982 Hank Aaron & Frank Robinson elected to Hall of Fame 
1983 AMA urges ban on boxing cites Muhammad Ali's deteriorating condition 
1983 Québec Nordiques play 251st NHL game without being shut out 
1984 TV anchor Christine Craft wins $325,000 in her case against KMBC-TV 
1985 99-year-old Otto Bucher scores a hole-in-one at Spanish golf course 
1985 Blackhawk Doug Wilson failed on 12th penalty shot against Islanders 
1985 Express train derails in Ethiopia, kills at least 428 
1985 23rd Tennis Fed Cup Czech beats USA in Nagoya Japan (2-1) 
1985 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $17,1000,000 
1986 Bloody coup overthrows government of South Yemen 
1986 NCCA institutes eligibility requirements based on college exams 
1987 7 top New York Mafia bosses sentenced to 100 years in prison each 
1987 W German police arrest Mohammed Ali Hamadi, suspect in 1985 hijacking 
1988 Supreme Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school newspapers, plays & other expressive activities 
1988 Los Angeles Dodger/San Diego Padre Steve Garvey retires 
1989 "Friday the 13th" virus strikes hundreds of IBM computers in Britain 
1989 Jerry Parks, Oklahoma defensive back, charged with shooting a teammate 
1989 Ruins of Mashkan-shapir (occupied 2050-1720 BC) found in Iraq 
1989 Soap opera "Ryan's Hope" final episode after 13½ year run 
1989 Subway gunman Bernhard Goetz begins 1-year jail sentence 
1989 Computers across Britain hit by "Friday the 13th" virus 
1990 1st elected US black governor inaugurated (Douglas Wilder-Virginia) 
1991 UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar meets with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad 
1991 12th ACE Cable Awards HBO wins 25 awards 
1991 42 killed in exhibition soccer match in Johannesburg South Africa 
1991 Phil Mickelson wins PGA Northern Telecom Golf Open 
1991 President Mario Soares of Portugal re-elected 
1991 Soccer stadium riot in Orkney South Africa, at least 40 die 
1992 Excavation of new ballpark at Gateway (Jacobs Field) begins 
1992 US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty but insane 
1993 STS-54 (Endeavour) launches into orbit 
1994 Italian government of Ciampi resigns 
1994 Tonya Harding's bodyguard, Shawn Eric Eckardt & Derrick Brian Smith arrested & charged with conspiracy in attack of skater Nancy Kerrigan 
1995 26 HNL teams unanimously ratify agreement to end NHL strike 
1995 America3 becomes 1st all-female crew to win an America's Cup race 
1998 "Patti LaBelle On Broadway" opens at St James Theater New York City NY 
1998 CBS pays $4 billion to televise AFC games for 8-years 

Back in the day, today... on the 12th of January

1493 Last day for all Jews to leave Sicily
1552 Dutch west coast hit by heavy storm, 100s killed
1583 Holland begins use of Gregorian calendar (yesterday was 1/1/1583)
1598 Pope Clement VIII seizes duchy of Ferrara on death of Alfonso
1684 French king Louis XIV marries Madame Maintenon
1701 Parts of the Netherlands (Frisia & Groningen) adopt the Gregorian calendar (others 1 year later)
1723 Händel's opera "Ottone" premieres, London
1755 Tsarina Elisabeth establishes 1st Russian University
1773 1st US public museum established (Charleston SC)
1777 Mission Santa Clara de Asis founded in California
1806 French evacuate Vienna
1807 Gunpowder-ship explodes in Leiden Netherlands, 150 die
1809 British take Cayenne (French Guiana) from the French (until 1814)
1812 1st cargo arrives in New Orleans by steam, from Natchez
1816 France decrees Bonaparte family excluded from the country forever
1820 Royal Astronomical Society founded in England
1836 Battle of Wetumka FL
1836 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reach Sydney Australia
1839 Anthracite coal 1st used to smelt iron, Mauch Chunk PA
1842 Franciscan nuns begin missionary work on Netherlands Antilles
1861 FL state troops demand surrender of Fort Pickens
1863 President Davis delivers his "State of the Confederacy" address
1865 Union fleet bombs Fort Fisher NC
1867 Leo Tolstoy's "Smert Ioonna Groznogo" premieres in St Petersburg
1879 British Zulu War begins Lieutenant-General Chelmsford invades Zululand
1896 1st X-ray photo in US (Dr Henry Smith, Davidson NC)
1900 Freeland Colony founded in US
1903 Rhodes Opera House burns in Boyertown PA, killing 170
1903 Harry Houdini performs at Rembrandt theater, Amsterdam
1904 Southwest-Africa uprising under Samuel Maherero against German garison
1906 Football rules committee legalizes the forward pass
1906 1st time Dow Jones closes above 100 (100.26)
1907 Britain grants responsible government to former colony of Transvaal
1912 -47ºF (-44ºC), Washta IA (state record)
1915 House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote
1916 Britain proclaims Gilbert & Ellice Island colony in the Pacific
1918 Montréal Canadien Joe Malone scores 5 goals beating Ottawa 9-4
1920 Annual drafting of baseball players from minor leagues to be done in inverse order of the final standings, agreed to
1921 Kenesaw Mountain Landis becomes 1st commissioner of baseball
1924 History of Science Society organized at Boston
1925 John Howard Lawson's "Processional" premieres in New York City NY
1928 Philip Barry & Elmer Rice's "Cock Robin" premieres in New York City NY
1929 Seatrain (RR cars on ships) service begins, New Orleans-Havana
1930 NHL's Boston Bruins win then-record 14th consecutive game
1932 France's Laval government falls
1932 Hattie W Caraway elected 1st woman senator (D-AR)
1932 Philip Barry's "Animal Kingdom" premieres in New York City NY
1933 Uprising of Guardia Civil in Spain, 25 dies
1933 US Congress recognize independence Philippines
1937 Plow for laying submarine cable patented
1942 National War Labor Board created
1942 British troops reconquer Sollum
1942 Dutch troops on Tarakan surrender
1943 Frankfurters replaced by Victory Sausages (mix of meat & soy meal)
1944 Churchill & de Gaulle begin a 2-day wartime conference in Marrakesh
1944 Failed resistance raid on distribution office of Borgerstraat Amsterdam
1945 German forces in Belgium retreat in Battle of the Bulge
1945 US Task Force 38 destroys 41 Japanese ships in Battle of South China Sea
1946 NFL champs Cleveland Rams given permission to move to Los Angeles
1946 "Polonaise" closes at Alvin Theater New York City NY after 113 performances
1946 Edouardo de Filippo's "Questi Fantasmi!", premieres in Rome
1948 Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi begins his final fast
1948 US Supreme Court decision (Sipuel vs Oklahoma State Board of Regents)
1948 1st Supermarket in UK opens
1949 "Arthur Godfrey & His Friends" premieres on CBS TV
1949 Dutch court affirms death sentence against SS chief Hanns Rauter
1950 Swedish tanker rams British submarine Truculent in Thames, 64 die
1950 USSR re-introduces death penalty for treason, espionage & sabotage
1951 Ezzard Charles TKOs Lee Oma in 10 for heavyweight boxing title
1952 University of Tennessee admits its 1st black student
1952 NFL Pro Bowl National Conference beats American Conference 30-13
1953 9 "Jewish" physicians arrested for "terrorist activities" in Moscow
1954 Austria's worst avalanche-kills 200; 9hours later 2nd one-kills 115
1954 Queen Elizabeth II opens New Zealand parliament
1957 Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) founded
1958 NCAA adds 2 point conversion to football scoring
1958 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Sea Island Golf Open
1958 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 26-7
1958 Syracuse National Dolph Schayes sets NBA record at 11,770 points
1959 KOED TV channel 11 in Tulsa OK (PBS) begins broadcasting
1960 Syracuse National Dolph Schayes is 1st NBA'er to score 15,000 points
1960 Sobers & Worrell complete 399 stand for 4th wicket vs England
1961 "Show Girl" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater New York City NY for 100 performances
1961 UN genocide pact goes into effect
1963 "Go Away Little Girl" by Steve Lawrence peaks at #1
1963 Spin bowler Bobby Simpson takes 5-57 for Australia vs England
1964 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 31-17
1964 Revolution overthrows Sultan of Zanzibar, 1 month after independence
1965 "Hullabaloo" premieres on NBC-TV
1965 At 10 58 am PST burn up a nuclear rocket in Nevada
1966 "Batman" with Adam West & Burt Ward premieres on ABC TV
1966 LBJ says US should stay in S Vietnam until communist aggression ends
1966 Red Auerbach wins his 1,000th game as coach of NBA Boston Celtics
1966 12 day New York City NY transit strike ends
1967 Louisville KY, draft board refuses exemption for boxer Muhammad Ali
1968 Beatles Film Production Ltd changes name to Apple Film Production Ltd
1968 Nighttime version of "Hollywood Squares" premieres on NBC TV
1969 "Golden Rainbow" closes at Shubert Theater New York City NY after 355 performances
1969 Super Bowl III New York Jets beat Baltimore Colts, 16-7 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Joe Namath, New York Jets, Quarterback
1970 Biafran War ends, Biafra surrenders to Nigeria
1970 Boeing 747 makes its maiden voyage
1971 Fed grand jury indicts Reverand Philip Berrigan & 5 others, including a nun & 2 priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger
1971 "All in the Family" premieres on CBS featuring 1st toilet flush on TV
1971 "Soon" opens at Ritz Theater New York City NY for 3 performances
1971 Congressional Black Caucus organizes
1972 Tigers sign a lease to build a $126M domed stadium (doesn't happen)
1974 "Joker" by Steve Miller Band peaks at #1
1974 Libya & Tunisia announces they are merging as "Islamic Arab Republic"
1975 Chrysler Corp offers 1st car rebates
1975 Super Bowl IX Pittsburgh Steelers beat Minnesota Vikings, 16-6 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Franco Harris, Pittsburgh, Running Back
1976 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to seat Palestine Liberation Organization
1977 "Ipi Tombi" opens at Harkness Theater New York City NY for 39 performances
1977 Anti-French demonstrations takes place in Israel after Paris released Abu Daoud, responsible 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes
1979 Los Angeles's Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi, arrested in Bellingham
1979 Record blizzard struck midwest killing over 100
1979 6th American Music Award Barry Manilow, Linda Ronstadt win
1980 Mike Bratz (Phoenix) begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games
1981 -35ºF (-37ºC), Chester, Massachusetts (state record)
1981 "Dynasty", a prime time soap opera inspired by Dallas, starring Joan Collins, premieres on ABC-TV
1983 NCAA creates the football Kickoff Classic to begin in August
1983 Brooks Robinson & Juan Marichal elected to Hall of Fame
1985 Miami Dolphins win AFC football championship
1986 24th space shuttle (61-C) mission-Columbia 7-launched
1986 Chicago Blackhawk Denis Savard scores at 4 seconds of 3rd period
1987 Britain's Prince Edward resigns from his Royal Marines training
1988 Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh Pirate), elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1989 6 claim to survive in rubble, 35 days after Armenian quake (hoax)
1989 Idi Amin expelled from Zaire
1990 Civil Rights activist Reverand Al Sharpton is stabbed in Bensonhurst Brooklyn
1990 Romania bans Communist party (1st Warsaw Pact member to do so)
1991 Largest crowd to watch Atlantic Coast Womens Basketball game (11,520)
1991 US Congress gives George Bush authority to wage war against Iraq
1991 Melvin Stewart swims world record 200 meter butterfly (1 55.69)
1992 13th ACE Cable Awards HBO wins 27 awards
1992 Algeria's General elections canceled after strong gains by Islamic Salvation Front in the 1st round
1992 Last building in Gateway area in Cleveland is demolished
1992 US male Figure Skating championship won by Christopher Bowman
1993 Doctors announce Pittsburgh Penguin Mario Limeux has Hodgkin's disease
1993 MTV hostess Martha Quinn marries longtime boyfriend Jordan Tarlow
1994 Malcolm X's daughter arrested for plotting Louis Farrakhan's murder
1994 Steve Carlton (Phillies) elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1995 Major earthquake kills 5,092 in Kobe Japan
1995 Murder trial against OJ Simpson, begins in Los Angeles
1995 Pope John Paul II begins visit to Southeast Asia
1996 Russian troops arrived in Bosnia (joint operation with US)
1997 17th United Negro College Fund raises
1997 Annika Sorenstam wins LPGA Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions
1997 HAL becomes operational (2001: A Space Odyssey); this date was given as January 12, 1992 on screen, but 1997 is the date used in both the novel and screenplay
1997 Ice skater Oksana Baiul injured slightly whiled driving intoxicated
1997 Space Shuttle STS 81 (Atlantis 18), launches into space
1997 Tiger Woods wins Mercedes Championships

Back in the day, today... on the 10th of January

0049 -BC- Julius Cesar crosses the Rubicon, invades Italy 
0069 Roman emperor Galba adopts Marcus Piso Licinianus as Cæsar 
0236 St Fabian begins his reign as Catholic Pope 
0681 St Agatho ends his reign as Catholic Pope 
1072 Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo 
1356 German emperor Charles I delegates Golden Degree 
1429 Order of the Golden Fleece established in Austria-Hungary & Spain 
1430 Duke Philip the Good marries Isabella of Portugal 
1430 Order of the Guilder forms 
1514 Complutensian New Testament in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek & Latin finished 
1550 1st sitting of "Vurige Chamber" in Paris 
1642 King Charles I & family flee London for Oxford 
1663 King Charles II affirms charter of Royal African Company 
1731 Charles Farnese becomes duke of Parma/Piacenza 
1776 "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, published 
1799 Friedrich von Schiller's "Die Piccolomini" premieres in Weimar 
1806 Dutch in Cape Town, South African surrender to the British 
1808 Herman Daendels succeeds A Wiese as Governor-General of Netherlands Indies 
1810 French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I & Joséphine 
1811 Louisiana slaves rebel in 2 parishes 
1833 Felix Mendelssohn's "Die erste Walpurgisnacht" premieres in Berlin 
1839 Tea from India 1st arrives in UK 
1840 Penny Post mail system started 
1845 Poets Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning begin corresponding 
1853 Charles Reade's "Gold" premieres in London 
1861 US forts & property seized by Mississippi 
1861 Florida becomes 3rd state to secede from US 
1861 Fort Jackson & Fort Philip are taken over by Los Angeles state troops 
1862 Battle of Big Sandy River KY (Middle Creek) 
1862 Battle of Romney WV 
1863 1st underground railway opens in London 
1863 General McClernand's Union troops surround Fort Hindman AR 
1863 January-uprising begins in Poland 
1870 Georgia legislature reconvenes 
1870 John D Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil 
1878 US Senate proposes female suffrage 
1883 Fire at uninsured Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee WI kills 71; General Tom Thumb of P T Barnum fame, escapes unhurt 
1889 Ivory Coast declared a protectorate of France 
1890 Edward Macdowell's "Lancelot & Elaine" premieres 
1890 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Sapientiae Christianae 
1893 Richard Drigo's ballet "The Magic Flute" premieres, St Petersburg 
1897 Henrik Ibsen's "John Gabriel Borkman" premieres in Helsingfors 
1897 Vincent d'Indy's "Istar" premieres in Amsterdam & Brussels 
1900 Lord Roberts & Lord Kitchener reach Capetown 
1901 Oil discovered at Spindletop claim near Beaumont, Texas 
1902 Alphons Diepenbrock's "Te Deum" premieres (Amsterdam) 
1910 1st international air meet in US held, in Los Angeles 
1910 Lunt-Fontanne Theater (Globe) opens at 205 W 46th St New York City NY 
1911 1st photo in US taken from an airplane, San Diego 
1911 Honduras signs treaty turning over customs to US (not ratified) 
1911 Trumper scored double cricket ton vs South Africa, goes on to get 214 
1912 Caillaux government in France resigns 
1912 World's 1st flying boat's maiden flight, (Glenn Curtiss in NY) 
1914 1st edition of Hague's Post under SF van Oss, published 
1914 Oscar Mathisen skates world record 500 minutes in 43.7 seconds in Oslo 
1916 Russian offensive in Kaukasus 
1920 League of Nations' 1st meeting, Treaty of Versailles in effect 
1920 Montréal Canadiens (14) & Toronto St Patricks (7) score NHL record 21 goals 
1920 Silver reaches record $1.37 an ounce 
1923 Last US troops leave Rhineland (Germany) 
1923 Lithuania seizes & annexes country of Memel 
1925 Miriam (Ma) Ferguson sworn in as Texas Governor, nation's 2nd woman governor 
1925 France-Saarland forms 
1927 Fritz Lang's Metropolis premieres 
1928 Soviet Union orders exile of Leon Trotsky 
1928 G/I Gershwin/Romberg/Wodehouse's musical "Rosalie" premieres in New York City NY 
1929 Elmer Rice's "Street Scene" premieres in New York City NY 
1930 Mordovian Autonomous Region in RSFSR constituted 
1930 Commencement of New Zealand's 1st Test, vs England Christchurch 
1930 Maurice Allom takes Test hat-trick England vs New Zealand Christchurch 
1931 Philadelphia Quakers defeat Montréal, ends NHL-record 15-game losing streak 
1932 "Mickey Mouse" & "Silly Symphony" comics syndicated 
1932 "Pete the Tramp" cartoon strip by C D Russell debuts 
1935 Actress Mary Pickford marries actor Douglas Fairbanks 
1938 Eduard van Beinum becomes world's 1st conductor at Concert Hall 
1938 Jean Anouilh's "La Sauvage" premieres in Paris 
1938 Paul Vincent Carroll's "White Seed" premieres in New York City NY 
1939 Bradman hits 186 South Africa vs Queensland before Christ catches him at short-leg 
1941 Joseph Kesselring's "Arsenic & Old Lace" premieres in New York City NY 
1941 Seyss-Inquart begins registration of Jews 
1942 Japan invades North-Celebes, Dutch East Indies 
1943 1st US President to visit a foreign country in wartime-FDR leaves for Casablanca, Morocco 
1943 Russian offensive against German 6th/4th Armies near Stalingrad 
1944 1st mobile electric power plant delivered, Philadelphia 
1944 British troops conquer Maungdaw, Burma 
1945 Los Angeles Railway (with 5 streetcar lines) forced to close 
1945 Baseball writers again fail to elect a new Hall of Famer 
1946 UN General Assembly convenes for 1st time (London) 
1946 US Army establishes 1st radar contact with Moon, Belmar NJ 
1947 Greek steamer "Himara" strikes a wartime mine in Saronic Gulf south of Athens with loss of 392 of 637 aboard 
1947 "Finian's Rainbow" opens at 46th St Theater New York City NY for 725 performances 
1947 British stop ships Independence & In-Gathering from landing in Israel 
1948 "Call Me Mister" closes at National Theater New York City NY after 734 performances 
1949 1st Jewish family show "The Goldbergs" premieres on CBS 
1949 RCA introduces 45 RPM record 
1951 1st jet passenger trip made 
1951 UN headquarters opens in Manhattan NY 
1952 Jean Anouilh's "La valse des toréadors" premieres in Paris 
1953 "My Darlin' Aida" closes at Winter Garden Theater New York City NY after 89 performances 
1953 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Archibald MacLeish 
1953 NFL Pro Bowl National Conference beats American Conference 27-7 
1954 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to W H Auden 
1956 Elvis records "Heartbreak Hotel" 
1957 Anthony Eden resigns & Harold Macmillan becomes PM Britain 
1957 Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick rules Bing Crosby can keep token stock in the Detroit Tigers, even though he owns part of Pittsburgh Pirates 
1958 Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" reaches #1 on the country and r&b charts, #2 on the pop chart 
1960 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Delmore Schwartz 
1962 4,000 die in avalanche, Ranrahirca, Perú 
1962 Eruptions on Mount Huascaran in Peru destroy 7 villages & kill 3,500 
1964 US version of "That Was The Week That Was" premieres 
1964 Battles between moslems & hindus in Calcutta 
1964 Panamá severs diplomatic relations with US 
1965 Bollingen prize for poetry awarded to Horace Gregory 
1965 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 34-14 
1965 WKBD TV channel 50 in Detroit MI (IND) begins broadcasting 
1966 Julian Bond denied seat in Georgia legislature for opposing Vietnam War 
1966 India & Pakistan sign peace accord 
1967 Edward Brooke, takes (Senator-R-MA) seat as 1st popular elected black 
1967 PBS (the National Educational TV) begins as a 70 station network 
1967 Dutch Princess Margret marries Pieter van Vollenhoven 
1967 Lester Maddox inaugurated as Governor of Georgia 
1968 US Surveyor 7 lands near lunar crater Tycho 
1969 Pirate Radio Station Free Derby begins operation by Northern Ireland 
1969 USSR's Venera 6 launched for parachute landing on Venus 
1969 Sweden (1st Western country) recognizes North Vietnam 
1970 Preview Center Opens 
1971 "Light, Lively & Yiddish" closes at Belasco Theater New York City NY after 87 performances 
1971 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Richard Wilbur 
1972 Los Angeles Lakers 33 straight win streak snapped, losing to Bucks 120-104 
1972 Triple album set "Concert for Bangladesh" released in UK 
1972 Sheik Mujib ur-Rahman arrives in Dacca, East-Pakistan 
1973 Gas tank on Staten Island explodes, 40 die 
1977 20th hat trick in Islander history - Bobby Nystrom 
1978 Soyuz 27 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station 
1979 1st brother Billy Carter makes allegedly anti-Semitic remarks 
1979 Entertainer of the Year Awards 
1980 Jim Stewart, Bruin's rookie goalie allows 3 goals in his 1st 4 minutes & a total of 5 in 1st period; he never again plays in the NHL 
1980 Last broadcast of "Rockford Files" on NBC 
1981 John Severin sets 100-mile unicycle speed record, 9 h 21 m 
1981 El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens "general offensive" 
1982 -17ºF (27.2ºC) in Braemar Grampian (equals UK record) 
1982 Bengals beat Chargers in -59ºF (-51ºC) to win AFC championship 
1982 Petra Schneider swims world record 1500 meter freestyle (15 43.31) 
1983 New York Supreme Court issues a preliminary injunction barring New York Yankees from playing season-opening series against Tigers in Denver 
1984 Argentine ex-president/General Bignone arrested 
1984 Bulgarian Tupolev 134 crashes at Sofia airport in Bulgaria, 50 die 
1984 Clara Peller 1st asks, "Where's the Beef?" 
1984 Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew, & D Drysdale elected to Hall of Fame 
1984 US establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican after 117 years 
1985 Daniel Ortega Saavedra inaugurated as President of Nicaragua 
1986 STS 61-C mission scrubbed T -9m because of bad weather at Kennedy 
1986 Palau signs Compact of Free Association with US 
1988 "Don't Get God Started" closes at Longacre Theater New York City NY after 86 performances 
1990 NCAA approves random drug testing for college football players 
1990 "Les Miserables" opens at Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore MD 
1990 China lifts martial law (imposed after Tiananmen Square massacre) 
1991 US Congress begins debate on Persian Gulf crisis 
1991 Japan ends routine fingerprinting of all adult ethnic Koreans 
1992 8th Soap Opera Digest Awards 
1993 "My Favorite Year" closes at Vivian Beaumont New York City NY after 37 performances 
1993 "Sea Gull" closes at Lyceum Theater New York City NY after 48 performances 
1993 Maiden flight of Ultrair (Houston to Los Angeles) 
1994 Trial of Lorena Bobbitt who cut off her husband's penis, begins 
1994 Ukraine says it will give up world's 3rd largest nuclear arsenal 
1994 Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan agrees to abolish trade tariffs 
1995 "Late Late Show" with Tom Snyder premieres on CBS at 12 30 AM 
1996 Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners 
1996 Jimmy Johnson announced as new coach of Miami Dolphins 
1997 "Rehearsal" closes at Criterion Theater New York City NY 
1997 1st Comet of 1997 Discovered Comet 1997 A1 
1997 4,000th episode of "Entertainment Tonight" 
1997 Dow Corning provides $2.95 billion to settle breast implant suits 
1997 Italy's new 1,000 lire coin shows divided Germany on map 
1997 Right-winger Arnoldo Aleman sworn in as President of Nicaragua 
1998 18th United Negro College Fund raises (re-broadcasted Jan 17th) 

Back in the day, today... on the 9th of January

1296 Earl Floris V signs accord with French king 
1317 Phillips V, the Tall, crowned king of France 
1349 700 Jews of Basel Switzerland, burned alive in their houses 
1428 Pope Martinus V declares Jacoba van Beierens marriage invalid 
1464 1st meeting of States-General of Netherlands 
1493 1st sight of manatees (by Christopher Columbus) 
1522 Adriaan F Boeyens of Utrecht elected only Dutch/last non-Italian pope (Adrian VI) 
1558 Geneva becomes independent from Berne canton, Switzerland 
1570 Tsar Ivan the terrible kills 1000-2000 residents of Novgorod 
1718 France declares war on Spain 
1760 Afghans defeat Marathas in battle of Barari Ghat 
1788 Connecticut becomes 5th state 
1792 Russia & Turkey sign Peace of Jassy 
1793 Jean Pierre Blanchard makes 1st balloon flight in North America (Philadelphia) 
1793 Dutch Prince Willem V establishes 2 brigades Drive Artillery 
1799 Income Tax introduced in UK 
1811 1st Women's Golf Tournament held 
1812 Swedish Pomerania (Germany) seized by Napoleon 
1834 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin arrives in Port San Julian, Patagonia 
1839 Daguerrotype photo process announced at French Academy of Science 
1839 Thomas Henderson measures 1st stellar parallax (Alpha Centauri) 
1847 1st San Francisco newspaper published (California Star) 
1848 1st commercial bank in San Francisco established 
1848 People's uprising in Palermo Sicily 
1854 Astor Library opens in New York City NY 
1855 Clipper Guiding Star disappears in Atlantic, 480 dies 
1857 7.9 earthquake shakes Fort Tejon CA 
1861 1st hostile act of Civil War; Star of the West fired on, Sumter SC 
1861 Mississippi becomes 2nd state to secede 
1863 -Jan 11th] Battle of Arkansas Post AR (Fort Hindman) 
1866 Fisk University establishes 
1879 Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Fort Robinson 
1879 Kirland Warbler discovered on Andros Island in Bahamas 
1880 6' (1.8 meters) of snow falls in Seattle in 5 days 
1894 "Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze" released in movie theaters 
1894 Georges Feydeau's "Un à la Patte" premieres in Paris 
1901 New South Wales (918) defeat S Australia (157 & 156) by innings & 605 
1903 Baseball's National & American Leagues make peace 
1903 Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota established 
1903 Frank Farrell & Bill Devery purchase AL Baltimore franchise for $18,000 & move it to New York City NY (Yankees) 
1905 Bloody Sunday-demonstrators fired on by tsarist troops 
1908 Muir Woods National Monument, California established 
1908 Frans Schollaert succeeds De Trooz as premier of Belgium 
1909 Ernest Shackleton reaches 88º23' south 
1912 US marines invade Honduras 
1915 Exposition (now Civic) Auditorium dedicated, San Francisco 
1922 KQV-AM in Pittsburgh PA begins radio transmissions 
1922 Rotterdam metal strike ends 
1923 Juan de la Cierva makes 1st autogiro (helicopter) flight, Spain 
1925 German Postal Minister A Höfle resigns due to corruption 
1927 Dmitri Shostakovich's Octet opus 11, premieres in Moscow 
1927 Fire in Laurier Palace cinema in Montréal, 78 children died 
1928 Eugene O'Neill's "Marco Millions" premieres in New York City NY 
1929 KDB-AM in Santa Barbara CA begins radio transmissions 
1929 BG DeSylva & Lew Brown's musical "Follow Thru" premieres in New York City NY 
1930 Boston Bruins wins then NHL record 14th straight game 
1933 Amsterdam confectionery worker go on strike against wage reduction 
1936 Semi-automatic rifles adopted by US army 
1936 Noël Coward's "Astonished Heart" premieres in London 
1937 Italian regime bans marriages between Italians & Abyssinians 
1937 Maxwell Anderson's "High Tor" premieres in New York City NY 
1940 2 German officers make emergency landing in Belgium 
1940 J Thurber & E Nugent's "Male Animal" premieres in New York City NY 
1941 Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane 
1941 6,000 Jews exterminated in pogrom in Bucharest Romania 
1942 Joe Louis KOs Buddy Baer in 1 for heavyweight boxing title 
1942 US Joint Chiefs of Staff created 
1943 Japanese government in Java limits sale & use of motorcars 
1945 US soldiers led by General Douglas MacArthur invade Philippines 
1946 "Would-Be Gentleman" opens at Booth Theater New York City NY for 77 performances 
1947 "Street Scene" opens at Adelphi Theater New York City NY for 148 performances 
1947 Roger Sessions' 2nd Symphony, premieres in San Francisco 
1948 Walter Piston's 3rd Symphony in E, premieres in Boston 
1951 Washington Capitals NBA club folds 
1951 Life After Tomorrow, 1st film to receive an "X" rating, premieres 
1952 Belgian Pholien government resigns 
1952 Karel Sys wins European heavyweight boxing title 
1952 Marines give notice that they will recall Ted Williams to active duty 
1953 Bevo Francis, Rio Grande College, scores 116 points in basketball game 
1953 Korean ferryboat "Chang Tyong-Ho" sank off Pusan killing 249 
1954 Bert Olmstead, Montréal Canadiens, ties NHL record of 8 points in game 
1954 -87ºF (-66ºC), Northice Station, Greenland (Greenland record) 
1954 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Louise Bogan & Leonie Adams 
1956 Abigail Van Buren's "Dear Abby" column 1st appears in newspapers 
1956 Samir el-Rifai forms government in Jordan 
1957 Checheno-Ingush ASSR reformed in RSFSR 
1957 Karachayevo-Cherkess Autonomous Region reestablished in RSFSR 
1957 British premier Anthony Eden resigns 
1957 Dutch Newspaper Society expels communist daily paper "Truth" 
1958 In basketball Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati OH) scores 56, Seton Hall team 54 
1959 "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood premieres on CBS TV 
1959 Dam across Tera River collapses after heavy winter rains, 135 die 
1959 Pat O'Connor beats Dick Hutton in St Louis MO, to become NWA champ 
1960 Building of Aswan dam in Egypt, begins 
1961 Twins agree on $500,000 payment to AA for Minneapolis/St Paul territory 
1962 NFL prohibits grabbing of face masks 
1962 Mister M (Dr X) beats Verne Gagne in Minnesota, to become NWA champ 
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1963 Mao Tse-tung writes his poem "Reply to Comrade Kuo Mo-jo" 
1964 Anti-US rioting breaks out in the Panamá Canal Zone 
1965 "Beatles' '65" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 9 weeks 
1966 Polish government denies exit visa to Cardinal Wyszynski revisionism 
1967 Georgia legislature seats Representative Julian Bond 
1967 The NFL New Orleans franchise takes the name "Saints" 
1968 Surveyor 7 space probe soft lands on the Moon 
1968 1st ABA All-Star Game East 126 beats West 120 at Indiana 
1969 Concorde jetliner's 1st test flight (Bristol England) 
1970 Constitution of Singapore enacted 
1971 "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen" closes at Majestic New York City NY after 19 performances 
1972 Billionaire Howard Hughes said Clifford Irving's biography is a fake 
1972 Marlene Hagge wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational 
1972 Passenger ship Queen Elizabeth destroyed by fire 
1973 Luna 21 launched, to Moon 
1975 600 employees of Royal Canadian Mint go on strike 
1975 Australia beat England by 171 runs in 4th Test to regain Ashes 
1976 Bryan Trottier failed in 4th Islander penalty shot 
1976 Ringo releases "Oh My My" in UK 
1976 CW McCall CB song "Convoy" hit #1 on the country music charts 
1977 Super Bowl XI Oakland Raiders defeat Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Pasadena; Super Bowl MVP Fred Biletnikoff, Oakland, Wide Receiver 
1977 "Porgy & Bess" closes at Uris Theater New York City NY after 122 performances 
1978 Commonwealth of Northern Marianas established 
1979 High-school player Daryl Moreau makes 126th consecutive free throws 
1979 Supreme Court strikes down (6-3) PA law requiring doctors performing an abortion to try to preserve lives of potentially viable fetuses 
1979 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to WS Merwin 
1979 K-Mart pulls Steve Martin's "Let's Get Small" for being in "bad taste" 
1980 63 beheaded in Mecca, Saudi Arabia 
1981 Francisco Balsamao elected President of Portugal 
1982 5.9 earthquake in New England & Canada; 1st since 1855 
1982 Steve D'Innocenzo scores 3 hockey goals in 12 seconds in Massachusetts high school game 
1983 British PM Margaret Thatcher visits the Falkland Islands 
1984 "TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes" premieres on NBC TV (Whoops) 
1984 EAA moves operations to Oshkosh 
1984 John Lennon's "Nobody Told Me" is released 
1984 Braves pitcher Pascual Perez is arrested for cocaine possession 
1985 Flames set NHL record 264th regular season game without being shut-out 
1986 New York Islanders greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Pittsburgh Penguins 
1987 New Nicaraguan constitution takes effect 
1987 Sir Rudolf Bing (of New York Met Opera) marries Lady Carroll Douglass 
1987 Chinese/Vietnamese border fights, 1500 killed 
1988 August Wilson's "Piano Lesson" premieres in Boston 
1988 English Earl of St Andrews marries Sylvana Tomaselli 
1988 US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano 
1989 "Pat Sajak Show" premieres on CBS 
1989 Johnny Bench & Carl Yastrzemski elected to Baseball Hall of Fame 
1990 64th US manned space mission STS 32 (Columbia 10) launches into orbit 
1990 Boston Celtics worst-ever (6 points in 2nd vs New Jersey Nets) & lose 87-78 
1990 Supreme Court strikes down Dallas' ordinance imposing strict zoning on sexually oriented businesses 
1990 Jim Palmer & Joe Morgan elected to Baseball Hall of Fame 
1991 Baker & Aziz meet in Geneva; talks fail to defuse the gulf crisis 
1991 Baseball officially bans Pete Rose from being elected to Hall of Fame 
1991 Dean Smith of North Carolina is 6th to win 700 career coaching basketball games 
1993 Franziska van Almsick swims world record 100 meter free style (53.33) 
1994 14th United Negro College Fund raises $11,000,000 
1994 Gunda Niemann skates world record (167.282 points) 
1994 Rintje Ritsma skates world record (156.201 points) 
1995 Ecuador & Peru involve in boundary fight 
1995 Worker accidentally cuts electrical wires at Newark Airport 
1997 Heart attacks sends Frank Sinatra back to hospital 
1998 Anatoly Karpov defeats Viswanathan Anand to retain chess title 
1998 Anatoly Solovyov & Pavel Vinogradov spacewalk record 3 hours 8 minutes 
1998 Boston Red Sox Mo Vaughn pleads not guilty to drunken driving 
1998 Decapitated head of Danish Little Mermaid is returned 
1998 Hockey News selects Wayne Gretzky best NHL player ever 

Back in the day, today... on the 6th of January

1066 King Harald of England crowned 
1099 Henry V crowned German king 
1227 Ferrand of Portugal freed from the Louvre 
1352 French king Jean II introduces Order of the Star 
1453 Emperor Frederik III becomes archduke of Austria 
1496 Moorish fortress Alhambra, near Grenada, surrenders to the Christi 
1497 Jews are expelled from Graz (Syria) 
1535 City of Lima Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro 
1540 King Henry VIII of England married his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves 
1579 Artois/Hainault/Dowaai sign pro-Spanish Union of Arras 
1622 Pope Gregory XV forms Congregatio the Propagande Fide 
1639 Virginia is 1st colony to order surplus crops (tobacco) destroyed 
1663 Great earthquake in New England 
1681 1st recorded boxing match (Duke of Albemarle's butler vs his butcher) 
1690 Emperor Leopold's son Jozef chosen Roman Catholic king 
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlies army draws to Glasgow 
1759 George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Curtis 
1773 Massachusetts slaves petition legislature for freedom 
1781 Battle of Jersey (Island in the UK) 
1784 Turkey & Russia sign treaty in Constantinople 
1832 New England Anti-Slavery Society organizes (Boston) 
1838 Samuel Morse made 1st public demonstration of telegraph 
1839 2 day storm off Irish & English coast immortalized as "The Big Wind" 
1842 4,500 British & Indian troops leave Kabul, massacred before India 
1857 Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Pennsylvania 
1861 New York City NY mayor proposes New York become a free city, trading with N & S 
1861 Florida troops seize Federal arsenal at Apalachicola 
1873 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On the Church in Armenia" 
1873 US Congress begins investigating Crédit Mobilier scandal 
1880 Record snow cover in Seattle-120cm 
1883 Ontario Rugby Football Union forms 
1893 Great Northern Railway connects Seattle with east coast 
1896 1st US women's 6-day bicycle race starts, Madison Square Garden 
1896 Cecil Rhodes resigns as premier of Cape colony 
1898 1st telephone message from a submerged submarine, by Simon Lake 
1900 Boers attack at Ladysmith, about 1,000 killed or injured 
1900 Maurice Ravel's "Albaradode Gracioso" premieres in Paris 
1903 Dutch Press museum opens in Amsterdam 
1906 Maurice Ravel's "Miroirs" premieres in Paris 
1907 Maria Montessori opens her 1st (Montessori) school (Rome) 
1912 New Mexico becomes 47th state 
1914 Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded 
1922 Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments 
1924 Poulenc/Nijinska's ballet "Les Biches" premieres in Monte Carlo 
1925 Paavo Nurmi, sets indoor record, 4 13.6 mile & 14 44.6 5,000m 
1926 Kees Boeke opens 1st comprehensive school in Holland 
1927 US marines sent to Nicaragua 
1928 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Mortalium animos (against oecumene) 
1929 Alexander I establishes a royal dictatorship in Yugoslavia 
1930 1st diesel engine automobile trip (in a Packard sedan) completed 
1930 Bradman scores 452* for New South Wales against Queensland, 377 minutes, 49 fours 
1936 Barbara Hanley became Canada's 1st woman mayor (Webbwood, Ontario) 
1937 Bradman scores 270 Australia vs England at the MCG, including 110 singles 
1938 Bronze memorial statue of Henry Hudson erected in the Bronx 
1941 FDR's "4 Freedoms" speech (speech, worship, from want & from fear) 
1942 1st around world flight (Pan Am "Pacific Clipper") 
1942 Bob Feller, enlists in Navy & reports for duty to Norfolk Virginia 
1945 Future President George Bush marries Barbara Pierce in Rye NY 
1946 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Quemadmodum 
1947 Ray Lindwall smashes 100 vs England in MCG Test 
1950 Britain recognizes Communist government of China 
1950 "Happy as Larry" opens at Coronet Theater New York City NY for 3 performances 
1951 Indianapolis beats Rochester 75-73 in NBA-record 6 overtimes 
1951 "Pardon Our French" closes at Broadway Theater New York City NY after 100 performances 
1953 WKBN TV channel 27 in Youngstown, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting 
1956 Federal court bars former Little League Commissioner Carl Stotz from forming a rival group 
1956 KGNS TV channel 8 in Laredo TX (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting 
1957 Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on Ed Sullivan Show 
1957 Yeshiva Kol Ya'ackov opens in Moscow Russia 
1958 Gibson patents the Flying V Guitar 
1958 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to ee cummings 
1958 WIPR TV channel 6 in San Juan, PR (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1963 "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" with Marlin Perkins begins on NBC 
1963 "Oliver!" opens at Imperial Theater New York City NY for 774 performances 
1964 Charlie Finlay announces he wants to move Kansas City A's to Louisville 
1964 Rolling Stones' 1st tour as headline act (with Ronettes) 
1965 Geoff Boycott takes 3-47 against South Africa, his best Test bowling 
1967 2 homemade buses collided on a mountain road in Terpate, Philippines plunging off a cliff, killing 84, injuring 140 
1967 "Milton Berle Show" last airs on ABC-TV 
1967 KHTV TV channel 39 in Houston TX (IND) begins broadcasting 
1968 Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 8 weeks 
1968 Surveyor 7 (last of series) launched by US for soft-landing on Moon 
1968 Dr N E Shumway performs 1st US adult cardiac transplant operation 
1969 Supremes release "I'm Livin' In Shame" 
1969 WLIW TV channel 21 in Garden City NY (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1971 Cecil Partee elected president pro tem of Illinois state senate 
1971 Berkeley chemists announces 1st synthetic growth hormones 
1972 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn 
1972 US male Figure Skating championship won by Kenneth Shelley 
1972 Vladimir Bukovski is exiled from USSR 
1973 "Schoolhouse Rock" premieres on ABC-TV with Multiplication Rock 
1974 "CBS Mystery Theater" premieres on radio 
1974 England begins 3 day work week during mine strike 
1975 AM America premieres on ABC-TV with Bill Beutel as host 
1975 "AM America" premieres on ABC-TV with Bill Beutel as host 
1975 "Wheel Of Fortune" debuts on NBC-TV 
1976 Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million 
1976 China People's Republic performs nuclear test at Lop Nor People's Republic of China 
1977 EMI records drop punk rock group Sex Pistols 
1978 1st postage stamp copyrighted by US (Carl Sandburg stamp) 
1978 US hand over St Stephan crown to Hungary 
1980 Philadelphia Flyers set NHL record of 35 straight games without a defeat 
1980 "1940's Radio Hour" closes at St James Theater New York City NY after 105 performances 
1980 Indira Gandhi's Congress Party wins elections in India 
1981 50th hat trick in Islander history-John Tonelli scored 5 goals 
1984 Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 41 B mission 
1984 Last day of Test cricket for Chappell, Marsh & Lillee 
1986 British Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine resigns 
1986 STS 61-C scrubbed at T-31 seconds because of liquid oxygen valve problem 
1986 Impala Platinum fires 20,000 black mine workers in Johannesburg 
1986 Last day in Test cricket for Bob Holland 
1987 100th US Congress convenes 
1987 Astronomers at University of California see 1st sight of birth of a galaxy 
1990 New York Lotto pays $35 million to one winner (#s are 18-25-26-32-42-44) 
1991 "Real Life With Jane Pauley" premieres on NBC-TV 
1991 "Gypsy" closes at St James Theater New York City NY after 477 performances 
1991 Jorge Serrano Elías elected President of Guatemala 
1991 Qian Hong swims female world record 50m butterfly (27.30 seconds) 
1992 New York Yankees sign free agent Danny Tartabul 
1992 Robert Schenkkan's "Kentucky Cycle" premieres in Los Angeles 
1992 Sachin Tendulkar completes 148* vs Australia at the SCG 
1992 Shane Warne takes 1-150 in his 1st Test innings 
1993 Bill Wyman announces he will leave Rolling Stones 
1993 Jean Mueller discovers comet Mueller/1993a 
1993 Last day of Test cricket for Greg Matthews 
1994 "Government Inspector" opens at Lyceum Theater New York City NY for 37 performances 
1994 Dow-Jones hits record 3803.88 
1994 Ice skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by Tonya Harding's bodyguard 
1994 Yat Weiju swims world record 50m butterfly stroke (26.44) 
1995 Atlanta Hawks' Lenny Wilkens becomes NBA's winningest coach (939) 
1996 Record $65.2 million British lottery won by 3 people (2-3-4-13-42-44) 
1997 "It's a Slippery Slope" closes at Vivian Beaumont Theater New York City NY 
1998 Barry Switzer resigns as Dallas Cowboy coach 
1998 Don Sutton selected to Baseball Hall of Fame 

Back in the day, today... on the 4th of January

0274 St Eutychian begins his reign as Catholic Pope 
0871 Battle at Reading Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army 
1357 Flemish Earl Louis & Luxembourg Duke Wenceslaus sign peace treaty 
1493 Columbus left new world on return from 1st voyage 
1519 1st Altenburger sermon (Luther & Karl von Miltitz) 
1570 Spanish viceroy Alva banishes Zutphen City's only physician, Joost Sweiter, "because he is a Jew" 
1642 King Charles I with 400 soldiers attacks the English parliament 
1717 Netherlands, England & France sign Triple Alliance 
1725 Benjamin Franklin arrives in London 
1754 Columbia University founded, as Kings College (New York City NY) 
1762 England declares war on Spain & Naples 
1780 Snowstorm hit Washington's army at Morristown New Jersey 
1781 André Méchain discovers M80 (globular cluster in Scorpio) 
1832 Insurrection of Trinidad negroes 
1843 Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Don Pasquale" premieres in Paris 
1843 Royal Academy (Technical Hague court) Delft opens 
1861 President Buchanan appoints a fast on account of threatened succession 
1861 US Fort Morgan, Mobile, seized by Alabama 
1862 Battle of Fort Hindman, AR (Arkansas Post) 
1862 Battle of Helena, AR 
1862 Romney Campaign-Stonewall Jackson occupies Bath 
1863 4 wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton of NY 
1881 Johannes Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture" premieres, Breslau 
1883 Ontario Rugby Football Union (forerunner of CFL) formed 
1884 Last sighting of an eastern cougar (Ontario) 
1885 Dr W W Grant of Iowa, performs 1st appendectomy (on Mary Gartside, 22) 
1887 Thomas Stevens is 1st man to bicycle around the world (San Francisco-San Francisco); 21,700km 
1893 US President Harrison grants amnesty to Mormon polygamy 
1894 France ratifies Duple Alliance with Russia 
1896 AFL charters Actors' National Protective Union, New York City NY 
1896 Following Mormon abandonment of polygamy, Utah admitted as 45th state 
1898 1st installment of William Dean Howell's "Life & Letters" appears 
1902 Hugh Trumble takes a hat-trick vs England at the MCG 
1904 Ottawa Silver 7 beat Winnipeg Rowing Club 2 games to 1 (Stanley Cup) 
1904 Supreme Court rules Puerto Ricans cannot be denied admission to US 
1906 South Africa beat England by one wicket, their 1st Test win 
1907 George Bernard Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell" premieres in London 
1912 Smallest earth-moon distance this century, 356,375 km center-to-center 
1915 1st elected Jewish Governor, Moses Alexander, takes office in Idaho 
1915 Trans-Caucausus Russian defeat Turkish troops 
1920 1st Black baseball league, National Negro Baseball League, organizes 
1920 Amsterdam actors decide to strike for retirement benefits 
1921 Eugene O'Neill's "Diff'rent" premieres in New York City NY 
1923 1st broadcast of "Barn Dance Show" (WBAP - Fort Worth TX) 
1923 Lenin's "Political Testament" calls for removal of Stalin 
1925 French psychologist Emil Coué brings his self-esteem therapy to US "Every day in every way I am getting better & better" 
1926 Theodorus Pangalos resigns as Greek dictator 
1932 Bradman scores 167 for Australia vs South Africa at the MCG 
1932 British East Indies Viceroy Willingdon arrests Gandhi & Nehru 
1932 State of siege proclaimed in Honduras 
1934 1st Dutch talkie movie, Jan Teunissen's "Willem of Orange" premieres 
1935 Fort Jefferson National Monument, Florida established 
1935 Bob Hope 1st heard on network radio as part of "The Intimate Revue" 
1936 Billboard magazine publishes its 1st music hit parade 
1936 Grimmett becomes world record wicket taker with no 190 vs South Africa 
1939 Frieda Wunderlich elected 1st woman dean of a US graduate school 
1939 Hermann Goering appoints Reinhard Heydrich head of Jewish Emigration 
1941 Resistance fighters counter d'Estienne d'Orves/Jan Doornik, 1st meet 
1941 Sergey Rachmaninov's "Symphonie Dances" premieres in Philadelphia 
1942 NFL Pro Bowl Chicago Bears beats NFL All-Stars 35-24 
1942 Premier Churchill & General Marshall fly to Florida 
1942 Rogers Hornsby is 14th player selected to the Hall of Fame 
1943 Thomas Mann completes his tetralogy, "Joseph & His Brothers" 
1944 Ralph Bunche appointed 1st Negro official in US State Department 
1945 Germans execute resistance fighters in Amsterdam 
1945 US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after kamikaze attack 
1947 "Park Avenue" closes at Shubert Theater New York City NY after 72 performances 
1947 "Show Boat" closes at Ziegfeld Theater New York City NY after 417 performances 
1948 Britain grants independence to Burma 
1951 During Korean conflict, North Korean forces captured Seoul 
1953 KTSM TV channel 9 in El Paso TX (NBC) begins broadcasting 
1954 Elvis Presley records a 10 minute demo in Nashville 
1954 Soap Opera "The Brighter Day" premieres 
1957 "Blondie" situation comedy premieres on NBC TV (later on CBS) 
1957 Dodgers buy 44 passenger twin-engine airplane for $775,000 
1958 Sputnik 1 reenters atmosphere & burns up 
1959 Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes 1st craft to leave Earth's gravity 
1960 European Free Trade Association forms in Stockholm 
1961 Longest recorded strike ends-33 years-Danish barbers' assistants 
1962 1st automated (unmanned) subway train (New York City NY) 
1963 Soviet Luna (4) reaches Earth orbit but fails to reach Moon 
1965 LBJ's "Great Society" State of the Union Address 
1966 Doug Walters scores second Test century in his second Test 
1966 WFLD TV channel 32 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins broadcasting 
1968 Leo Fender sells Fender Guitars for $13 million 
1968 Duck hunter accidentally shoots endangered whooping crane in Texas 
1969 "Fig Leaves Are Falling" closes at Broadhurst New York City NY after 4 performances 
1969 France begins arms embargo against Israel 
1970 Beatles last recording session at EMI studios 
1970 Kansas City Chiefs beat Oakland Raiders 17-7 in AFC championship game 
1970 Minnesota Vikings beat Cleveland Browns 27-7 in NFC championship game 
1970 New York City NY transit fare rises from 20¢ to 30¢, new larger tokens used 
1970 Walter Cronkite ends hosting weekly documentary 
1971 Dr Melvin H Evans inaugurated as 1st elected Governor of Virgin Islands 
1971 Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to relatives of Kent State victims 
1971 Philadelphia's Veteran Stadium dedicated 
1971 Congressional Black Caucus organizes 
1974 Nixon refuses to hand over tapes subpoenaed by Watergate Committee 
1975 Ice thickness measured at 4776 m, Wilkes Land, Antarctica 
1975 Montréal Canadiens shutout Washington Capitals 10-0 
1975 "Good News" closes at St James Theater New York City NY after 16 performances 
1975 "Gypsy" closes at Winter Garden Theater New York City NY after 120 performances 
1975 "Over Here" closes at Shubert Theater New York City NY after 341 performances 
1975 Ford Executive Order on CIA Activities within the US (No 11828) 
1976 "Candide" closes at Broadway Theater New York City NY after 740 performances 
1976 "Home Sweet Homer" opens & closes at Palace Theater New York City NY 
1977 Mary Shane hired by Chicago White Sox as 1st woman TV play-by-play 
1980 President Carter announces US boycott of Moscow Olympics 
1981 "Frankenstein" opens & closes on Broadway 
1981 "Peter Pan" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City NY after 578 performances 
1981 69th Australian Mens Tennis B Teacher beats Kim Warwick (75 76 63) 
1981 British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper" 
1982 Chris Wallace becomes co-anchor of the Today Show 
1982 Golden Gate Bridge closed for 3rd time by fierce storm 
1982 ABC Direction Network (57 affiliates) & ABC Rock Network (40 affiliates) become the 5th & 6th ABC radio network 
1982 Bryant Gumbel became co-host of NBC's "Today Show" 
1983 US Football League holds its 1st player draft 
1984 "Night Court" starring Harry Anderson premieres on NBC TV 
1984 Edmonton beats Minnesota 12-8-highest-scoring modern NHL game 
1986 NCAA basketball's David Robinson blocks a record 14 shots 
1986 David Boon's second Test century, 131 vs India at Adelaide 
1987 16 die in a train crash in Chase MD 
1989 Comet Tempel 1 at perihelion 
1989 Vice President Bush is 1st since Vice President Van Buren to declare himself President 
1989 US F-14s shoot down 2 Libyan jet fighters over Mediterranean 
1991 AT&T workers in Newark accidentally snap a cable 
1991 Iraq agrees to send Aziz to Geneva to meet Baker on Jan 9th 
1991 Fu Mingxia, 12, of China wins World Swimming Championships gold medal 
1991 Jan Krzystof Bielecki becomes premier of Poland 
1992 8th largest wrestling crowd (60,000-Tokyo Dome) 
1993 7th largest wrestling crowd (63,500-Tokyo Dome) 
1994 10th largest wrestling crowd (58,000-Tokyo Dome) 
1995 Newt Gingrich (R) becomes speaker of the House 
1996 "Father" opens at Criterion Theater New York City NY for 52 performances 
1998 "Funny Thing Happened" closes at St James New York City NY after 715 performances 
1998 "Ivanov" closes at Vivian Beaumont Theater New York City NY after 51 performances 
1998 "Triumph of Love" closes at Royale Theater New York City NY 

 

Back in the day, today... on the 3rd of January

0236 St Anterus ends his reign as Catholic Pope 
0269 St Felix I begins his reign as Catholic Pope 
0936 Duke Alberik II of Spoleto appoints his son Pope Leo VII 
1338 Jacob of Arteveld elected mayor of Ghent 
1407 Bloody battles between Hoeksen & Kabeljauwen in Dordrecht 
1431 Joan of Arc handed over to the bishop 
1521 Martin Luther excommunicated by Roman Catholic Church 
1638 Schouwburg Theatre, the 1st in Amsterdam, opens 
1638 Dutch Premier Van Joost speaks of "Hostage rights of Aemstel" 
1667 Russia & Poland sign Truce of Androsovo 
1746 Bonnie Prince Charlies army leaves Glasgow 
1750 Tax revolt in Haarlem Netherlands 
1752 East Indies invasion "Geldermalsen" leaves at Malakka 92 killed 
1777 Washington defeats British at Battle of Princeton, New Jersey 
1780 Danish national anthem "Kong Kristian", 1st sung 
1825 Scottish factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for New Harmony utopian community 
1831 1st US building & loan association organized, Frankford PA 
1833 Britain seizes control of Falkland Islands in South Atlantic 
1840 1st deep sea sounding 
1847 California town of Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco 
1852 1st Chinese arrive in Hawaii 
1861 Delaware legislature rejects proposal to join Confederacy 
1861 US Fort Pulaski & Fort Jackson, Savannah, seized by Georgia 
1862 Romney Campaign - Stonewall Jackson moves north from Winchester 
1865 Con Orem & Hugh O'Neill box 193 rounds before darkness ends match 
1868 Meiji Restoration returns authority to Japan's emperors 
1870 Brooklyn Bridge construction begins; completed May 24, 1883 
1871 Oleomargarine patented by Henry Bradley, Binghamton NY 
1872 1st patent list issued by US Patent Office 
1876 1st free kindergarten in US opens in Florence MA 
1888 1st wax drinking straw patented, by Marvin C Stone in Washington DC 
1889 Admissions convention meets in Ellensburg WA, asks for statehood 
1890 1st US college-level dairy school opens at University of Wisconsin 
1896 Emperor Wilhelm congratulates President Kruger on the Jameson Raid 
1900 Perihelion Passage 
1900 Gerhart Hauptmanns "Schluck und Jau" premieres in Berlin 
1902 Reg Duff 104 on Test debut, vs England at MCG 
1910 British miners strike for 8 hour working day 
1911 US postal savings bank inaugurated 
1912 Southern Pacific RR offers to bring Liberty Bell to Exposition, free 
1914 Kelman/Cushing/Heath' musical "Sari" premieres in New York City NY 
1918 US employment service opens as a unit of Department of Labor 
1920 New York Yankees purchase Babe Ruth from Red Sox for $125,000 
1920 Arthur Honegger's "Chant de Nigamon" premieres 
1921 Turkey makes peace with Armenia 
1922 1st living person identified on a US coin (Thomas E Kirby) on the Alabama Centennial half-dollar 
1924 British Egyptologist Howard Carter finds sarcophagus of Tutankhamun 
1925 Mussolini dissolves Italian parliament/becomes dictator 
1926 Greek General Theodorus Pángulos names himself dictator 
1929 27 year old William S Paley becomes CBS president 
1929 Bradman scores 112 vs England at MCG - his 1st Test century 
1931 Nels Stewart of Montréal Maroons scores 2 goals in 4 seconds (record) 
1938 March of Dimes established to fight polio 
1939 Gene Cox becomes 1st girl page in US House of Representatives 
1940 WPG-AM in Atlantic City NJ consolidates with WBIL & WOV as "new" WOV 
1941 Canada & US acquire air bases in Newfoundland (99 year lease) 
1941 Italian counter offensive in Albania 
1941 Sergei Rachmaninov's "Symphonic Dances" premieres in Philadelphia 
1942 American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command forms 
1943 1st missing persons telecast (New York City NY) 
1943 Canadian Army troops arrive in North Africa 
1945 Cato-Meridian School, NY, installs germicidal lamps in every room 
1945 Allies land on west coast of Burma, conquer Akyab 
1945 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill visits France 
1945 Greek General Plastiras forms government 
1945 John Patrick's "Hasty Heart" premieres in New York City NY 
1945 US aircraft carriers attack Okinawa 
1947 William Dawson becomes 1st black to head congressional committee 
1947 1st opening session of Congress to be televised 
1948 Bradman completes dual Test tons (132 & 127*) vs India MCG 
1949 "Colgate Theatre" dramatic anthology series premieres on NBC TV 
1951 Fred Wilt wins AAU Sullivan Memorial Trophy (US athlete of 1950) 
1952 "Dragnet" with Jack Webb premieres on NBC TV 
1952 Australia beat W Indies by one wicket at the MCG, last stand 38 
1955 José Ramon Guizado becomes President of Panamá 
1957 1st electric watch introduced, Lancaster PA 
1958 Edmund Hillary reaches South Pole overland 
1958 Lindsay Kline takes a hat-trick vs South Africa at Cape Town 
1959 Alaska admitted as 49th US state 
1961 Adam Clayton Powell elected Chairman of House Education & Labor 
1961 US breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba 
1962 Ground is broken for the Houston Astrodome 
1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro 
1963 WOUB TV channel 20 in Athens, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1964 Jack Paar Show, shows a clip of the Beatles singing "She Loves You" 
1966 Floyd B McKissick, named national director of CORE 
1967 Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys is indicted for draft evasion 
1967 "Tonight Show" is shortened from 105 to 90 minutes 
1967 WJAN TV channel 17 in Canton, OH (IND) begins broadcasting 
1969 John Lennon's "2 Virgins" album declared pornographic in New Jersey 
1969 Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr seated by Congress 
1970 Marxist government takes over in Congo 
1970 "Mame" closes at Winter Garden Theater New York City NY after 1508 performances 
1970 WHAG TV channel 25 in Hagerstown, MD (NBC) begins broadcasting 
1971 Baltimore Colts beat Oakland Raiders 27-17 in AFC championship game 
1971 Dallas Cowboys beat San Francisco 49ers 17-10 in NFC championship game 
1971 "President's Daughter" closes at Billy Rose Theater New York City NY after 72 performances 
1973 George Steinbrenner III buys Yankees from CBS for $12 million 
1974 Gold hits record $121.25 an ounce in London 
1974 Arias Navarro succeeds Carrero Blanco as premier of Spain 
1974 Burma accepts its constitution 
1974 Miguel Piñero's "Short Eyes" premieres in New York City NY 
1974 New York Yankees sign Bill Virdon as manager 
1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1977 Apple Computer incorporated 
1977 Lindy McDaniel retires with 2nd most pitching appearances (987 games) 
1978 Chandrasekar takes 6-52 & 6-52 at MCG in Indian innings win 
1980 Gold hits record $634 an ounce 
1981 Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey #34, Austin Carr 
1981 55th Australian Womens Tennis H Mandlikova beats W Turnbull (60 75) 
1981 Greg Chappell scores 204 vs India at the SCG 
1981 Mary Terstegge Meagher swims female record 100 meter butterfly (58.91) 
1983 Tony Dorsett sets NFL record with 99-yard rush, Dallas vs Minnesota 
1984 Syria frees captured US pilot after appeal from Jesse Jackson 
1985 Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews 
1985 Azharuddin scores 110 in 1st Test innings 
1987 "Oh Coward!" closes at Helen Hayes Theater New York City NY after 56 performances 
1987 "Smile" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City NY after 48 performances 
1987 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts 1st female artist Aretha Franklin 
1987 Former Miss America Vanessa Williams marries Ramon T Hervey in New York City NY 
1988 Israel orders 9 Palestinian "instigators" deported from W Beirut 
1988 Margaret Thatcher becomes longest-serving British PM this century 
1989 Jim & Tammy Bakker return to TV (Oy Vey!) 
1989 Russian newspaper Izvestia gets its 1st commercial advertisement 
1990 Panamá's leader General Manuel Noriega surrenders to US authorities 
1991 Israel reopens consulate in USSR after 23 years 
1991 Los Angeles King Wayne Gretzky scores his 700th goal against New York Islanders 
1992 32 Cubans defect to the US via helicopter 
1992 Boon completes 11 Test Cricket century, 129* vs India at Sydney 
1993 "Catskills on Broadway" closes at Lunt-Fontanne New York City NY after 452 performances 
1993 "Christmas Carol" closes at Broadhurst Theater New York City NY after 22 performances 
1993 "Lost in Yonkers" closes at Richard Rodgers New York City NY after 780 performances 
1993 "Secret Garden" closes at St James Theater New York City NY after 706 performances 
1993 "Tommy Tune Tonite!" closes at Gershwin New York City NY after 10 performances 
1993 Junk bond king Michael Milkin is released from jail after 22 months 
1994 "Gray's Anatomy" closes at Beaumont Theater New York City NY after 13 performances 
1994 100s killed in Venezuela in prison revolt 
1994 35-foot-tall Chief Wahoo, trademark of Indians on top of Stadium since 1962, is taken down, to be moved to Jacob's Field 
1994 Tupolev-154M crashes at Irkutsk, Siberia 122 killed 
1997 Bryant Gumbel co-hosted his final "Today" show on NBC-TV 
1997 Eddo Brandes takes ODI hat-trick vs England at Harare 
1997 Zimbabwe clean-sweep ODI series vs England 3-0 
1998 "Side Show" closes at Richard Rodgers New York City NY after 91 performances 

 

Back in the day, today... on the 29th of December

1503 Battle at Carigliano: Spanish army beats France 
1539 St Jacobs Church burns after being hit by lightning 
1541 Isabella of Poland & King Ferdinand of Austria sign Treaty of Gyalu 
1558 Charles V, German emperor, buried 
1705 Prosper Jolyot's "Idomenée" premieres in Paris 
1708 Great Alliance occupies Gent 
1778 English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia 
1782 1st nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston 
1813 British burn Buffalo New York during the War of 1812 
1837 Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a US steamboat docked at Buffalo 
1837 Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop ME 
1841 King/grand duke Willem II installs Order of Eikenkroon 
1845 Texas admitted as the 28th state 
1848 Gas lights 1st installed at White House (Polk's administration) 
1851 1st Young Men's Christian Association chapter opened (Boston) 
1852 Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants 
1857 Franz Liszt's "Die Hunnenschlacht" premieres in Weimar 
1862 Battle of Chichasaw Bayou: confederate armies defeat General Sherman 
1862 Bowling ball invented 
1864 Fire Department celebrates 1st annual ball 
1867 1st telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Company, New York 
1876 11 passenger cars crash in a ravine near Ashtabula OH, 92 die 
1876 Frédéric A Bartholdi (Statue of Liberty sculptor) weds Jeanne-Emilie 
1885 Gottlieb Daimler patents 1st bike (Germany) 
1890 US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee SD; Indian "war" in the west 
1891 Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio) 
1895 Dr L S Jameson begins failed raid on Johannesburg 
1899 English fleet brings German postschip Bundesrath up 
1900 General Viljoen surprise attack British garrison to Helvetia 
1903 French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad & Ubangi-Shari 
1906 Montréal Wanderers beat New Glasgow (Nova Scotia) for Stanley Cup (2nd of 1906) 
1908 Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville WI 
1911 San Francisco Symphony is formed 
1911 Proclamation restores "Dei Gratia" from Canada's coins 
1913 1st movie serial, "Adventures of Kathlyn" premieres in Chicago IL 
1920 The netherlands/Venezuela recover diplomatic relations 
1920 Yugoslav government bans communist party 
1921 William Lyon Mackenzie King succeeded Arthur Meighen as Canadian PM 
1922 Revised Netherlands Law proclaims suffrage 
1926 Vatican puts French fascist Charles Maurras' work on the index 
1926 Victoria (1107) beat New South Wales (221 & 230) by an innings 656 runs 
1929 Police arrest Sukarno & 100s PNI-leaders 
1930 Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam MN, to New Orleans LA 
1931 Identification of heavy water publicly announced, HC Urey 
1931 Victoria score 7 for 435 in second innings to beat New South Wales 
1933 Yankees refuse to release Babe Ruth so he can manage the Cincinnati Reds 
1934 1st collegiate basketball doubleheader (Madison Square Garden) 
1934 Japan renounces Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 & London Treaty of 1930 
1934 Federico García Lorca's "Yerma" premieres in Madrid 
1937 Pan Am starts San Francisco CA-to-Auckland, New Zealand service 
1937 Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes Eire) 
1937 Lou Thesz beats E Marshall in St Louis, to become wrestling champion 
1938 Construction on Lake Washington Floating Bridge, Seattle WA, begins 
1940 Germany begins dropping incendiary bombs on London (WWII) 
1940 NFL Pro Bowl: Chi Bears beats NFL All-Stars 28-14 
1944 Belgian Nazi Léon Degrelle at default to the death sentenced 
1944 General Eisenhowers train returns to Versailles 
1947 Ship carrying Jewish immigrants driven away from Palestine 
1948 US State Department announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit 
1948 "Rape of Lucretia" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 23 performances 
1948 Canada recognizes Israel 
1949 1st UHF television station operating regular basis (Bridgeport CT) 
1949 Hungary nationalized its industries 
1952 1st transistorized hearing aid offered for sale (Elmsford NY) 
1954 Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Netherlands & Netherlands Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being 
1955 Barbra Streisand's 1st recording, "You'll Never Know" at age 13 
1957 Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns 50-14 in NFL championship game 
1957 Singers Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé wed in Las Vegas 
1958 Baltimore Colts beat New York Giants 23-17 in NFL championship game 
1958 TV soap "Young Dr Malone" debuts 
1959 Saul Levitt's "Andersonville Trial" premieres in New York NY 
1962 Doug Walters makes 1st-class debut for New South Wales 17 years 8 days 
1963 52nd Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Adelaide (3-2) 
1965 CBS purchases NFL TV rights for 1966-68 at $18.8 million per year 
1965 Supremes release "My World is Empty Without You" 
1965 "Thunderball" premieres in US 
1966 Pirate Radio Phoenix, 1st transmission (Worcester MA) 
1967 Star Trek's "The Trouble With Tribbles" 1st airs 
1967 Turkish-Cypriot government forms in Cyprus 
1968 Baltimore Colts beat Cleveland Browns 34-0 in NFL championship game 
1968 New York Jets beat Oakland Raiders 27-23 in AFL championship game 
1968 Israeli commandos destroy 13 Lebanese airplanes 
1969 New York Times reports Curt Flood will sue baseball & challenge the reserve clause 
1972 Eastern Tristar Jumbo Jet crashes near Everglades killing 101 
1972 Life magazine ceases publication 
1972 Test Cricket debut of Jeff Thomson & Max Walker vs Pakistan at MCG 
1974 Murray Schisgal's "All Over Town" premieres in New York NY 
1975 11 killed, 75 hurt by terrorist bomb at LaGuardia Airport in New York NY 
1977 Ronald Ribman's "Cold Storage" premieres in New York NY 
1978 Shah of Iran, asks Shapour Bahktiar to form a civilian government 
1978 Spain constitution goes into effect 
1978 Test Cricket debut of Allan Robert Border, vs England at the MCG 
1979 Red Army beats New York Islanders 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum 
1980 Shuttle STS-1 moves from Vandenberg AFB to Launch Complex 39A 
1982 Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica 
1982 Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant ends his career with Alabama (323 wins) 
1983 US announces withdrawal from UNESCO 
1983 Gavaskar makes the highest Test Cricket score by an Indian, 236 vs West Indies 
1983 Graeme Yallop completes 268 vs Pakistan at cricket MCG 
1984 Blues take 27 shots against Islanders in 1 period 
1984 Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi claims victory in parliamentary elections 
1984 5th United Negro College Fund 
1988 Soviet Red Army Team edges New York Islanders, 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum 
1988 Victorian Post Office Museum in Australia closes 
1989 Vaclav Havel becomes President of Czechoslovakia 
1989 Wayne Gretzky & Martina Navratilova are named athletes of the decade by the Associated Press 
1989 Jane Pauley says goodbye to NBC's "Today" show 
1990 Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton weds Shannon Kelley 
1991 "Christmas Carol" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 14 performances 
1991 12th United Negro College Fund 
1991 Boeing 747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at Taipei 
1992 Governor Cuomo grants Jean Harris ("Scarsdale Diet" Murderess) clemency 
1993 Courtney Love sues doctors for leaking news of her methadone treatment 
1993 Todd Bridges arrested for transporting methamphetamine (speed) 
1994 B737-400 flies into a mountain at Edremit East Turkey, 54 killed 
1994 Bangladesh government of Zia resigns 
1994 Billionaire J Paul Getty Jr marries Victoria Holdsworth on Barbados 
1994 Last Dutch electro-magnetic telephone exchange shuts down 
1994 Shane Warne takes a hat-trick vs England at cricket MCG 
1996 "Dreams & Nightmares" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC 
1996 "Skylight" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 
1996 "Taking Sides" closes at Atkinson Theater NYC 
1997 Carquest Bowl 8: Georgia Tech beats West Virginia, 35-30 
1997 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu 
1997 Orville Lynn Majors, 36, arrested for many deaths under his care 
1997 Russia signs agreement to build a $3B nuclear power plant in China

 

Back in the day, today... on the 22nd of December

0401 St Innocent I begins his reign as Catholic Pope 
0795 Leo III succeeds pope Adrianus I 
1135 Norman nobles recognize Stefanus van Blois as English king 
1216 Pope Honorius III delegates degree "Religiosam vitam eligentibus" 
1465 Peace of St Truiden: Louis van Bourbon becomes bishop of Luik 
1536 English scholar Reginald Pole appointed cardinal 
1596 Ferryboat Meuniers crashes in Paris, 150 die 
1642 Pope Urbanus VIII publishes degree In eminente 
1688 Pro-James II, Earl of Danby occupies York 
1689 Heavy earthquake strikes Innsbruck 
1715 English pretender to the throne James III lands at Peterhead 
1731 Dutch people revolt against meat tax 
1772 Moravian missionary constructs 1st schoolhouse west of Allegheny 
1775 Continental navy organized with 7 ships 
1783 Washington resigns his military commission as US Army's commander-in-chief 
1790 Russian troops occupy Ismail on Turks 
1807 Congress passes Embargo Act, to force peace between Britain & France 
1810 British frigate Minotaur sinks killing 480 
1815 Spaniards execute Mexican revolutionary priest José Maria Morelos 
1832 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches Barnevelts Islands 
1862 Raid on Morgan's: Bardstown to Elizabethtown KY 
1870 Jules Janssen flies in a balloon in order to study a solar eclipse 
1877 "American Bicycling Journal" first published (Boston MA) 
1882 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison 
1883 August Strindberg's "Lycko-Pers Reja" premieres 
1885 Pope Leo XIII proclaims extraordinary jubilee 
1886 1st national accountants' society in US formed (New York NY) 
1888 Heavyweight Boxing Champion John L Sullivan challenges Jake Kilrain 
1894 French officer Alfred Dreyfus court-martialed for treason, triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism (Dreyfus later vindicated) 
1894 United States Golf Association is formed (New York NY) 
1894 Debussy's "Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune" premieres 
1894 Dutch coast hit by hurricane 
1907 Saint-Saëns/Fokines ballet "Le Cygne" premieres in St Petersburg 
1910 US postal savings stamps 1st issued 
1915 Federal Baseball League is dissolved 
1915 Organized baseball & Federal League sign a peace treaty at Cincinnati OH 
1917 Flanders declares it's independence, under Pieter Tack 
1919 Government of Ireland Act of Power (Home Rule for Ireland) 
1919 US deports 250 alien radicals, including anarchist Emma Goldman 
1922 Belgian parliament rejects Dutch University in Ghent 
1923 Bill Ponsford & Edgar Mayne make 456 opening stand for Victoria 
1924 Babe Dye of NHL's Toronto St Patricks scores 5 goals beat Bruins 10-2 
1924 Philip Barry's "Youngest" premieres in New York NY 
1930 6 West europe lands signs Convention of Oslo 
1934 Miss Theo Trowbridge sets female bowling record 702 pins 
1934 1st flight from Netherlands to Curaçao (Christmas flight 1934) 
1935 Yaeko Iwasaki, student of D S Harada Roshi, 1st awakening in Kamakura 
1936 1st common carrier license issued by ICC, Scranton PA 
1937 Lincoln Tunnel (New York NY) opens to traffic 
1939 125 die in train wreck at Magdeburg Germany; 99 die in 2nd wreck at Friedrichshafen Germany 
1939 Bradman scores 138 in South Australia's 7-821 vs Queensland 
1939 Finnish counter offensive at Petsamo 
1941 Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington DC for a wartime conference 
1941 Japan's invasion leader lands on Luzon, Philippines 
1941 Tito establishes 1st Proletarian Brigade in Yugoslavia 
1943 WEB Du Bois elected 1st black member, National Institute of Arts & Letters 
1943 Manufacturers get permission to use synthetic rubber for baseball core 
1944 Germans demand surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium 
1944 Sub Swordfish departs Pearl Harbor for Japan 
1945 Utrecht: Catholic People's party (KVP) established 
1946 Cleveland Browns beat New York Yankees 14-9 in AAFC championship game 
1946 "Bal Negre" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 54 performances 
1947 Italian constituent assembly adopts new constitution 
1948 KPIX TV channel 5 in San Francisco CA (CBS) begins broadcasting 
1950 2 self-propelled trains of Long Island RR collide, killing 77 
1951 Australia cricket all out 82 vs West Indies at Adelaide 
1952 French government of Pinay, resigns 
1952 WSBA (now WPMT) TV channel 43 in York PA (IND) begins broadcasting 
1953 Jack Dunn III, owner of Baltimore Orioles in International League, turns name over to newly relocated St Louis Browns 
1956 "New Faces of 1956" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 221 performances 
1956 Last British/French troops leave Egypt 
1957 KWRB (now KFNE) TV channel 10 in Lander-Riverton WY (ABC) begins 
1958 "Chipmunk Song" reaches #1 
1958 "Whoop-Up" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 56 performances 
1958 2nd Dutch Beel government forms 
1959 New York Ranger goalie Marcel Paille wears a customized mask 
1959 Continental League awards its last franchise to Dallas-Fort Worth 
1961 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1962 Kinderman Place in the Bronx named 
1962 1,000,000th NBA point scored 
1962 Harris County voters approve all-weather stadium for Houston Colt .45s 
1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR 
1963 Oakland Raider Tom Flores passes for 6 touchdowns vs Houston (52-49) 
1963 Official 30-day mourning period for President John F Kennedy ends 
1964 Lockheed SR-71 spy aircraft reaches 3,530 kph (record for a jet) 
1965 Radio Mil (Dominican Republic) transmitter blown up 
1965 Belgian government shuts 6 coal mine 
1965 Director David Lean's "Dr Zhivago" premieres 
1965 Great-Britain sets maximum speed at 70 MPH 
1966 WCVW TV channel 57 in Richmond VA (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1968 Julie Nixon weds Dwight David Eisenhower 
1969 Pete Marovich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots 
1970 SS Commander Franz Stangl of Treblinka, sentenced to life imprisonment 
1971 UN General Assembly ratifies Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General 
1971 KUAC TV channel 9 in Fairbanks/College, Alaska (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1971 USSR performs underground nuclear test 
1972 6.25 earthquake strikes Managua Nicaragua, 12,000+ killed 
1974 Phil Esposito, Boston, became 6th NHLer to score 500 goals 
1974 Referenda in Comoros-3 islands for independence, 1 stays French 
1974 2nd cease-fire between IRA & British; lasts until approximately April 1975 
1976 35 Unification church couples wed in New York NY 
1976 "Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God" opens at Lyceum NYC for 429 performances 
1976 German Democratic Republic banishes singer Nina Hagen 
1977 36 die as grain elevator at Continental Grain Company plant explodes 
1978 Kenny Jones becomes The Who's new drummer 
1978 Thailand adopts constitution 
1980 President-elect Reagan appoints Jean Kirkpatrick (UN delegate) & James Watt (Interior) 
1980 Cardinals release outfielder Bobby Bonds 
1981 Argentine General Leopoldo Galtieri sworn in as president 
1981 Belgium's 5th government of Martens forms 
1982 William Mastrosimone's "Extremities" premieres in New York NY 
1983 Islanders score 3 shorthanded goals against Capitals 
1983 Egyptian President Mubarak meets with PLO leader Yasser Arafat 
1984 Bernhard Goetz shoots 4 black youths (muggers) on a NYC subway train 
1984 Madonna's "Like a Virgin" single goes #1 for 6 weeks 
1984 Test Cricket debut of Craig McDermott, vs West Indies at the MCG 
1985 STS 51-L vehicle moves to Launch Pad 39B 
1985 "Wind in the Willows" closes at Nederlander Theater NYC after 4 performances 
1985 74th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Germany in Munich (3-2) 
1986 India score 7-676 vs Sri Lanka at Kanpur in Cricket 
1987 Mötley Crue's Nikki Sixx overdoses from Heroin 
1988 2 robbers wearing police uniforms rob armored truck of $3 million in New Jersey 
1988 South Africa signs accord granting independence to South-West Africa 
1988 Tug hits oil barge, spreads 231,000 gal on 300 miles of Western Australia & British Columbia coast 
1989 After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Nicolae Ceausescu 
1989 Cold wave: -4ºF in Oklahoma City OK, -6ºF in Tulsa OK, -12ºF in Pittsburgh PA, -18ºF in Denver CO, -23ºF in Kansas City MO, -42ºF in Scottsbluff NE, -47ºF in Hardin MT & -60ºF in Black Hills SD 
1989 Chad adopts its Constitution 
1990 Iraq announces it will never give up Kuwait 
1990 Israeli ferry capsizes killing 21 US servicemen 
1990 Lech Walesa sworn in as Poland's 1st popularly elected president 
1992 Libyan MIG-23UB attacks Boeing 727 at Souk al-Sabt, 158 die 
1994 Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi resigns 
1994 "Christmas Carol" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 18 performances 
1995 David Cone signs $19.5 million 3 year contract with New York Yankees 
1996 Steelers' Kordell Stewart runs quarterback record 80 yds for TD 
1996 Wendy's Three Tour Golf Challenge 
1996 Zimbabwe & England draw Bulawayo Test Cricket with England need 1 to win 
1997 Hunter Tylo awarded $4 million in Melrose Place breach of contract 
1997 Merck baldness pill for men approved by FDA 
1997 Nancy Kerring & Tonya Harding pre-record a show to air on FOX on Feb 5 

Back in the day, today... the 21st of December:

 

1163 Hurricane hits villages in Holland/Friesland, causing floods

 

1561 Archbishop Granvelle installed

 

1582 Flanders adopts Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is Jan 1 1583

 

1620 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock

 

1650 Johan de Witt installed as Dutch pension advisor of Dordrecht

 

1688 Pro-James II-earl of Devonshire occupies Nottingham

 

1762 James Cook marries Elizabeth Batts

 

1784 John Jay becomes 1st US Secretary of State (foreign affairs)

 

1788 Hue Tay Son becomes emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam

 

1829 1st stone arch railroad bridge in US dedicated, Baltimore

 

1835 HMS Beagle sails into Bay of Islands (New Zealand)

 

1849 1st US skating club formed (Philadelphia)

 

1864 General Sherman conquers Savannah

 

1866 Cheyennes, Arapho's, Sioux, Fetterman Massacre

 

1890 Pim Mulier 1st & only trip to "Alvesteddetocht"

 

1891 18 students play 1st basketball game (Springfield College)

 

1898 Scientists Pierre & Marie Curie discover radium

 

1900 Gerhart Hauptmann's "Michael Kramer" premieres in Berlin

 

1907 Dutch government of De Master falls due to war budget

 

1909 University of Copenhagen rejects Cook's claim that he was 1st to North Pole

 

1909 1st junior high school established (Berkeley CA)

 

1909 Clyde Fitch's "City" premieres in New York NY

 

1910 Explosion in coal mine in Hulton England, 344 mine workers dies

 

1912 Denmark, Norway & Sweden declare neutrality in Comende war

 

1913 1st crossword puzzle (with 32 clues) printed in New York World

 

1914 1st feature-length silent film comedy, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" released (starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand & Charles Chaplin)

 

1915 25.83 cm (10.17") of rainfall, Glenora OR (state record)

 

1918 Red Sox trade Dutch Leonard, Ernie Shore & Duffy Lewis to Yankees for Ray Caldwell & Slim Love, Frank Gilhooey, Al Walters & $15,000

 

1919 J Edgar Hoover deports anarchists/feminist Emma Goldman to Russia

 

1920 Jerome Kern/BG DeSylva's musical "Sally" premieres in New York NY

 

1921 Supreme Court rules labor injunctions & picketing unconstitutional

 

1923 Nepal changes from British protectorate to independent nation

 

1925 Eisenstein's movie Potemkin premieres in Moscow

 

1925 Stork Hendry scores 325 for Victoria against New Zealand

 

1926 Soccer team DOS Struggle forms

 

1929 1st US group hospital insurance plan instituted, Dallas TX

 

1932 Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, 1st joint movie (Flying Down to Rio)

 

1932 Giants sign former outfielder Billy Southworth as a coach

 

1933 Dried human blood serum 1st prepared, University of Pennsylvania

 

1933 Newfoundland reverts to being a crown colony

 

1933 20th Century Fox signs Shirley Temple, 5, to a studio contract

 

1936 Bradman's 2nd consecutive Test Cricket duck! Australia all out 80

 

1937 1st feature-length color & sound cartoon premieres (Disney's Snow White)

 

1937 O'Reilly completes 14-98 for cricket match, New South Wales vs South Australia

 

1939 Hitler named Adolf Eichmann leader of "Referat IV B"

 

1941 Chicago Bears win the NFL championship, Ray McLean makes last NFL drop kick for an extra point

 

1941 David Diamond's 1st Symphony, premieres

 

1941 German submarine U-567 sinks

 

1942 US Supreme court declares Nevada separation legal

 

1944 Cardinals' Marty Marion wins National League MVP

 

1945 Gould/Comden/Green's "Billion Dollar Baby" premieres at Alvin Theater NYC for 219 performances

 

1946 "If the Shoe Fits" closes at Century Theater NYC after 20 performances

 

1946 Earthquake in South Japan, kills 1,086

 

1946 Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" premieres

 

1946 Morton Gould's "Minstrel Show" premieres in Indianapolis

 

1948 O'Neil Place in the Bronx erroneously renamed O'Neill Place

 

1948 State of Eire (formerly Irish Free State) declares its independence

 

1949 Dutch 1st Chamber accept soeveregnty of Indonesia

 

1950 Cole Porter's musical "Out of this World" premieres at New Century Theater NYC for 157 performances

 

1951 Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement

 

1952 Broadway Tunnel opens in San Francisco

 

1952 WSBT TV channel 22 in South Bend IN (CBS) begins broadcasting

 

1953 KOMU TV channel 8 in Columbia MO (NBC/PBS) begins broadcasting

 

1954 Dr Sam Sheppard is convicted of his wife, Marilyn's murder

 

1957 Indonesia proclaims end to state of war

 

1958 Charles De Gaulle wins 7 year term as 1st President of 5th Republic of France

 

1959 10th largest snowfall in NYC history (13.7")

 

1959 Citizens of Deerfield IL block building of interracial housing

 

1959 Shah of Persia marries Farah Diba

 

1959 Tom Landry accepts coaching job with Dallas Cowboys (stays until 1988)

 

1961 Beatles record "Sweet Georgia Brown" & "Ready Teddy"

 

1961 JFK & British PM MacMillan meet in Bermuda

 

1962 Angolin leaves Comecon

 

1962 US & Cuba accord, releases bay of pigs captive

 

1966 USSR launches Luna 13; soft-landed in Oceanus Procellarum

 

1968 Apollo 8 (Frank Borman, Jim Lovell & Bill Anders) 1st manned Moon voyage

 

1968 David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash premiere together in California

 

1969 Vince Lombardi (Redskins) coaches his last football game, losing

 

1969 Diana Ross final TV appearance as a Supreme (Ed Sullivan Show)

 

1970 WUTV TV channel 29 in Buffalo NY (IND) begins broadcasting

 

1971 UN Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim as 4th Secretary General

 

1972 Soviet Union signs a separate peace with East Germany

 

1973 Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, US & USSR meet in Geneva

 

1975 1st New York Jet to gain 1,000 yards rushing (John Riggins)

 

1975 Buffalo Sabres set NHL record of 40 points beating Capitals 14-2 scoring 5 goals vs Washington Capitals in 4:57

 

1975 "Hello, Dolly" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 51 performances

 

1975 "Very Good Eddie" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 307 performances

 

1975 64th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Czechoslovakia in Stockholm (3-2)

 

1975 Madagascar adopts constitution

 

1976 20th Islander shut-out opponent-Billy Smith 3-0 vs Bruins

 

1976 Patricia R Harris named Secretary of HUD

 

1976 UN General Assembly passes a resolution declaring 1979-Year of Child

 

1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

 

1978 "Broadway Musical" opens/closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC

 

1978 Police in Des Plaines IL, arrest John Wayne Gacy Jr for murder

 

1979 Gary Unger plays in record 914th consecutive NHL game

 

1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

 

1979 Zimbabwe adopts constitution

 

1980 Harold Carmichael ends NFL streak of 127 consecutive game receptions

 

1981 Cincinnati beats Bradley 75-73 in 7 OTs (NCAA record)

 

1983 Loretta Swit weds Dennis Holahan

 

1983 NBA Indiana Pacers end a 28 game road losing streak

 

1983 Musical "Tap Dance Kid" with Hinton Battle premieres at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 669 performances

 

1983 NCAA rules rescinded last 2-minute men's basketball free throw rule

 

1984 Islander Kelly Hrudy's 1st shut-out win-Whalers 1-0

 

1984 USSR launches Vega 2 for fly-by of Halley's Comet

 

1985 ARCO Anchorage runs aground near Port Angeles WA

 

1985 Heart's "Heart" album goes #1

 

1985 Alice Miller/Don January win LPGA Mazda Golf Championship

 

1986 75th Davis Cup: Australia beats Sweden in Melbourne (3-2)

 

1986 Amy Alcott/Bob Charles win LPGA Mazda Golf Championship

 

1987 3 white New York teens convicted of manslaughter in death of a black man

 

1987 Soyuz TM-4 carries 3 cosmonauts (Musa Manarov, Anatoly Levchenko & Vladimir Titov) to space station Mir

 

1988 Drexel agrees guilt to security felonies, pays a $650 million fine

 

1988 New York bound Pan Am jumbo jet (Flight 103) explodes over Scotland, killing all 259 people on the plane and 11 people on the ground

 

1988 Vladimir Titov, Anatoly Levchenko & Musa Manarov return to earth (a year) with Chretien

 

1989 Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's final speech (he is executed 12/25)

 

1989 US invades Panamá and ousts General Noriega

 

1989 Vice-President Quayle sends out 30,000 Xmas cards with word beacon spelled beakon

 

1990 Steve & Mark Waugh complete 464 partnership for New South Wales vs Western Australia

 

1991 95 share in Madrid Spain $1.3 billion lottery (#47996)

 

1991 El Sayid Nosair acquitted of killing Meir Kahane

 

1991 Soviet Union formally dissolves 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States

 

1991 US actress Jane Fonda marries CNN-director Ted Turner

 

1992 Dutch DC-10 in fire at landing on Faro Portugal, 56 die

 

1994 Bomb goes off on #4 train on Fulton Street NYC

 

1995 Martina Ertl of Germany wins her 3rd giant slalom world cup

 

1995 San Francisco Giants announce plans to build a new stadium to open in 2000

 

1996 Pakistan all out 67 to lose to Tasmania by an inning

 

1997 Detroit Lions Barry Sanders is 3rd to run for 2,000 yards in a season

 

1997 Detroit Lions linebacker Reggie Brown, knocked unconscious in game

 

1997 Lexus Senior Golf Challenge

 

1997 Wendy's Three-Tour LPGA Challenge

 

1997 Wendy's Three-Tour Senior Golf Challenges

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the day, today... the 20th of December:

 

0069 General Vespasianus occupies Rome 
1046 Synod of Sutri: German king Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI, Benedictus IX & Silvester III & names Bishop Siutger, Pope Clemens II 
1192 Richard the Lionhearted captured in Vienna 
1448 Pope Nicolaas V named Utrechts bishop Rudolf of Diepholt, cardinal 
1585 English fleet & earl Robert Dudley van Leicester reach Vlissingen 
1600 Ottario Rinuccini/Giulio Caccini's opera "Euridice" published 
1606 Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown VA 
1626 Emperor Ferdinand II/Transylvanian monarch Gábor Betlen signs Peace of Pressburg 
1661 Corporation Act enforced in England 
1669 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection & sentenced to flogging, branding & slavery 
1688 Prince Willem III's troops pull into London 
1694 Frederik van Brandenburg flees Schweiben 
1699 Peter the Great ordered Russian New Year changed-Sept 1 to Jan 1 
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's army meets de Esk 
1780 England declares war on Netherlands 
1790 1st successful US cotton mill to spin yarn (Pawtucket RI) 
1803 Louisiana Purchase formally transferred from France to US for $27 million 
1820 Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men between 21 & 50 
1823 Franz Schuberts "Ballet-Musik aus Rosamunde" premieres in Vienna 
1830 England, France, Prussia, Austria & Russia recognize Belgium 
1850 Hawaiian post office established 
1860 South Carolina votes 169-0 for Ordinance of Secession, 1st state to secede 
1861 Battle of Dranesville VA 
1862 Battle of Holly Spring MS 
1862 Battle of Kelly's Ford VA 
1862 Brigadier-General Nathan B Forrest occupies Trenton KY 
1862 Vicksburg campaign 
1864 Battle of Fort Fisher NC 
1865 De Clear-Alkmaar railway opens 
1879 Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park 
1880 New York's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way" 
1880 Battle at Bronker's Spruit, Transvaal: Farmers beat Britten 
1883 International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls 
1891 Strongman Louis Cyr withstands the pull of 4 horses 
1892 Phileas Fogg completes around world trip, according to Verne 
1892 Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse NY 
1893 1st state anti-lynching statute approved, in Georgia 
1894 Day Six 1T Australia vs England Australia need 177 to win, all out 166 
1894 England beat Australia by 10 runs in the 1st six-day Test Cricket 
1900 Giacobini discovers a comet (will be 1st comet visited by spacecraft) 
1906 Venezuela (under Vice-President Gomez) attacks Dutch fleet 
1907 Explosion at Yolande AL, coal mine kills 91 
1912 J Hartley Manners' "Peg O' My Heart" premieres in New York NY 
1912 Paul Claudels "L'Annonce Faite à Marie" premieres in Paris 
1915 Russian troops overrun Qom, Persia 
1917 Russian secret police in Czechoslovakia forms under Felix Dzerzjinski 
1918 Eugene O'Neill's "Moon of the Caribees" premieres in New York NY 
1919 Canadian National Railways established (North America's longest, 50,000 KM) 
1919 US House of Representatives restricts immigration 
1920 Bert Collins scores 104 on Test Cricket debut vs England SCG 
1920 Bob Hope becomes an American citizen 
1921 American League votes to return to best-of-7 World Series, while National League votes best-of-9 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts deciding vote for best-of-7 
1922 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR) 
1922 Polish parliament selects Stanislaw Wojcieckowski as president 
1924 Adolf Hitler freed from jail early 
1926 Cardinals trade Roger Hornsby to Giants for Frankie Frisch & Jimmy Ring 
1926 Sidney Howard's "Silver Cord" premieres in New York NY 
1928 1st international dogsled mail leaves Minot ME for Montréal, Québec 
1928 Ethel Barrymore Theater opens at 243 W 47th St NYC 
1929 Mount Davidson dedicated as a San Francisco city park 
1929 Heinie Wagner replaces Bill Carrigan as Red Sox manager 
1930 Learie Constantine cricket 100 in 52 minutes West Indies vs Tas (10x4, 1x6, 1x5) 
1932 Queensland all out 74 vs Victoria, Ironmonger (age 50) 7-13 
1933 Bolivia & Paraguay sign weapon cease fire 
1935 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii 
1937 Bill O'Reilly takes 9-41 for New South Wales against South Australia 
1938 Vladimir K Zworykin (Pennsylvania) receives patent on the Iconoscope TV system 
1939 Radio Australia begins overseas short-wave service 
1940 Connie Mack acquires controlling interest in the Athletics for $42,000 
1941 Free France under Admiral Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquélon 
1941 Japanese troops lands on Mindanao 
1942 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta 
1943 "International" is no longer USSR National Anthem 
1944 Battle of Bastogne, Nazis surround 101st Airborne (NUTS!) 
1944 Archbishop De Young & bishop Huibers condemn black market 
1944 Bishop forbids membership in non Catholic unions 
1944 Terence Rattigans "O Mistress Mine" premieres in London 
1945 Rationing of auto tires ends in US 
1946 Darius Milhaud's 2nd Symphony, premieres 
1948 Second Chamber accept 2nd Police Action in Indonesia 
1949 Maurice Ravel/John Cranko's ballet "Beauty & the Beast" premieres 
1950 "Harvey", starring James Stewart, premieres in New York 
1952 KHQ TV channel 6 in Spokane WA (NBC) begins broadcasting 
1953 KID (now KIDK) TV channel 3 in Idaho Falls ID (CBS) 1st broadcasting 
1953 KWTV TV channel 9 in Oklahoma City OK (CBS) begins broadcasting 
1956 Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra 
1956 Montgomery AL, removed race-based seat assignments on its buses 
1957 Elvis Presley given draft notice to join US Army for National Service 
1959 Jasu Patel takes 9-69, India vs Australia at Kanpur 
1960 Auschwitz-commandant Richard Bär arrested in German Federal Republic 
1962 The Osmond brothers debut on the Andy Williams Show 
1962 Dmitri Shostakovich opera "Katerina Ismailova" premieres in Moscow 
1963 Berlin Wall opens for 1st time to West Berliners 
1963 Massemba-Debate elected President of Congo-Brazzaville 
1963 Trial against 21 camp guards of Auschwitz begins 
1964 Levi Eshkol forms Israeli government 
1966 NBA awards Seattle Supersonics a franchise for 1967-68 season 
1966 Brussels: Nuclear Planning Group established 
1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1967 "The Graduate", starring Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft, premieres 
1967 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam 
1967 Ian Anderson & Glenn Cornick form rock group Jethro Tull 
1969 Peter, Paul & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reaches #1 
1970 Edward Gierek succeeds Wladyslaw Gomulka as Poland's party leader 
1971 Pakistan President Yahya Khan resigns 
1972 Neil Simons "Sunshine Boys" premieres in New York NY 
1973 American League President Joe Cronin refuses to allow Dick Williams to manage Yankees 
1973 Montréal Canadien Henri Richard scores his 1,000th NHL point 
1973 Dutch Antillean government of Evertsz forms 
1974 George Harrison releases his "Dark Horse" album in UK 
1974 Ethiopia becomes socialist one-party state 
1975 Joe Walsh recruited to join Eagles 
1975 Pope Paul VI named J Willebrands archbishop of Utrecht 
1976 Israel's PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns 
1976 "Music Is" opens at St James Theater NYC for 8 performances 
1977 1st Space walk made by G Grechko from Salyut 
1977 RAF -terrorist Knut Folkerts sentenced to 20 years 
1978 H R Haldeman, Nixon's White House chief of staff released from jail 
1980 USSR formally announces death of Alexei Kosygin 
1980 NBC broadcasts New York Jets' 24-17 win over Dolphins without audio 
1981 Doug Small (Winnipeg Jets) ties NHL record scoring at 5 second mark 
1981 Browns set team records for most fumbles (9) & most turnovers (10) 
1981 Harry Krieger/Tom Eyen's musical "Dreamgirls" premieres at Imperial Theater NYC for 1522 performances 
1983 Guy Lafleur, Montréal, becomes 10th NHLer to score 500 goals 
1983 New York Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Pittsburgh Penguins 
1983 PLO chairman Yasser Arafat & 4,000 loyalists evacuate Lebanon 
1983 El Salvador adopts constitution 
1984 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in the Yale library 
1984 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1985 Denis Potvin passes Bobby Orr as NHL defenseman scorer (916 points) 
1985 Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC 
1985 Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st) 
1986 White teenagers beat blacks in Howard Beach NY 
1987 Worst peacetime shipping disaster, Dona Paz ferry sinks after collision with oil tanker Vector; 1,749 confirmed deaths (probably closer to 3,000) 
1987 "Nuts" with Barbra Streisand premieres 
1987 76th Davis Cup: Sweden beats India in Gothenburg (5-0) 
1987 Nancy Lopez/Miller Barber win LPGA Mazda Golf Championship 
1988 Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's department store, London 
1988 NBC signs lease to stay in NYC, 33 more years 
1988 Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected President of Sri Lanka 
1989 US troops invade Panamá & oust Manuel Noriega, but don't catch him 
1989 Premier Lubbers sees CDA-party leader Elco Brinkman as successor 
1990 Pentagon warns Saddam Hussein that US air power is ready to attack on 1/15 
1990 Robert F X Sillerman purchases WAFL New York-New Jersey Knights for $11 million 
1990 Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns 
1991 NHL grants permanent membership to Tampa Lightning & Ottawa Senators 
1991 Paul Keating installed as premier of Australia 
1992 Northwest & KLM introduce a new joint logo "Worldwide Reliability" 
1992 Slobodan Milosevic re-elected President of Serbia 
1993 Donald Trump weds Marla Maples 
1995 "Paul Roebson" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 14 performances 
1995 American Flight 965 crashes in Colombia, 159 die, 5 survive 
1998 Wendy's Three-Tour Golf Challenge 
1999 Portugal returns Macau to China 

Back in the day, today... the 19th of December:

 

218 BC: Second Punic War: Battle%