On This Day

[Raistlin]

1298 - An army under Albert of Austria defeated and killed Adolf of Nassua near Worms, Germany.

1566 - French astrologer, physician and prophet Nostradamus died.

1625 - The Spanish army took Breda, Spain, after nearly a year of siege.

1644 - Lord Cromwell crushed the Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor near York, England.

1747 - Marshall Saxe led the French forces to victory over an Anglo-Dutch force under the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Lauffeld.

1776 - Richard Henry Lee’s resolution that the American colonies "are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States" was adopted by the Continental Congress.

1850 - Prussia agreed to pull out of Schlewig and Holstein, Germany.

1850 - B.J. Lane patented the gas mask.

1857 - New York City’s first elevated railroad officially opened for business.

1858 - Czar Alexander II freed the serfs working on imperial lands.

1881 - Charles J. Guiteau fatally wounded U.S. President James A. Garfield in Washington, DC.

1890 - The U.S. Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act.

1926 - The U.S. Congress established the Army Air Corps.

1937 - American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart disappeared in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world at the equator.

1939 - At Mount Rushmore, Theodore Roosevelt's face was dedicated.

1944 - American bombers, as part of Operation Gardening, dropped land mines, leaflets and bombs on German-occupied Budapest.

1947 - An object crashed near Roswell, NM. The U.S. Army Air Force insisted it was a weather balloon, but eyewitness accounts led to speculation that it might have been an alien spacecraft.

1961 - Ernest Hemingway shot himself to death at his home in Ketchum, ID.

1964 - U.S. President Johnson signed the "Civil Rights Act of 1964" into law. The act made it illegal in the U.S. to discriminate against others because of their race.

1967 - The U.S. Marine Corps launched Operation Buffalo in response to the North Vietnamese Army's efforts to seize the Marine base at Con Thien.

1976 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.

1976 - North Vietnam and South Vietnam were reunited.

1979 - The U.S. Mint officially released the Susan B. Anthony coin in Rochester, NY.

1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter reinstated draft registration for males 18 years of age.

1981 - Soyuz T-6 returned to Earth.

1985 - General Motors announced that it was installing electronic road maps as an option in some of its higher-priced cars.

1994 - Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar was shot to death in Medellin. 10 days earlier he had accidentally scored a goal against his own team in World Cup competition.

1995 - "Forbes" magazine reported that Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates, was the worth $12.9 billion, making him the world's richest man. In 1999, he was worth about $77 billion.

1998 - Cable News Network (CNN) retracted a story that alleged that U.S. commandos had used nerve gas to kill American defectors during the Vietnam War.

2000 - In Mexico, Vicente Fox Quesada of the National Action Party (PAN) defeated Francisco Labastida Ochoa of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the presidential election. The PRI had controlled the presidency in Mexico since the party was founded in 1929.

[Bizarra]

1566 - French astrologer, physician and prophet Nostradamus died.

Did he see that one coming? :D

[Raistlin]

1712 - Twelve slaves were executed for starting a slave uprising in New York that killed nine whites.

1776 - The amended Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, was approved and signed by John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress in America.

1802 - The U.S. Military Academy officially opened at West Point, NY.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase was announced in newspapers. The property was purchased, by the U.S. from France, was for $15 million (or 3 cents an acre). The "Corps of Discovery," led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, began the exploration of the territory on May 14, 1804.

1817 - Construction began on the Erie Canal, to connect Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

1845 - American writer Henry David Thoreau began his two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, MA.

1848 - In Washington, DC, the cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid.

1855 - The first edition of "Leaves of Grass," by Walt Whitman, was published in Brooklyn, NY.

1863 - The Confederate town of Vicksburg, MS, surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant.

1881 - Tuskegee Institute opened in Alabama.

1884 - Bullfighting was introduced in the U.S. in Dodge City, KS.

1886 - The first rodeo in America was held at Prescott, AZ.

1892 - The first double-decked street car service was inaugurated in San Diego, CA.

1894 - After seizing power, Judge Stanford B. Dole declared Hawaii a republic.

1901 - William H. Taft became the American governor of the Philippines.

1910 - Race riots broke out all over the United States after African-American jack Johnson knocked out Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match.

1934 - Boxer Joe Louis won his first professional fight.

1934 - At Mount Rushmore, George Washington's face was dedicated.

1939 - Lou Gehrig retired from major league baseball.

1946 - The Philippines achieved full independence for the first time in over four hundred years.

1955 - The first king cobra snakes born in captivity in the U.S. hatched at the Bronx Zoo in New York City.

1957 - The U.S. Postal Service issued the 4¢ Flag stamp.

1959 - The 49-star U.S. flag was debuted.

1960 - The 50-star U.S. flag made its debut in Philadelphia, PA.

1966 - U.S. President Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, which went into effect the following year.

1976 - The U.S. celebrated its Bicentennial.

1982 - The Soviets performed a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhl Semipalitinsk.

1987 - Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief known as the "Butcher of Lyon," was convicted by a French court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.

1997 - The Mars Pathfinder, an unmanned spacecraft, landed on Mars. A rover named Sojourner was deployed to gather data about the surface of the planet.

1997 - Ferry service between Manhattan and Staten Island was made free of charge. Previously, the charge had ranged from 5 cents to 50 cents.

2004 - In New York, the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower was laid on the former World Trade Center site.

2005 - NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft took pictures as a space probe smashed into the Tempel 1 comet. The mission was aimed at learning more about comets that formed from the leftover buidling blocks of the solar system. The Deep Impact mission launched on January 12, 2005.

2009 - North Korea launched seven ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast that defied U.N. resolutions.

2009 - The Statue of Liberty's crown reopened to visitors. It had been closed to the public since 2001.

[Raistlin]

1806 - A Spanish army repelled the British during their attempt to retake Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1811 - Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain.

1814 - U.S. troops under Jacob Brown defeated a superior British force at Chippewa, Canada.

1830 - France occupied the North African city of Algiers.

1832 - The German government began curtailing freedom of the press after German Democrats advocate a revolt against Austrian rule.

1839 - British naval forces bombarded Dingai on Zhoushan Island in China and then occupied it.

1863 - U.S. Federal troops occupied Vicksburg, MS, and distributed supplies to the citizens.

1865 - William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London.

1892 - Andrew Beard was issued a patent for the rotary engine.

1916 - Adelina and August Van Buren started on the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour to be attempted by two women. They started in New York City and arrived in San Diego, CA, on September 12, 1916.

1935 - "Hawaii Call" was broadcast for the first time.

1935 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act into law. The act authorized labor to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.

1940 - During World War II, Britain and the Vichy government in France broke diplomatic relations.

1941 - German troops reached the Dnieper River in the Soviet Union.

1943 - The battle of Kursk began as German tanks attack the Soviet salient. It was the largest tank battle in history.

1946 - The bikini bathing suit, created by Louis Reard, made its debut during a fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris. Micheline Bernardini wore the two-piece outfit.

1947 - Larry Doby signed a contract with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player in the American League.

1948 - Britain's National Health Service Act went into effect, providing government-financed medical and dental care.

1950 - U.S. forces engaged the North Koreans for the first time at Osan, South Korea.

1951 - Dr. William Shockley announced that he had invented the junction transistor.

1962 - Algeria became independent after 132 years of French rule.

1975 - Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title when he defeated Jimmy Connors.

1984 - The U.S. Supreme Court weakened the 70-year-old "exclusionary rule," deciding that evidence seized with defective court warrants could be used against defendants in criminal trials.

1989 - Former U.S. National Security Council aide Oliver North received a $150,000 fine and a suspended prison term for his part in the Iran-Contra affair. The convictions were later overturned.

1991 - Regulators shut down the Pakistani-managed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in eight countries. The charge was fraud, drug money laundering and illegal infiltration into the U.S. banking system.

1995 - The U.S. Justice Department decided not to take antitrust action against Ticketmaster.

1998 - Japan joined U.S. and Russia in space exploration with the launching of the Planet-B probe to Mars.

2000 - Jordanian security agents shot and killed a Syrian hijacker after he threw a grenade that exploded and wounded 15 passengers aboard a Royal Jordanian airliner.

2000 - 10 Bengal tigers, including 7 rare white tigers, died at the Nandankanan Zoo in India. The tigers died of trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness).

2000 - Euan Blair, the oldest son of British prime minister Tony Blair, was arrested after police found him drunk and lying on the ground in London's Leicester Square.

2002 - In Algeria, 35 people were killed in violent attacks on the day that the country celebrated its 40 years of independence from France.

2002 - Former Nazi SS officer Friedrich Engel was convicted of 59 counts of murder stemming from massacre of Italian resistance fighters on May 19, 1944.

[Raistlin]

1483 - King Richard III of England was crowned.

1535 - Sir Thomas More was executed in England for treason.

1699 - Captain William Kidd, the pirate, was captured in Boston, MA, and deported back to England.

1777 - British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution.

1854 - In Jackson, MI, the Republican Party held its first convention.

1858 - Lyman Blake patented the shoe manufacturing machine.

1885 - Louis Pasteur successfully tested his anti-rabies vaccine. The child used in the test later became the director of the Pasteur Institute.

1893 - In northwest Iowa 71 people were killed by a tornado.

1905 - Fingerprints were exchanged for the first time between officials in Europe and the U.S. The person in question was John Walker.

1917 - During World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks.

1919 - A British dirigible landed in New York at Roosevelt Field. It completed the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.

1923 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established.

1928 - "The Lights of New York" was previewed in New York's Strand Theatre. It was the first all-talking movie.

1932 - The postage rate for first class mail in the U.S. went from 2-cents to 3-cents.

1933 - The first All-Star baseball game was held in Chicago. The American League beat the National League 4-2.

1942 - Diarist Anne Frank and her family took refuge from the Nazis in Amsterdam.

1944 - A fire broke out in the main tent of the Ringling Brother, Barnum and Bailey Circus. 169 people died.

1945 - U.S. President Truman signed an order creating the Medal of Freedom.

1945 - Nicaragua became the first nation to formally accept the United Nations Charter.

1947 - "Candid Microphone" began airing on ABC radio.

1948 - Frieda Hennok became the first woman to serve as the commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.

1957 - Althea Gibson won the Wimbledon women’s singles tennis title. She was the first black athlete to win the event.

1966 - Malawi became a republic within the Commonwealth with Dr. Hastings Banda as its first president.

1967 - The Biafran War erupted. The war lasted two-and-a-half years. About 600,000 people died.

1981 - Former President of Argentina Isabel Peron was freed after five years of house arrest by a federal court.

1981 - The Dupont Company announced an agreement to purchase Conoco, Inc. (Continental Oil Co.) for $7 billion. At the time it was the largest merger in corporate history.

1983 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that retirement plans could not pay women smaller monthly payments solely because of their gender.

1983 - Fred Lynn of the California Angels hit the first grand slam in an All-Star game. The American League defeated the National League 13-3.

1985 - Martina Navratilova won her 4th consecutive Wimbledon singles title.

1985 - The submarine Nautilus arrived in Groton, Connecticut. The vessel had been towed from Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

1987 - Sikh extremists made their first of three attacks over a two day period. The gunmen attacked a bus loaded with Hindu passengers. Over the two day period a total of 72 people were killed by the extremists.

1988 - 167 North Sea oil workers were killed by explosions and fires that destroyed the Piper Alpha drilling platform.

1988 - Several popular beaches were closed in New York City due to medical waste and other debris began washing up on the seashores.

1989 - The U.S. Army destroyed its last Pershing 1-A missiles at an ammunition plant in Karnack, TX. The dismantling was under the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

1994 - On Storm King Mountain, in Colorado, 14 firefighters were killed while fighting a several-day-old fire.

1995 - In Los Angeles, the prosecution rested at the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

1996 - Steffi Graf won her seventh Wimbledon title.

1997 - The Mars Pathfinder released Sojourner, a robot rover on the surface of Mars. The spacecraft landed on the red planet on July 4th.

1997 - In Cambodia, Second Prime Minister Hun Sen ousted First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh and claimed to have the capital under his control.

1998 - Protestants rioted in many parts of Northern Ireland after British authorities blocked an Orange Order march in Portadown.

2000 - In Orlando, FL, the body of Cory Erving was found in his vehicle in a pond near his families home. Julius "Dr. J" Erving had reported his son missing on June 4, 2000.

2000 - A jury awarded former NHL player Tony Twist $24 million for the unauthorized use of his name in the comic book Spawn and the HBO cartoon series.

[Raistlin]

1754 - Kings College opened in New York City. It was renamed Columbia College 30 years later.

1846 - U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.

1862 - The first railroad post office was tested on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad in Missouri.

1865 - Four people were hanged in Washington, DC, after being convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate U.S. President Lincoln.

1885 - G. Moore Peters patented the cartridge-loading machine.

1898 - The United States annexed Hawaii.

1917 - Aleksandr Kerensky formed a provisional government in Russia.

1920 - A device known as the radio compass was used for the first time on a U.S. Navy airplane near Norfolk, VA.

1930 - Construction began on Boulder Dam, later Hoover Dam, on the Colorado River.

1937 - Japanese forces invaded China.

1946 - Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini was canonized as the first American saint.

1949 - "Dragnet" was first heard on NBC radio.

1950 - The UN Security Council authorized military aid for South Korea.

1969 - Canada's House of Commons gave final approval to a measure that made the French language equal to English throughout the national government.

1981 - U.S. President Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1983 - Eleven-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, left for a visit to the Soviet Union at the personal invitation of Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov.

1987 - Public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing began.

1998 - A jury in Santa Monica, CA, convicted Mikail Markhasev of murdering Ennis Cosby, Bill Cosby's only son, during a roadside robbery.

1999 - In Sierra Leone, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and rebel leader Foday Sankoh signed a pact to end the nation's civil war.

2000 - Cisco Systems Inc. announced that it would buy Netiverse Inc. for $210 million in stock. It was the 13th time Cisco had purchased a company in 2000.

2000 - Amazon.com announced that they had sold almost 400,000 copies of "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire," making it the biggest selling book in e-tailing history.

2003 - In Liberia, a team of U.S. military experts arrived at the U.S. embassy compound to assess whether to deploy troops as part of a peacekeeping force in the country.

2005 - In London, at least 66 people were killed and at least 700 were injured when several bombs were set off in subway cars and double-decker buses.

[Raistlin]

1099 - Christian soldiers on the First Crusade march around Jerusalem.

1608 - The first French settlement at Quebec was established by Samuel de Champlain.

1663 - King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island.

1693 - Uniforms for police in New York City were authorized.

1709 - Peter the Great defeated Charles XII at Poltava, in the Ukraine, The Swedish empire was effectively ended.

1755 - Britain broke off diplomatic relations with France as their disputes in the New World intensified.

1776 - Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the U.S. Declaration of Independence to a crowd at Independence Square in Philadelphia.

1794 - French troops captured Brussels, Belgium.

1795 - Kent County Free School changed its name to Washington College. It was the first college to be named after U.S. President George Washington. The school was established by an act of the Maryland Assembly in 1723.

1815 - Louis XVIII returned to Paris after the defeat of Napoleon.

1865 - C.E. Barnes patented the machine gun.

1879 - The first ship to use electric lights departed from San Francisco, CA.

1881 - Edward Berner, druggist in Two Rivers, WI, poured chocolate syrup on ice cream in a dish. To this time chocolate syrup had only been used for making ice-cream sodas.

1889 - The Wall Street Journal was first published.

1889 - John L. Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain, in the last championship bare-knuckle fight. The fight lasted 75 rounds.

1907 - Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first "Follies" on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.

1919 - U.S. President Wilson returned from the Versailles Peace Conference in France.

1947 - Demolition work began in New York City for the new permanent headquarters of the United Nations.

1950 - General Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.

1953 - Notre Dame announced that the next five years of its football games would be shown in theatres over closed circuit TV.

1960 - The Soviet Union charged Gary Powers with espionage. He was shot down in a U-2 spy plane.

1963 - All Cuban-owned assets in the United States were frozen.

1969 - The U.S. Patent Office issued a patent for the game "Twister."

1970 - The San Francisco Giant’s Jim Ray Hart became the first National League player in 59 seasons to collect six runs batted (RBI) during a single inning.

1981 - The Solar Challenger became the frist solar-powered airplane to cross the English Channel.

1986 - Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes.

1993 - Charles Keating, chief of Lincoln Savings & Loan Association, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison for violating California security and fraud laws.

1997 - The Mayo Clinic and the U.S. government warned that the diet-drug combination known as "fen-phen" could cause serious heart and lung damage.

1997 - NATO invited Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to join the alliance in 1999.

2000 - J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was released in the U.S. It was the fourth Harry Potter book.

2010 - The Solar Impulse completed the first 24-hour flight by a solar powered plane.

[Bizarra]

July 19 – Events:

■711 – Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic.

■1333 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Halidon Hill – The final battle of the war.

■1544 – Italian War of 1542: The Siege of Boulogne began.

■1545 – The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth.

■1553 – Lady Jane Grey is replaced by Mary I of England as Queen of England after having that title for just nine days.

■1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The Spanish Armada sighted in the English Channel.

■1692 – Salem Witch Trials: Five women are hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

■1760 – The formal request to found the later city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico is filed by its founders.

■1843 – Brunel’s steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and also becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.

■1848 – Women’s rights: The two day Women’s Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York and the “Bloomers” are introduced at the feminist convention.

■1863 – American Civil War: Morgan’s Raid – At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.

■1870 – Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

■1879 – Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots up his New Mexico saloon.

■1908 – Dutch footballclub Feyenoord Rotterdam is founded.

■1912 – A meteorite with an estimated mass of 190 kg explodes over the town of Holbrook in Navajo County, Arizona causing approximately 16,000 pieces of debris to rain down on the town.

■1919 – Following Peace Day celebrations marking the end of World War I, ex-servicemen rioted and burnt down Luton Town Hall.

■1940 – World War II: Battle of Cape Spada – The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.

■1940 – World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.

■1942 – World War II: Battle of the Atlantic – German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the last U-boats to withdraw from their United States Atlantic coast positions in response to the effective American convoy system.

■1947 – Burmese nationalist Aung San and 6 of his cabinet and 2 non-cabinet members were assassinated.

■1963 – Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 metres (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international conventions.

■1964 – Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

■1967 – A Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727 and a Cessna 310 collided in mid-air over Hendersonville, North Carolina killing 82.

■1976 – Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.

■1979 – The Sandinista rebels overthrow the U.S.-backed government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.

■1983 – The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.

■1985 – The Val di Stava dam collapse killing 268 people in Val di Stava, Italy.

■1989 – United Airlines flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa killing 112 of the 296 passengers.

[Bizarra]

EVENTS

● 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar.

● 1205 - Aken, [Philips van Zwaben], crowned Roman-Catholic German King

● 1447 - Nicholas V becomes Pope.

● 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledged allegiance to Casimir IV of Poland, and the Polish king agreed to help in their struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights.

● 1479 - Treaty of Alcaçovas - Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa.

● 1521 - Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam.

● 1579 - Veluwe joins Union of Utrecht

● 1590 - Earl Mauritius conquerors Breda "turfschip of Breda"

● 1628 - Emperor Ferdinand II delegates Restitutie-edict

● 1629 - In Germany, the Edict of Restitution ordered that all church property secularized since 1552 be restored to the Roman Catholic Church.

● 1646 - Joseph Jenkes, Massachusetts, receives 1st colonial machine patent

● 1664 - King Louis XIV & Emperor of Brandenburg signs covenant

● 1714 - Peace of Rastatt: French emperor Charles VI of Habsburg

● 1728 - Spain & England sign (1st) Convention of Pardo

● 1735 - English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'The renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. It is not to be done in a day. We have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to pull down.'

● 1759 - English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'There is a wonderful mystery in the manner and circumstances of that mighty working, whereby God subdues all things to himself, and leaves nothing in the heart but his pure love alone.'

● 1775 - 1st Negro Mason in US initiated, Boston

● 1788 - The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.

● 1799 - Napoleon captures Jaffa Palestine

● 1806 - Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born in Durham, England.

● 1810 - Illinois passes 1st state vaccination legislation in US

● 1816 - Jews are expelled from Free city of Lubeck Germany

● 1820 - The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, but makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.

● 1831 - Edgar Allen Poe removed from West Point military academy

● 1834 - York, Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto with William Lyon Mackenzie as its 1st mayor.

● 1836 - HMS Beagle/Darwin reaches King George's Sound, Australia

● 1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo - After a 13-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 189 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort taken. The other side of the coin -- Mexican troops defend their country's abolitionist constitution, defeat foreign slaveholders. San Antonio, Texas. Remember the Alamo.

● 1854 - At the Washington Monument, several men stole the Pope's Stone from the lapidarium.

● 1856 - The University of Maryland, College Park is chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College.

● 1857 - Dred Scott decision by U.S. Supreme Court opens federal territory to slavery and denies citizenship to blacks, ruling that blacks are not entitled to protection under the law. The "unhappy Black Race," wrote Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney in his opinion, had never possessed "rights which the white man was bound to respect."

● 1861 - Provisionary Confederate Congress establishes Confederate Army

● 1862 - Battle of Pea Ridge AR (Elkhorn Tavern)

● 1865 - Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida

● 1865 - President Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Ball

● 1869 - Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.

● 1870 - Birth of Eugene Humbert, French anarchist militant, Metz. Militant libertarian, pacifist, neo-Malthusian. Killed in prison during WWII Allied bombing, the day before his release.

● 1882 - Monarch Milan Obrenovic of Serbia crowns himself king

● 1884 - Susan B. Anthony and more than 100 other suffragists present President Chester Arthur with a demand that he support women's right to vote. They failed, but the two women's suffrage groups -- the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association -- soon merged and worked for the next 36 years toward passage of the 19th Amendment, in 1920.

● 1885 - Ring Lardner, the American writer and satirist, was born.

● 1886 - 1st US alternating current power plant starts, Great Barrington MA

● 1899 - Bayer registers aspirin as a trademark.

● 1900 - A coal mine explosion in West Virginia traps 50 coal miners.

● 1901 - In Bremen an assassin attempts to kill Wilhelm II of Germany.

● 1902 - Census Bureau forms

● 1906 - Heavy storm bursts dike flooding Vlissingen, Netherlands

● 1906 - Nora Blatch becomes 1st woman elected to American Society of Civil Engineers

● 1907 - British creditors of the Dominican Republic claimed that the U.S. had failed to collect debts.

● 1913 - Joe Hill's song "There is Power in a Union" first appears in the IWW's "Little Red Song Book."

● 1915 - Greek King Constantine I fires premier Venizelos

● 1918 - US naval collier "Cyclops" disappears in Bermuda Triangle

● 1919 - Death of Julia H. Johnston, 70, American Presbyterian Sunday School leader. She penned about 500 hymns during her lifetime, one of which is still sung today: "Grace Greater Than Our Sin" (a.k.a. "Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord").

● 1921 - Kamenev and "Snowball" (Trotsky) issue ultimatum to rebelling soldiers and sailors in Kronstadt.

● 1921 - Police in Sunbury PA issue an edict requiring Women to wear skirts at least 4 inches below the knee {As if they had the power to do so! Idiots!!}

● 1921 - The Portuguese Communist Party is founded as the Portuguese Section of the Communist International.

● 1924 - British Labour government cuts military budget

● 1925 - Belgium annexes Eupen, Malmedy, and Sankt Vith.

● 1925 - Pionerskaya Pravda, one of the oldest children's newspapers in Europe, is founded.

● 1928 - A Communist attack on Peking, China resulted in 3,000 dead and 50,000 fled to Swatow.

● 1929 - Turkey & Bulgaria sign friendship treaty

● 1930 - A National Trade-Union Unity League council in Madison, Wis., marches around the Capitol Square. During the march, a crowd of Univ. of Wisconsin students attack council leader Lottie Blumenthal, throwing her to the ground, manhandling other demonstrators, and destroying banners and pamphlets. Police arrest five university athletes who led the attack. One of the arrested athletes says (quote) - "We are getting so damned many radical Jews here that something must be done."

● 1930 - Brooklyn's Clarence Birdseye develops a method for quick freezing food

● 1930 - Demonstrations by unemployed workers demanding unemployment insurance occur in virtually every major city in the country. Police attacked a crowd of 35,000 in New York City -- others estimated 100,000 attendees -- and 10,000 people engaged in a melee with police in Cleveland. Republican congressman Hamilton Fish, with the support of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), also introduces a measure in Congress to create a committee to investigate radical activities. This is the beginning of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

● 1933 - Death of Amos R. Wells, 71, pioneer U.S. Christian educator. From 1901 until his death, he was editor of "Peloubet's Notes for the International Sunday School Lessons."

● 1933 - Poland occupies free city Danzig (Gdansk)

● 1933 - Pres. Roosevelt closes all U.S. banks. Alas, they reopened.

● 1935 - Retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. died two days shy of his 94th birthday.

● 1936 - Belgium ends Locarno-pact

● 1939 - In Spain, Jose Miaja took over the Madrid government after a military coup and vowed to seek "peace with honor."

● 1940 - 1st US telecast from an airplane, New York NY

● 1940 - Winter War: An armistice is signed by Finland and the Soviet Union.

● 1943 - Battle at Medenine, North-Africa; Rommels assault attack

● 1943 - Sukarno asks for cooperation with Japanese occupiers

● 1944 - USAF begins daylight bombing of Berlin

● 1945 - 117 SD-prisoners executed at Savage Farm

● 1945 - A communist-dominated government under Petru Groza assumes power in Romania.

● 1945 - Assassination attempt on Höhere, SS Police führer Rauter

● 1945 - Chinese 38th division occupies Lashio

● 1945 - Erich Honnecker & Erich Hanke flee Nazis

● 1946 - Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.

● 1947 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the contempt conviction of John L. Lewis.

● 1947 - Winston Churchill announced that he opposed British troop withdrawals from India.

● 1947 - XB-45, 1st US 4-engine jet bomber, makes 1st test flight, Muroc CA

● 1948 - USS Newport News, the first air-conditioned naval ship, is launched from Newport News, Virginia.

● 1951 - Belgium extends conscription to 24 months

● 1951 - The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.

● 1953 - Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Josef Stalin as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

● 1956 - West Germany amends constitution to permit military conscription.

● 1957 - Israel withdraws its troops from the Sinai Peninsula.

● 1957 - United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana.

● 1959 - Farthest radio signal heard (Pioneer IV, 400,000 miles)

● 1960 - President Sukarno disbands Indonesia's parliament

● 1960 - Switzerland granted women the right to vote in municipal elections.

● 1960 - The United States announced that it would send 3,500 troops to Vietnam. {All Repugs note, this was during the Eisenhower Administration.}

● 1961 - 1st London minicabs introduced

● 1961 - 'Ukulele king' Formby dies; One of Britain's most popular entertainers, George Formby, has died after suffering a heart attack.

● 1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1962 - US promise Thailand assistance against communist aggression

● 1964 - Constantine II becomes King of Greece succeeding Paul I.

● 1964 - Prophet Elijah Muhammad officially gives Cassius clay the name Muhammad Ali meaning "beloved of Allah". {Ali has since left the Black Moslem movement and follows a more traditional form of the religion.}

● 1964 - Protest against Sheraton Palace Hotel's discrimination in hiring, San Francisco.

● 1965 - 1st nonstop helicopter crossing of North America, JR Willford

● 1965 - First American soldier "officially" sets foot on battlefield in Vietnam.

● 1967 - Stalin's daughter Svetlana Allilujeva asks for political asylum in US

● 1967 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his plan to establish a draft lottery.

● 1969 - Nine thousand march at University of Washington to protest Vietnam War.

● 1970 - Cult leader and suspected murderer Charles Manson releases an album titled Lies: The Love & Terror Cult to help finance his defense.

● 1970 - Police respond violently to a peaceful student protest at Roosevelt High in East Los Angeles, arresting 37 students; many other students are injured.

● 1970 - Rabies ban on British pet imports; The British Government announces an indefinite ban on the importation of domestic pets.

● 1970 - Three Weathermen blow themselves up in Greenwich Village (house of Cathy Wilkerson's father) - Diana Oughton, Cathlyn Wilkerson, Kathy Boudin.

● 1971 - First annual meeting of Nebraskans for Peace.

● 1971 - First national women's liberation demonstration held in Britain.

● 1972 - Supreme Court rules that Squamish tribal courts do not have jurisdiction over crimes committed by non-Indians on reservations, a major blow to protection of inherent sovereignty.

● 1972 - Wildcat strike at Lordstown, Ohio GM plant where workers were not expected to resist work discipline (according to company calculations). The company and the union got a big surprise.

● 1973 - Former Equity Funding Corporation official accuses the company of perpetuating a $120 million swindle involving 60,000 fictitious life insurance policies.

● 1973 - U.S. President Richard Nixon imposed price controls on oil and gas.

● 1974 - Miners' strike comes to an end; UK coal workers bring an end to a 16 week dispute following a pay increase of over 30%.

● 1975 - Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement over their border dispute.

● 1975 - Nonviolent march demanding the return of democracy, Delhi, India.

● 1978 - Hustler publisher Larry Flynt shot & crippled by a sniper in Georgia

● 1980 - French Academy, founded in 1635, elects it 1st woman novelist (Marguerita Youcenar)

● 1980 - Islamic militants in Tehran said that they would turn over American hostages to the Revolutionary Council. {Eventually the Council would make a deal with candidate Reagan that would release the hostages after his inauguration. Only the first of his many impeachable offenses.}

● 1981 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

● 1981 - Soyuz 39 returns to Earth

● 1981 - U.S. President Reagan announced a plan to cut 37,000 federal jobs.

● 1981 - Walter Cronkite appeared on his last episode of "CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite." He had been on the job 19 years.

● 1982 - Libertarian cult hero Ayn Rand, 77, author of "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged," dies in New York.

● 1982 - U.N. University for Peace founded. San Jose, Costa Rica.

● 1983 - A woman in New Bedford, Mass., reported being gang-raped atop a pool table in a tavern; four men were later convicted.

● 1984 - One-year coal strike begins in England. In the end, Thatcher wins.

● 1985 - Mexican authorities find body of US drug agent Enrique C Salaazar

● 1986 - USSR's Vega 1 flies by Halley's Comet at 8,889 km

● 1987 - 6.8 earthquake hits Ecuador, kills 100

● 1987 - The British ferry M/S Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds after leaving the harbour of Zeebrugge, Belgium en route to Dover, England across the English Channel, killing 193.

● 1988 - 3 IRA suspects were shot dead in Gibraltar by SAS officers

● 1988 - Students at Gallaudet University go on strike in favor of the selection of a deaf university president. The protest is called Deaf President Now.

● 1990 - In Afghanistan, an attempted coup to remove President Najibullah from office failed.

● 1990 - SR-71 sets a transcontinental record, flying 2,404 miles in 1:08:17

● 1990 - The Russian Parliament passed a law that sanctioned the ownership of private property.

● 1991 - Following Iraq's capitulation in the Persian Gulf conflict, President Bush told Congress that "aggression is defeated; The war is over"

● 1991 - In Paris, five men were jailed for plotting to smuggle Libyan arms to the Irish Republican Army.

● 1992 - Founding of the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

● 1992 - The Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers.

● 1993 - Angolans die in battle for Huambo; Hundreds of people are reported to have died in clashes between the rebel Unita movement and Angolan government forces in the central town of Huambo.

● 1994 - Referendum in Moldova results in the electorate voting against possible reunification with Romania.

● 1996 - Hundreds demonstrate for an end to all violence, Palestine.

● 1997 - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II launched the first official royal Web site.

● 1997 - Picasso's painting Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and is recovered a week later.

● 1998 - 1st time the British flag is flown over Buckingham Palace

● 1998 - A Connecticut state lottery accountant gunned down three supervisors and the lottery chief before killing himself.

● 2000 - Three white New York police officers were convicted of a cover-up in a police station attack on Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.

● 2002 - Haida nation initiates lawsuit against British Columbia and federal Canadian governments, demanding aboriginal rights not only to their land, but the maritime resources throughout their native Queen Charlottte Islands.

● 2006 - Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation banning most abortions in South Dakota. (The ban was rejected by the state's voters in November).

● 2007 - Former White House aide I. Lewis Libby, Jr. was found guilty on four of five counts of perjury and obstruction of justice trial. {The War Chimp would commute his prison sentence and Scooter would not spend a single day in jail.}

[Bizarra]

356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

230 - St Pontianus begins his reign as Catholic Pope

285 - Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler.

365 - Alexandria hit by Earthquake; about 50,000 die

866 - John appointed bishop of the kingdom

905 - Holy Roman Catholic emperor Louis III captured

976 - Emperor Otto II gives earl Leopold I, East Bavaria

1320 - Count Louis of Nevers marries 8-year old daughter of Philips V

1542 - Pope Paul III begins inquisition against Protestants (Sactum Officium)

1545 - The first landing of French troops onto the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight occurs.

1568 - Battle at Jemmingen: Alva's troops beat Dutch rebellion

1579 - Mechelen surrenders to duke of Parma

1588 - English fleet defeats Spanish armada

1595 - Alvara Mendana discovers Marquesas Island

1669 - John Lockes Constitution of English colony Carolina approved

1718 - The Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.

1730 - States of Holland put death penalty on "sodomy"

1749 - Pieter Steyn becomes pension advisor of Holland

1773 - Pope Clemens XIV bans Jesuits

1774 - Peace of Kutsjuk Kainardji (end Russian-Turkish War)

1774 - Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774: Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji ending the war.

1798 - Napoleon Bonaparte wins Battle of Pyramids in Egypt

1825 - Java princess Dipo Negoro/Mangkubumi declare war on all non-islamics

1831 - Belgium gains independence from Netherlands, Leopold I made king

1836 - 1st Canadian RR opens, between Laprairie & St John, Quebec

1846 - Mormons found 1st English settlement in Calif (San Joaquin Valley)

1861 - 1st major battle of Civil War ends (Bull Run), Va-South wins

1865 - In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.

1866 - Cholera epidemic kills hundreds in London

1867 - City Gardens on Folsom opens

1873 - Jesse James & James Younger gang's 1st train robbery (Adair Iowa)

1877 - -27] US army breaks railroad strike

1880 - Compressed air accident kills 20 workers on Hudson River tunnel, NY

1884 - 1st Test Cricket match played at Lord's

1896 - National Federation of Afro-American Women & Colored Women's

1897 - Tate Gallery opens in England

1898 - Spain cedes Guam to US

1900 - Pope Leo XIII encyclical to Greek-Melkite rite

1904 - After 13 years, the 4,607-mile Trans-Siberian railway is completed

1904 - Camille Jenatzy sets world auto speed record at 65.79 MPH

1918 - U-156 shells Nauset Beach, in Orleans, Massachusetts.

1919 - Anthony Fokker's establishes airplane factory at Hamburg & Amsterdam

1919 - Dirigible crashes through bank skylight killing 13 (Chicago, Ill)

1921 - Indians (9) & Yankees (7) hit a record 16 doubles

1923 - Phillies score 12 in 6th & beat Cubs 17-4

1925 - Monkey Trial ends-John Scopes found guilty of teaching Darwinism

1930 - 110°F (43°C) at Millsboro, Delaware (state record)

1930 - US Veterans Administration forms

1931 - Reno race track, becomes 1st in US to use daily double wagering

1933 - Haifa Harbor in Palestine opens

1934 - 113°F (45°C), near Gallipolis, Ohio (state record)

1938 - Paul Hindemith & Leonide Massines ballet premieres in London

1940 - Soviet Union annexes Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

1940 - VARA-management accepts Rost of Tonningens demands

1941 - 200 Jewish Torahs are burned in Ukraine

1941 - Himmler orders building of Majdanek concentration camp

1942 - 8 die as coal waste heap slides in river valley near Oakwood, Va

1944 - British premier Winston Churchill flies to France, meets Montgomery

1944 - General Koiso becomes premier of Japan

1944 - US forces land on Guam to get rid of Japanese invaders

1944 - Von Kluge warns Hitler of impending collapse of front in Normandy

1945 - Detroit Tigers & Phila A's play 24 inning 1-1 tie

1946 - Jesus T Pinerol becomes 1st native born Puerto Rican governor

1947 - Indonesia begins 1st political election

1948 - WSPD TV channel 13 in Toledo, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting

1949 - Senate ratifies North Atlantic Treaty by a vote of 82-13 (NATO)

1951 - Dalai Lama returns to Tibet

1952 - 7.8 earthquake shakes Kern County Calif, 14 killed

1952 - Premier Ghavam es-Sultaneh of Persia, resigns

1954 - At Geneva, France agrees to independence of North & South Vietnam

1955 - 1st sub powered by liquid metal cooled reactor launched-Seawolf

1956 - Cin Red pitcher Brooks Lawrence loses after 13 straight wins

1956 - US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Enwetak

1957 - 1st black to win a major US tennis tournament (Althea Gibson)

1957 - 39th PGA Championship: Lionel Hebert at Miami Valley GC Dayton Ohio

1957 - Marilynn Smith/Fay Crocker wins Hot Springs 4-Ball Golf Tournament

1959 - 1st nuclear powered merchant ship, NS Savannah, christened, Camden NJ

1959 - Red Sox are last team to use a black player (Pumpsie Green)

1960 - Country of Katanga forms in Africa

1960 - In Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) Sirima Bandaranaike is world's 1st woman PM

1960 - Francis Chichester arrive in NY aboard Gypsy Moth II, setting record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing

1961 - Launch of Mercury 4 (Liberty Bell) with Grissom

1962 - 160 civil right activists jailed after demonstration in Albany Ga

1962 - Battles on Chinese & Indies boundary

1963 - 45th PGA Championship: jack Nicklaus shoots a 279 at Dallas AC Dallas

1964 - Arnold Long takes 11 catches in the match for Surrey v Sussex

1964 - Mildred Simpson runs female world record marathon (3:19:33)

1964 - Neth last whaling ship Willem Barents Sea sold to Japan

1965 - Pakistan, Iran & Turkey sign Regional Co-Operation pact

1966 - Gemini X returns to Earth

1966 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1968 - 50th PGA Championship: Julius Boros shoots a 281 at Pecan Valley TX

1968 - Carol mann wins LPGA Buckeye Savings Golf Invitational

1968 - Jan Janssen wins Tour de France: 1st Dutchman

1969 - Neil Armstrong steps on Moon at 2:56:15 AM (GMT)

1969 - Russia's Luna 15 impacts moon after 52 lunar orbits

1970 - Huge Aswan Dam opens in Egypt

1970 - Libya orders confiscation of all Jewish property

1970 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1970 - clay Kirby has a no-hitter going for 8 inn, but is lifted for a pinch hitter, Reliever jack Baldschun gives up 3 hits & Padres lose, 3-0

1971 - US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site

1972 - 2 passenger trains collide head-on killing 76 (Seville, Spain)

1972 - 27.5 cm rainfall at Fort Ripley, Minnesota (state record)

1972 - Bloody Friday: 22 IRA-bombs explode in Belfast

1972 - Dodgers release & end career of pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm

1972 - In NY, 57 murders occur in 24 hours

1973 - Braves Hank Aaron hits Ken Brett's fastball for his 700th HR

1973 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Atoll un the Pacific

1973 - USSR launches Mars 4 for fly-by (2600 km) of red planet

1974 - 29th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Sandra Haynie

1974 - Eddy Merckx wins his 5th Tour de France

1974 - House Judiciary approves 2 Articles of Impeachment against Pres Nixon

1975 - Billy Martin fired as Texas Rangers manager

1975 - NY Met Félix Millán hits 4 singles; erased by Joe Torres 4 double plays

1976 - "Guys & Dolls" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 239 performances

1976 - 1st outbreak of "Legionnaire's Disease" kills 29 in Phila

1976 - Christopher Ewart-Biggs British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.

1977 - Libyan-Egyptian border fights

1977 - Sri Lanka premier Bandaranaike loses election

1978 - Bolivia milt coup under general Juan Pereda, pres Hugo Banzer flees

1978 - US Postal Service & unions agree on a contract averting mail strike

1978 - World's strongest dog, 80-kg St Bernard, pulls 2909-kg load 27 m

1979 - 108th British Golf Open: Seve Ballesteros shoots a 283 at Royal Lytham

1979 - National Women's Hall of Fame (Seneca Falls, NY) dedicated

1980 - Jean-Claude Droyer climbs Eiffel Tower in 2 hrs 18 mins

1981 - Australia set 130 to win, all out 111 at Headingley Willis 8-43

1982 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island

1983 - Polish govt ends 19 months of martial law

1983 - Storm cuts short Diana Ross' free concert in NY's Central Park

1983 - US announces Lebanon freed American hostage David Dodge

1984 - 1st documented case of a robot killing a human in US

1984 - Marita Koch of E Germany sets world women's mark for 200m, 21.71s

1984 - USSR performs underground nuclear Test

1985 - "Leader of the Pack" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 120 perfs

1985 - 114th British Golf Open: Sandy Lyle shoots a 282 at Royal St George

1985 - Amina Fakir (Detroit), 23, crowned 18th Miss Black America

1985 - Bernard Hinault wins his 5th & last Tour de France

1985 - Judy Clark wins LPGA Boston Five Golf Classic

1986 - Barbara Palacios Teyde, 22, of Venezuela, crowned 35th Miss Universe

1986 - Pleasure Island plans unveiled

1987 - Kristi Addis, of Mississippi, crowned 5th Miss Teen USA

1988 - ESA's Ariane-3 launches 2 communications satellites (1 Indian)

1988 - Mass Gov Michael Dukakis accepts Democratic nomination for president

1989 - Eastern Airlines submits a reorganization plan to creditors

1989 - Greg LeMond (US) wins Tour de France in fastest time

1989 - Mike Tyson KOs Carl Williams in 1:33 for heavyweight boxing title

1990 - Goodwill Games opens in Seattle Wash

1990 - Pink Floyds' "Wall" is performed where Berlin Wall once stood

1991 - 120th British Golf Open: Ian Baker-Finch shoots 272 at Royal Birkdale

1991 - Betsy King wins LPGA JAL Big Apple Golf Classic

1991 - Sharmell Sullivan (Gary Indiana), 20, crowned 23rd Miss Black America

1991 - Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Rod Carew, Tony Lazzeri, & Bill Veeck are elected into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY

1993 - Angela Kennedy swims world record 50 m butterfly stroke (26.93)

1994 - Tony Blair is declared the winner of the leadership election of the British Labour Party, paving the way for him to become Prime Minister in 1997.

1995 - Brian Lara completes a pair for West Indians v Kent

1995 - KC Royals set club-record of 22 singles in 15 innings

1996 - 125th British Golf Open: Tom Lehman shoots a 271 at Royal Lytham

1996 - Dottie Pepper wins LPGA Friendly's Golf Classic

1996 - Wayne Gretzky signs a 2 year deal with NY Rangers

1997 - 200-year-old USS Constitution sails under its own power

1997 - NY Yank Mike Whiton held in Milwaukee on charges of sexual assault

1997 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

2002 - Telecom giant WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the largest such filing in United States history.

2004 - The United Kingdom government publishes Delivering Security in a Changing World, a paper detailing wide-ranging reform of the country's armed forces.

2005 - Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar July 7 bombings, target London's public transportation system. All four bombs fail to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers are captured and later convicted and imprisoned for long terms.

2007 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the bestselling Harry Potter series is released.

2008 - Bosnian-Serb war criminal Radovan Karadžić is arrested in Serbia and is indicted by the UN's ICTY tribunal.

<< 20th July

[Bizarra]

259 - Dionysius elected as bishop of Rome, succeeding Sixtus II

260 - St Dionysius begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1298 - English defeat Scots at Battle of Falkirk

1306 - King Phillip the Fair, orders expulsion of Jews out of France

1456 - Battle at Nandorfehervar (Belgrade): Hungarian army under Janos Hunyadi beats sultan Murad II

1484 - Battle of Lochmaben Fair - a 500-man raiding party led by Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany and James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas are defeated by Scots forces loyal to Albany's brother James III of Scotland; Douglas is captured.

1489 - "Tractate Niddah" a talmudic edition, 1st printed

1489 - Treaty of Frankfurt

1515 - Anna of Bohemia (12) marries Karel van Ferdinand of Austria

1515 - Louis of Hungary (9) marries Maria of Bohemia & succession to Hungarian throne

1515 - Congress of Vienna settles issues between Poland & Holy Roman Empire

1535 - Christians captured in Tunis in uprising against Adm Barbarossa

1582 - Willem van Orange moves from Antwerp to Delft

1587 - 2nd English colony forms on Roanoke Island off NC

1627 - English fleet under George Villiers lands on the Rhe [OS=June 12]

1632 - Foundation laid in Madrid for Buen Retiro-palace for king Philip IV

1648 - 10,000 Jews of Polannoe murdered in Chmielnick massacre

1686 - City of Albany, NY chartered

1691 - Battle at Aghrim: English/Dutch army beats France

1729 - Diamonds found in Minas Geras Brazil

1731 - Spain signs Treaty of Vienna

1739 - Turks defeats Holy Roman Emp at Crocyka Yugoslavia & threaten Belgrade

1775 - George Washington takes command of US troops

1793 - Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada.

1796 - Cleveland, Ohio, founded by Gen Moses Cleveland

1812 - Duke of Wellington defeats French at Battle of Salamanca, Spain

1859 - V E Walker takes 10-74 in an innings for England v Surrey

1864 - Battle of Atlanta-Hood attacks Sherman, 8449 conf, 3641 US die

1865 - V E Walker takes 10-104 in an innings for Middlesex v Lancs

1893 - Katharine Lee Bates writes "America the Beautiful," in Colorado

1898 - Belgica crew see 1st sunrise in 1600 hrs-1st to endure Antarct winter

1901 - Serbia reactivates diplomatic relations with Montenegro

1905 - Phila Athletic's Weldon Henley no-hits St Louis Browns, 6-0

1912 - 5th Olympic games in Stockholm, Sweden closes

1916 - A bomb went off during a Preparedness Day parade in SF killing 10

1917 - Alexander Kerensky becomes Russian PM

1917 - British bomb German lines at Ypres, 4,250,000 grenades

1918 - Lightning kills 504 sheep in Utah's Wasatch National Park

1919 - De Falla & Massine's "Three-cornered Hat," premieres in London

1921 - 25th US Golf Open: Jim Barnes shoots a 289 at Columbia CC in MD

1922 - Cards enter 1st place, marks 1st time both St Louis teams are on top

1923 - Walter Johnson becomes 1st to strikeout 3,000 (en route to 3,508)

1925 - Yankees purchase infielder Leo Durocher

1926 - 105°F (41°C), Waterbury, Connecticut (state record)

1926 - 108°F (42°C), Troy, NY (state record)

1926 - Cin Red Curt Walker ties record of 2 triples in an inning

1933 - 1st solo flight round the world 7d 19hrs (Wiley Post)

1933 - Caterina Jarboro sings "Aida," NYC-1st negro prima donna in US

1933 - Wiley Post completes 1st round-the-world solo flight

1934 - Outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre, "Public Enemy No. 1" John Dillinger is mortally wounded by FBI agents.

1935 - Lester Walton appointed minister to Liberia

1936 - Phillies John Moore hits 3 consecutive HRs

1937 - Irish premier Eamon de Valera wins elections

1937 - Senate rejects FDR proposal to enlarge Supreme Court

1939 - 1st black woman judge (Jane Matilda Bolin-NYC)

1940 - Dutch prime minister De Geer meets Hitler seeking peace talks

1940 - Jacqueline Kennedy's parents divorce

1942 - 4th Russian Pantser army forms with 80 tanks

1942 - Gasoline rationing using coupons begins

1942 - Warsaw Ghetto Jews (300,000) are sent to Treblinka extermination Camp

1943 - US forces led by Gen George Patton liberate Palermo Sicily

1944 - Soviets set up Polish Committee of National Liberation

1946 - Estelle Bennett, rocker (Ronettes)

1946 - Menachen Begin's opposition group surprise attack on King David hotel

1947 - -8°F (-13°C), Charlotte Pass, NSW (Australian record)

1950 - Frank Worrell completes 261 v England at Trent Bridge

1950 - King Leopold, after 6 years in exile, returns to Belgium

1951 - Gen Francisco Craveiro Lopes appointed pres of Portugal

1952 - Poland adopts Communist-imposed Constitution

1954 - Virgin Islands (US) adopts constitution (Revised Organic Act)

1954 - WTHI TV channel 10 in Terre Haute, IN (CBS) begins broadcasting

1955 - 1st VP to preside over cabinet meeting-R Nixon

1955 - Phillies longest win streak since 1892 hits 11

1958 - US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Bikini Island

1959 - Benjamin Britten's "Missa Brevis" in D, premieres

1959 - Earth gas found at Kolham (Slochteren) Groningen

1960 - Cuba nationalizes all US owned sugar factories

1961 - WBNB TV channel 10 in Charlotte Amaile, VI (CBS) begins broadcasting

1962 - 1st US Venus probe, Mariner 1, fails at lift-off

1962 - 44th PGA Championship: Gary Player shoots a 278 at Aronimink GC PA

1962 - Chic White Sox Floyd Robinson goes 6 for 6 (all singles)

1962 - Shirley Englehorn wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Tournament

1963 - Beatles release "Introducing the Beatles"

1963 - Sonny Liston KOs Floyd Patterson in 1 for heavyweight boxing title

1965 - Edward Heath succeeds Alec Douglas-Hume as leader of Brit Cons party

1967 - 1st major appearance by Vanilla Fudge (Village Theater NYC)

1967 - Atlanta Braves use a record 5 pitchers in 9th inning

1967 - Carol mann wins LPGA Supertest Ladies' Golf Open

1967 - Jimi Hendrix quits as opening act of the Monkees' tour

1968 - Sir John Newsome recommends public schools should take 50% of their intake from the state school system

1969 - Aretha Franklin arrested for disturbing peace in Detroit

1969 - USSR launches Sputnik 50 & Molniya 1-12 communications satellite

1971 - Sudan military counter coup under premier Numeiry

1972 - 10.84" (27.53 cm) of rainfall, Fort Ripley, Mn (state 24-hr record)

1972 - Venera 8 makes soft landing on Venus

1973 - 28th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Susie Maxwell Berning

1975 - House of Reps votes to restore citizenship to Gen Robert E Lee

1976 - "Let My People Come" opens at Morosco Theater NYC for 106 performances

1979 - Pat Meyers wins LPGA Greater Baltimore Golf Classic

1981 - Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca sentenced in a Rome to life

1982 - Academic Text Processing Service forms in Seattle

1982 - Biggest mass wedding, Rev Sun Myung Moon weds 2,200 couples in NYC

1983 - -128.6°F (-89.2°C) recorded, Vostok, Antarctica (world record)

1983 - Angels OF Brian Downing error ends his record streak at 244 games

1983 - Dick Smith makes 1st solo helicopter flight around the world

1983 - Poland's PM Januzelski lifts martial law

1984 - 113th British Golf Open: Seve Ballesteros shoots a 276 at St Andrews

1984 - 22nd Tennis Fed Cup: Czech beats Australia in Sao Paulo Brazil (2-1)

1984 - Kathy Whitworth wins Rochester Golf International (her 85th win)

1984 - Laurent Fignon wins Tour de France

1986 - House of Reps impeaches Judge Harry E Claiborne on tax evasion

1987 - Said Aouita of Morocco sets 5k record (12:58.39) in Rome

1987 - Soyuz TM-3 launched with 3 cosmonauts (1 Syrian)

1987 - US began escorting re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers in Persian Gulf

1988 - 500 US scientists pledge to boycott Pentagon germ-warfare research

1989 - Kristin Huxhold, 18, of Missouri, crowned America's Junior Miss

1990 - 119th British Golf Open: Nick Faldo shoots 270 at St Andrews Scotland

1990 - 90th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Phil Mickelson

1990 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Phar-Mor in Youngstown Golf Tournament

1990 - Greg LeMond of US wins his 3rd Tour de France

1991 - Jeffrey Dahmer confesses to killing 17 males in 1978

1992 - Colombia drug baron Pablo Escobar escapes prison

1992 - Soyuz TM-15 launches

1993 - NY Yankee Don Mattingly hits his 200th HR

1993 - Soyuz TM-17 lands

1994 - 23rd & last part of Comet Shoemaker-Levy hit Jupiter (since July 16th)

1994 - Doc Gooden admitted to Betty Ford Center

1994 - Mariners play Red Sox as home team at Fenway, as Kingdome is repaired

1994 - Military coup in Gambia: Pres Dawda Jawara flees

1994 - OJ Simpson pleads "Absolutely 100% Not Guilty" of murder

1994 - William Sigei runs world record 10k (26:52.53)

1995 - Space shuttle STS-70 (Discovery 20), lands

1995 - Susan Smith found guilty of drowning her 2 children in SC

1997 - Fire breaks out at Palais de Chaillot in Paris

1997 - The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

2002 - Israel assassinates Salah Shahade, the Commander-in-Chief of Hamas's military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, along with 14 civilians.

2003 - Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year old son, and a bodyguard.

2005 - Jean Charles de Menezes is killed by police as the hunt begins for the London Bombers. See 7 July 2005 London bombings and 21 July 2005 London bombings

<< 21st July

[Bizarra]

this day...

636 Arabs gain control of most of Palestine from the Byzantine Empire

685 John V begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1253 Jews are expelled from Vienne France by order of Pope Innocent III

1298 Jews are massacred at Wurzburg Germany

1599 Caravaggio's 1st public commission for paintings

1798 Napoleon captures Alexandria, Egypt

1803 Robert Emmett's insurrected in Dublin

1827 1st US swim school opens (Boston Mass)

1829 William Austin Burt patents "typographer" (typewriter)

1852 1st interment in US National Cemetary at Presidio

1866 Cincinnati Baseball club (The Reds) established

1871 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #114 Kassandra

1877 1st telephone & telegraph line in Hawaii completed

1877 1st US municipal railroad, Cincinnati Southern, begins operations

1880 1st commercial hydroelectric power planet begins, Grand Rapids, Mich

1886 Steve Brodie supposedly survives plunge from Brooklyn Bridge

1895 A Charlois discovers asteroid #405 Thia

1900 Pan-African Congress meets in London

1904 Ice cream cone created by Charles E Menches during La Purchase Expo

1908 A Kopff discovers asteroids #666 Desdemona & #667 Denise

1909 M Wolf discovers asteroid #683 Lanzia

1914 Austria-Hungary issues ultimatum to Serbia leading to WW I

1920 Kenya becomes a British crown colony

1921 Edward Gourdin of the US, sets then long jump record at 25' 2 3/4"

1925 NY Yankee Lou Gehrig hits his 1st of 23 career grand slammers

1931 Ashmore & Cartier Is in Indian Ocean transferred to Australia

1931 France announces they can't afford to send a team to 1932 LA olympics

1932 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1246 Chaka

1937 Isolation of pituitary hormone announced (Yale University)

1938 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1468 Zomba

1940 "Blitz" begins, all-night raid on London

1944 US forces invade Japanese-held Tinian in WW II

1947 1st (US Navy) air squadron of jets, Quonset Point, RI

1948 Progressive party convention nominates Henry Wallace for President

1952 General Neguib seizes power, Monarchy overthrown in Egypt (Natl Day)

1956 Bell X-2 rocket plane sets world aircraft speed record of 3,050 kph

1958 1st 4 women named to peerage in House of Lords

1964 Egyptian munition ship "Star of Alexandria" explodes at dockside

in Bone, Algeria. 100 die, 160 injured, $20 million damage

1965 Beatles "Help" is released in the UK

1966 Cavern Club in Liverpool reopens

1966 Napoleon XIV releases "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha! Ha!"

1967 43 killed in racial rebellion in Detroit (2,000 injured, 442 fires)

1967 Pirate Radio Swinging Scotland closes down for financial reasons

1967 Race riots claiming 43 erupts in Detroit

1968 Fred Blasie wins 5th wrestling world championship belt

1968 PLO's 1st hijacking of an El Al plane

1968 Race riot in Cleveland, 11 including 3 cops killed

1969 NL beats AL 9-3 in 40th All Star Game (RFK Stadium, Washington)

1969 NL beats AL for 7th consecutive time

1972 1st Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS) is launched

1972 Eddy Merckx (Belgium) wins his 4th consecutive Tour de France

1973 Ozark AL plane knocked out of the air by lightning, St Louis-36 die

1974 Greek military dictatorship collapses

1974 NL beats AL 7-2 in 45th All Star Game (3 Rivers, Pittsburgh)

1976 Balt Oriole Reggie Jackson homers in 6th straight game

1976 Wings release "Let 'em In"

1977 Washington jury convicts 12 Hanafi Moslems on hostage charges

1978 Israeli cabinet rejects Sadat's call for return of 2 Sinai areas

1978 Phillies Steve Carlon becomes 78th pitcher to win 200

1979 E Bowell discovers asteroid #2736 Ops

1980 Billy Carter admits to being paid by Libya

1980 River of No Return Wilderness Area designated by Jimmy Carter

1980 Soyuz 37 ferries 2 cosmonauts (1 Vietnamese) to Salyut 6

1984 Vanessa Williams, 1st black Miss America, resigns due to posing nude

1986 Britain's Prince Andrew marries Sarah Ferguson

1987 Petra Felke (E Ger) throws javelin 78.89 m (women's record)

1987 RNI (BKlyn NY pirate radio station) begins broadcasting on 1620 AM

1987 Said Aouita of Morocco runs world record 5,000 m (12:58.39)

1988 Saskatchewan's Dave Ridgway kicks record 8 field goals vs Edmonton

1989 FOX-TV tops ABC, NBC & CBS for 1st time (America's Most Wanted)

1989 Winds gust to 85 MPH at Fort Smith Arkansas

1991 James Farentino of Dynasty arrested in Canada for cocaine possession

[Raistlin]

0326 - Constantine refused to carry out the traditional pagan sacrifices.

1394 - Charles VI of France issued a decree for the general expulsion of Jews from France.

1564 - Maximillian II became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

1587 - Japanese strong-man Hideyoshi banned Christianity in Japan and ordered all Christians to leave.

1593 - France's King Henry IV converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.

1759 - British forces defeated a French army at Fort Niagara in Canada.

1799 - Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Ottomans at Aboukir, Egypt.

1805 - Aaron Burr visited New Orleans with plans to establish a new country, with New Orleans as the capital city.

1845 - China granted Belgium equal trading rights with Britain, France and the United States.

1850 - In Worcester, MA, Harvard and Yale University freshmen met in the first intercollegiate billiards match.

1850 - Gold was discovered in the Rogue River in Oregon.

1854 - The paper collar was patented by Walter Hunt.

1861 - The Crittenden Resolution, which called for the American Civil War to be fought to preserve the Union and not for slavery, was passed by the U.S. Congress.

1866 - Ulysses S. Grant was named General of the Army. He was the first American officer to hold the rank.

1868 - The U.S. Congress passed an act creating the Wyoming Territory.

1871 - Seth Wheeler patented perforated wrapping paper.

1907 - Korea became a protectorate of Japan.

1909 - French aviator Louis Bleriot flew across the English Channel in a monoplane. He traveled from Calais to Dover in 37 minutes. He was the first man to fly across the channel.

1914 - Russia declared that it would act to protect Serbian sovereignty.

1924 - Greece announced the deportation of 50,000 Armenians.

1934 - Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was shot and killed by Nazis.

1939 - W2XBS TV in New York City presented the first musical comedy seen on TV. The show was "Topsy and Eva".

1941 - The U.S. government froze all Japanese and Chinese assets.

1943 - Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was overthrown in a coup.

1946 - The U.S. detonated an atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. It was the first underwater test of the device.

1946 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis staged their first show as a team at Club 500 in Atlantic City, NJ.

1947 - Fortune Gordien of Oslo, Norway set a world record discus throw of 178.47 feet.

1952 - Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the U.S.

1956 - The Italian liner Andrea Doria sank after colliding with the Swedish ship Stockholm off the New England coast. 51 people were killed.

1978 - Louise Joy Brown, the first test-tube baby, was born in Oldham, England. She had been conceived through in-vitro fertilization.

1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Red's broke the National League record for consecutive base hits as he got a hit in 38 straight games.

1984 - Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space. She was aboard the orbiting space station Salyut 7.

1987 - The Salt Lake City Trappers set a professional baseball record as the team won its 29th game in a row.

1994 - Israel and Jordan formally ended the state of war that had existed between them since 1948.

1997 - K.R. Narayanan became India's president. He was the first member of the Dalits caste to do so.

1998 - The USS Harry S. Truman was commissioned and put into service by the U.S. Navy.

1998 - U.S. President Clinton was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury regarding the Monica Lewinsky case. The subpoena was withdrawn when Clinton agreed to give videotaped testimony with his lawyers present.

1999 - Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France. He was only the second American to win the race. He won the race again in 2000.

2000 - A supersonic Concorde crashed outside Paris, France, killing all 109 people aboard and 5 on the ground.

2010 - WikiLeaks leaked to the public more than 90,000 internal reports involving the U.S.-led War in Afghanistan from 2004-2010.

[Raistlin]

1588 - The English defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines.

1754 - The first international boxing match was held. The 25-minute match was won when jack Slack of Britain knocked out Jean Petit from France.

1773 - The first schoolhouse to be located west of the Allegheny Mountains was built in Schoenbrunn, OH.

1786 - "The Pittsburgh Gazette" became the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies to be published. The paper's name was later changed to "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette."

1874 - Major Walter Copton Winfield of England received U.S. patent for the lawn-tennis court.

1890 - Artist Vincent van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France.

1914 - The first transcontinental telephone service was inaugurated when two people held a conversation between New York, NY and San Francisco, CA.

1940 - John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO completed a 292-mile swim down the Mississippi River. The swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, MO took him 89 hours and 48 minutes.

1950 - Disney's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" was released.

1957 - jack Paar began hosting the "Tonight" show on NBC-TV. The name of the show was changed to "The jack Paar Show." Paar was host for five years.

1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency was established.

1958 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was authorized by the U.S. Congress.

1967 - Fire swept the USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin. 134 U.S. servicemen were killed.

1968 - Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's stance against artificial methods of birth control.

1975 - OAS (Organization of American States) members voted to lift collective sanctions against Cuba. The U.S. government welcomed the action and announced its intention to open serious discussions with Cuba on normalization.

1981 - England's Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married.

1983 - Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers set the National League consecutive game record at 1,207.

1985 - General Motors announced that Spring Hill, TN, would be the home of the Saturn automobile assembly plant.

1993 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquitted retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk of being Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible." His death sentence was thrown out and he was set free.

1997 - Minamata Bay in Japan was declared free of mercury 40 years after contaminated food fish were blamed for deaths and birth defects.

1998 - The United Auto Workers union ended a 54-day strike against General Motors. The strike caused $2.8 billion in lost revenues.

1999 - Mark O. Barton killed nine people and wounded 13 others in a shooting rampage in Atlanta, GA. He wife and two children had been found bludgeoned to death earlier in the day.

2005 - Astronomers announced that they had discovered a new planet larger than Pluto in orbit around the sun.

[Raistlin]

1502 - Christopher Columbus landed at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.

1619 - The first representative assembly in America convened in Jamestown, VA. (House of Burgesses)

1729 - The city of Baltimore was founded in Maryland.

1733 - The first Freemasons lodge opened in what would later become the United States.

1889 - Vladimir Zworykin, called the "Father of Television" was born in Russia. He invented the iconoscope.

1898 - "Scientific America" carried the first magazine automobile ad. The ad was for the Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH.

1932 - Walt Disney's "Flowers and Trees" premiered. It was the first Academy Award winning cartoon and first cartoon short to use Technicolor.

1937 - The American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) was organized as a part of the American Federation of Labor.

1942 - The WAVES were created by legislation signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The members of the Women's Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service were a part of the U.S. Navy.

1945 - The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Only 316 out of 1,196 men aboard survived the attack.

1956 - The phrase "In God We Trust" was adopted as the U.S. national motto.

1965 - U.S. President Johnson signed into law Social Security Act that established Medicare and Medicaid. It went into effect the following year.

1968 - Ron Hansen of the Washington Senators made the first unassisted triple play in the major leagues in 41 years.

1974 - The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Nixon for blocking the Watergate investigation and for abuse of power.

1975 - Jimmy Hoffa, former Teamsters union president, disappeared in Michigan. His remains were never found.

1987 - Indian troops arrived in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, to disarm the Tamil Tigers and enforce a peace pact.

1990 - The first Saturn automobile rolled off the assembly line.

1996 - A federal law enforcement source said that security guard Richard Jewell had become the focus of the investigation into the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park. Jewell was later cleared as a suspect.

1997 - 14 Israelis were killed in a double suicide bombing in a Jerusalem marketplace. The Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombings.

1998 - A group of Ohio machine-shop workers (who call themselves the Lucky 13) won the $295.7 million Powerball jackpot. It was the largest-ever American lottery.

2000 - Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were married.

2001 - Lance Armstrong became the first American to win three consecutive Tours de France.

2003 - In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagon Beetle rolled off an assembly line.

[Raistlin]

1498 - Christopher Columbus landed on "Isla Santa" (Venezuela).

1619 - The first black Americans (20) land at Jamestown, VA.

1774 - Oxygen was isolated from air successfully by chemist Carl Wilhelm and scientist Joseph Priestly.

1779 - Francis Scott Key was born. He was an American composer, attorney, poet, and social worker. He was the composer of the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" which later became known as the "Star-Spangled Banner."

1790 - The first U.S. census was completed with a total population of 3,929,214 recorded. The areas included were the present states of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia

1818 - Maria Mitchell was born. She was the first female professional astronomer and the first women to be elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1834 - Slavery was outlawed in the British empire with an emancipation bill.

1873 - Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car. The design was done for San Francisco, CA.

1876 - Colorado became the 38th state to join the United States.

1893 - Shredded wheat was patented by Henry Perky and William Ford.

1894 - The first Sino-Japanese War erupted. The dispute was over control of Korea.

1907 - The U.S. Army established an aeronautical division that later became the U.S. Air Force.

1914 - Germany declared war on Russia at the beginning of World War I.

1936 - Adolf Hitler presided over the Olympic games as they opened in Berlin.

1943 - Several deaths occurred in a race-related riot in Harlem, New York City.

1944 - In Warsaw, Poland, an uprising against Nazi occupation began. The revolt continued until October 2 when Polish forces surrendered.

1946 - In the U.S., the Atomic Energy Commission was established.

1953 - The first aluminum-faced building was completed. It was the first of this type in America.

1956 - The Social Security Act was amended to provide benefits to disabled workers aged 50-64 and disabled adult children.

1957 - The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was created by the United States and Canada.

1966 - Fifteen people were shot and killed and 31 others were injured by Charles Joseph Whitman from a tower at the University of Texas at Austin. Whitman was killed in the tower.

1973 - The movie "American Graffiti" opened.

1975 - The Helsinki accords pledged the signatory nations to respect human rights.

1976 - The Seattle Seahawks played their first (preseason) game. The Seahawks lost 27-20 to San Francisco.

1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds ended his streak of hitting in 44 consecutive games.

1986 - John McEnroe and Tatum O'Neal were married.

1986 - Bert Blyleven became only the 10th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career.

1988 - Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" opened.

1991 - Actress Hedy Lamar, 77, was arrested for shoplifting in Florida.

1993 - Reggie Jackson was admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

1995 - Westinghouse Electric Corporation announced a deal to buy CBS for $5.4 billion.

1998 - The U.S. books and music chain Borders opens its first European outlet with a 40,000-square-foot store on London's Oxford Street.

2006 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro turned over absolute power when he gave his brother Raul authority while he underwent an intestinal surgery. 1498 - Christopher Columbus landed on "Isla Santa" (Venezuela).

1619 - The first black Americans (20) land at Jamestown, VA.

1774 - Oxygen was isolated from air successfully by chemist Carl Wilhelm and scientist Joseph Priestly.

1779 - Francis Scott Key was born. He was an American composer, attorney, poet, and social worker. He was the composer of the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" which later became known as the "Star-Spangled Banner."

1790 - The first U.S. census was completed with a total population of 3,929,214 recorded. The areas included were the present states of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia

1818 - Maria Mitchell was born. She was the first female professional astronomer and the first women to be elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1834 - Slavery was outlawed in the British empire with an emancipation bill.

1873 - Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car. The design was done for San Francisco, CA.

1876 - Colorado became the 38th state to join the United States.

1893 - Shredded wheat was patented by Henry Perky and William Ford.

1894 - The first Sino-Japanese War erupted. The dispute was over control of Korea.

1907 - The U.S. Army established an aeronautical division that later became the U.S. Air Force.

1914 - Germany declared war on Russia at the beginning of World War I.

1936 - Adolf Hitler presided over the Olympic games as they opened in Berlin.

1943 - Several deaths occurred in a race-related riot in Harlem, New York City.

1944 - In Warsaw, Poland, an uprising against Nazi occupation began. The revolt continued until October 2 when Polish forces surrendered.

1946 - In the U.S., the Atomic Energy Commission was established.

1953 - The first aluminum-faced building was completed. It was the first of this type in America.

1956 - The Social Security Act was amended to provide benefits to disabled workers aged 50-64 and disabled adult children.

1957 - The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was created by the United States and Canada.

1966 - Fifteen people were shot and killed and 31 others were injured by Charles Joseph Whitman from a tower at the University of Texas at Austin. Whitman was killed in the tower.

1973 - The movie "American Graffiti" opened.

1975 - The Helsinki accords pledged the signatory nations to respect human rights.

1976 - The Seattle Seahawks played their first (preseason) game. The Seahawks lost 27-20 to San Francisco.

1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds ended his streak of hitting in 44 consecutive games.

1986 - John McEnroe and Tatum O'Neal were married.

1986 - Bert Blyleven became only the 10th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career.

1988 - Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" opened.

1991 - Actress Hedy Lamar, 77, was arrested for shoplifting in Florida.

1993 - Reggie Jackson was admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

1995 - Westinghouse Electric Corporation announced a deal to buy CBS for $5.4 billion.

1998 - The U.S. books and music chain Borders opens its first European outlet with a 40,000-square-foot store on London's Oxford Street.

2006 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro turned over absolute power when he gave his brother Raul authority while he underwent an intestinal surgery.

[Raistlin]

492 - Christopher Columbus left Palos, Spain with three ships. The voyage would lead him to what is now known as the Americas. He reached the Bahamas on October 12.

1750 - Christopher Dock completed the first book of teaching methods. It was titled "A Simple and Thoroughly Prepared School Management."

1880 - The American Canoe Association was formed at Lake George, NY.

1900 - Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. was founded.

1914 - Germany declared war on France. The next day World War I began when Britain declared war on Germany.

1922 - WGY radio in Schenectady, NY, presented the first full-length melodrama on radio. The work was "The Wolf", written by Eugene Walter.

1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the U.S. after the sudden death of President Harding.

1933 - The Mickey Mouse Watch was introduced for the price of $2.75.

1936 - The U.S. State Department advised Americans to leave Spain due to the Spanish Civil War.

1936 - Jesse Owens won the first of his four Olympic gold medals.

1943 - Gen. George S. Patton verbally abused and slapped a private. Later, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered him to apologize for the incident.

1949 - The National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed. The league was formed by the merger between the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.

1956 - Bedloe's Island had its name changed to Liberty Island.

1958 - The Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater. The mission was known as "Operation Sunshine."

1979 - "More American Graffiti" was released.

1979 - Johnny Carson, the "Tonight Show" host, was on the cover of the Burbank, CA, telephone directory.

1981 - U.S. traffic controllers with PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, went on strike. They were fired just as U.S. President Reagan had warned.

1984 - Mary Lou Retton won a gold medal at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

1985 - Mail service returned to a nudist colony in Paradise Lake, FL. Residents promised that they’d wear clothes or stay out of sight when the mailperson came to deliver.

1988 - The Iran-Contra hearings ended. No ties were made between U.S. President Reagan and the Nicaraguan Rebels.

1988 - The Soviet Union released Mathias Rust. He had been taken into custody on May 28, 1987 for landing a plane in Moscow's Red Square.

1989 - Shiite Muslim kidnappers suspended their threat to execute another hostage. It had been reported that the terrorist in Lebanon had hung Lt. Col. William R. Higgins three days before.

1989 - Hashemi Rafsanjani was sworn in as the president of Iran.

1990 - Thousands of Iraqi troops pushed within a few miles of the border of Saudi Arabia. This heightened world concerns that the invasion of Kuwait could spread.

1992 - The U.S. Senate voted to restrict and eventually end the testing of nuclear weapons.

1992 - Russia and Ukraine agreed to put the Black Sea Fleet under joint command. The agreement was to last for three years.

1994 - Arkansas executed three prisoners. It was the first time in 32 years.

1995 - Eyad Ismoil was flown from Jordan to the U.S. to face charges that he had driven the van that blew up in New York's World Trade Center.

2001 - A grand jury indicted Robert Iler on charges that he and two teen-agers robbed two other teen-age boys for $40.

2004 - In New York, the Statue of Liberty re-opened to the public. The site had been closed since the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

2004 - NASA launched the spacecraft Messenger. The 6 1/2 year journey was planned to arrive at the planet Mercury in March 2011.

2009 - Bolivia became the first South American country to declare the right of indigenous people to govern themselves.

[Raistlin]

1735 - Freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor of New York. The jury said that "the truth is not libelous."

1753 - George Washington became a Master Mason.

1790 - The Revenue Cutter Service was formed. This U.S. naval task force was the beginning of the U.S. Coast Guard.

1821 - "The Saturday Evening Post" was published for the first time as a weekly.

1892 - Andrew and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River, MA. Lizzie, Andrew's daughter, was accused of the killings but was later acquitted.

1914 - Britain declared war on Germany in World War I. The U.S. proclaimed its neutrality.

1921 - The first radio broadcast of a tennis match occurred. It was in Pittsburgh, PA.

1922 - The death of Alexander Graham Bell, two days earlier, was recognized by AT&T and the Bell Systems by shutting down all of its switchboards and switching stations. The shutdown affected 13 million phones.

1934 - Mel Ott became the first major league baseball player to score six runs in a single game.

1944 - Nazi police raided a house in Amsterdam and arrested eight people. Anne Frank, a teenager at the time, was one of the people arrested. Her diary would be published after her death.

1949 - An earthquake in Ecuador destroyed 50 towns and killed more than 6000 people.

1954 - The uranium rush began in Saskatchewan, Canada.

1956 - William Herz became the first person to race a motorcycle over 200 miles per hour. He was clocked at 210 mph.

1957 - Florence Chadwick set a world record by swimming the English Channel in 6 hours and 7 minutes.

1957 - Juan Fangio won his final auto race and captured the world auto driving championship. It was his the fifth consecutive year to win.

1958 - The first potato flake plant was completed in Grand Forks, ND.

1958 - Billboard Magazine introduced its "Hot 100" chart, which was part popularity and a barometer of the movement of potential hits. The first number one song was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool."

1964 - The bodies of Michael H. Schwerner, James E. Chaney, and Andrew Goodman were found in an earthen dam in Mississippi. The three were civil rights workers. They had disappeared on June 21, 1964.

1972 - Arthur Bremer was found guilty of shooting George Wallace, the governor of Alabama. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison.

1977 - U.S. President Carter signed the measure that established the Department of Energy.

1983 - New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield threw a baseball during warm-ups and accidentally killed a seagull. After the game, Toronto police arrested him for "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal."

1984 - Carl Lewis won a gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics.

1984 - Upper Volta, an African republic, changed its name to Burkina Faso.

1985 - Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox achieved his 300th victory.

1985 - Rod Carew of the California angels got his 3,000th major league hit.

1986 - The United States Football League called off its 1986 season. This was after winning only token damges in its antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League.

1987 - The Fairness Doctrine was rescinded by the Federal Communications Commission. The doctrine had required that radio and TV stations present controversial issues in a balanced fashion.

1987 - A new 22-cent U.S. stamp honoring noted author William Faulkner, went on sale in Oxford, MS. Faulkner had been fired as postmaster of that same post office in 1924.

1988 - U.S. Rep. Mario Biaggi of New York was sentenced to prison. The conviction included charges of extortion, tax evasion, and acceptance of bribes in relation to the Wedtech scandal. Biaggi was paroled in 1990.

1989 - Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani offered to assist end the hostage crisis in Lebanon.

1990 - The European Community imposed an embargo on oil from Iraq and Kuwait. This was done to protest the Iraqi invasion of the oil-rich Kuwait.

1991 - The Oceanos, a Greek luxury liner, sank off of South Africa's southeast coast. All of the 402 passengers and 179 crewmembers survived.

1992 - Wang Hongwen died of a liver ailment. Hongwen was a member of the radical "Gang of Four". The gang had terrorized China during the Cultural Revolution.

1993 - Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, Los Angeles police officers were sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King's civil rights.

1994 - Yugoslavia withdrew its support for Bosnian Serbs. The border between Yugoslavia and Serb-held Bosnia was sealed.

1996 - Josia Thugwane won a gold medal after finishing first in the marathon. He became the first black South African to win a gold medal.

1997 - Teamsters began a 15-day strike against UPS (United Parcel Service). The strikers eventually won an increase in full-time positions and defeated a proposed reorganization of the companies pension plan.

2009 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pardoned two American journalists, who had been arrested and imprisoned for illegal entry earlier in the year.

[Raistlin]

1833 - The village of Chicago was incorporated. The population was approximately 250.

1861 - The U.S. federal government levied its first income tax. The tax was 3% of all incomes over $800. The wartime measure was rescinded in 1872.

1864 - During the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Adm. David G. Farragut were led into Mobile Bay, Alabama.

1884 - On Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid.

1914 - The electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio.

1921 - The first play-by-play broadcast of a baseball game was done by Harold Arlin. KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, PA described the action between the Pirates and Philadelphia.

1921 - The cartoon "On the Road to Moscow", by Rollin Kirby, was published in the "New York World". It was the first cartoon to win a Pulitzer Prize.

1923 - Henry Sullivan became the first American to swim across the English Channel.

1924 - In the New York "Daily News" debuted the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," by Harold Gray.

1944 - Polish insurgents liberated a German labor camp in Warsaw. 348 Jewish prisoners were freed.

1953 - During the Korean conflict prisoners were exchanged at Panmunjom. The exchange was labeled Operation Big Switch.

1960 - For the first time two major league baseball clubs traded managers. Detroit traded Jimmy Dykes for Cleveland's Joe Gordon.

1962 - Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home. The "probable suicide" was caused by an overdose of sleeping pills. Monroe was 36 at the time of her death.

1963 - The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union. The treaty banned nuclear tests in space, underwater, and in the atmosphere.

1964 - U.S. aircraft bombed North Vietnam after North Vietnamese boats attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

1969 - The Mariner 7, a U.S. space probe, passed by Mars. Photographs and scientific data were sent back to Earth.

1974 - U.S. President Nixon said that he expected to be impeached. Nixon had ordered the investigation into the Watergate break-in to halt.

1974 - "Tank McNamara", the comic strip, premiered in 75 newspapers.

1981 - The U.S. federal government started firing striking air traffic controllers.

1983 - David Crosby was sentenced to eight years in prison. He had been charged with drug and firearm possession. He was paroled in 1986.

1984 - Toronto’s Cliff Johnson set a major league baseball record by hitting the 19th pinch-hit home run in his career.

1986 - It was revealed that artist Andrew Wyeth had secretly created 240 drawings and paintings of his neighbor. The works of Helga Testorf had been created over a 15-year period.

1989 - In Honduras, five Central American presidents began meeting to discuss the timetable for the dismantling of the Nicaraguan Contra bases.

1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush angrily denounced the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

1991 - An investigation was formally launched by Democratic congressional leaders to find out if the release of American hostages was delayed until after the Reagan-Bush presidential election.

1991 - Iraq admitted to misleading U.N. inspectors about secret biological weapons.

1992 - Federal civil rights charges were filed against four Los Angeles police officers. The officers had been acquitted on California State charges. Two of the officers were convicted and jailed on violation of civil rights charges.

1998 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began not cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors.

1998 - Marie Noe of Philadelphia, PA was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, accused of smothering eight of her children to death between 1949 and 1968. Noe later received 20 years' probation.

1999 - In Malibu, CA, Robert Downey Jr. was sentenced to three years in prison for missing scheduled drug tests.

1999 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) hit his 500th career homerun. He also set a record for the fewest at-bats to hit the 500 homerun mark.

2002 - The U.S. closed its consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. The consulate was closed after local authorities removed large concrete blocks and reopened the road in front of the building to normal traffic.

[Bizarra]

Raist. I had the same problem!

As far as most/all of these sites are concerned, news of the day in history is mainly American news :shutit:

Self centred- egotistical you pays your money & you gets your pick ;)

[Bizarra]

Results 1 - 168 of 168

258 - St Sixtus II ends his reign as Catholic Pope

523 - St Hormisdas ends his reign as Catholic Pope

768 - [Constantine] ends his reign as Catholic Pope

939 - Battle at Simancas-Spain beats Moors

1181 - Supernova observed by Chinese & Japanese astronomers

1497 - John Cabot returns to Bristol from North-America

1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.

1588 - Spanish Armada under Medina Sidonia anchors

1600 - Henry IV of France invades Savoy after negotiations break down over Saluzzo, controlled by Savoy since 1588

1601 - Spanish garrison of Meurs surrender to earl Mauritius

1623 - Maffeo Barberini elected Pope Urban VIII

1625 - Earl Earnest Casimir appointed as viceroy of Groningen

1661 - Holland sells Brazil to Portugal for 8 million guilders

1661 - The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.

1675 - Russian Czar Aleksei bans foreign hairs cut

1726 - Emperor Karel VI & tsarina Catharina the Great sign military treaty

1774 - Founder of the Shaker Movement, Mother Ann Lee, arrives in NY

1787 - Constitutional Convention in Phila begans debate

1806 - Holy Roman Empire ends; it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire

1815 - US flotilla ends piracy by Algiers, Tunis & Tripoli

1819 - Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.

1821 - 1st edition of "Courrier of Pays-Bas" newspaper published in Brussels

1824 - Battle at Junan - Simon Bolívars army beats Spanish

1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Peru (National Day)

1845 - The Russian Geographical Society is founded in Saint Petersburg.

1854 - Congress passes Confiscation Act

1861 - Lexington KY-Union milt camp forms in neutral state

1861 - The British annex Lagos, Nigeria.

1862 - Confederate Army ironclad "Arkansas" is badly damaged in Union attack

1864 - Rebels evacuate Ft Powell, Mobile Bayd

1870 - Battle at Spicheren: Prussia beats France

1870 - White conservatives suppresed black vote & captured Tenn legislature

1890 - Cy Young pitches & wins 1st game

1890 - Denton True "Cy" Young pitched his 1st major league baseball game

1890 - At Auburn Prison in New York murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.

1896 - France annexes Madagascar

1901 - Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.

1905 - 26.7 cm rainfall at Princeton, Indiana (state record)

1908 - St Louis Card John Lush's 2nd no-hitter, beats Dodgers, 2-0 in 6 inn

1909 - Alice Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip.

1910 - NYC Mayor Wm J Gaynor seriously wounded during assassination attempt

1914 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia & Serbia

1914 - French cavalry enter Belgium

1914 - German Zeppelin bombs Liege City, 9 killed

1914 - Serbia declares war against Germany

1914 - Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlists in the French Foreign Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I.

1917 - World War I: Battle of Mărăşeşti between the Romanian and German armies begins.

1918 - Ferdinand Foch becomes marshal of France

1918 - In WW I 2nd battle of the Marne ends

1919 - 1st air flight over a major body of water in Australia (Harry Butler)

1919 - Romanian forces destroys Bela Kun Republic in Budapest

1921 - Clason Point, Bronx to College Point, Queens muni ferry system begins

1926 - NY's Gertrude Ederle becomes 1st woman to swim English Channel

1926 - Warner Bros premieres Vitaphone sound-on-disc movie system (NY)

1926 - Don Juan with John Barrymore shown

1930 - Supreme Court Justice John Force Crater disappears in NYC

1930 - Remains of Solomon Andrees' balloon expedition to North Pole in 1897, found at Kvit oya Spitsbergen

1934 - US troops leave Haiti, which had been occupied since 1915

1936 - 1st time in 20th century, 1st 2 batters in a game-Roy Johnson & Rabbit Warstler of Boston Bees-lead off with HRs

1937 - Franco-artillery fire on Madrid

1937 - Indians overturn Yankees' 7-6 win by a protest

1937 - US & USSR sign trade treaty

1939 - 1st broadcast of "Dinah Shore Show" on NBC-radio

1940 - Estonia is annexed into Soviet empire

1941 - Detroit pitcher Al Benton is 1st to collect 2 sacrifices in an inning

1942 - -8] Riots by Dutch Jews

1942 - Assinibaine destroyer sinks U-210

1942 - Churchill fires Gen Auchinlek as Middle-East commandant

1942 - Goering proclaims occupied areas "thoroughly empty to plunder"

1943 - US 1st Infantry division occupies node Troina Sicily

1944 - All 1,200 Jewish death marchers from Lipcani Moldavia have died

1944 - Anti-German attack at Avranches fails

1944 - Deportation of 70,000 Jews from Lodz Poland to Auschwitz begins

1944 - US 20th Army corp under general Walker occupies Nantes

1945 - Hiroshima Peace Day-atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima by "Enola Gay"

1945 - Keith Miller scores 110 in the 4 Victory Test Cricket at Lord's

1946 - US officially submits to jurisdiction of World Court

1947 - 1st performance of Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasilieras No 8"

1948 - Bob Mathias, US, wins decathlon at London Olympics

1948 - Dreesgovt (KVP/Social Democratics/CHU/Liberal) forms

1948 - Fanny Blankers-Koen (Neth) is 1st women to win 3 golds at Olympics

1949 - Luke Appling record of 2,154 (en route to 2,218) games at shortstop

1951 - Typhoon floods kill 4,800 in Manchuria

1952 - Satchel Paige, 47, becomes oldest pitcher to win a complete shutout

1953 - Ted Williams returns to Red Sox from the military

1954 - WLAC (now WTVF) TV channel 5 in Nashville (CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 - After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.

1958 - Glenn Davis sets record of 49.2 in 400-meter hurdles

1958 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Johnston Island

1960 - Pitt Steelers (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL) 43-16 in Toronto

1961 - Gherman S Titov, 2nd Russian in space aboard Vostok 2 (17 orbits)

1961 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open

1961 - 1st case of motion sickness in space reported

1962 - Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British rule

1964 - Pope Paul VI publishes encyclical Ecclesiam Suam

1964 - Prometheus, the world's oldest tree, is cut down.

1965 - 32nd NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Cleveland 24, All-Stars 16 (68,000)

1965 - Beatles release "Help" album in UK

1965 - Federal Voting Rights Act guarantees black voting rights

1965 - Indian troops invade Pakistan

1965 - LBJ signs Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing voting rights for blacks

1966 - Muhammad Ali KOs Brian London in 3 for heavyweight boxing title

1966 - Salazarbrug over Tag opens (longest suspension bridge of Europe)

1966 - US citizens demonstrate against war in Vietnam

1967 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open

1967 - Minn Twin Dean Chance perfect games Boston Red Sox, 2-0 in 5 innings

1967 - Oriole Brooks Robinson hits into a record 4th triple play

1967 - Pope Paul VI publishes constitution Pro comperto sane

1969 - Balt Orioles pull their 3rd triple play (5-4-3 vs KC Royals)

1970 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1972 - Garry Player wins PGA golf tournament

1972 - Hank Aaron hits 660th & 661st HRs for Braves (record for 1 team)

1972 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Knoxville Ladies Golf Classic

1973 - Roberto Clemente & Warren Spahn inducted into Hall of Fame

1973 - Stevie Wonder involved in car crash, goes into a 4 day coma

1974 - 6th time Phils get just 1 assist in game; no other team did it twice

1974 - Explosion & fire destory Great Northern RR yard in Wenatchee, Wash

1976 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lays the foundation stone of Port Qasim, Karachi.

1977 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA Colgate European Women's Golf Open

1978 - 60th PGA Championship: John Mahaffey shoots a 276 at Oakmont CC PA

1978 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Colgate Europea Golf Open

1979 - 61st PGA Championship: David Graham shoots a 272 at Oakland Hills Mich

1979 - Marcus Hooper, 12, is youngest person to swim English Channel

1980 - University adm declares 5 Pac-10 schools ineligible for conference titles & post-season play due to transcript & curriculum abuses

1981 - Argentina ex-president Isabel Peron freed

1981 - Due to strike, Yanks, A's, Philles & Dodgers declared 1st ½ champs

1981 - NASA launches Fltsatcom-5, it failed

1981 - crowned Miss National Teen-Ager

1982 - 22nd Curtis Cup: US, 14½-3½

1982 - Calif Doug DeCinces hits 3 HRs again in game (did it 5 days ago also)

1982 - WQXI (Atlanta) is 1st to use Harris Corp AM stereo system

1983 - Minn Vikings beat St Louis Cards 28-10 in London, England (NFL expo)

1983 - Supertanker Castillo de Bellvar crashes at South Africa

1984 - 203.05 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange

1984 - Carl Lewis wins 2nd (long jump) of 4 gold medals in Summer Olympics

1985 - 19th space shuttle mission (51-F), Challenger 8, lands at Edwards AFB

1985 - Major League Baseball Players Assn go on strike

1985 - Players' Association stages a midseason baseball strike (lasts 1 day)

1985 - STS 51-I vehicle moves to launch pad

1986 - Orioles (Dwyer & Sheets) & Rangers (Harrah) hit record 3 grand slams

1986 - Phil Katz releases PKARC version 1.0, for IBM

1986 - Record 3 grand slams hit in game Tx vs Balt (Harrah, Sheets & Dwyer)

1988 - Oakland A's Jose Canseco becomes 11th to hit 30 HRs & steal 30 bases

1988 - Rich Gossage 300th career save (beats Phillies)

1988 - The Tompkins Square Park Police Riot in New York City spurs reform of the NYPD, who were responsible for the melee that transpired the night of August 6-7.

1989 - "Oh! Calcutta!" closes at Edison Theater NYC after 5959 performances

1989 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Greater Washington Golf Open

1989 - Boston Red Sox retire Carl Yastrezemski's #8

1989 - Jaime Paz Zamora inaugurated as president of Bolivia

1989 - Pilot Union tells pilots okay to cross Eastern picket lines

1990 - NY Yankee Kevin Mass sets record with 11th HR in 1st 86 at bats

1990 - Pres Ghulam Ishaq Kahn dismisses premier Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan

1990 - UN Security Council votes 13-0 (2 abstensions Cuba & Yemen) to place economic sanctions against Iraq

1991 - Debbie Doom (US) pitches 2nd consecutive perfect game in women's softball at the Pan American Games, beats Nicaragua, 8-0

1991 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.

1992 - Harold Wilson's academy award is auctioned for $60,500

1993 - Japan Hosokawa govt begins

1993 - Pope John Paul II publishes Veritatis splendor encyclical

1994 - Algerian Moslem fundamentalists threaten school/Universities

1995 - "Damn Yankees" closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 510 performances

1995 - Dottie Mochrie wins McCall's LPGA Golf Classic at Stratton Mountain

1995 - Indians & Browns play in Cleveland on same day for 1st time ever both lose - Chicago 5, Indians 1; Giants 19, Browns 13 (exhibition)

1995 - Thousands of people in Hiroshima tribute on 50th anniversary of bomb

1996 - NASA announces that life may have existed on Mars (ALH84001)

1997 - Microsoft announces it will invest $150 million in Apple Computer Inc

1997 - NHL Nashville Tenn names Barry Trotz as its 1st coach

2008 - Access 31 TV stops broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia.

2008 - A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'etat in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi

[Raistlin]

1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by the U.S. Congress.

1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.

1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel received a patent for the revolving door.

1914 - Germany invaded France.

1928 - The U.S. Treasure Department issued a new bill that was one third smaller than the previous U.S. bills.

1934 - The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling striking down the government's attempt to ban the controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses."

1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.

1947 - The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago.

1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.

1960 - The Cuban Catholic Church condemned the rise of communism in Cuba. Fidel Castro then banned all religious TV and radio broadcasts.

1964 - The U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

1974 - French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.

1976 - Scientists in Pasadena, CA, announced that the Viking 1 spacecraft had found strong indications of possible life on Mars.

1981 - After 128 years of publication, "The Washington Star" ceased all operations.

1983 - AT&T employees went on strike.

1987 - The presidents of five Central American nations, met in Guatemala City, and signed an 11-point agreement designed to bring peace to their region.

1989 - A small plane carrying U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland, D-TX, and 15 others disappeared during a flight in Ethiopia. The wreckage of the plane was found six days later. There were no survivors.

1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard against a possible invasion by Iraq.

1998 - The U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were bombed killing 224 people and injuring over 5,500. Osama bin Laden was later indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in connection with the attacks.

1999 - Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres got his 3,000th hit of his major league career.

2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would run for the office of governor.

2003 - Stephen Geppi bought a 1963 G.I. Joe prototype for $200,000.

[Raistlin]

1356 - Edward "the Black Prince" began a raid north from Aquitaine.

1588 - The Spanish Armada was defeated by the English fleet ending an invasion attempt.

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic. The remainder of his life was spent there in exile.

1844 - After the killing of Joseph Smith, Bringham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons.

1866 - African-American explorer Matthew A. Henson was born. Henson, along with Robert Peary and their Eskimo guide, were the first people to reach the North Pole.

1876 - Thomas Edison received a patent for the mimeograph. The mimeograph was a "method of preparing autographic stencils for printing."

1899 - The refrigerator was patented by A.T. Marshall.

1900 - In Boston, the first Davis Cup series began. The U.S. team defeated Great Britain three matches to zero.

1911 - The number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives was established at 435. There was one member of Congress for every 211,877 residents.

1940 - The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Great Britain.

1942 - Six Nazi saboteurs were executed in Washington after conviction. Two others were cooperative and received life in prison.

1945 - The United Nations Charter was signed by U.S. President Truman.

1945 - During World War II, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.

1950 - Whataburger opened its restaurant in Corpus Christi, TX.

1953 - The U.S. and South Korea initiated a mutual security pact.

1956 - Japan launched an oil tanker that was 780 feet long and weighed 84,730 tons. It was the largest oil tanker in the world.

1963 - The "Great Train Robbery" took place in Britain. A gang of 15 thieves stole 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.

1966 - Michael DeBakey became the first surgeon to install an artificial heart pump in a patient.

1974 - U.S. President Nixon announced that he would resign the following day.

1978 - The U.S. launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.

1985 - Near Frankfurt, outside the Rhein-Mein U.S. air base, a bomb exploded killing two Americans. The bomb was blamed on the Red Army Faction.

1986 - A car bomb exploded in Beirut, the third in 12 days, killing 17 people.

1988 - It was announced that a cease-fire between Iraq and Iran had begun.

1989 - The space shuttle Columbia took off from Cape Canaveral, FL. The trip was said to be a secret five-day military mission.

1990 - American forces began positioning in Saudia Arabia.

1991 - John McCarthy, a British TV producer was released by his Lebanese kidnappers. He had been held captive for more than five years. A rival group abducted Jerome Leyraud in retaliation and threatened to kill him if any more hostages were released.

1991 - The slain bodies of former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhriar and his chief of staff were found.

1991 - The U.N. Security Council approved North and South Korea for membership.

1992 - The "Dream Team" clinched the gold medal at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. The U.S. basketball team beat Croatia 117-85.

1993 - Four U.S. soldiers were killed in Somalia when a land mine detonated underneath their vehicle.

1994 - The first road link between Israel and Jordan opened.

1994 - Representatives from China and Taiwan signed a cooperation agreement.

1995 - Saddam Hussein's two eldest daughters, their husbands, and several senior army officers defected.

1999 - Wade Boggs got his 3,000th hit of his major league baseball career.

2000 - The submarine H.L. Hunley was raised from ocean bottom after 136 years. The sub had been lost during an attack on the U.S.S. Housatonic in 1864. The Hunley was the first submarine in history to sink a warship.

[Raistlin]

1678 - American Indians sold the Bronx to Jonas Bronck for 400 beads.

1790 - The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage. It was the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.

1831 - The first steam locomotive began its first trip between Schenectady and Albany, NY.

1842 - The U.S. and Canada signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which solved a border dispute.

1848 - Martin Van Buren was nominated for president by the Free-Soil Party in Buffalo, NY.

1854 - "Walden" was published by Henry David Thoreau.

1859 - The escalator was patented by Nathan Ames.

1892 - Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.

1893 - "Gut Holz" was published. It was America's first bowling magazine.

1902 - After the death of Queen Victoria, Edward VII was crowned king of England.

1910 - A.J. Fisher received a patent for the electric washing machine.

1930 - Betty Boop had her beginning in "Dizzy Dishes" created by Max Fleischer.

1936 - Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics. He was the first American to win four medals in one Olympics.

1942 - Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested Britain. He was not released until 1944.

1942 - CBS radio debuted "Our Secret Weapon."

1944 - The Forest Service and Wartime Advertising Council created "Smokey the Bear."

1945 - The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The bombing came three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. About 74,000 people were killed. Japan surrendered August 14.

1945 - The first network television broadcast occurred in Washington, DC. The program announced the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.

1956 - The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

1965 - Singapore proclaimed its independence from the Malaysian Federation.

1969 - Sharon Tate and four other people were found murdered at Tate's residence in Los Angeles, CA. Charles Manson and several members of his cult were later convicted of the crime.

1973 - The U.S. Senate committee investigating the Watergate affair filed suit against President Richard Nixon.

1974 - U.S. PresidentRichard Nixon formally resigned. Gerald R. Ford took his place, and became the 38th president of the U.S.

1975 - The New Orleans Superdome as officially opened when the Saints played the Houston Oilers in exhibition football. The new Superdome cost $163 million to build.

1981 - Major league baseball teams resumed play at the conclusion of the first mid-season players’ strike.

1984 - Daley Thompson, of Britain, won is second successive Olympic decathlon.

1985 - Arthur J. Walker, a retired Navy officer, was found guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.

1988 - Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers was traded. The trade was at Gretzky's request. He was sent to the Los Angeles Kings.

1989 - 112 people were killed when a train fell into the San Rafael River in Mexico. The incident was caused by a bridge that collapsed.

1996 - Boris Yeltsin was sworn in as president of Russia for the second time.

1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and his entire cabinet for the fourth time in 17 months.

2000 - Former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin was arrested on a Class B misdemeanor of possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana.

2001 - U.S. President George W. Bush announced he would support federal funding for limited medical research on embryonic stem cells.

2001 - In Jerusalem, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive inside a pizzeria. The lunchtime bombing killed 15 and wounded about 90 others.

2004 - Donald Duck received the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2004 - Trump Hotel and Casion Resorts announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

[Bizarra]

Events

612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire. Destruction of Nineveh.

610 - In Islam, the traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammed began to receive the Qur'an.

955 - Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.

1316 - Second Battle of Athenry

1519 - Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe.

1680 - Pueblo Revolt begins in New Mexico.

1776 - Word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.

1792 - French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace. Louis XVI of France is arrested and taken into custody.

1809 - Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, declares independence from Spain.

1821 - Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.

1846 - The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the U.S. Congress after $500,000 was given for such a purpose by scientist James Smithson.

1856 - In Last Island, Louisiana, a hurricane kills about 400 people.

1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek - The war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.

1893 - At Augsburg, Rudolf Diesel's prime model runs on its own power for the first time. Because of this, August 10 is the International Biodiesel Day.

1905 - Russian and Japanese peace negotiations begin in Portsmouth.

1913 - Second Balkan War ends: Delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.

1920 - World War I: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sevres which divides up the Ottoman Empire between the Allies.

1932 - A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.

1944 - World War II: American forces defeat the last Japanese troops on Guam.

1948 - Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.

1949 - US President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Bill, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the National Military Establishment with the United States Department of Defense.

1954 - At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held.

1969 - A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson's cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

1971 - Harmon Killebrew becomes the 10th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota.

1977 - In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over a year's period.

1981 - The head of John Walsh's son Adam is found in Hollywood, Florida. This event will later prompt the U.S. Congress to pass the Missing Children's Act, giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation greater authority to track the disappearance of children. It also makes Walsh a national spokesman against crime and eventually leads to the establishment of America's Most Wanted.