Strange Days

[jseal]

1791 ~ Birthday of Charles Babbage, Mathematician and designer of computing machines.

1792 ~ Final trial of Louis XVI of France began.

1890 ~ Death of Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist.

1893 ~ Birthday of Mao Zedong (http://www.china.org.cn/english/Life/52253.htm), Chinese Politician.

1941 ~ Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1226.html#article).

1948 ~ Cardinal Mindszenty arrested in Hungary.

1966 ~ The first Kwanzaa (http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/origins1.shtml) was celebrated.

1991 ~ Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolved the USSR (http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/).

2004 ~ A tsunami triggered by an earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/26/newsid_4631000/4631713.stm) left more than 216,000 people dead or missing, mostly in southern Asia.

2005 ~ Boxing Day shooting (http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20051227/toronto_shooting_update_051227/) on a busy shopping street in Toronto.

Feastdays & Holidays

Boxing Day (http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/boxingday.asp).

[jseal]

1571 ~ Birthday of Johannes Kepler, astronomer.

1822 ~ Birthday of Louis Pasteur (http://php.pasteur.net/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=14), Scientist.

1831 ~ Charles Darwin (http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96feb/darwin.html) embarked on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle.

1871 ~ The world's first cat show was held at the Crystal Palace in London.

1904 ~ James Barrie's play Peter Pan (http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/quickstep/1103/barrie_james.htm) premiered in London.

1932 ~ Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.

1945 ~ The World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/) was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.

1945 ~ Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted Indonesia (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/id.html) sovereignty.

1985 ~ Naturalist Dian Fossey (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/fghij/fossey_dian.html) was found murdered in Rwanda.

2001 ~ The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i70QWX-luY-TvINNbbdA9LfJiW4A?docId=CNG.8bb558f13d1c0f827628d7e02ad5801c.41), Cuba.

[jseal]

1065 ~ Westminster Abbey (http://www.castles-abbeys.co.uk/Westminster-Abbey.html) consecrated.

1836 ~ Spain recognized Mexico’s independence.

1869 ~ William F. Semple patented chewing gum (http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/chewgum.htm).

1895 ~ The Lumiere Brothers gave birth to Cinema at the Grand Cafe in Paris.

1937 ~ Death of Maurice Ravel (http://www.maurice-ravel.net/), French composer.

1951 ~ The Peak District (http://www.cressbrook.co.uk/visits/) became the UK’s first National Park.

1969 ~ Birthday of Linus Torvalds (http://www.linux.org/info/linus.html), Benevolent Dictator for Life of Linux.

1970 ~ Birthday of Francesca Le, Porn Actress.

1973 ~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn published Gulag Archipelago (http://brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/600).

1989 ~ Death of Hermann Oberth (http://www.oberth-museum.org/index_e.html), German physicist.

[jseal]

1170 ~ Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/becket.htm) by knights acting under the orders of Henry II.

1851 ~ The first Young Men's Christian Association (http://www.ymca.net/history/founding.html) (YMCA) in the U.S. opened in Boston.

1890 ~ Defeat at the Battle of Wounded Knee effectively ended American Indian resistance to European settlement of the U.S.

1916 ~ Death of Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk.

1937 ~ The Constitution of Ireland, changing the Irish Free State into Eire (http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=322&HistoryID=aa31), went into effect.

1940 ~ The Luftwaffe began dropping incendiary bombs on London (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1229.html#article).

1951 ~ Birthday of Stanley Tookie Williams (http://crime.about.com/od/deathrow/a/tookie2.htm), Gang Leader, Author, & Racist Murderer.

1975 ~ The UK's Sex Discrimination Act (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/29/newsid_2547000/2547249.stm) went into effect.

1845 ~ Birthday of Alexis Amore (http://www.clubalexisamore.com/tour1.html), Peruvian Porn Actress.

1989 ~ Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia.

[jseal]

1853 ~ The U.S. bought some 45,000 sq miles of land from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase.

1879 ~ The Pirates of Penzance (http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pirates/html/index.html) was first performed.

1911 ~ Sun Yat-sen (http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/sunyat.html) was elected the first president of the Republic of China.

1922 ~ The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (http://cccp-ru.tripod.com/ussr/) (USSR) was formed by the confederation of Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, and Transcaucasian Federation.

1924 ~ Edwin Hubble (http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_bio_001.htm) announced the existence of other galaxies.

1937 ~ Birthday of Gordon Banks, the best Goalkeeper ever.

1973 ~ Birthday of Nacho Vidal (http://www.nachovidalhardcore.com/en/?s=1), Spanish Porn Actor.

1981 ~ Birthday of Haley Paige (http://www.haleyxxx.com/haley_paige_mainpage.html), Porn Actress.

1993 ~ Israel and the Vatican (http://philologos.org/bpr/files/Vatican/vs002a.htm) established diplomatic relations.

2006 ~ Saddam Hussein was hanged for crimes committed during his brutal reign.

[jseal]

1879 ~ Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of an electric incandescent lamp.

1880 ~ Birthday of George Marshall (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1953/index.html), U.S. Secretary of State, recipient of 1953 Nobel Peace Prize.

1937 ~ Birthday of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor.

1943 ~ Birthday of John Denver, Singer & Songwriter.

1964 ~ One of my boyhood heroes, Donald Campbell set the world water speed record (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/31/newsid_3243000/3243010.stm), the only man to set both the world land and water speed records in the same year.

1980 ~ Death of Marshall McLuhan (http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html), Canadian writer.

1991 ~ The Soviet Union (http://soviet.globalmuseumoncommunism.org/) ceased to exist.

1995 ~ The last new Calvin and Hobbes (http://calvinethobbes.free.fr/english/c_der.html) cartoon strip was published.

1999 ~ Control of the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone (http://www.pancanal.com/eng/index.html) passed to Panama from the U.S.A.

1999 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/31/newsid_4102000/4102107.stm). Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was designated acting president.

[jseal]

404 ~ The last gladiatorial contest (http://www.unrv.com/culture/gladiator.php) took place in Rome.

1752 ~ Birthday of Betsy Ross, American seamstress.

1801 ~ Discovery of 1 Ceres (http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/asteroids_and_comets/ceres.html), first known asteroid.

1879 ~ Birthday of E. M. Forster (http://musicandmeaning.com/forster/), English novelist.

1895 ~ Birthday of J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director.

1901 ~ Establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia (Federation).

1983 ~ The ARPANET (http://www.dei.isep.ipp.pt/docs/arpa.html) officially changed to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.

1985 ~ The Internet's Domain Name System (http://www.internic.net/faqs/authoritative-dns.html) created.

1995 ~ The World Trade Organization (http://www.wto.int/) came into existence.

2002 ~ Euro banknotes and coins (http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/euro/cash/index_en.htm) became legal tender.

[jseal]

1727 ~ Birthday of James Wolfe (http://www.militaryheritage.com/wolfe.htm), British general in French and Indian War.

1808 ~ The U.S. Congress banned the importation of slaves.

1872 ~ Brigham Young (http://unicomm.byu.edu/about/brigham.aspx) was arrested for bigamy (25 wives).

1882 ~ John D. Rockefeller united his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h957.html).

1904 ~ Death of James Longstreet (http://www.civilwarhome.com/longbio.htm), Confederate general.

1905 ~ The Russian fleet surrender at Port Arthur, China brought the Russo-Japanese War to a close (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0102.html#article).

1920 ~ Birthday of Isaac Asimov (http://www.asimovonline.com/), Russian-born American science fiction author.

1929 ~ Canada and the United States agreed on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls.

1994 ~ Death of Dixy Lee Ray, governor of Washington State & chaired the Atomic Energy Commission.

1996 ~ U.S. peacekeepers arrive in Bosnia (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/2/newsid_2547000/2547285.stm).

[jseal]

106 BC ~ Birthday of Cicero (http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/cicero.htm), Roman Statesman & Philosopher.

1521 ~ Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther (http://www.pbs.org/empires/martinluther/).

1777 ~ General George Washington defeats General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1290.html).

1861 ~ Delaware voted to not secede from the United States.

1892 ~ Birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien (http://www.tolkiensociety.org/index.html), South African-born Writer & Philologist.

1945 ~ Birthday of Stephen Stills, American Singer, Songwriter, & Guitarist.

1956 ~ Birthday of Mel Gibson (http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Gibson,_Mel/Biography/), Australian Actor & Director.

1979 ~ Death of Conrad Hilton, American hotelier.

1959 ~ Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0103.html#article).

1993 ~ Presidents George Bush and Boris Yeltsin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/3/newsid_4114000/4114673.stm) signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow. (START).

[Oldfart]

"1956 ~ Birthday of Mel Gibson, Australian Actor & Director."

Point of Order!

The bugger's American born, American passported and America's problem now.

[jseal]

We are a fortunate nation.

[jseal]

1643 ~ Birthday of Isaac Newton (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.html), Scientist & Philosopher.

1785 ~ Birthday of Jakob Grimm, German philologist, elder half of the Grimm Brothers (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html).

1948 ~ Burma gained its independence from the UK.

1958 ~ Sputnik 1 burned up on reentry into Earth's atmosphere (launched 4 October, 1957).

1960 ~ Death of Albert Camus, French Philosopher & Writer.

1961 ~ Death of Erwin Schrödinger (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1933/schrodinger-bio.html), Austrian Physicist, awarderd the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

1965 ~ Death of T.S. Eliot (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1948/eliot-bio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1948.

1965 ~ In his State of the Union address, President Johnson outlined his ''Great Society'' goals (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0104.html#article).

1967 ~ Donald Campbell died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/4/newsid_2728000/2728987.stm) while trying to break the water speed record.

2004 ~ The first of two NASA Mars Rovers, Spirit, landed successfully on Mars (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040104a.html).

[jseal]

1914 ~ Ford Motor Company (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0105.html#article) announced a $10,000,000 employee give away, and the eight-hour workday.

1929 ~ Birthday of Walter Mondale, American Politician

1933 ~ Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge (http://goldengatebridge.org/research/dates.php) began in San Francisco Bay.

1952 ~ PM Churchill began his last visit to the U.S. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/5/newsid_3304000/3304505.stm)

1968 ~ The "Prague Spring" began in Czechoslovakia when Alexander Dubček (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDdubcek.htm) came to power.

1972 ~ President Nixon funded the Space Shuttle (http://www.spaceline.org/rocketsum/shuttle-program.html) program development .

1981 ~ Death of Harold C. Urey (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1934/urey.html), American chemist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934. He played a significant role in the development of the atom bomb, but may be most prominent for his contribution to theories on the development of organic life from non-living matter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller-Urey_experiment).

1997 ~ Withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya.

2003 ~ Death of Roy Jenkins, British Politician.

2005 ~ Eris (http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/), the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, was discovered using images taken in 2003.

[jseal]

1412 ~ Birthday of Joan of Arc (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101001919.html?hpid=features1&hpv=national), Saint & French Patriot.

1822 ~ Birthday of Heinrich Schliemann, Archaeologist.

1838 ~ Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph, in Morristown, NJ.

1838 ~ Birthday of Max Bruch, German composer.

1884 ~ Death of Gregor Mendel (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10180b.htm), the father of genetics.

1918 ~ Death of Georg Cantor, German mathematician.

1942 ~ The Pan American Airways “Pacific Clipper (http://www.flyingclippers.com/panam.html)” returned to New York after making the first round-the-world trip by a commercial airplane.

1946 ~ William Joyce (http://www.heretical.com/British/joyce.html) (Lord Haw-Haw) hanged for treason.

1993 ~ Death of Rudolf Nureyev (http://www.nureyev.org/biographie_russie.php), Russian ballet dancer.

1994 ~ Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/6/newsid_4095000/4095661.stm) at Cobo Arena in Detroit. Four men, including the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, were later sentenced to prison.


Feastdays & Holidays

Latin Christianity - Epiphany (http://www.cresourcei.org/cyepiph.html).

[jseal]

1610 ~ The astronomer Galileo Galilei sighted the four moons of Jupiter which are now known as the “Galilean moons (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/galdisc.htm)”.

1899 ~ Birthday of Francis Poulenc (http://www.last.fm/music/Francis+Poulenc), French composer.

1916 ~ Birthday of Paul Keres, Estonian chess player.

1922 ~ Birthday of Jean-Pierre Rampal (http://www.last.fm/music/Jean-Pierre+Rampal), French flutist.

1943 ~ Death of Nikola Tesla (http://www.teslasociety.com/biography.htm), Inventor & Electrical Engineer.

1953 ~ President Truman, in his State of the Union address, announced that the U.S. had developed a hydrogen bomb (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Library/Teller.html).

1979 ~ Vietnamese forces captured Phnom Penh (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0107.html#article), the Cambodian capital, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government.

1980 ~ The Carter Administration authorized giving a $1.5 billion loan to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

1990 ~ The Leaning Tower of Pisa (http://www.italyguides.it/us/pisa/leaning_tower.htm) was closed to the public.

1999 ~ President Clinton's impeachment trial began in the Senate. (He was later acquitted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.)[/QUOTE]

[jseal]

1642 ~ Death of Galileo Galilei (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Galileo.html), Astronomer.

1735 ~ Birthday of John Carroll, first Roman Catholic Archbishop in the U.S.

1918 ~ President Wilson announced his "Fourteen Points (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0108.html#article)" for the aftermath of World War I.

1925 ~ Birthday of Gerald Durrell (http://www.durrellwildlife.org/index.cfm?a=7), Naturalist & Writer.

1926 ~ Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud (http://www.toursaudiarabia.com/ibn-saud.html) became the King of Saudi Arabia.

1942 ~ Birthday of Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist.

1958 ~ Bobby Fischer (http://www.chess-poster.com/great_players/fischer.htm) won the U.S. Chess Championship.

1996 ~ Death of Francois Mitterrand (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FRmitterrand.htm), French president.

1999 ~ Cosmologists announced that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing.

2002 ~ President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/nclbreference/index.html) into law.

[jseal]

1839 ~ The Daguerreotype photography (http://www.daguerre.org/home.php) process publicly demonstrated.

1861 ~ The "Star of the West" was fired upon as it attempted to deliver supplies to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. This was the "Casus belli" of the American Civil War.

1861 ~ Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union.

1903 ~ Hallam Tennyson (http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120214b.htm), son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, became the second Governor-General of Australia.

1913 ~ Birthday of Richard Nixon (http://www.nixonfoundation.org/), U.S. President.

1941 ~ Birthday of Joan Baez (http://www.joanbaez.com/), Singer & Activist.

1951 ~ United Nations headquarters (http://www.inetours.com/New_York/Pages/United_Nations.html) officially opened.

1968 ~ The Surveyor 7 space probe (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0109.html#article) made a soft landing on the moon,.

1993 ~ Death of Sir Paul Hasluck, 17th Governor-General of Australia.

2005 ~ Mahmoud Abbas won (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/9/newsid_4514000/4514342.stm) the election for a successor to Yasser Arafat.

[jseal]

1776 ~ Thomas Paine published Common Sense (http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/).

1862 ~ Death of Samuel Colt, Inventor.

1927 ~ The film Metropolis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzINI3au9q0) by Fritz Lang premiered.

1929 ~ Tintin (http://www.tintinologist.org/), a comic book character created by Hergé, made his debut.

1945 ~ Birthday of Rod Stewart, English Rocker.

1946 ~ The first General Assembly of the United Nations (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0110.html#article) convened in London.

1949 ~ Birthday of Linda Lovelace (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRNwZWkR_dM), Pornographic Actress.

1951 ~ Death of Sinclair Lewis, Author.

1994 ~ Lorena Bobbitt went on trial (http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/sexual_assault/severed_penis/) for cutting off the penis of her husband John.

2003 ~ North Korea withdrew from a global treaty barring it from making nuclear weapons (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/).

[jseal]

1787 ~ William Herschel discovered the first two moons of Uranus, Titania & Oberon (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm).

1801 ~ Death of Domenico Cimarosa, Italian Composer.

1843 ~ Death of Francis Scott Key (http://www.usflag.org/francis.scott.key.html), Lawyer.

1935 ~ Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0111.html#article).

1938 ~ Birthday of Arthur Scargill (http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/yourview21_scargill_fantasy.htm), Union Leader.

1962 ~ An avalanche in Peru (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/11/newsid_3306000/3306665.stm) killed some 4,000 people.

1964 ~ U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the first government report saying smoking may be hazardous to one's health.

1973 ~ American League baseball teams voted to adopt the designated-hitter rule on a trial basis.

1980 ~ Nigel Short (http://www.chessgames.com/player/nigel_short.html) became the youngest chess player, at 14 years old, to be awarded the degree of International Master.

2008 ~ Death of Sir Edmund Hillary (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/hil0bio-1), New Zealand mountaineer, the first man to climb Mt. Everest .

[Oldfart]

I always found the Amelia claim a little much, like claiming a Wichita to New York run as transcontinental.

It was a marvellous thing she did, but not the full deal.

[jseal]

1665 ~ Death of Pierre de Fermat, Mathematician.

1893 ~ Birthday of Hermann Göring (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWgoring.htm), Nazi official.

1915 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives defeated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0112.html#article) a proposal to give women the right to vote.

1969 ~ On a day that will be long remembered in infamy, Joe Namath and the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III, and became the first team from the American Football League to win American Football's championship.

1976 ~ Death of Agatha Christie (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/christie.htm), Mystery Writer.

1991 ~ U.S. Congress authorized the use of military force (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/12/newsid_4534000/4534588.stm) to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.

1992 ~ In the film ”2001: A Space Odyssey”, the computer HAL 9000 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/quotes) was activated on this date.

2003 ~ Death of Maurice Gibb (http://www.mauricegibb.net/), Bee Gee.

2003 ~ Death of Leopoldo Galtieri (http://www.guardian.co.uk/argentina/story/0,,873601,00.html), Dictator of Argentina.

2010 ~ At least 230,000 people died when an earthquake destroyed most of the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.

[jseal]

1599 ~ Death of Edmund Spenser (http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenser/main.htm), Poet (The Faerie Queene).

1929 ~ Death of Wyatt Earp.

1941 ~ Death of James Joyce, Writer.

1942 ~ The United States began Japanese American internment (http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/anthropology74/index.htm).

1948 ~ Death of James Joyce, Irish novelist (Dubliners, Ulysses, Finnegans Wake).

1966 ~ Robert Weaver (http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/lbjohnson/essays/cabinet/601) became the first black Cabinet member as he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Johnson.

1978 ~ Death of Hubert H. Humphrey (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=h000953), U.S. Vice President & Minnesota Senator.

1990 ~ Douglas Wilder took office as the first elected African American governor (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0113.html#article).

1992 ~ Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves (http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~soh/cw-links.htm) for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

1993 ~ American, British and French (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/13/newsid_2554000/2554275.stm) fighter jets bomb Iraq.

[jseal]

83 BC ~ Birthday of Marcus Antonius (Marc Anthony), Roman politician.

1784 ~ The Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/parisrat.asp), formally ending the American War of Independence.

1857 ~ Birthday of Albert Schweitzer (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1952/schweitzer-bio.html), Christian Missionary & winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 1952.

1898 ~ Death of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Dodgson.html) - who wrote ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' under the pen name Lewis Carroll, Writer & Mathematician.

1943 ~ President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill opened a wartime conference in Casablanca (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0114.html#article).

1954 ~ Baseball player Joe Dimaggio and actress Marilyn Monroe were married at San Francisco City Hall.

1957 ~ Death of Humphrey Bogart (http://www.humphreybogart.com/), Actor.

1978 ~ Death of Kurt Gödel (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Godel.html), Mathematician.

1993 ~ Whitewater prosecutors questioned first lady Hillary Clinton at the White House about the gathering of FBI background files on past Republican political appointees.

2005 ~ The Huygens probe (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm) landed on Saturn's moon Titan.

[jseal]

1908 ~ Birthday of Edward Teller (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0910-03.htm), Physicist.

1918 ~ Birth of Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt.

1929 ~ Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html), Civil Rights leader, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1964.

1953 ~ East German authorities began a purge of senior Jewish officials (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/15/newsid_4094000/4094899.stm).

1967 ~ The first Super Bowl (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0115.html#article) was played.

1972 ~ Birthday of Kobe Tai (http://www.kobetai.com/), Porn actress.

1973 ~ President Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.

1996 ~ Death of Minnesota Fats, American Billiards player.

2001 ~ Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia), a free encyclopedia, formally put online.

2009 ~ US Airways Flight 1549 makes an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. All passengers and crew members survive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNtn5Iw8viw).

[jseal]

1605 ~ The first edition of “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes was published in Madrid.

1794 ~ Death of Edward Gibbon (http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/History/Gibbon.htm), Historian.

1909 ~ Ernest Shackleton's expedition (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/surviving/quest.html) found the magnetic South Pole.

1920 ~ Prohibition began in the U.S. as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution took effect.

1923 ~ Birthday of Dian Fossey (http://gorillafund.org/dian_fossey/), American zoologist.

1970 ~ Muammar al-Qaddafi (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/16/newsid_3359000/3359461.stm) was proclaimed premier of Libya.

1977 ~ The Marx Brothers were inducted into the Motion Picture Hall of Fame (http://www.filmfame.com/).

1979 ~ The Shah of Iran went into exile in Egypt.

1991 ~ The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0116.html#article).

2003 ~ The Space Shuttle Columbia took off on its final mission, STS-107 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVoHb_aqw_o).

[jseal]

1893 ~ Hawaii's monarchy was overthrown when Queen Liliuokalani was forced to abdicate (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0117.html#article).

1899 ~ Birthday of Nevil Shute (http://www.nevilshute.org/index.php), Author.

1929 ~ Popeye the Sailor Man (http://www.math.pitt.edu/~bard/bardware/popeye/popeye.html) first appeared in the "Thimble Theatre" comic strip.

1942 ~ Birthday of Muhammad Ali (http://www.ali.com/), the world's greatest heavyweight Boxer.

1964 ~ Death of T.H. White, author.

1977 ~ Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was executed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/17/newsid_2530000/2530413.stm) at Utah State Prison in the first U.S. execution in a decade.

1994 ~ A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Southern California at least 61 people were killed with $20 billion worth of damage.

1995 ~ A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the city of Kobe, Japan; more than 6,000 people were killed.

2001 ~ Faced with an electricity crisis, California used rolling blackouts to cut off power (http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=3062&type=0#pt5) to hundreds of thousands of people.

2008 ~ Death of Bobby Fischer, chess master (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/19/chess.sport).

[jseal]

1535 ~ Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro.

1882 ~ Birthday of A. A. Milne (http://www.just-pooh.com/milne.html), Author.

1892 ~ Birthday of Oliver Hardy (http://www.oliverhardy.com/), Comedian & Actor.

1936 ~ Death of Rudyard Kipling (http://www.kipling.org.uk/kip_fra.htm), Writer & Poet

1944 ~ The New York Met hosted its first jazz concert.vAmong the performers were Louis Armstrong (http://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/louie_armstrong/overview.htm), Benny Goodman (http://www.bennygoodman.com/), Lionel Hampton (http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_hampton_lionel.htm), and Artie Shaw (http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_shaw_artie.htm).

1944 ~ Birthday of Paul Keating (http://www.keating.org.au/), twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia.

1954 ~ Death of Sydney Greenstreet, English actor.

1967 ~ The “Boston Strangler” was convicted in Cambridge, Mass., of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses.

1990 ~ Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/tours/scandal/barry.htm).

1991 ~ Iraq attacked Tel Aviv and Haifa (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/18/newsid_4588000/4588486.stm) with Scud missiles.

[jseal]

1807 ~ Birthday of Robert E. Lee (http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/About%20the%20General.htm), General, Army of Northern Virginia, CSA.

1809 ~ Birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (http://www.eapoe.org/), Poet & short story Author.

1839 ~ Birthday of Paul Cézanne (http://www.expo-cezanne.com/index.cfm), Painter.

1853 ~ Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premiered.

1937 ~ Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0119.html#article) by flying from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in just under 7 ½ hours.

1966 ~ Indira Gandhi (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/19/newsid_3745000/3745625.stm) was elected prime minister of India.

1977 ~ President Gerald Ford pardoned Tokyo Rose.

1983 ~ The Apple Lisa (http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/reach/435/lisa.htm), the first commercial personal computer to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, was announced.

1983 ~ Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie (http://www.archives.gov/iwg/research-papers/barbie-irr-file.html) was arrested in Bolivia.

2008 ~ Death of Suzanne Pleshette, Actress.

[jseal]

1907 ~ Death of Dmitri Mendeleev (http://www.aip.org/history/curie/periodic.htm), Russian Chemist and inventor of the Periodic table.

1920 ~ Birthday of Federico Fellini, Italian film director.

1930 ~ Birthday of Buzz Aldrin (http://buzzaldrin.com/), Astronaut.

1942 ~ Nazi officials arrived at a ''final solution (http://www.ghwk.de/engl/kopfengl.htm)'' to Europe's Jewry, during a conference at Lake Wannsee in Berlin.

1961 ~ John F. Kennedy sworn in (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/20/newsid_2506000/2506929.stm) as U.S. President.

1981 ~ The American hostages held by Iran (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0120.html#article) were released following Ronald Reagan’s inauguration.

1984 ~ Death of Johnny Weissmuller, Olympic swimming gold medalist & Actor (Tarzan).

1986 ~ Britain and France announced plans to build the Channel Tunnel (http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/tunnel.htm).

1987 ~ Terry Waite was kidnapped in Lebanon.

1993 ~ Death of Audrey Hepburn (http://www.audreyhepburn.com/), actress.

[jseal]

1793 ~ King Louis XVI of France, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine.

1924 ~ Death of Vladimir Lenin (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0121.html#article), first leader of the U.S.S.R.

1941 ~ Birthday of Plácido Domingo (http://www.placidodomingo.com/index.php?id_kunden=196), tenor Opera Singer.

1950 ~ Death of George Orwell (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/21/newsid_2669000/2669789.stm), Writer.

1950 ~ A federal jury in New York City found former State Department official Alger Hiss guilty of perjury (http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/jones.html).

1954 ~ The USS Nautilus (http://www.ssn571.com/), the world’s first nuclear powered submarine, was launched.

1959 ~ Death of Cecil B. DeMille, Movie Director.

1968 ~ Start of the Battle of Khe Sanh (http://www.historynet.com/magazines/vietnam/8189002.html?featured=y&c=y).

1998 ~ Pope John Paul II (http://www.zpub.com/un/pope/pope-cuba.html) began his first visit to Cuba.

2003 ~ The U.S. Census Bureau announced that Hispanics had surpassed blacks as America's largest minority group.

[jseal]

1788 ~ Birthday of Lord Byron (http://englishhistory.net/byron/contents.html), Poet.

1840 ~ British colonists reached New Zealand.

1879 ~ Zulu troops defeated British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana.

1909 ~ Birthday of U Thant (http://www.un.org/Overview/SG/sg3bio.html), 3rd UN Secretary General.

1953 ~ "The Crucible (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_CRU.HTM)", a drama by Arthur Miller, opened on Broadway.

1970 ~ The Boeing 747 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/22/newsid_3725000/3725963.stm) went on its first regularly scheduled commercial flight, from New York to London.

1973 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court, in the Roe vs. Wade (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0122.html#article) decision, legalized abortions, using a trimester approach.

1973 ~ Death of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th U.S. President.

1984 ~ The Apple Macintosh was introduced with the famous television commercial "1984 (http://www.uriahcarpenter.info/1984.html)" (requires QuickTime and patience [but is generally considered among the better commercials in history]).

1992 ~ Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman astronaut (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=22).

[jseal]

1789 ~ Georgetown College (http://www.georgetown.edu/), founded by Archbishop John Carroll, became the first Catholic, Jesuit college in the U.S.

1849 ~ Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive a medical degree, from the Medical Institution of Geneva, N.Y.

1862 ~ Birthday of David Hilbert, Mathematician.

1879 ~ The Battle of Rorke's Drift, immortalized in the film "Zulu (http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2950863872/tt0058777?slideshow=1)".

1968 ~ North Korea seized the USS Pueblo (http://www.usspueblo.org/), charging it had intruded into the communist nation's territorial waters on a spying mission. The crew was held for 11 months.

1973 ~ President Nixon appeared on national television to announce "peace with honor" in Vietnam (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0123.html#article).

1977 ~ Death of Toots Shor (http://www.tootsthemovie.com/), New York restaurateur.

1989 ~ Death of Salvador Dalí, Artist.

2002 ~ Daniel Pearl (http://www.danielpearl.org/) was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan.

2004 ~ Death of Bob Keeshan (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/keeshanbob/keeshanbob.htm), TV's “Captain Kangaroo”.

[jseal]

1776 ~ Birthday of E.T.A. Hoffmann, Poet & Composer.

1888 ~ Birthday of Ernst Heinkel (http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Aerospace/Heinkel/Aero57.htm), aircraft designer.

1927 ~ Alfred Hitchcock released his first film, “The Pleasure Garden”.

1961 ~ A bomber carrying two nuclear weapons broke up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost (http://www.ibiblio.org/bomb/).

1961 ~ Marilyn Monroe divorced Arthur Miller (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/24/newsid_4588000/4588212.stm).

1965 ~ Death of Winston Churchill (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0124.html#article), Englishman.

1971 ~ Death of Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (http://www.aa.org/lang/en/subpage.cfm?page=288).

1984 ~ The Apple Macintosh went on sale (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7846575.stm). Only 27 years ago!

1993 ~ Death of Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court justice.

2003 ~ The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm) officially began operation.

[jseal]

1759 ~ Birthday of Robert Burns (http://www.robertburns.org/), Poet.

1882 ~ Birthday of Virginia Woolf, Writer.

1890 ~ Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world/).

1919 ~ The League of Nations (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/leagueofnations.htm) was founded.

1947 ~ Death of Al Capone (http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/index_1.html), Gangster.

1971 ~ General Idi Amin became Ugandan President Idi Amin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/25/newsid_2506000/2506423.stm) after a coup.

1977 ~ Rene Levesque (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTA0004657) told a Wall Street audience at the Economic Club of New York that “separation is inevitable”.

1998 ~ During his visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II called for the release of political prisoners and political reforms and also condemned American isolation of the country.

2004 ~ Opportunity landed on Mars (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/).

2006 ~ Death of Anna Malle, Porn Actress.

[jseal]

1905 ~ The Cullinan Diamond (http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/cullinandiamonds.html) was found near Pretoria, South Africa.

1905 ~ Birthday of Maria von Trapp, Singer.

1925 ~ Birthday of Paul Newman (http://paulnewman.com/), Actor.

1961 ~ Birthday of Wayne Gretzky (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=26), Canadian hockey Player, Coach, Owner.

1965 ~ Hindi became the official language of India.

1972 ~ Death of Mahalia Jackson (http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_saa_mahaliajackson.html), Gospel Music (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4590574.stm) singer.

1980 ~ Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations.

1988 ~ The musical "Phantom of the Opera (http://www.playbill.com/features/article/97206.html)", by Andrew Lloyd Webber opened at Broadway's Majestic Theater.

1996 ~ First lady Hillary Clinton testified before a grand jury connected to the Whitewater probe (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0852144.html).

1998 ~ U.S. President Clinton denied on television he had "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_2672000/2672291.stm).

Feastdays & Holidays

Australia~ Australia Day (http://www.australiaday.gov.au/)

[jseal]

1756 ~ Birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer.

1832 ~ Birthday of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (http://www.cs.indiana.edu/metastuff/wonder/wonderdir.html)” under the pen name Lewis Carroll.

1901 ~ Death of Giuseppe Verdi, Composer.

1945 ~ The Red Army liberated the concentration camp at Auschwitz (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/27/newsid_3520000/3520986.stm) in southern Poland.

1967 ~ More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Treaties/Treaty4.shtml).

1967 ~ Astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee were killed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0127.html#article) in a fire during a test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft.

1977 ~ The Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests.

1987 ~ Birthday of Zuleidy Spanish Porn Actress (http://www.pornstarsspain.com/actriz-porno-zuleidy/13/).

1997 ~ It was revealed that French museums had retained nearly 2,000 pieces of art stolen by Nazis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Feliciano#The_Lost_Museum).

1998 ~ U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton called the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/hillary012898.htm)" on the “Today Show”.

[jseal]

1574 ~ Death of Henry VIII (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheTudors/HenryVIII.aspx), King of England.

1596 ~ Death of Sir Francis Drake, Explorer & Soldier.

1788 ~ The first penal colony was established at Botany Bay (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/convicts/), Australia.

1822 ~ Birthday of Alexander Mackenzie, Prime Minister of Canada.

1887 ~ Birthday of Arthur Rubinstein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artur_Rubinstein), Polish Pianist.

1916 ~ Louis Brandeis (http://www.oyez.org/justices/louis_d_brandeis/) became the first Jew appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. .

1935 ~ Iceland became the first country to legalize abortion.

1939 ~ Death of William Butler Yeats, Writer.

1986 ~ Space Shuttle Challenger exploded (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0128.html#article) just after takeoff killing all seven astronauts onboard.

2004 ~ Lord Hutton published his report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/03/hutton_inquiry/hutton_report/html/chapter01.stm) into the death of Dr. David Kelly.

Feastdays & Holidays

Catholicism ~ Feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www.stthomasu.ca/publications/transitions/jan2002/aquinas.htm).

[jseal]

1845 ~ Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven (http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html)" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.

1856 ~ Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross (http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/vcross.htm).

1880 ~ Birthday of W.C. Fields, Actor.

1933 ~ Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWhindenburg.htm).

1936 ~ The first members of baseball's Hall of Fame (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/), including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y.

1956 ~ Death of H. L. Mencken (http://www.mencken.org/), Journalist.

1962 ~ Death of Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist.

1963 ~ Death of Robert Frost (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0129.html#article), Poet.

1996 ~ France ended nuclear testing (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_4665000/4665676.stm).

2002 ~ In his State of the Union Address, President Bush coined the term "Axis of Evil".

[jseal]

1649 ~ King Charles I of England was beheaded.

1862 ~ The first Union ironclad warship, the USS Monitor (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/monitor/) was launched.

1933 ~ The first episode of the ''Lone Ranger'' radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.

1948 ~ Mahatma Gandhi (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0130.html#article) was assassinated.

1968 ~ Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese soldiers launched the Tet offensive (http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/dialogue/hayward-tet.html#2r).

1972 ~ Thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/30/newsid_2452000/2452145.stm)”.

1991 ~ The first major ground battle of the Gulf War (http://militaryphotos.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-29251.html) was fought at the frontier port of Al Khafji in Saudi Arabia.

1994 ~ Péter Lékó became the youngest chess Grand Master.

1995 ~ Death of Gerald Durrell (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/who/gerald_durrell.shtml), Naturalist, Author, & Zookeeper.

2003 ~ Richard Reid (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,203478,00.html), the "Shoe bomber" jailed for life.

[jseal]

1797 ~ Birthday of Franz Schubert (http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Franz_Schubert/21172.htm), Composer.

1865 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0131.html#article).

1919 ~ Birthday of Jackie Robinson, Baseball Player & Barrier Breaker.

1929 ~ The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/index.htm).

1606 ~ Eddie Slovik (http://www.28-110-k.org/sad_story_of_private_eddie_slovi.html) was executed.

1950 ~ President Harry S. Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.

1956 ~ Death of A. A. Milne (http://www.just-pooh.com/milne.html), Author (Winnie the Pooh).

1958 ~ James Van Allen (http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/vanallen.html) discovered the Van Allen radiation belt.

1990 ~ George Cohon opened McDonald's Corp. first Moscow restaurant in Pushkin Square.

1996 ~ An explosives-filled truck rammed into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/31/newsid_4083000/4083095.stm), Sri Lanka killing 91 and injuring 1,400.

[Oldfart]

"1606 ~ Eddie Slovik was executed."

Wasn't that 1945, jseal?

[dicksbro]

1958 ~ James Van Allen (http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/vanallen.html) discovered the Van Allen radiation belt.

How lucky is that? Discovering something already named for you. :spin:

JK :D

[Oldfart]

What are the odds?

[jay-t]

Must be Eddie Slovik SR.

[Oldfart]

Runs in the family?

[jseal]

1851 ~ Death of Mary Shelley, English Author (Frankenstein).

1896 ~ Puccini’s opera La Bohème (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/bohem/tlaboheme.html) premiered in Turin. Rent (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czJHTEeEJmU) is a rock opera with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on La bohème.

1920 ~ The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=01) was established.

1960 ~ Four black college students began a sit-in protest against racial segregation at a lunch counter (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0201.html#article) in Greensboro, N.C., where they'd been refused service.

1976 ~ Death of Werner Heisenberg (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.html), German physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932.

1979 ~ Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran.

1979 ~ Patty Hearst (http://www.answers.com/topic/patty-hearst), whose prison sentence for bank robbery had been commuted by President Jimmy Carter, left a federal prison near San Francisco.

2003 ~ Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1/newsid_3416000/3416589.stm) upon reentry killing all seven astronauts.

2004 ~ 251 people were trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

2004 ~ Super Bowl XXXVIII: One team defeated the other team, 32-29. During the half-time show Janet Jackson's right breast was bared (http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/superbowl.asp).

[jseal]

"1606 ~ Eddie Slovik was executed."

Wasn't that 1945, jseal?
Yeah, 1606 was Guy Fawkes. Sorry 'bout that.

[jseal]

1789 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time.

1870 ~ The Cardiff Giant (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_cardiff_giant/) - supposedly the petrified remains of a human discovered in Cardiff, N.Y. - was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum.

1887 ~ In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day was observed.

1905 ~ Birthday of Ayn Rand (http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ayn_rand_aynrand_biography), Writer, Philosopher.

1943 ~ The German 6th Army surrendered at Stalingrad (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0202.html#article).

1969 ~ Death of Boris Karloff, English actor.

1970 ~ Death of Bertrand Russell (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1950/russell-bio.html), Mathematician & Philosopher.

1982 ~ Birthday of Brandy Talore (http://www.clubbrandy.com/t1/), Porn Actress.

1990 ~ At the opening of Parliament in Cape Town, President FW de Klerk announced the dismantling of apartheid (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/2/newsid_2524000/2524997.stm) in South Africa..

Feastdays & Holidays

U.S. & Canada – Groundhog Day (http://www.stormfax.com/ghogday.htm)

[jseal]

1809 ~ Birthday of Felix Mendelssohn, Composer.

1870 ~ The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html) was ratified.

1874 ~ Birthday of Gertrude Stein (http://ellensplace.net/gstein1.html), Writer.

1894 ~ Birthday of Norman Rockwell, Illustrator.

1907 ~ Birthday of James Michener, American author.

1917 ~ The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0203.html#article) after Germany announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

1947 ~ You want winter weather? You want COLD? Snag, Yukon recorded a temperature of -62.8°C, the lowest official temperature ever measured in Canada (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007500).

1947 ~ Birthday of Melanie Safka (http://www.melaniesmusic.com/index.html), Singer.

1959 ~ Rock 'n' Roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash. Don McLean immortalized the tragedy in “American Pie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6uEjifqTaI&feature=related)”.

1966 ~ The Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled landing on the Moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/3/newsid_4063000/4063471.stm).

[jseal]

1789 ~ George Washington was unanimously elected by the Electoral College to be the first President of the United States.

1861 ~ In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America (http://www.worldstatesmen.org/US_govt_CSA.html) was formed by delegates from six break-away United States.

1902 ~ Birthday of Charles Lindbergh (http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/), U.S. aviator.

1928 ~ Death of Hendrik Lorentz (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1902/lorentz-bio.html), Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate.

1974 ~ The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0204.html#article) in Berkeley, California.

1974 ~ Death of Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist. He is honoured as the namesake of the boson (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boson).

1987 ~ Death of Liberace, "Mr. Showmanship (http://www.liberace.org/)".

1997 ~ O. J. Simpson was found to be civilly liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

1998 ~ A magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit northeast Afghanistan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/4/newsid_2534000/2534279.stm), killing an estimated 5,000 people.

2006 ~ Death of Betty Friedan, American Feminist.

[jseal]

1897 ~ The Indiana House of Representatives passed a measure redefining the area of a circle and the value of π (http://pi.ytmnd.com/). The bill died in the state Senate.

1917 ~ The U.S. Congress passed, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, a law severely curtailing the immigration of Asians.

1919 ~ Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford (http://www.marypickford.com/), Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith created United Artists.

1924 ~ The Royal Greenwich Observatory (http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server.php?show=conWebDoc.13496&navId=005000002) began to broadcast hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".

1934 ~ Birthday of Hank Aaron, Athlete.

1937 ~ President Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0205.html#article); critics charged Roosevelt was attempting to "pack" the court.

1958 ~ A hydrogen bomb was lost by the U.S. Air Force (http://www.tybeetyme.com/tb/index.htm) off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.

1962 ~ French President Charles De Gaulle (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWdegaulle.htm) called for Algerian independence.

1982 ~ Laker Airways collapsed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/5/newsid_2535000/2535297.stm) owing £270 million to banks and other creditors.

1988 ~ Panamanian President Manuel Noriega was indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.

[jseal]

1840 ~ Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, founding document of New Zealand.

1895 ~ Birthday of Babe Ruth (http://www.baberuth.com/), Athlete.

1913 ~ Birthday of Mary Leakey (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0006E1CC-7860-1C76-9B81809EC588EF21), Anthropologist.

1922 ~ Birthday of Patrick Macnee, British actor (John Steed in 'The Avengers').

1952 ~ The UK’s King George VI died (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0206.html#article); he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.

1959 ~ Jack Kilby (http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/jackbuilt.shtml) of Texas Instruments filed the first patent for an integrated circuit.

1971 ~ Alan Shepard became the first man to hit a golf ball on the Moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/6/newsid_4093000/4093061.stm).

1983 ~ Former Gestapo commandant Klaus Barbie extradited to France (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/6/newsid_4149000/4149443.stm) from Bolivia to stand trial for war crimes.

1993 ~ Death of Arthur Ashe (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/features/1997/arthurashe/biography.html), Athlete.

2004 ~ An explosion in a Moscow subway car during rush hour killed 41 people in a terrorist attack blamed on Chechen separatists.

[jseal]

1812 ~ Birthday of Charles Dickens, Novelist.

1834 ~ Birthday of Dmitri Mendeleev, chemist and inventor of the Periodic table of the chemical elements.

1883 ~ Birthday of Eubie Blake (http://www.eubieblake.org/), Musician, Composer.

1905 ~ The Great Baltimore Fire (http://www.mdch.org/fire/) destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.

1964 ~ The Beatles arrived in New York (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/7/newsid_4185000/4185201.stm) for their first American tour, touching off rock 'n' roll's “British invasion”.

1971 ~ Women became entitled to vote in Switzerland.

1979 ~ Death of Dr. Josef Mengele (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007060), accused Nazi war criminal.

1984 ~ Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0207.html#article).

1990 ~ The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) agreed to let other political parties compete for control of the country, thereby giving up its monopoly on power.

1992 ~ The European Union (http://europa.eu/) was formed.

[jseal]

1587 ~ Mary, Queen of Scots was executed.

1828 ~ Birthday of Jules Verne, Author.

1855 ~ The Devil's Footprints (http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/fortean/devils_foot.html) mysteriously appeared in southern Devon.

1910 ~ The Boy Scouts of America (http://www.scouting.org/) was incorporated by William D. Boyce.

1925 ~ Birthday of Jack Lemmon (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000493/bio), Actor.

1932 ~ Birthday of John Williams, Composer & Conductor.

1952 ~ Princess Elizabeth proclaimed herself Queen (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/8/newsid_2536000/2536619.stm).

1957 ~ Death of John von Neumann (http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/VonNeumann.html), Mathematician.

1993 ~ General Motors sued NBC, alleging that the program "Dateline NBC" had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html). NBC settled the lawsuit the following day.

1996 ~ President Clinton signed the Communications Decency Act (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0208.html#article) at the Library of Congress.[/QUOTE]

[Oldfart]

1855 ~ The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appeared in southern Devon.

Wasn't that the year PF went on sabbatical?

[jseal]

Lol!

[jseal]

1825 ~ After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams President (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ja6.html).

1881 ~ Death of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Author.

1906 ~ Death of Paul Laurence Dunbar (http://www.dunbarsite.org/), Poet.

1910 ~ Birthday of Jacques Monod (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1965/monod-bio.html), biochemist, winner of 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

1943 ~ American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0209.html#article).

1950 ~ Senator Joseph McCarthy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/9/newsid_3703000/3703305.stm) charged that the U.S. State Department was infested with Communists.

1971 ~ Satchel Paige (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_negro_leagues_profile.jsp?player=paige_satchel) became the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1981 ~ Birthday of John Walker Lindh, American Taliban.

1984 ~ Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov died at age 69, less than 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev.

2001 ~ The USS Greeneville (http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn772.htm) accidentally struck and sank the Japanese training vessel Ehime-Maru.

[jseal]

1840 ~ Queen Victoria (http://www.victorianstation.com/queen.html) of the United Kingdom married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Albert_of_Saxe_Coburg_Gotha.html).

1890 ~ Birthday of Boris Pasternak (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1958/pasternak-bio.html), Poet, winner of the 1958 Nobel Prize in literature.

1898 ~ Birthday of Bertolt Brecht, Author.

1927 ~ Birthday of Leontyne Price (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Price-Leontyn.htm), Soprano.

1933 ~ The first singing telegram was introduced by the Postal Telegram Co. in New York. Sic transit gloria mundi (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4674782.stm).

1962 ~ Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0210.html#article).

1996 ~ Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov for the first time. :(

1998 ~ Voters in Maine repealed a gay rights law passed in 1997.

2005 ~ Death of Arthur Miller (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/miller_a.html), playwright .

2007 ~ Sen. Barack Obama announced his bid for president (http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president_obama/).

[Oldfart]

"Sic transit gloria mundi."

Yes, Gloria was ill on the bus last Monday.

[jseal]

Worldly things are fleeting

[Oldfart]

Did Gloria know that?

[jseal]

Why not ask her? :)

[jseal]

1650 ~ Death of René Descartes, Philosopher.

1898 ~ Birthday of Leó Szilárd, Physicist & Peace Activist.

1938 ~ BBC Television produced the first science fiction television program, an adaptation of the Karel Capek play R.U.R. (http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/RUR-Capek-1920.htm) (This play coined the term 'robot.')

1941 ~ Birthday of Sergio Mendes, Brazilian musician (Brazil '66 (http://www.brasil66.com/)).

1945 ~ President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0211.html#article).

1961 ~ The trial of Adolf Eichmann (http://www.remember.org/eichmann/) began in Jerusalem.

1975 ~ The Tories selected Margaret Thatcher as their new leader (http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=477).

1986 ~ Death of Frank Herbert (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/fherbert.htm), Science Fiction author.

1990 ~ South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/11/newsid_2539000/2539947.stm).

1994 ~ Death of Paul Feyerabend, philosopher of Science.

[jseal]

1809 ~ Birthday of Charles Darwin (http://www.aboutdarwin.com/), Naturalist.

1893 ~ Birthday of Omar Bradley, General.

1924 ~ George Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U40xBSz6Dc)'' premiered in New York City.

1938 ~ Anschluss: German troops enter Austria (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-austria.htm).

1976 ~ Birthday of Silvia Saint (http://www.silviasaint.com/), Czech pornographic actress.

1984 ~ Birthday of Lolly Badcock (http://www.lollybadcockxxx.com/), English Porn Actress.

1994 ~ Edvard Munch's "The Scream" was stolen (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/12/newsid_3591000/3591994.stm) from a museum in Norway.

1999 ~ The U.S. Senate voted to acquit President Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

2000 ~ Death of Charles M. Schulz (http://www.flyingace.net/), creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip.

2002 ~ The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic began in The Hague.

[jseal]

1883 ~ Death of Richard Wagner, Composer.

1923 ~ Birthday of Chuck Yeager (http://www.chuckyeager.com/#/HOME), pilot of first supersonic flight.

1935 ~ A jury found Bruno Hauptmann guilty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0213.html#article) of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.

1945 ~ The RAF & USAAF created a firestorm in Dresden (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWdresden.htm), Germany which killed tens of thousands of civilians.

1960 ~ France tested its first nuclear weapon. (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/France/FranceOrigin.html)

1974 ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in literature, was exiled from the Soviet Union.

1988 ~ Winter Olympic Games opened in Calgary, Alberta.

1991 ~ Hundreds of Iraqi civilians were killed when a pair of laser-guided bombs destroyed an underground facility in Baghdad (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_2541000/2541107.stm) identified by U.S. officials as a military installation, but which Iraqi officials said was a bomb shelter.

1997 ~ Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope (http://www.cosmiclight.com/imagegalleries/hst.htm) performed by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

2002 ~ Death of Waylon Jennings (http://www.waylonjennings.com/), American musician.

[jseal]

1766 ~ Birthday of Thomas Malthus, Economist.

1779 ~ James Cook (http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu1.htm) was killed by the natives of the Sandwich Islands.

1895 ~ First performance of Oscar Wilde's last play "The Importance of Being Earnest (http://www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Wilde/earnest/)”.

1929 ~ The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0214.html#article) took place in a Chicago garage.

1966 ~ Australian currency was decimalized.

1975 ~ Death of P. G. Wodehouse (http://www.pgwodehousesociety.org.uk/), English writer.

1989 ~ The first of the 24 Global Positioning System (http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuffworks/38-how-gps-works-video.htm) satellites was placed into orbit.

1989 ~ Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/14/newsid_2541000/2541149.stm), author of ''The Satanic Verses,'' a novel Khomeini condemned as blasphemous.

2003 ~ Death of Dolly the sheep (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/dolly/index.asp), the world's first cloned mammal.

Feastdays & Holidays

Catholicism ~ Feast day of Saint Valentine.

[jseal]

1820 ~ Birthday of Susan B. Anthony (http://susanbanthonyhouse.org/biography.shtml), Activist & Suffragist.

1874 ~ Birthday of Sir Ernest Shackleton, British polar explorer.

1898 ~ The USS Maine exploded and sank (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0215.html#article) in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260.

1965 ~ Death of Nat “King” Cole, Singer.

1965 ~ A new red and white maple leaf design was adopted as the flag of Canada (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=15) replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.

1974 ~ Birthday of Gina Lynn (http://www.ginalynn.com/home.php), Porn Actress.

1988 ~ Death of Richard Feynman (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1965/feynman-bio.html), Physicist.

1995 ~ Kevin Mitnick was arrested by the FBI and charged with breaking into some of the more "secure" U.S. computer systems.

1989 ~ The Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/15/newsid_4160000/4160827.stm) after more than nine years of military intervention.

2005 ~ YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) was launched.

[jseal]

1923 ~ Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0216.html#article).

1935 ~ Birthday of Sonny Bono, Singer & Congressman.

1941 ~ Birthday of Kim Jong Il (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/dictators/kim-jong-il/), North Korean leader.

1959 ~ Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/16/newsid_2544000/2544431.stm) after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

1978 ~ The first computer bulletin board system, CBBS, was created in Chicago, Illinois.

1985 ~ Hezbollah (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4314423.stm) founded.

1986 ~ The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov ran aground (http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/lermontov.htm) in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

2001 ~ Death of William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (Masters and Johnson).

2005 ~ The Kyoto Protocol (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/16/newsid_4930000/4930554.stm) came into effect.

2006 ~ The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH (http://www.olive-drab.com/od_medical_treatment_mash.php)) was decommissioned by the U.S. Army.

[jseal]

1653 ~ Birthday of Arcangelo Corelli, Composer.

1801 ~ An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/peopleevents/pande07.html) was resolved when Jefferson was elected President and Burr Vice President by the House of Representatives.

1867 ~ The first ship passed through the Suez Canal (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SuezCana.html).

1895 ~ Swan Lake, one of the more famous ballets, with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, was first completely performed in Saint Petersburg (http://www.petersburg-russia.com/), Russia.

1909 ~ Death of Geronimo (http://www.indigenouspeople.net/geronimo.htm), Apache leader.

1972 ~ President Nixon departed on his historic trip to China (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0217.html#article).

1973 ~ Birthday of SaRenna Lee (http://www.sweetsamples.com/welcome.html), Porn Actress.

1979 ~ China invaded Vietnam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/17/newsid_2547000/2547811.stm).

1979 ~ Birthday of Dee, Puerto Rican Porn Actress.

1992 ~ Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (http://www.findadeath.com/Decesed/d/Jeffrey%20Dahmer/jeffrey_dahmer.htm) was sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison.

[jseal]

1745 ~ Birthday of Alessandro Volta, Physicist, eponym for the unit of the electric potential.

1838 ~ Birthday of Ernst Mach, Austrian Physicist & Philosopher.

1861 ~ In Montgomery, Alabama Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0218.html#article).

1885 ~ Mark Twain's “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/huchompg.html)” was first published.

1930 ~ While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm).

1933 ~ Birthday of Yoko Ono (http://www.yoko-ono.com/bio.htm), Singer, Artist, wife of John Lennon.

1969 ~ Lulu and Maurice Gibb (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/18/newsid_2550000/2550641.stm) of the Bee Gees marry.

1967 ~ Death of J. Robert Oppenheimer (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Bios/Oppenheimer.shtml), American physicist.

2005 ~ The UK law banning fox hunting (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4275753.stm), hare coursing and other sports which kill wild mammals is enforced from this date.

2010 ~ Death of John Babcock, last known Canadian veteran of World War I.

[jseal]

1743 ~ Birthday of Luigi Boccherini, Italian Composer.

1915 ~ The Battle of Gallipoli (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/dardanelles_feb15.htm) began.

1942 ~ Some 250 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin, Australia (http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/underattack/airraid.html). The attack killed at least 243 people.

1942 ~ President Franklin Roosevelt signed the order allowing the U.S. military to relocate Japanese-Americans to internment camps (http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html).

1945 ~ About 30,000 U.S. Marines land on Iwo Jima (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0219.html#article).

1964 ~ Paul Simon wrote "The Sounds of Silence”, the song which would take him and Art Garfunkel to stardom.

1971 ~ Birthday of Gil Shaham, Israeli-born American violinist.

1980 ~ Bon Scott (http://www.trevormarshall.com/bon.htm), the lead singer of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, died after a night of heavy drinking.

1986 ~ The Soviet Union launched the Mir space station (http://www.satobs.org/mir.html#configuration).

1997 ~ Death of Deng Xiaoping (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/19/newsid_2565000/2565613.stm), the last of China's major Communist revolutionaries.



Sorry about being a bit early, but I just found out that I will be off-line for the next 40 hours, so I thought I'd post this now. :)

[Oldfart]

1942 ~ Some 250 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin, Australia. The attack killed at least 243 people.

Cyclone Carlos broke the marquee erected for the memorial ceremony.

The destroyer USS Robert E Peary was destroyed during the attack.

The same battle fleet bombed Pearl Harbour, the Phillipines and Darwin.

[jseal]

1792 ~ President Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office (http://www.usps.com/postalhistory/welcome.htm).

1902 ~ Birthday of Ansel Adams (http://www.anseladams.com/), Photographer.

1904 ~ Birthday of Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union.

1927 ~ Birthday of Sidney Poitier (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/poitier_s.html), Actor.

1952 ~ The film The African Queen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043265/) opened in New York City.

1958 ~ An announcement was made that the Sheerness Docks, established the in the 17th century by Samuel Pepys, were to close (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/20/newsid_2552000/2552135.stm).

1961 ~ Death of Percy Grainger, Australian composer.

1962 ~ John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0220.html#article) aboard Friendship 7.

1976 ~ Death of René Cassin, French judge, recipient of the 1968 Nobel Peace Prize.

2001 ~ FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested (http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/robert-hanssen) and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.

[jseal]

1875 ~ Birthday of Jeanne Calment (http://www.supercentenarian.com/oldest/jeanne-calment.html). She lived for 122 years 164 days, the longest confirmed lifespan for any human being in history.

1893 ~ Birthday of Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist.

1903 ~ Birthday of Anaïs Nin (http://www.anaisnin.com/), Writer.

1907 ~ Birthday of W. H. Auden, Poet.

1916 ~ The Battle of Verdun (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/verdun.htm) began. French casualties during the battle were estimated at 550,000 with German losses set at 434,000, half of the total being fatalities.

1947 ~ Edwin Land demonstrated the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera (http://www.clickondavid.com/index-82.html), to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.

1953 ~ Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of the DNA molecule.

1958 ~ The Peace symbol (http://www.peacesymbol.org/) was completed for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

1965 ~ Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0221.html#article) by members of the Nation of Islam.

1988 ~ TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart confessed to his congregation that he was guilty of an unspecified sin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/21/newsid_2565000/2565197.stm), and said he was leaving the pulpit temporarily. Reports linked Swaggart to a prostitute.

[jseal]

1732 ~ Birthday of George Washington (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gw1.html), 1st U.S. President.

1857 ~ Birthday of Robert Baden-Powell (http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/britishcavalry/13thhussarsbadenpowell.htm), Chief Scout of the World.

1879 ~ Frank Woolworth opened a five-cent store in Utica, N.Y.

1935 ~ Airplanes were no longer permitted to fly over the White House.

1946 ~ George Kennan, the American charge d'affaires in Moscow, sent an 8,000-word telegram - the "Long Telegram (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/documents/episode-1/kennan.htm)" - to the Department of State detailing his views on the Soviet Union, and U.S. policy toward the communist state. Kennan's analysis provided one of the most influential underpinnings for America's Cold War policy of containment.

1980 ~ In the Olympic competition, the U.S. Ice Hockey team defeated the Soviets (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0222.html#article) 4–3 at Lake Placid, NY.

1982 ~ Birthday of Jenna Haze (http://www.jennahaze.com/videos.php), Porn Actress.

1987 ~ Death of Andy Warhol, Celebrity

1994 ~ Double agent Aldrich Ames was arrested (http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/ames/1.html).

1997 ~ Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute announced that a sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/22/newsid_4245000/4245877.stm).

[jseal]

1786 ~ Birthday of Wilhelm Grimm (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wgrimm.htm), Philologist & Folklorist.

1803 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court, in Marbury v. Madison (http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/landmark/marbury.html), established the principle of judicial review.

1856 ~ Death of Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician.

1868 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0224.html#article).

1903 ~ The U.S. signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

1942 ~ Birthday of Joseph Lieberman (http://lieberman.senate.gov/), U.S. Senator.

1949 ~ At White Sands NM, "Project Bumper (http://www.wsmr-history.org/BumperAction1.htm)” a WAC CORPORAL attached to a German built V-2 rocket, reached a height of 250 miles above sea level, the first rocket to reach outer space. The entire trip took 6-1/2 minutes from firing.

1955 ~ Birthday of Steve Jobs, Computer Pioneer.

1981 ~ Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/24/newsid_2516000/2516759.stm).

2001 ~ Death of Claude E. Shannon (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Shannon.html), "father of information theory".

2008 ~ Fidel Castro retired as the President of Cuba.

[jseal]

1723 ~ Death of Sir Christopher Wren (http://www.explore-stpauls.net/oct03/textMM/WrensTombN.htm), Architect.

1870 ~ Hiram R. Revels, R-Miss., became the first black member of the U.S. Senate (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0225.html#article).

1901 ~ Incorporation of the United States Steel Corporation (http://www.uss.com/corp/company/profile/history.asp).

1943 ~ Birthday of George Harrison (http://www.georgeharrison.com/), Beatle.

1970 ~ Death of Mark Rothko (http://www.nga.gov/feature/rothko/rothkosplash.shtm), American painter.

1982 ~ Birthday of Jamie Lynn, Porn Actress.

1986 ~ Corazon Aquino assumed the Philippine presidency (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/25/newsid_4694000/4694530.stm) after Ferdinand E. Marcos fled.

1994 ~ Baruch Goldstein opened fire inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death.

1999 ~ Death of Glenn T. Seaborg, Nuclear Chemist & Public Servant, awarded the 1951 Nobel Nobel Prize in Chemistry (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1951/index.html).

2004 ~ Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" was released in the U.S., and became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever made.

[jseal]

1797 ~ The Bank of England issued the first one pound note.

1802 ~ Birthday of Victor Hugo, Poet.

1848 ~ Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto (http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html)” in London.

1918 ~ Birthday of Theodore Sturgeon, Science Fiction writer.

1935 ~ Robert Watson-Watt gave the first demonstration of RADAR (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/radar_and_the_battle_of_britain.htm).

1852 ~ Birthday of Julia Bond (http://www.clubjuliabond.com/t1/noprog=noadvert/), Porn Actress.

1991 ~ Tim Berners-Lee introduced WorldWideWeb (http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/peopleofpower/bernerslee.html), the first web browser.

1991 ~ On Baghdad Radio, Saddam Hussein announced that he had ordered his forces to withdraw from Kuwait (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/26/newsid_4716000/4716868.stm).

1993 ~ A van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0226.html#article) in New York City exploded, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.

2001 ~ The Taliban destroyed two giant Buddha statues in Bamyan (http://youtube.com/watch?v=RDbrZaoXh4I), Afghanistan.

[jseal]

1807 ~ Birthday of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Poet (The Song of Hiawatha (http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/hiawatha.html), The Village Blacksmith (http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/longf02.html), Paul Revere's Ride (http://eserver.org/poetry/paul-revere.html)).

1827 ~ The first Mardi Gras (http://www.mardigras.com/) was celebrated in New Orleans.

1900 ~ The British Labour Party (http://www.labour.org.uk/home) was formed.

1902 ~ Birthday of John Steinbeck (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-bio.html), Writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature 1962.

1912 ~ Birthday of Lawrence Durrell, Writer.

1933 ~ Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, caught fire (http://worldatwar.net/event/reichstagsbrand/). The Nazis, blaming the Communists, used the fire as a pretext for suspending civil liberties.

1951 ~ In a victory for freedom lovers, the Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html), limiting Presidents to two terms, was ratified.

1991 ~ President Bush declared "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0227.html#article)", and announced a Gulf War ceasefire.

1992 ~ Death of S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist and politician.

2008 ~ Death of William F. Buckley, Jr., Conservative author and commentator.

[jseal]

1827 ~ The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was incorporated, becoming the first railroad offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.

1833 ~ Birthday of Alfred von Schlieffen (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWschlieffen.htm), German field marshal.

1854 ~ The U.S. Republican Party was organized (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-022/?action=more_essay) in Ripon, Wisconsin as a party opposed to the expansion of slavery.

1916 ~ Death of Henry James, American writer (The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw, The Ambassadors).

1901 ~ Birthday of Linus Pauling, double Nobel Prize winner: Chemistry 1954 (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1954/pauling-bio.html) and Peace 1962 (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1962/pauling-bio.html).

1935 ~ Wallace Carothers discovered Nylon.

1953 ~ James Watson and Francis Crick announced that they had determined the chemical structure of DNA. The formal announcement followed in the April 25 publication of Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/archive.html). For those who would like to learn more about this interesting development (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2003/dna_at_50/default.stm). In Crick’s own words (http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/Crick3.pdf).

1986 ~ Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/28/newsid_2802000/2802181.stm) in central Stockholm.

1993 ~ Four Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) agents and six Branch Davidians were killed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0228.html#article) when the agents tried to serve warrants on the Davidians.

2003 ~ Death of Roger Needham, British cryptographer.

[jseal]

1810 ~ Birthday of Frédéric Chopin (http://www.nndb.com/people/461/000022395/), Composer & Pianist.

1872 ~ U.S. Congress authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park (http://www.nps.gov/yell/).

1912 ~ Georg Ritter von Trapp, head of the singing family memorialized in the musical "The Sound of Music (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/)", married Agathe.

1927 ~ Birthday of Harry Belafonte (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b36dcPi_KqA), Musician & Actor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpg-KIKD5gU&NR=1).

1932 ~ The infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0301.html#article).

1950 ~ Klaus Fuchs (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Bios/Fuchs.shtml) was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.

1954 ~ The Castle Bravo 15-megaton hydrogen bomb (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/1/newsid_2781000/2781419.stm) was detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It produced the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the U.S.

1975 ~ Color television transmission began in Australia.

1981 ~ Bobby Sands began his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.

2002 ~ The peseta is replaced by the euro (€) as Spain's official currency.

[jseal]

1836 ~ The Republic of Texas declared its independence (http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/tdoi.htm) from Mexico.

1877 ~ Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0302.html#article).

1904 ~ Birthday of Dr. Seuss, Author.

1931 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1990/gorbachev-bio.html), the eighth and last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

1939 ~ Death of Howard Carter (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0509.html), British archaeologist.

1962 ~ Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks, an NBA record which still stands.

1963 ~ Release of Please Please Me in the U.K., the first LP from The Beatles.

1969 ~ The maiden flight of the Concorde (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/2/newsid_2514000/2514535.stm).

1980 ~ Birthday of Sunny Lane (http://www.sunnylanelive.com/tour1.html), Porn actress.

2004 ~ Al Qaeda carried out the Ashoura Massacre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_March_2004_Iraq_Ashura_bombings) in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.

[jseal]

1934 ~ Birthday of Yuri Gagarin, Cosmonaut (http://www.guardian.co.uk/netnotes/article/0,,470879,00.html), first human in space.

1943 ~ Birthday of Bobby Fischer, chess player.

1945 ~ A fire storm in Tokyo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEMgA9LKrmE&feature=related), caused by incendiary bombs from American bombers (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/tokyo.htm) killed over 100,000 people.

1954 ~ CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow critically reviewed Wisconsin Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy's anti-Communism campaign on "See It Now (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/seeitnow/seeitnow.htm)”.

1959 ~ The debut of the Barbie doll (http://www.dolls4play.com/barbiehistory.html).

1967 ~ Stalin's daughter defected to the West (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/9/newsid_2801000/2801709.stm).

1990 ~ Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells confirmed he would rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005208), effectively killing the Accord.

1992 ~ Death of Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.

1996 ~ Death of George Burns, Actor.

2005 ~ The final broadcast by Dan Rather (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/08/eveningnews/main678731.shtml) on CBS Evening News.

[jseal]

1913 ~ Death of Harriet Tubman (http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/), American abolitionist.

1949 ~ Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred E. Gillars, also known as “Axis Sally (http://www.historynet.com/culture/womens_history/3032576.html?showAll=y&c=y)”, was convicted in Washington, D.C., of treason.

1957 ~ Birthday of Osama bin Laden (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/osamabinladen.html), Terrorist.

1965 ~ Neil Simon's play ''The Odd Couple'' opened on Broadway.

1969 ~ James Earl Ray pleaded guilty (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/10/newsid_2516000/2516725.stm) in Memphis, Tenn., to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

1977 ~ Astronomers discovered rings around Uranus (http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Uranus/UranusPlanet.html).

1977 ~ Death of E. Power Biggs, English-born organist.

1982 ~ The U.S. placed an embargo on Libyan oil because of Libya’s support of terrorist groups.

1985 ~ Death of Konstantin Chernenko (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0310.html#article), Soviet leader.

1993 ~ Dr. David Gunn (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dr-david-gunn-is-murdered-by-anti-abortion-activist) was shot to death outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic.

[jseal]

1941 ~ President Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Bill (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0311.html#article).

1952 ~ Birthday of Douglas Adams, Science Fiction/Comedy novelist.

1959 ~ Birthday of Nina Hartley (http://www.nina.com/journal.php), American porn star.

1968 ~ Death of John Wyndham (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wyndham.htm), Author.

1981 ~ Birthday of Heidi Cortez (http://www.theperfectstory.com/), Erotic Broadcaster.

1985 ~ Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet leader (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/11/newsid_2538000/2538327.stm).

1993 ~ Janet Reno was confirmed by the U.S. Senate (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/admin/reno.htm), becoming the first female U.S. Attorney General.

1996 ~ John Howard became the twenty-fifth Prime Minister of Australia.

1997 ~ Paul McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

2004 ~ Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid, Spain, killed 191 people and wounded at least 1,800 in an attack linked to al-Qaida (http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/ops/madrid.htm).

[jseal]

1912 ~ The Girl Scouts (http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/history/low_biography/) (née Girl Guides) were started in the U.S.

1913 ~ Canberra officially named.

1922 ~ Birthday of Jack Kerouac (http://www.beatmuseum.org/kerouac/JackKerouac.html), Writer.

1938 ~ Anschluss (http://www.wien-vienna.com/anschluss.php): German troops occupied Austria; annexation declared the following day.

1947 ~ The “Truman Doctrine (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0312.html#article)” established.

1955 ~ Death of Sir Alexander Fleming (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1945/), Scottish scientist, Nobel laureate.

1971 ~ Birthday of Tony Eveready, Porn Actor.

1987 ~ ”Les Misérables (http://www.lesmis.com/)” opened on Broadway.

1994 ~ The Church of England ordained its first female priests.

1999 ~ Death of Sir Yehudi Menuhin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/12/newsid_2540000/2540427.stm), violinist.

[jseal]

1781 ~ The planet Uranus (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm) was discovered by Sir William Herschel (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/Bios/wherschel.html).

1842 ~ Death of Henry Shrapnel, British soldier and inventor.

1868 ~ The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0313.html#article) began in the U.S. Senate.

1879 ~ Death of Adolf Anderssen, German chess player.

1925 ~ A law in Tennessee, the Butler Act (http://www.bradburyac.mistral.co.uk/tenness4.html#tbdi), was passed, prohibiting the teaching of evolution.

1938 ~ Death of Clarence Darrow (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/darrow.htm), Attorney.

1947 ~ The musical “Brigadoon (http://www.durham.net/~neilmac/brigdoon.htm)” opened on Broadway.

1954 ~ Viet Minh forces begin the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ against the French.

1964 ~ Kitty Genovese was murdered (http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/kitty_genovese/1.html) in an incident which shocked the world and prompted investigation into the Bystander effect.

1997 ~ 16 children and 1 teacher were murdered in Dunblane, Scotland (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/13/newsid_2543000/2543277.stm).

[jseal]

1681 ~ Birthday of Georg Philipp Telemann (http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxtel.html), German Composer.

1879 ~ Birthday of Albert Einstein (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html), physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in physics 1921.

1883 ~ Death of Karl Marx (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/index.htm), political theorist.

1900 ~ The Gold Standard Act was ratified (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0314.html#article), placing U.S. currency on the gold standard.

1942 ~ First successful use of penicillin to treat a patient.

1943 ~ The SS under the command Sturmbannführer Amon Goth began the 'liquidation' of the Kraków Ghetto (http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/krakow%20ghetto.html).

1964 ~ A jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy.

1984 ~ Gerry Adams (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/14/newsid_2543000/2543503.stm), head of Sinn Féin, was wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.

1985 ~ Birthday of Ariel Rebel, Canadian Porn actress.

1985 ~ Birthday of Eva Angelina (http://www.evaangelinaxxx.com/home.php), Porn Actress.

[jseal]

44 B.C. ~ Julius Caesar was assassinated (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ides1.html) by a group of Roman senators.

1877 ~ The first Test cricket match (http://www.abcofcricket.com/cfb1/cfb5/cfb5.htm), between England and Australia.

1898 ~ Death of Henry Bessemer, English metallurgist.

1906 ~ Rolls-Royce Ltd. (http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/lo-band/rollsroyce_history.htm) was registered.

1916 ~ Addressing a joint session of Congress, President Lyndon Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to vote (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0315.html#article).

1937 ~ Death of H. P. Lovecraft (http://www.themodernword.com/scriptorium/lovecraft.html), horror writer.

1975 ~ Birthday of Veselin Topalov, Bulgarian chess Grandmaster.

1985 ~ The computer manufacturer Symbolics, Inc. registered the first 'dot com' domain name, symbolics.com

1990 ~ British journalist Farzad Bazoft was executed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/15/newsid_2543000/2543475.stm) for spying.

2004 ~ Announcement of the discovery of 90377 Sedna (http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/trans_neptunian_objects/sedna.html), the farthest "planet" in the Solar system so far observed.

[Oldfart]

"1916 ~ Addressing a joint session of Congress, President Lyndon Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to vote."

jseal, surely 1965.

[dicksbro]

"1916 ~ Addressing a joint session of Congress, President Lyndon Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to vote."

jseal, surely 1965.
Maybe that's why the recording sounded like he was saying, "Bye, bye, car, car?" :D

[jseal]

1736 ~ Death of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer.

1789 ~ Birthday of Georg Ohm (http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/ohmlawexperiments.html), German physicist and developer of Ohm's Law.

1898 ~ Death of Aubrey Beardsley, British Artist (http://www.artpassions.net/cgi-bin/show_image.pl?../galleries/beardsleye/lysistrata_e.jpg).

1926 ~ Robert Goddard (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,990613,00.html) launched the first liquid-fueled rocket (http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/f_goddard.html), at Auburn, Massachusetts.

1968 ~ The My Lai Massacre (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0316.html#article) was carried out by U.S. troops under the command of Lt. William L. Calley.

1978 ~ Aldo Moro was kidnapped (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDmoro.htm) by left-wing urban guerrillas in Italy and was later killed by his captors.

1978 ~ The 'Amoco Cadiz' split in two after running aground three miles off the coast of France.

1984 ~ William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists; he died in captivity.

1988 ~ The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/16/newsid_4304000/4304853.stm) killing 5,000.

2000 ~ Death of Thomas Ferebee (http://www.mishalov.com/Ferebee.html), Hiroshima bombardier.

[jseal]

461 ~ Death of Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

1673 ~ Jacques Marquette & Louis Jolliet began their exploration of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.

1782 ~ Death of Daniel Bernoulli, Mathematician.

1834 ~ Birthday of Gottlieb Daimler, Engineer & Inventor.

1845 ~ The rubber band was patented (http://www.versteegde.nl/Bambustic/RubberBands/) by Stephen Perry.

1919 ~ Birthday of Nat King Cole (http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9253026), Singer. Oh! what a singer!

1942 ~ Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0317.html#article) during World War II.

1959 ~ Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama (http://www.dalailama.com/), fled Tibet and traveled to India.

1973 ~ The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy (http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/burst-of-joy/) was taken.

1979 ~ Birthday of Stormy Daniels (http://www.stormydaniels.com/), Porn Actress.

Feastdays & Holidays

Catholicism ~ Feast day of St Patrick (http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/stpatricksday/?page=history): a public holiday in Ireland and Montserrat, widely celebrated in North America.

[jseal]

1850 ~ American Express was founded by Henry Wells & William Fargo.

1869 ~ Birthday of Neville Chamberlain (http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/neville-chamberlain), UK PM.

1962 ~ France and Algeria signed an agreement ending the Algerian War (http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/alpha/algeria1954.htm).

1965 ~ Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov became the first man to walk in space (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0318.html#article).

1978 ~ Death of Leigh Brackett (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/brackett.htm), Science Fiction author.

1979 ~ Birthday of Brandon Lee, Porn Actor.

1990 ~ 12 paintings, collectively worth as much as $300 million, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the largest art theft in U.S. history.

1992 ~ Microsoft shipped Windows 3.1 (http://www.guidebookgallery.org/screenshots/win31).

1992 ~ South Africa voted to end apartheid (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/18/newsid_2524000/2524695.stm).

2003 ~ Death of Adam Osborne, British computer pioneer. Here is a very interesting (http://www.archive.org/details/Computer1984_5) interview.

[jseal]

1687 ~ Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, was murdered.

1813 ~ Birthday of David Livingstone (http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/bliving5.html), Missionary & Explorer.

1906 ~ Birthday of Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official.

1915 ~ The U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0319.html#article) for the second time.

1932 ~ Sydney Harbor Bridge (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/harbourbridge/) opened.

1950 ~ Death of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Author.

1953 ~ The Academy Awards were first televised.

1982 ~ Argentines landed on South Georgia Island (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/19/newsid_2543000/2543639.stm), precipitating the Falklands War.

1987 ~ Death of Louis-Victor de Broglie (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1929/broglie-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1929.

2008 ~ Death of Arthur C. Clarke (http://www.arthurcclarke.net/), Science Fiction author & inventor.

Feastdays & Holidays

The swallows return to Mission San Juan Capistrano (http://www.sanjuancapistrano.net/swallows/) in California.

[jseal]

43 BC ~ Birthday of Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), Roman poet (Metamorphoses).

1727 ~ Death of Sir Isaac Newton (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.html), Physicist.

1852 ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin (http://www.uwm.edu/Library/special/exhibits/clastext/clspg149.htm)" was published.

1904 ~ Birthday of B. F. Skinner, Psychologist.

1916 ~ Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity (http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/NumRel/GenRelativity.html).

1928 ~ Birthday of Fred Rogers, children's television host.

1969 ~ John Lennon married Yoko Ono (http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1316.html) in Gibraltar.

1995 ~ A sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0320.html#article) killed 12 and wounded 1,300 people.

2000 ~ Former Black Panther Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2000/03/25/brown/index.html), once known as H. Rap Brown, was captured following a shootout in Atlanta.

2003 ~ U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/20/newsid_3495000/3495453.stm) from Kuwait.

[jseal]

1685 ~ Birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (hTTp://www.jsbach.org/), Composer.

1867 ~ Birthday of Florenz Ziegfeld, Broadway Impresario.

1945 ~ UK Troops liberated Mandalay, Burma.

1960 ~ Police fired on demonstrators in Sharpeville (http://www.google.com/images?rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&oe=&q=Sharpeville,+South+Africa&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=H5uGTeKrEeyH0QHUmpzYCA&ved=0CEgQsAQ&biw=1099&bih=717), South Africa, killing 69 and wounding 180.

1963 ~ The federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz (http://www.nps.gov/alca/index.htm), was closed.

1965 ~ Rev. King led 3,200 people on the start of a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery (http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm), Alabama.

1980 ~ President Carter announced a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow (http://www.olympic.org/moscow-1980-summer-olympics) to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.

1998 ~ Good Friday Agreement (http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/NIPeaceAgreement.pdf) signed in Northern Ireland.

2000 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the government lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug.

2010 ~ Death Wolfgang Wagner, German opera director, grandson of Richard Wagner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner), and the great-grandson of Franz Liszt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt).

[jseal]

1683 ~ Anne Hutchinson (http://www.17thc.us/index.php?id=16) was expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent.

1832 ~ Death of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc20.html), Writer & Poet.

1882 ~ U.S. Congress outlawed polygamy.

1923 ~ Birthday of Marcel Marceau (http://www.culturevulture.net/Theater/MarcelMarceau.html), Mime.

1963 ~ The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, denied improper involvement with the model Christine Keeler (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/22/newsid_4271000/4271221.stm).

1963 ~ The Beatles' first album, Please Please Me, was released in the UK.

1972 ~ The Equal Rights Amendment (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0322.html#article) to the U.S. Constitution was sent to the states for ratification.

1981 ~ Birthday of Victoria Lanz, Venezuelan Porn Actress.

1993 ~ The Intel Corporation shipped the first Pentium chips (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/cpu/fam/g5P54-c.html).

2004 ~ Death (by Israeli Hellfire missile) of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/middleeast/yassin.html), co-founder and spiritual leader of Hamas.

[jseal]

1749 ~ Birthday of Pierre Simon de Laplace, Mathematician & Astronomer.

1775 ~ Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech - "give me liberty or give me death (http://lexrex.com/enlightened/writings/libertyordeath.htm)" in Williamsburg, Virginia.

1882 ~ Birthday of Emmy Noether (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Noether_Emmy.html), Mathematician. Now there's a lady who had a tough row to hoe!

1912 ~ Birthday of Wernher von Braun (http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/bio.html), Engineer.

1923 ~ Birthday of Roger Bannister (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ban0bio-1), athlete, first "Miracle Mile"

1962 ~ NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, was launched.

1983 ~ President Ronald Reagan made his initial proposal (http://www.school-for-champions.com/speeches/reagan_sdi_1983.htm) to develop technology to intercept missiles.

1989 ~ Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announced cold fusion (http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/1258) at the University of Utah.

1989 ~ A 1,000-foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid (4581 Asclepius) missed the Earth by 400,000 miles.

2001 ~ The Russian space station Mir was de-orbited (http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast10mar_1.htm), breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

[jseal]

1874 ~ Birthday of Harry Houdini, Magician.

1882 ~ Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.

1882 ~ Death of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (http://www.hwlongfellow.org/), Poet.

1893 ~ Birthday of Walter Baade, Astronomer.

1905 ~ Death of Jules Verne (http://epguides.com/djk/JulesVerne/works.shtml), Author.

1944 ~ In occupied Rome, the Nazis executed more than 300 civilians in reprisal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardeatine_Massacre) for an attack by Italian partisans the day before that killed 32 German soldiers.

1965 ~ Ranger 9 broadcast live TV (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/24/newsid_4063000/4063187.stm) as it crashed-landed onto the Moon.

1980 ~ Archbishop Óscar Romero was killed by gunmen (http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero.html) while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.

1989 ~ The Exxon Valdez spilled 270,000 barrels of oil (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0324.html#article) after running aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

1999 ~ NATO (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/index.htm) launched air strikes against Yugoslavia. This marked the first time NATO attacked a sovereign nation.

[dicksbro]

RIP Jules Verne

[Oldfart]

dicksbro, he's only been gone 106 years.

Maybe it's a bit too soon.

[jseal]

1634 ~ The first settlers arrived in Maryland (http://www.marylandtheseventhstate.com/article1001.html) (led by Lord Baltimore).

1807 ~ The Slave Trade Act (http://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_06.htm) became law, abolishing slavery in the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1881 ~ Birthday of Béla Bartók, Composer.

1918 ~ Death of Claude Debussy, Composer.

1942 ~ Birthday of Aretha Franklin, Singer.

1957 ~ The European Economic Community (http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/traroma.htm) was established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg).

1975 ~ King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/25/newsid_4233000/4233595.stm) by a nephew with a history of mental illness.

1978 ~ Birthday of Teanna Kai (http://www.teannakailive.com/index1.php), Porn Actress.

1992 ~ Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/krikalev.html) returned to Earth from the Mir space station after a 10-month stay, during which his native country, the Soviet Union, ceased to exist.

1998 ~ President Clinton acknowledged during his Africa tour that "we did not act quickly enough (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june98/rwanda_3-25a.html)" to stop the slaughter of one million Rwandans four years earlier.

[jseal]

1827 ~ Death of Ludwig van Beethoven (http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyChronology.html), Composer.

1874 ~ Birthday of Robert Frost, Poet.

1904 ~ Birthday of Joseph Campbell (http://www.jcf.org/index2.php), Author & Mythologist.

1911 ~ Birthday of Tennessee Williams, Playwright.

1964 ~ The musical “Funny Girl (http://barbra-archives.com/live/60s/funny_girl_broadway_1.html)”, starring Barbra Streisand, opened on Broadway.

1979 ~ Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter signed the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0326.html#article) in Washington, DC.

1981 ~ The "Gang of Four", Roy Jenkins, David Owen, William Rodgers and Shirley Williams, founded the Social Democratic Party (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/26/newsid_2531000/2531151.stm).

1986 ~ Birthday of Misty Stone (http://www.clubmistystone.com/), Porn actress and model.

1997 ~ The 39 Heaven's Gate (http://www.heavensgate.com/) cult suicides.

1999 ~ Dr. Jack Kevorkian was found guilty of second-degree murder.

[jseal]

1836 ~ Antonio López de Santa Anna (http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/santaanna.htm) ordered the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas.

1845 ~ Birthday of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1901/rontgen-bio.html), physicist, awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics.

1863 ~ Birthday of Sir Henry Royce (http://www.henryroyce.org.uk/), automobile pioneer.

1871 ~ First international rugby football match, England v. Scotland, played in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.

1958 ~ Nikita Khrushchev became Premier (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0327.html#article) of the USSR.

1968 ~ Death of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.

1972 ~ Death of M. C. Escher (http://www.mcescher.com/), Dutch artist.

1977 ~ A KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on the Canary Island of Tenerife (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/27/newsid_2531000/2531063.stm), killing 582 people.

2002 ~ Passover Massacre: A suicide bomber killed 28 people in Netanya, Israel.

2006 ~ Death of Stanisław Lem (http://english.lem.pl/), Polish writer.

[jseal]

1910 ~ Henri Fabre becomes the first man to fly a seaplane (http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0872854.html) after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.

1928 ~ Birthday of Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to President Carter.

1939 ~ Generalissimo Franco entered Madrid, essentially ending the Spanish Civil War (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Spanish-Civil-War.htm).

1942 ~ Birthday of Neil Kinnock, British Labor politician.

1947 ~ The last episode of the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (http://members.tripod.com/~crozee/buck/) played on radio.

1965 ~ Conclusion of the 'Selma to Montgomey (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/28/newsid_4264000/4264241.stm)' Civil Rights march.

1979 ~ One of the nuclear reactors at Three Mile Island (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0328.html#article) was severely damaged in what remains as the largest nuclear incident in U.S. history.

1985 ~ Death of Marc Chagall (http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A1055&page_number=1&template_id=6&sort_order=1), Russian-born painter.

1987 ~ Death of Maria von Trapp, Singer.

2004 ~ Death of Peter Ustinov (http://www.unicef.org/media/media_20193.html), Actor.

[jseal]

1867 ~ Queen Victoria gave Royal Assent to the British North America Act (http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution/constitution13_e.html) which established the Dominion of Canada on July 1.

1899 ~ Birthday of Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader.

1912 ~ Death of Robert Falcon Scott, Explorer.

1973 ~ The last U.S. troops left South Vietnam (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0329.html#article), ending America's direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.

1981 ~ First running of the London Marathon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/29/newsid_2530000/2530955.stm).

1982 ~ Death of Carl Orff, German composer (Carmina Burana (http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/Carmina/)).

1982 ~ Queen Elizabeth gave Royal Assent to the Canada Act 1982 (http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution/constitution16_e.html), setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.

1984 ~ The Baltimore Colts of the NFL moved to Indianapolis in the middle of the night.

2004 ~ Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO (http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/03-march/e0329a.htm) as full members.

2004 ~ Death of Alistair Cook (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/default.stm), Journalist.

[Oldfart]

Carmina Burana is the best piece of music no-one understands the words to.

[jseal]

^^ Lol! ^^

[jseal]

1135 ~ Birthday of Moses Maimonides (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/maimonides-islamic/), Medieval Jewish Philosopher.

1746 ~ Birthday of Francisco Goya, Spanish painter and engraver.

1842 ~ Anesthesia (ether) was used for the first time in an operation (http://journals.lww.com/anesthesiology/Fulltext/2008/10000/Dexmedetomidine_Increases_Hippocampal.4.aspx).

1853 ~ Birthday of Vincent van Gogh (http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.htm), Painter.

1870 ~ Texas was readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.

1951 ~ Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/30/newsid_3704000/3704209.stm) were convicted of espionage.

1977 ~ Death of Sergey Ilyushin (http://www.answers.com/topic/sergey-ilyushin), Russian aerospace engineer.

1981 ~ President Reagan was shot (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0330.html#article) and seriously injured.

1998 ~ German automaker BMW bought Rolls-Royce for $570 million.

2006 ~ The Terrorism Act 2006 (http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=2321013) becomes law in the UK.

[jseal]

1732 ~ Birthday of Joseph Haydn, Composer.

1837 ~ Death of John Constable (http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/constabl/p-constable16.htm), Painter.

1855 ~ Death of Charlotte Brontë, Author.

1918 ~ Daylight Savings Time went into effect in the United States for the first time.

1959 ~ The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crossed the border into India (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2788000/2788343.stm) and was granted political asylum.

1968 ~ President Johnson (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0331.html#article) announced he would not run for re-election.

1970 ~ After 12 years in orbit, Explorer 1 (http://www.ispyspace.com/Explorer_1.html) burnt up when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.

1976 ~ Birthday of Ashton Moore (http://www.clubashton.com/main.php?s=3&p=1&w=101338&t=0), Porn Actress.

1991 ~ The end of the Warsaw Pact (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/warsaw-pact-ends).

1995 ~ Latina superstar Selena (http://www.q-productions.com/) was killed by the president of her fan club.

[jseal]

1884 ~ Birthday of Florence Blanchfield, the first woman to receive a regular commission in the U.S. Army.

1873 ~ Birthday of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Composer, Pianist & Conductor.

1917 ~ Death of Scott Joplin (http://www.scottjoplin.org/biography.htm), Musician & Composer.

1918 ~ The Royal Flying Corps was replaced by the Royal Air Force.

1945 ~ World War II: U.S. forces invaded Okinawa (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0401.html#article).

1970 ~ President Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/nc/nc2b_10.htm) on radio and TV.

1973 ~ Birthday of Joe Francis, Girls Gone Wild (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1256270/) Producer.

1976 ~ Apple Computer Company was formed (http://www.apple-history.com/?page=history&section=h1) by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

2001 ~ Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2464000/2464667.stm) was arrested and taken to prison.

2001 ~ A U.S. intelligence gathering plane collided with a PRC Army fighter jet. The Navy crew made an emergency landing in Hainan, PRC and was detained.

Feastdays & Holidays

April Fools Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm)

[jseal]

1725 ~ Birthday of Giacomo Casanova (http://web.archive.org/web/20080207194442/http://users.dickinson.edu/~emery/Casanova.htm), adventurer and writer.

1875 ~ Birthday of Walter Chrysler (http://www.chryslerheritage.com/pg500chron.php), automobile pioneer.

1917 ~ President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0402.html#article).

1917 ~ The first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin, took her seat as a representative from Montana.

1966 ~ Death of C.S. Forester, Author.

1974 ~ Death of Georges Pompidou, President of France.

1978 ~ Dallas premiered (http://www.ultimatedallas.com/) on CBS, beginning a 13-year run.

1982 ~ Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands (http://www.naval-history.net/F15invasion.htm), starting the war.

1986 ~ A grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter were sucked out of a TWA jet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/2/newsid_4357000/4357159.stm) when it was bombed by a group calling itself the Ezzedine Kassam Unit of the Arab Revolutionary Cells

2005 ~ Death of Pope John Paul II (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pope/).

[angelababy]

what you just said didnt make any sense buddy :bs:

[jseal]

1895 ~ The libel trial started by Oscar Wilde (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/oscar_wilde/6.html) against the Marquess of Queensbury began, eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.

1901 ~ Death of Richard D'Oyly Carte (http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/carte/index.html), Impresario.

1934 ~ Birthday of Jane Goodall (http://www.janegoodall.org/default.asp), Zoologist.

1946 ~ Masaharu Homma, the Japanese general responsible for the Bataan Death March (http://home.comcast.net/~rgrokett/POW/index.htm), was executed in the Philippines.

1948 ~ President Truman signed the Marshall Plan (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0403.html#article).

1975 ~ GM Anatoly Karpov was awarded the title of World Champion by default when Bobby Fischer refused to play.

1981 ~ Death of Juan Trippe (http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19490328,00.html), Airline & Hotel (Pan Am & InterContinental) founder .

1991 ~ Death of Graham Greene, English writer.

1996 ~ Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/3/newsid_2460000/2460423.stm) at his Montana cabin.

2000 ~ Microsoft was ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws.

[jseal]

1884 ~ Birthday of Isoroku Yamamoto, naval commander.

1885 ~ Birthday of Arthur Murray, dancer.

1902 ~ British financier Cecil Rhodes (http://www.britishempire.co.uk/biography/rhodes.htm) left £6 million in his will to provide scholarships for Americans at Oxford University in England.

1949 ~ Twelve nations signed The North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (http://www.nato.int/docu/basictxt/treaty.htm).

1964 ~ The Beatles occupied all of the top five positions on the Billboard singles chart in the United States.

1968 ~ Martin Luther King Jr. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0404.html#article) was assassinated.

1979 ~ Death of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/4/newsid_2459000/2459507.stm), Pakistan Prime Minister (hanged).

1975 ~ Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/) was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

1984 ~ Winston Smith, the main character of George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four (http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/0.html), began writing in his secret diary.

1994 ~ Netscape (http://browser.netscape.com/) Communications Corporation was founded by Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark.

[jseal]

1588 ~ Birthday of Thomas Hobbes (http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/hobbes.html), English philosopher.

1614 ~ In Virginia, Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe.

1792 ~ President Washington cast the first presidential veto (http://www.thirty-thousand.org/pages/first_veto.htm), rejecting a congressional measure for apportioning representatives among the states.

1908 ~ Birthday of Herbert von Karajan (http://www.karajan.co.uk/), Austrian conductor.

1930 ~ In an act of civil disobedience, Mahatma Gandhi (http://www.mibazaar.com/2007/03/today-in-history-mahatma-gandhis-salt.html) breaks British law after marching to the sea and making salt.

1942 ~ The Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Colombo, Sri Lanka, and sank the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire southwest of the island.

1951 ~ Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0405.html#article) were sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.

1976 ~ Death of Howard Hughes (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/5/newsid_4739000/4739940.stm), aviation pioneer.

1997 ~ Death of Allen Ginsberg, Poet.

2008 ~ Death of Charlton Heston (http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/heston/2769726), Actor.

[jseal]

1528 ~ Death of Albrecht Dürer (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer/), Artist.

1909 ~ Robert Peary and Matthew Henson became the first men to reach the North Pole (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0406.html#article).

1917 ~ The United States declared war on Germany.

1928 ~ Birthday of James D. Watson (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/watson-bio.html), Geneticist, co-discoverer of structure of DNA, awarded 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1933 ~ Hostess Twinkies (http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/twinkie.htm) were invented.

1941 ~ Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia & Greece in WWII.

1983 ~ Birthday of Bobbi Starr (http://bobbistarr.com/), Porn actress.

1992 ~ Death of Isaac Asimov (http://www.asimovonline.com/asimov_FAQ.html), Science-fiction author.

1994 ~ The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/6/newsid_2472000/2472195.stm) in a plane crash near Rwanda's capital.

2001 ~ Algerian national Ahmed Ressam, accused of bringing explosives into the U.S. days before the millennium celebrations, was convicted twice in the same day - first in France for belonging to a group supporting Islamic militants, then in Los Angeles on terror charges.

...a bad day for Ahmed.

[jseal]

1614 ~ Death of El Greco (Domenikos Theotocopoulos), artist.

1770 ~ Birthday of William Wordsworth (http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/ww/bio.html), English poet.

1795 ~ France adopted the meter as the unit of length.

1862 ~ Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the battle of Shiloh (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0407.html#article) in Tennessee.

1891 ~ Death of P. T. Barnum, Circus Impresario.

1947 ~ Death of Henry Ford (http://www.hfha.org/), automobile manufacturer and industrialist.

1953 ~ Dag Hammarskjöld (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1961/hammarskjold-bio.html) was elected United Nations Secretary General.

1964 ~ IBM announced the System/360 (http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/mainframe_PR360.html).

1968 ~ Death of Jim Clark (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/7/newsid_2837000/2837559.stm), racing driver.

1969 ~ The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of First Request for Comment (http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/) (RFC).

[jseal]

1820 ~ The Venus de Milo was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.

1889 ~ Birthday of Sir Adrien Boult, English Conductor.

1945 ~ Pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/133.html) was executed at the POW camp at Flossenbürg.

1953 ~ Jomo Kenyatta was convicted (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/8/newsid_2887000/2887641.stm) of being a member of the Mau Mau.

1973 ~ Death of Pablo Picasso (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0408.html#article), artist.

1974 ~ Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record.

1975 ~ Frank Robinson managed his first game (http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/robinfr02.php) as major league baseball's first African American manager.

1982 ~ Birthday of Judy Star (http://www.judystarxxx.com/), Porn Actress.

1983 ~ Death of Omar Bradley (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/omarnels.htm), general.

2005 ~ The funeral of Pope John Paul II (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3305285/).

[jseal]

1865 ~ Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0409.html#article).

1940 ~ Operation Weserübung (http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=93): Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.

1942 ~ HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire (http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/remembering1942/vampire/index.htm) were sunk off Ceylon’s (Sri Lanka) east coast by Japanese naval aircraft.

1926 ~ Birthday of Hugh Hefner, Editor & Publisher.

1928 ~ Birthday of Tom Lehrer, Musician & Satirist (http://www.iankitching.me.uk/humour/lehrer/).

1945 ~ The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission was formed.

1974 ~ Birthday of Jenna Jameson (http://www.jennajameson.com/), Porn Actress.

1979 ~ Birthday of Katsuni (http://www.clubkatsuni.com/home.php), Porn Actress.

1991 ~ Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

2003 ~ Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/9/newsid_3502000/3502633.stm), beheading a toppled statue of the dictator in downtown Baghdad.

[jseal]

1847 ~ Birthday of Joseph Pulitzer, Journalist & Publisher.

1912 ~ The RMS Titanic (http://www.titanicstory.com/timeline.htm) left port in Southampton, England.

1919 ~ Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata was ambushed and killed by government forces.

1932 ~ Birthday of Omar Sharif (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001725/bio), Egyptian actor (Doctor Zhivago, anad many others).

1947 ~ Jackie Robinson (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0410.html#article) broke the color barrier in MLB.

1954 ~ Death of Auguste Lumière (http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/LUMIERE_BIO.html), Cinema Pioneer.

1963 ~ The American submarine USS Thresher (http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn593.htm) and its crew was lost off Cape Cod, Mass.

1966 ~ Death of Evelyn Waugh, Writer.

1970 ~ Paul McCartney announced that The Beatles (http://www.beatles.com/) had broken up.

1998 ~ The Belfast Agreement (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/10/newsid_2450000/2450823.stm) was signed.

[jseal]

1814 ~ Napoleon abdicated (http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110901/standard/downfall.html) and was exiled to Elba.

1906 ~ Death of James Bailey, co-founder with Phineas Barnum of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus (http://www.ringling.com/).

1932 ~ Birthday of Joel Grey, American singer and actor.

1945 ~ U.S. forces liberated Buchenwald concentration camp (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005198).

1951 ~ President Truman replaced General MacArthur (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0411.html#article) with Lieutenant-General Ridgway.

1961 ~ Bob Dylan made his singing début in New York City.

1961 ~ Start of war crimes trial of Adolf Eichmann (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/11/newsid_2476000/2476225.stm).

1979 ~ Idi Amin (http://www.cbv.ns.ca/dictator/Amin.html) deposed as president of Uganda.

1986 ~ Birthday of Roman Heart, Porn Actor.

2007 ~ Death of Kurt Vonnegut (http://www.vonnegut.com/), American author.

[jseal]

65 ~ Death of Lucius Annaeus Seneca (http://www.theatredatabase.com/ancient/seneca_001.html), Philosopher, Dramatist & Statesman.

1861 ~ The American Civil War began when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter (http://www.civilwarhome.com/ftsumter.htm) in South Carolina.

1895 ~ Birthday of Lily Pons, Opera Soprano.

1937 ~ Frank Whittle ground-tested the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft (http://www.aircraftenginedesign.com/custom.html3.html).

1940 ~ Birthday of Herbie Hancock, Musician.

1944 ~ Birthday of John Kay, of Steppenwolf (http://www.steppenwolf.com/).

1945 ~ President Franklin Roosevelt died (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0412.html#article).

1961 ~ Yuri Gagarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin) became the first man in space aboard Vostok 1.

1984 ~ Arthur Scargill, the man who led the destruction of the National Union of Mineworkers ruled out a national ballot of miners (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/12/newsid_2843000/2843003.stm) on whether to continue their strike.

1999 ~ President Clinton was cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit.

[jseal]

1570 ~ Birthday of Guy Fawkes (http://www.guyfawkes.me.uk/), Gunpowder Plot conspirator.

1742 ~ George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah (http://gfhandel.org/messiah.htm) premiered in Dublin, Ireland.

1743 ~ Birthday of Thomas Jefferson (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tj3.html), 3rd U.S. President.

1829 ~ The British Parliament granted freedom of religion to Roman Catholics.

1964 ~ Sidney Poitier broke the color barrier (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/13/newsid_2524000/2524235.stm) when he was awarded the “Best Actor” Oscar.

1970 ~ Apollo 13 was almost lost (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0413.html#article) when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst.

1980 ~ Birthday of Jana Cova (http://www.clubjanacova.com/), Porn Actress.

1990 ~ The Soviet Union admitted committing the Katyn Massacre (http://www.katyn.org.au/index.html).

1997 ~ Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win The Masters Tournament.

2008 ~ Death of John Wheeler, Theoretical Physicist (Black & Worm Holes) & Educator (Richard Feynman, Kip Thorne, & Hugh Everett, among others).

[jseal]

1759 ~ Death of Georg Friedrich Handel (http://gfhandel.org/), Composer.

1865 ~ President Lincoln was shot (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0414.html#article) by John Wilkes Booth.

1904 ~ Birthday of Sir John Gielgud, Actor.

1912 ~ RMS Titanic (http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/) struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage.

1935 ~ Death of Emmy Noether (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Noether_Emmy.html), Mathematician.

1939 ~ ''The Grapes of Wrath'' by John Steinbeck was published.

1964 ~ Death of Rachel Carson (http://www.rachelcarson.org/), Writer & Ecologist.

1988 ~ The USSR pledged to leave Afghanistan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/14/newsid_4419000/4419833.stm).

1995 ~ Death of Burl Ives, Singer & Actor.

1999 ~ A hailstorm in Sydney, Australia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Sydney_hailstorm) caused at least A$1.7 billion damages.

[jseal]

1707 ~ Birthday of Leonhard Euler (http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Euler/RouseBall/RB_Euler.html), Mathematician.

1912 ~ The RMS Titanic sank (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0415.html#article).

1924 ~ Birthday of Sir Neville Marriner, Conductor.

1945 ~ British & Canadian troops liberate Bergen-Belsen (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005224)

1947 ~ Jackie Robinson (http://www.jackierobinson.com/) broke MLB's racial segregation by playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1955 ~ The first McDonald's restaurant (http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/museums/first_store_museum.html) opened in Des Plaines, Illinois.

1971 ~ Birthday of Sarah Jane Hamilton, Porn Actress.

1985 ~ Birthday of Amy Reid, German Porn Actress.

1994 ~ Representatives of 124 countries signed the Marrakesh Agreements which replaced the GATT with the WTO (http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/tif_e.htm).

1998 ~ Death of Pol Pot (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/15/newsid_2491000/2491333.stm), Cambodian Dictator.

[jseal]

1867 ~ Birthday of Wilbur Wright (http://wright.nasa.gov/wilbur.htm), Pioneer Pilot.

1889 ~ Birthday of Charlie Chaplin, Actor, Writer & Film Producer.

1912 ~ Harriett Quimby (http://www.harrietquimby.org/) became the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.

1921 ~ Birthday of Peter Ustinov, Writer, Actor & Film Director.

1927 ~ Birthday of Joseph Ratzinger (http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bratz.html), German Shepard.

1943 ~ Dr. Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD (http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/LSD.html).

1947 ~ The explosive nature of ammonium nitrate fertilizer (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0416.html#article) first tested in the wild.

1963 ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail (http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html)" while locked up for protesting against segregation.

1991 ~ Death of David Lean, British film director (Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter, A Passage to India).

1993 ~ The UN voted to make Srebrenica a 'safe haven' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/16/newsid_4253000/4253441.stm).

[jseal]

1521 ~ Martin Luther appeared before the Holy Roman Emperor at Worms (http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/martin-luther.html), Germany, and was cross-examined about his thoughts on religious reform.

1790 ~ Death of Benjamin Franklin, Politician, Inventor, Diplomat, & Printer.

1837 ~ Birthday of J.P. Morgan (http://www.financial-inspiration.com/JP-Morgan-biography.html), Financier, Art Collector, & Philanthropist.

1861 ~ The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union (http://www.janus.umd.edu/Feb2002/Cote/01.html).

1894 ~ Birthday of Nikita Khrushchev (http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/bios/all_bio_nikita_khrushchev.htm), Soviet politician & Premier 1958-1964.

1903 ~ Birthday of Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist.

1961 ~ Cuba was invaded at the “Bay of Pigs (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0417.html#article)” by a U.S. supported invasion force of 1,500 Cuban exiles, who were defeated by Fidel Castro's forces.

1977 ~ Birthday of Phil Jamieson, Australian singer.

1984 ~ Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher was killed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/17/newsid_2488000/2488369.stm) by gunfire coming from the Libyan People's Bureau in central London.

2003 ~ Death of Dr. Robert Atkins (http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/04/17/obit.atkins/), noted for the Atkin's Diet.

[jseal]

1480 ~ Birthday of Lucrezia Borgia (http://www.nndb.com/people/160/000092881/), Renaissance ruler and daughter of Pope Alexander VI.

1772 ~ Birthday of David Ricardo (http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/het/profiles/ricardo.htm), Economist.

1775 ~ Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott (http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/oth1/revere_paul.htm) rode to warn of impending arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock and seizure of weapons.

1819 ~ Birthday of Franz von Suppé (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3_aM_s0R1U), Croatian /Austrian composer.

1955 ~ Death of Albert Einstein (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html), Physicist.

1958 ~ A federal court ruled that poet Ezra Pound should be released from an insane asylum.

1980 ~ Independence Day in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia).

1978 ~ The U.S. Senate narrowly backed President Carter's (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/18/newsid_2525000/2525147.stm) controversial Panama Canal treaty.

1992 ~ General Dostum rebelled against President Najibullah of Afghanistan & allied with Ahmed Massoud of the Northern Alliance to capture Kabul.

1999 ~ Wayne Gretzky (http://www.gretzky.com/) played his last National Hockey League game, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

[jseal]

1861 ~ The first bloodshed of the American Civil War (http://www.mdoe.org/riots_balt_1861.html). A pro-Secession mob in Baltimore, Maryland attacked Federal Army troops marching through the city.

1881 ~ Death of Benjamin Disraeli, former Prime Minister of the U.K.

1882 ~ Death of Charles Darwin, Biologist & Author.

1912 ~ Birthday of Glenn Seaborg (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1951/seaborg-bio.html), Chemist and Nobel Prize winner.

1956 ~ Actress Grace Kelly married Rainier III (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/19/newsid_2720000/2720723.stm) of Monaco.

1975 ~ Aryabhata (http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/aryabhata.html) was launched - India's first satellite.

1989 ~ Death of Daphne du Maurier, Author.

1993 ~ A siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents smashed their way in (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/waco/keystories.htm).

1995 ~ Oklahoma City bombing (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0419.html#article): The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was bombed, killing 168.

2005 ~ Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope; he took the name Benedict XVI (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7523254/).

[jseal]

1657 ~ The Jews of New York City (then New Amsterdam) were granted freedom of religion.

1889 ~ Birthday of Adolf Hitler (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/index.htm), German dictator, "Der Führer".

1912 ~ Death of Bram Stoker, Author (Dracula).

1918 ~ Manfred von Richthofen (http://www.acepilots.com/wwi/ger_richthofen.html) shot down his 79th and 80th victims - his final victories.

1968 ~ Pierre Trudeau (http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/politics/pm/pierretrudeau.htm) first became Prime Minister of Canada.

1968 ~ English politician Enoch Powell made his controversial Rivers of Blood (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/20/newsid_2489000/2489357.stm) speech.

1971 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0420.html#article).

1972 ~ Apollo 16 landed on the Moon.

1979 ~ U.S. President Carter was attacked by a Swamp Rabbit (http://www.narsil.org/index/peopl/jimmycarter/killerrabbit).

1999 ~ Columbine High School Massacre (http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/a/columbine.htm)

[jseal]

1649 ~ The Maryland Toleration Act (http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1601-1650/maryland/mta_i.htm), which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.

1816 ~ Birthday of Charlotte Brontë (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/brontbio.html), Author.

1838 ~ Birthday of John Muir (http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/), Environmentalist.

1910 ~ Death of Mark Twain (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0421.html#article), author.

1912 ~ The New York Giants and New York Yankees played an exhibition game to benefit survivors of the RMS Titanic.

1918 ~ "The Red Baron", Manfred von Richthofen, was shot down and killed over France.

1926 ~ Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/HMTheQueen.aspx) of the United Kingdom.

1944 ~ Women in France were enfranchised.

1960 ~ Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia (http://www.geocities.com/thetropics/3416/), transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.

1992 ~ The first extrasolar planets (http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/alex/pulsar_planets.htm) were announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

[jseal]

1870 ~ Birthday of Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary.

1889 ~ The Oklahoma Land Rush (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0422.html#article) began.

1937 ~ Birthday of Jack Nicholson, Actor.

1943 ~ Albert Hofmann wrote his first report about the hallucinogenic properties of LSD.

1952 ~ Birthday of Marilyn Chambers, Porn actress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behind_the_Green_Door).

1984 ~ Death of Ansel Adams (http://www.anseladams.com/), Photographer.

1997 ~ A four-month siege of the Japanese embassy in Peru ended (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/22/newsid_4297000/4297347.stm) when commandos stormed and captured the building, rescuing 71 hostages. Interestingly, all 14 rebels died.

2000 ~ In a pre-dawn raid, armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/22/newsid_2489000/2489485.stm) from his relatives' home in Miami; the 6-year-old boy was reunited with his father.

2002 ~ Death of Linda Lovelace (http://www.linda-lovelace.com/), Porn Actress.

2008 ~ The last F-117 Nighthawk (http://www.f-117a.com/) aircraft were retired.


Feastdays & Holidays

Earth Day : Canada (http://www.earthday.ca/pub/index.php), U.S. (http://earthday.gov/)

[jseal]

1564 ~ Birthday of William Shakespeare (http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/12/12), Playwright.

1858 ~ Birthday of Max Planck (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1918/planck-bio.html), Physicist. Awarded the Nobel Prize in physics 1918.

1891 ~ Birthday of Sergei Prokofiev, Soviet Composer.

1954 ~ Hank Aaron (http://baseballhall.org/media/photo-gallery/hank-aaron) hit his first major league home run.

1968 ~ Birthday of Timothy McVeigh, American Terrorist.

1969 ~ Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0423.html#article) for assassinating Sen. Robert Kennedy.

1985 ~ The Coca-Cola Co. introduced New Coke (http://web.archive.org/web/20060515214006/http://members.lycos.co.uk/thomassheils/newcoke.htm).

1998 ~ Death of James Earl Ray (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/23/newsid_2914000/2914267.stm), Assassin.

2004 ~ President Bush eased Reagan-era sanctions against Libya in return for Moammar Gadhafi's giving up weapons of mass destruction.

2007 ~ Death of Boris Yeltsin (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/23/russia.guardianobituaries), architect of the dismantling of the USSR.

[jseal]

1898 ~ Spain declared war on the U.S. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0424.html#article) over Cuba.

1905 ~ Birthday of Robert Penn Warren, Writer, Pulitzer Prize winner, first American Poet Laureate.

1916 ~ The Easter uprising began (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/1916_easter_rising.htm) when some 1,600 Irish nationalists seized several key sites in Dublin.

1942 ~ Birthday of Barbra Streisand, American Singer & Actress.

1967 ~ Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died (http://www.astronautix.com/astros/komarov.htm) in Soyuz 1.

1974 ~ Death of Bud Abbott, Actor & Comedian (Abbott and Costello (http://www.abbottandcostello.net/)).

1986 ~ Death of Wallis Simpson (http://www.npr.org/2011/04/20/135546958/american-harlot-wallis-simpson-gets-another-look), Mistress & Wife of The Duke of Windsor.

1990 ~ The Hubble Space Telescope was launched (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/24/newsid_4098000/4098760.stm) by Space Shuttle Discovery.

1996 ~ The main assembly of the Palestine Liberation Organization voted to revoke clauses in its charter that called for an armed struggle to destroy Israel.

2004 ~ Death of Estée Lauder (http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/lauder.html), Cosmetics pioneer.

[jseal]

1719 ~ Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe was published.

1792 ~ The French national anthem, “La Marseillaise” was composed.

1900 ~ Birthday of Wolfgang Pauli (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1945/pauli-bio.html), Physicist. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1945.

1906 ~ Birthday of William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.

1915 ~ Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/overview_gf.htm) in an unsuccessful attempt to remove the Ottoman Turkish Empire from WWI.

1917 ~ Birthday of Ella Fitzgerald (http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/), Jazz Singer.

1945 ~ The United Nations was organized (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0425.html#article) in San Francisco, California, by 50 nations.

1953 ~ Francis Crick and James Watson (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25/newsid_2932000/2932793.stm) published MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS (http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/watsoncrick.pdf): A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid describing the double helix structure of DNA.

1974 ~ Birthday of Dean Phoenix, Porn Actor.

1980 ~ Tehran hostage rescue mission failed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25/newsid_2503000/2503899.stm).

Feastdays & Holidays

Australia, New Zealand ~ ANZAC Day (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/25/3199645.htm?section=justin)

[jseal]

1785 ~ Birthday of John Audubon, Naturalist & Illustrator.

1865 ~ Death of John Wilkes Booth, Actor & Assassin. Buried in Green Mount Cemetery (http://www.greenmountcemetery.com/greenmount-cemetery-features-mvg.html).

1935 ~ Birthday of Carol Burnett (http://www.carolburnettfan.com/), Singer, Actress & Comedienne.

1937 ~ Planes from the Condor Legion, an adjunct of the Luftwaffe, bombed the Basque town of Guernica (http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/guernica/glevel_1/1_bombing.html) during the Spanish Civil War.

1945 ~ The Battle of Bautzen: The last successful German armoured offensive of WWII.

1986 ~ The world's worst nuclear accident (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0426.html#article) occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union.

1988 ~ Birthday of Kimber James (http://www.ts-kimberjames.com/tour/?nats=NTozOjE0,0,0,0,0), transsexual Porn actress.

1989 ~ Death of Lucille Ball (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/ball_l.html), Actress & Comedienne.

1994 ~ South Africa held its first multiracial elections.

2005 ~ Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon ended (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/26/newsid_4918000/4918584.stm).

[Oldfart]

[1915 ~ Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/overview_gf.htm) in an unsuccessful attempt to remove the Ottoman Turkish Empire from WWI.

I was taught that it was an attempt to secure a winter supply line to Russia.

Time and perspectives.

[jseal]

1521 ~ Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1519magellan.html) was killed in the Philippines.

1667 ~ John Milton sold the copyright of Paradise Lost (http://www.uwm.edu/Library/special/exhibits/clastext/clspg117.htm) for £10.

1791 ~ Birthday of Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse code (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code).

1822 ~ Birthday of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th U.S. President (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ug18.html).

1891 ~ Birthdayof Sergei Prokofiev, Soviet composer.

1904 ~ The Australian Labor Party became the first such party to gain national government, under Chris Watson.

1945 ~ Soviet and American armies link up (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/27/newsid_3563000/3563723.stm) at the Elbe.

1981 ~ Xerox PARC introduced the first commercially available computer mouse (http://www.oldmouse.com/mouse/xerox/star8010.shtml).

1999 ~ Death of Al Hirt (http://www.spaceagepop.com/hirt.htm), Musician.

2007 ~ Death of Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor.

[jseal]

1789 ~ Mutiny on the HMS Bounty (http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_bounty.htm). Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift.

1906 ~ Birthday of Kurt Gödel (http://kgs.logic.at/index.php?id=23), mathematician.

1937 ~ Birthday of Saddam Hussein (http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9347918), former leader of Iraq.

1941 ~ Birthday of Ann-Margret, Swedish-born actress.

1945 ~ Benito Mussolini (http://www.comandosupremo.com/Mussolini.html) and his mistress Clara Petacci were killed by members of the Italian resistance movement while trying to flee Italy (http://www.custermen.com/ItalyWW2/ILDUCE/Mussolini.htm).

1947 ~ Thor Heyerdahl and five crewmates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0428.html#article).

1952 ~ The U.S. occupation of Japan ended.

1994 ~ C.I.A. official Aldrich Ames (http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/aldrich-hazen-ames) pleaded guilty to selling U.S. secrets to the USSR.

2001 ~ Dennis Tito became the world's first space tourist (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/28/newsid_2501000/2501015.stm).

2003 ~ Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store launched.

[jseal]

1893 ~ Birthday of Harold Urey (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1934/urey-bio.html), American chemist, awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

1945 ~ Start of Operation Manna (http://www.heureka.clara.net/lincolnshire/operation-manna.htm).

1945 ~ American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp (http://www.humanitas-international.org/archive/dachau-liberation/) in Germany.

1951 ~ Death of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born philosopher.

1958 ~ The Broadway musical, My Fair Lady (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/29/newsid_2500000/2500351.stm), opened in London.

1980 ~ Death of Alfred Hitchcock, director.

1992 ~ Rioting broke out in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers accused of beating Rodney King (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0429.html#article).

1997 ~ The Chemical Weapons Convention (http://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/), a worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons, went into effect.

1936 ~ Death of John Kenneth Galbraith (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/30/AR2006043000422.html), Economist.

2008 ~ Death of Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who first synthesized LSD.

[jseal]

1877 ~ Birthday of Alice B. Toklas (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/toklas.htm), Muse and Brownie Chef.

1883 ~ Death of Édouard Manet, Impressionist Painter.

1916 ~ Birthday of Claude Shannon, the "Father of Information Theory”.

1938 ~ Birthday of Larry Niven, Science Fiction author.

1945 ~ Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun (http://www.auschwitz.dk/Braun.htm) committed suicide after being married for one day.

1948 ~ The Land Rover was introduced (http://www.allisons.org/ll/4/LandRover/S1/).

1973 ~ President Nixon took responsibility for the Watergate scandal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2933000/2933155.stm).

1975 ~ The South Vietnamese government in Saigon fell (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0430.html#article) to Communist forces.

1985 ~ Birthday of Ashley Alexandra Dupré (http://www.myspace.com/ashleydupre), Singer & Call Girl.

1993 ~ CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be free (http://tenyears-www.web.cern.ch/tenyears-www/Welcome.html) to everyone.

[jseal]

1840 ~ The Penny Black postage stamp put on sale (http://home.messiah.edu/~balthoff/History.html) in the UK.

1869 ~ The Folies Bergères (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHDtVfSdY0s) opened in Paris. Edouard Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (http://www.abcgallery.com/M/manet/manet46.html)” recalls the lot of one of the employees.

1904 ~ Death of Antonín Dvořák, Czech Composer.

1939 ~ Birthday of Judy Collins, American folk singer.

1941 ~ Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kane2/) premiered in New York City.

1944 ~ Birthday of Rita Coolidge (http://www.ritacoolidge.com/bio/), Singer.

1960 ~ Gary Powers was shot down (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0501.html#article) in a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union.

1978 ~ Death of Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer.

1982 ~ RAF aircraft attack two airstrips near Port Stanley (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/1/newsid_2480000/2480155.stm) in the Falkland Islands.

2004 ~ Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the European Union (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm).

[jseal]

1519 ~ Death of Leonardo da Vinci, inventor, painter.

1729 ~ Birthday of Empress Catherine II (http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/catherine.html) of Russia.

1892 ~ Birthday of "The Red Baron", Manfred von Richthofen (http://www.briggsenterprises.com/bluemax/).

1933 ~ The first modern sighting of the Loch Ness monster (http://www.nessie.co.uk/) was reported.

1945 ~ The Soviet Union announced the capture of Berlin (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0502.html#article).

1952 ~ The De Havilland Comet 1 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/2/newsid_2480000/2480339.stm), the world's first jet airliner, launched the jet age.

1955 ~ Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (http://bookreviews.nabou.com/reviews/catonahottinroof.html).

1972 ~ Death of J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI.

1982 ~ The British submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/2/newsid_2480000/2480241.stm).

1997 ~ The Tony Blair became Prime Minister of the UK.

[jseal]

1469 ~ Birthday of Niccolò Machiavelli (http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/macv.htm), Italian Historian & Political Author.

1844 ~ Birthday of Richard D'Oyly Carte (http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~melbear/richard.htm), English Impresario.

1898 ~ Birthday of Golda Meir (http://www.mscd.edu/golda/golda/chronology.shtml), Prime Minister of Israel.

1937 ~ Gone With the Wind (http://www.gwtw.org/gonewiththewind.html), a novel by Margaret Mitchell, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

1945 ~ Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.

1946 ~ The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (http://www.cnd.org/mirror/nanjing/NMTT.html) began in Tokyo against Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

1971 ~ Anti-war protesters began four days of demonstrations intended to shutting down Washington, D.C. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0503.html#article)

1972 ~ Birthday of Suzi Suzuki, Japanese Porn Actress.

1990 ~ The Latvian parliament met to declare independence (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/3/newsid_2481000/2481337.stm) from the USSR.

2006 ~ Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison.

[jseal]

1825 ~ Birthday of Thomas Henry Huxley (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/thuxley.html), "Darwin's Bulldog", English Scientist.

1852 ~ Birthday of Alice Liddell, for whom Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland.

1929 ~ Birthday of Audrey Hepburn (http://www.audreyhepburn.com/), Film & Stage Actress Extraordinaire.

1942 ~ The Battle of the Coral Sea (http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/bfa/coralsea.html), the first naval clash fought with carrier aircraft, began during World War II.

1953 ~ Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for "The Old Man and the Sea".

1970 ~ The Ohio National Guard opened fire on Kent State (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0504.html#article) University students protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.

1975 ~ Death of Moe Howard, actor, comedian; member of the Three Stooges.

1979 ~ Margaret Thatcher became the UK’s first female Prime Minister (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/4/newsid_2503000/2503195.stm).

1980 ~ Death of Josip Tito (http://www.titoville.com/), President of Yugoslavia.

1982 ~ The HMS Sheffield was sunk by an Exocet missile (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/4/newsid_2504000/2504155.stm) during the Falklands War.

[jseal]

1807 ~ Death of P.D.Q. Bach (http://www.schickele.com/pdqbio.htm), fictitious Composer.

1818 ~ Birthday of Karl Marx (http://www.marxists.org/), Political Philosopher.

1925 ~ Biology teacher John Scopes was arrested (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm) for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution in Dayton, Tennessee.

1944 ~ Birthday of John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor (Gimli).

1948 ~ Birthday of Bill Ward, British Musician (Black Sabbath).

1961 ~ Alan Shepard (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0505.html#article) became the first American to travel into space.

1967 ~ First all-British satellite 'Ariel 3 (http://www.tbs-satellite.com/tse/online/sat_ariel_3.html)' launched into orbit.

1980 ~ Great Britain’s SAS stormed the Iranian embassy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/5/newsid_2510000/2510873.stm) in London after a six day siege.

1992 ~ Wolfenstein 3D (http://www.3drealms.com/wolf3d/) was released, the first-ever first-person shooter computer game.

1995 ~ Death of Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion.

[jseal]

1856 ~ Birthday of Sigmund Freud (http://www.freudfile.org/), psychiatrist, founder of Psychoanalysis.

1915 ~ Birthday of T.H. White, Writer.

1915 ~ Birthday of Orson Welles, Director.

1931 ~ Birthday of Willie Mays, baseball player.

1937 ~ The German zeppelin Hindenburg (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0506.html#article) caught fire and was destroyed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

1940 ~ John Steinbeck (http://www.steinbeck.org/MainFrame.html) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.

1953 ~ Birthday of Tony Blair (http://www.tonyblairoffice.org/), ex-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1954 ~ Roger Bannister (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511575.stm) became the first man to run the mile in under four minutes.

1994 ~ Queen Elizabeth and French President François Mitterrand (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511653.stm) opened the Chunnel.

1994 ~ Paula Jones (http://www.nndb.com/people/923/000023854/) filed suit against President Clinton, alleging he'd sexually harassed her in 1991.

[jseal]

1825 ~ Death of Antonio Salieri, Composer.

1840 ~ Birthday of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer.

1915 ~ World War I: A German U-boat sank the RMS Lusitania (http://www.lusitania.net/), killing 1,198 people.

1919 ~ Birthday of Eva Peron (http://www.evitaperon.org/), wife of Argentine President Juan Peron.

1933 ~ Birthday of Johnny Unitas (http://www.johnnyunitas.com/), American football star.

1945 ~ General Alfred Jodl signed unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in World War II (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0507.html#article).

1954 ~ The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (http://www.dienbienphu.org/english/index.htm) ended in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).

1975 ~ Birthday of Nicole Sheridan (http://www.nicolesheridan.com/main.php), Porn Actress.

1999 ~ Kosovo War: Three Chinese embassy workers were killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft “mistakenly” bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. President Clinton called the attack a “tragic mistake”.

2007 ~ The tomb of Herod the Great (http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodians/herod_the_great01.html) was discovered.

[jseal]

1794 ~ French chemist Antoine Lavoisier was tried, convicted, and guillotined all on one day in Paris.

1873 ~ Death of John Stuart Mill (http://www.iep.utm.edu/m/milljs.htm), Empiricist Philosopher.

1895 ~ Birthday of Fulton J. Sheen (http://www.allendrake.com/elpasohistory/sheen/index.htm), bishop and television personality.

1968 ~ Birthday of Jamie Summers (http://www.jamiesummersxxx.com/), American porn star.

1973 ~ The Second Battle of Wounded Knee (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0508.html#article) ended.

1978 ~ David Berkowitz pleaded guilty to the ''Son of Sam'' killings.

1984 ~ The Soviet Union announced that it would boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/8/newsid_2518000/2518931.stm).

1985 ~ Death of Theodore Sturgeon (http://www.physics.emory.edu/~weeks/sturgeon/), Science Fiction writer.

1988 ~ Death of Robert Heinlein, Science Fiction writer.

1999 ~ The Citadel (http://www.citadel.edu/), South Carolina's formerly all-male military school, graduated its first female cadet (http://www.nancymace.net/).

[jseal]

1874 ~ Birthday of Howard Carter (http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/4hcart.html), British archaeologist.

1901 ~ Australia opened its first parliament in Melbourne.

1903 ~ Death of Paul Gauguin (http://www.abcgallery.com/G/gauguin/gauguin.html), French Post-Impressionist painter.

1931 ~ Death of Albert Michelson (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1907/michelson-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1949 ~ Birthday of Billy Joel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEPV4kolz0), American musician.

1961 ~ Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles became the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.

1972 ~ Israeli commandos liberated a hijacked Sabena airliner (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/9/newsid_4326000/4326707.stm) at Lod airport in Tel Aviv.

1974 ~ The U.S. Congress’s House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

1986 ~ Death of Tenzing Norgay (http://www.tenzing-norgay.com/pages/tenzingnorgaysherpa.html), Mountaineer.

1994 ~ Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0509.html#article).

[jseal]

1904 ~ Birthday of Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter.

1918 ~ Birthday of Richard Feynman (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1965/feynman-bio.html), American Physicist.

1973 ~ Charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0511.html#article).

1981 ~ Death of Bob Marley (http://www.bobmarley.com/), Reggae musician.

1987 ~ The first heart-lung transplant took place in Baltimore, Maryland.

1988 ~ Death of Kim Philby (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967442,00.html), Spy.

1997 ~ IBM's Deep Blue chess-playing supercomputer defeated Garry Kasparov (http://www.research.ibm.com/deepblue/games/game6/html/c.2.shtml) in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player.

1998 ~ India announced that it had tested a group of nuclear weapons (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/11/newsid_3664000/3664259.stm).

2001 ~ Death of Douglas Adams (http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1233876/), Science Fiction author.

2003 ~ Death of Noel Redding, the bass guitarist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

[jseal]

1820 ~ Birthday of Florence Nightingale (http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/cms/index.php/florence-introduction), Nurse.

1845 ~ Birthday of Gabriel Fauré, Composer.

1884 ~ Death of Bedrich Smetana (http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/smetana.html), Composer.

1889 ~ Death of John Cadbury, Chocolate Entrepreneur.

1918 ~ Birthday of Julius Rosenberg (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_BJRO.HTM), Spy.

1942 ~ The start of Second Battle of Kharkov: During the battle the Soviets recapture the city of Kharkov from the German Army, then were encircled and destroyed.

1943 ~ Axis forces in North Africa surrendered (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0512.html#article).

1962 ~ Douglas MacArthur delivered his famous "Duty, Honor, Country (http://www.nationalcenter.org/MacArthurFarewell.html)" valedictory speech at West Point.

1971 ~ Mick Jagger married Bianca Perez Morena de Macias (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/12/newsid_2884000/2884833.stm) in St Tropez.

2003 ~ Al Qaeda killed 26 people in the Riyadh compound bombings (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/14/attack/main553938.shtml).

[jseal]

1787 ~ Captain Arthur Phillip left Portsmouth, England with eleven ships of convicts to establish a penal colony in Australia (http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020292b.htm).

1842 ~ Birthday of Sir Arthur Sullivan (http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/) of Gilbert & Sullivan, Composer.

1861 ~ Queen Victoria issued a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognized the breakaway Confederate states as having belligerent rights.

1888 ~ Brazil abolished slavery.

1912 ~ The Royal Flying Corps (http://www.army.mod.uk/aviation/4118.aspx) (now the Royal Air Force) was established in the U.K.

1940 ~ Winston Churchill made his "blood, tears, toil and sweat (http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/churchill.htm)" speech to the House of Commons.

1979 ~ Birthday of Lauren Phoenix (http://www.laurenphoenix.com/tour1/index.php?&nats=My4yLjUzLjUzLjAuMC4wLjAuMA), Canadian Porn Actress.

1981 ~ Mehmet Ali Agca attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0513.html#article) at St. Peter's Square in Rome.

1981 ~ Birthday of Sunny Leone (http://www.sunnyleone.com/home?nats=Mi4zLjEuMS4zLjAuMC4wLjA), Canadian/American Porn Actress.

1995 ~ Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to climb Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/13/newsid_2843000/2843951.stm).

[jseal]

1787 ~ Delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution (http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/).

1925 ~ Death of H. Rider Haggard, Author.

1948 ~ The independent state of Israel was proclaimed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0514.html#article).

1955 ~ The USSR and seven other communist bloc countries signed a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/14/newsid_3771000/3771065.stm).

1969 ~ Birthday of Cate Blanchett, Australian actress (Galadriel (http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/galadriel.html)).

1973 ~ Skylab 1 (http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/skylab/skylab.htm), the first American space station, was launched.

1978 ~ Death of Robert Menzies (http://www.menziesvirtualmuseum.org.au/), twelfth Prime Minister of Australia.

1987 ~ Death of Rita Hayworth, American actress.

1998 ~ Death of Frank Sinatra (http://www.franksinatra.com/), Singer & Actor.

2004 ~ Piers Morgan was fired as editor of the Daily Mirror for publishing photographs of alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers that were shown to be fake.

[jseal]

1869 ~ Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in New York city.

1886 ~ Death of Emily Dickinson (http://www.emilydickinson.org/), Poet.

1911 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Standard Oil Company (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0515.html#article), requiring its break up under the Sherman Anti-Trust act.

1919 ~ The Winnipeg General Strike (http://www.histori.ca/peace/page.do?pageID=347) began.

1930 ~ Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess (http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/echurch.html), on a flight from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois.

1953 ~ Birthday of Mike Oldfield, English composer (Tubular Bells (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpPwC7QRvFQ&feature=related)).

1957 ~ Britain tested its first hydrogen bomb (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/15/newsid_2510000/2510335.stm) in Operation Grapple.

1972 ~ George C. Wallace was shot (http://www.trivia-library.com/a/assassination-attempts-george-c-wallace-alabama-governor-part-1.htm) and left paralyzed while campaigning for the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination.

1988 ~ The Soviet Union began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.

1991 ~ Edith Cresson became France's first female Prime Minister.

[jseal]

1868 ~ The U.S. Senate failed to convict President Andrew Johnson (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0516.html#article) of the articles of impeachment against him.

1943 ~ The Jewish Warsaw ghetto uprising (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/16/newsid_3501000/3501730.stm) ended.

1955 ~ Birthday of Olga Korbut (http://www.olgakorbut.com/), gymnast.

1966 ~ Birthday of Janet Jackson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Jackson#2004.E2.80.932005:_Super_Bowl_XXXVIII_and_Damita_Jo), Super Bowl Half Time Flasher.

1966 ~ The Chinese Cultural Revolution (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/05/19/2003309005) started when The Communist Party issued the "May 16 Notice".

1969 ~ The Soviet space probe Venera 5 (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1969-001A) landed on Venus.

1979 ~ Birthday of McKenzie Lee, English pornographic actress.

1990 ~ Death of Sammy Davis, Jr. (http://www.sammydavis-jr.com/), Entertainer.

2002 ~ Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones opened in theaters.

2005 ~ Newsweek magazine retracted its Koran abuse story that started protests in Afghanistan.

[jseal]

1749 ~ Birthday of Edward Jenner (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/edward_jenner.htm), inventor of vaccination.

1838 ~ Death of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat.

1935 ~ Death of Paul Dukas (http://www.dsokids.com/listen/composerdetail.aspx?composerid=47), French composer.

1936 ~ Birthday of Dennis Hopper, Actor & Director.

1943 ~ The RAF carried out the Dambusters raid (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/17/newsid_3623000/3623223.stm).

1954 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court issued their decision in Brown v. Board of Education (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0517.html#article).

1974 ~ Thirty-three people were killed by terrorist bombings in Ireland (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/17/newsid_4311000/4311459.stm).

1992 ~ Death of Lawrence Welk (http://www.spaceagepop.com/welk.htm), American musician.

1996 ~ President Bill Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in - Megan's Law (http://meganslaw.com/).

2004 ~ Same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts.

[jseal]

1872 ~ Birthday of Bertrand Russell (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1950/russell-bio.html), Logician & Philosopher, awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature 1950.

1910 ~ The Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet.

1911 ~ Death of Gustav Mahler (http://www.gustav-mahler.org/english/), Austrian Composer.

1919 ~ Birthday of Dame Margot Fonteyn (http://www.ballet.co.uk/old/legend_js_margot_fonteyn.htm), Ballet dancer.

1937 ~ Birthday of Brooks Robinson, Baseball Hall of Famer (http://baseballhall.org/media/video/robinson-brooks-0).

1944 ~ Monte Cassino fell to the Allies (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/18/newsid_3544000/3544047.stm).

1974 ~ India became the sixth nuclear nation (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaSmiling.html) by successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon.

1975 ~ Death of Leroy Anderson, American Composer.

1980 ~ Mount St. Helens in Washington state exploded (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0518.html#article), leaving 57 people dead or missing.

1993 ~ In a penetrating comment on the European notion of democracy, the second attempt to ratify the Maastricht Treaty, which could not come into effect unless ratified by all members of the European Union, was placed before the Danes. When the result of the referendum was announced, the outcome and frustrations about the referendum being held only a year after the Danes had rejected the previous treaty led to riots in the Nørrebro area of Copenhagen, during which the police fired into a crowd. 11 people were subsequently treated for gunshot wounds.

[jseal]

1536 ~ Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England was beheaded for adultery.

1795 ~ Birthday of Johns Hopkins (http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/photos/philanthropy/html/hopkins.htm), Philanthropist.

1890 ~ Birthday of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader.

1921 ~ The U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act (http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html), which established national quotas for immigrants.

1925 ~ Birthday of Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge leader.

1935 ~ Death of T. E. Lawrence, English soldier ("Lawrence of Arabia (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0519.html#article)").

1965 ~ Tui Malila, the longest living animal known (http://www.extremescience.com/OldestLivingcreature.htm), died in Tonga at the age of either 188 or 192.

1983 ~ Birthday of Eve Angel (http://www.eveangel.com/preview/aboutme/), Hungarian Porn Actress.

2001 ~ Sun Zhonghua (http://www.indopedia.org/Zhonghua_Sun.html) was killed by People's Republic of China government officials because she refused to be sterilized under the "One child" policy.

2004 ~ PM Blair hit with a purple flour filled condom (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/19/newsid_4516000/4516355.stm).

[jseal]

1873 ~ Levi Strauss (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Strauss.html) and Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

1883 ~ The eruption of Krakatoa began (http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Krakatau.html), leading ultimately to the volcano's destruction three months later.

1896 ~ Death of Clara Schumann (http://www.geneva.edu/~dksmith/clara/schumann.html), German Pianist and Composer.

1901 ~ Birthday of Max Euwe (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=10706), Dutch world chess champion.

1927 ~ Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island, New York, (http://www.charleslindbergh.com/history/paris.asp) on the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, arriving in Paris the next day.

1940 ~ The first prisoners arrive at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

1961 ~ U.S. marshals were sent to restore order in Montgomery, Alabama (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0520.html#article).

1989 ~ Death of Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress.

2000 ~ Death of Jean Pierre Rampal (http://www.ffaire.com/rampal/), French flutist.

2002 ~ Death of Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist.

[jseal]

1832 ~ The first Democratic National Convention got under way, in Baltimore, Maryland.

1881 ~ Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/brief.asp).

1921 ~ Birthday of Andrei Sakharov (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1975/sakharov-autobio.html), physicist and human rights activist, awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize.

1924 ~ Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb (http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/leoploeb/leopold.htm) murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing".

1933 ~ Birthday of Maurice André, trumpeter.

1978 ~ Birthday of Briana Banks (http://www.brianabanks.com/main.php), Porn Actress.

1979 ~ Birthday of Jesse Capelli (http://www.jessecapelli.com/t1-nats/?nats=MC4wLjkuOS4wLjAuMC4w), Canadian Porn Actress.

1991 ~ Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/21/newsid_2504000/2504739.stm) by a female suicide bomber.

2000 ~ Death of Sir John Gielgud, British actor.

2004 ~ Stanislav Petrov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov) was awarded the World Citizen Award for averting a potential World War III in 1983.

[jseal]

1813 ~ Birthday of Richard Wagner (http://www.trell.org/wagner/), Composer.

1840 ~ Transporting British convicts to the New South Wales colony was abolished.

1856 ~ In one of the more impressive expressions of American democracy, Congressman Preston Brooks (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000885) of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S001068) with a cane in the hall of the U.S. Senate because of a speech Sumner had made which attacked Southerners (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm) who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas.

1859 ~ Birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/), Physician & Writer.

1885 ~ Death of Victor Hugo, French author.

1907 ~ Birthday of Sir Laurence Olivier (http://www.laurenceolivier.com/), Actor & Director.

1907 ~ Birthday of Hergé (http://lambiek.net/artists/h/herge.htm), comic book creator.

1947 ~ The Truman Doctrine (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0522.html#article) was enacted.

1969 ~ The lunar module of Apollo 10 separated from the command module and flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/22/newsid_3034000/3034569.stm).

1972 ~ Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka, adopted a new constitution, and joined the British Commonwealth.

[jseal]

1430 ~ Joan of Arc (http://www.joanofarc.info/) was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.

1701 ~ Captain William Kidd (http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Scotland-History/CaptainKidd.htm) was hanged in London after being convicted of piracy and murder.

1848 ~ Birthday of Otto Lilienthal, aviation pioneer.

1873 ~ Canada's North West Mounted Police (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hist/index-eng.htm) force was established.

1906 ~ Death of Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian writer.

1908 ~ Birthday of John Bardeen, the only man to have been awarded the Nobel prize in Physics twice; 1956 (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1956/bardeen-bio.html) & 1972 (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1972/bardeen-bio.html).

1934 ~ Death of Bonnie and Clyde (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0523.html#article), Outlaws.

1951 ~ The Tibetan government is forced to sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People's Republic of China.

1951 ~ Birthday of Anatoly Karpov (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/karpov/karpov.htm), Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion.

1962 ~ Raoul Salan, the leader of the Secret Army Organisation (OAS) was sentenced to life imprisonment (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/23/newsid_4340000/4340769.stm).

[jseal]

1819 ~ Birthday of Queen Victoria (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheHanoverians/Victoria.aspx).

1844 ~ The first telegram was sent by Samuel Morse, from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, D.C., saying "What hath God wrought? (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mmorse&fileName=071/071009/071009page.db)".

1883 ~ The Brooklyn Bridge (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0524.html#article) was opened.

1941 ~ The German battleship Bismarck sank the battlecruiser HMS Hood (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-atl/batlt-41/bismk-c3.htm) in the North Atlantic, killing all but three crewmen.

1941 ~ Birthday of Bob Dylan, Singer and Songwriter.

1969 ~ Death of Willy Ley (http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Ley.html), rocket scientist.

1976 ~ BOAC and Air France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde (http://www.concordesst.com/) service to Washington.

1995 ~ Death of Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

2001 ~ 23 people were killed and hundreds injured at a wedding party in Jerusalem when the floor collapsed.

2001 ~ Democrats gained control of the U.S. Senate for when Sen. Jeffords of Vermont (http://www.npr.org/blogs/politicaljunkie/2009/04/on_this_day_in_2005_vermonts_s.html) declared himself an independent.

[jseal]

1803 ~ Birthday of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Quotable Individual (http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson/).

1895 ~ Playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/oscar_wilde/13.html) of a morals charge in London and sentenced to prison.

1925 ~ John T. Scopes was indicted (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0525.html#article) in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.

1926 ~ Birthday of Miles Davis, Jazz Musician

1929 ~ Birthday of Beverly Sills, Soprano.

1934 ~ Death of Gustav Holst, English composer.

1953 ~ The U.S. conducted its only nuclear artillery test (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Upshotk.html).

1961 ~ President Kennedy set the US goal to put the first man on the moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/25/newsid_4369000/4369187.stm) by the end of that decade.

1963 ~ The Organisation of African Unity (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/25/newsid_2502000/2502771.stm) was set up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

1982 ~ HMS Coventry was sunk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNUnbr_voHs&feature=related) during the Falklands War.

[jseal]

1703 ~ Death of Samuel Pepys, English civil servant, famous for his diary (http://www.pepysdiary.com/).

1868 ~ The Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0526.html#article) with his acquittal.

1896 ~ The first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (http://www.mdleasing.com/djia.htm) published

1897 ~ Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Bloodline.html) went on sale in London.

1907 ~ Birthday of Rachel Carson (http://www.rachelcarson.org/), Environmental writer.

1908 ~ The first commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjid-al-Salaman in southwest Iran.

1928 ~ Birthday of Jack Kevorkian, Physician.

1951 ~ Birthday of Sally Ride (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html), Astronaut.

1966 ~ Birthday of Zola Budd, South African athlete.

2002 ~ The Mars Odyssey found signs of water ice (http://www.daviddarling.info/archive/2002/archiveMay02.html#Marsice2) deposits on the planet Mars.

[jseal]

1877 ~ Birthday of Isadora Duncan, Dancer.

1923 ~ Birthday of Henry Kissinger (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1973/kissinger-bio.html), American diplomat, recipient of The Nobel Peace Prize 1973.

1933 ~ The Walt Disney Co. released the cartoon The Three Little Pigs (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/badwolf.htm), with its hit song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

1934 ~ Birthday of Harlan Ellison, Science Fiction author.

1941 ~ The German battleship Bismarck was sunk.

1963 ~ Jomo Kenyatta led his party, Kenya African Nation Union, to victory in the Kenya’s first general election (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/27/newsid_2496000/2496069.stm).

1964 ~ Death of Jawaharlal Nehru (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0527.html#article), independent India’s first PM.

1976 ~ Birthday of Anita Blonde (http://anitablondonline.com/anita_blond_biography.html), Hungarian Porn Actress.

1995 ~ Actor Christopher Reeve (Superman (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001659/)) was paralyzed when he was thrown from his horse during a jumping event.

1997 ~ The Supreme Court ruled that Paula Jones could pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/timeline.htm) while he was in office.

[jseal]

1908 ~ Birthday of Ian Fleming (http://www.ianfleming.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=96), author of James Bond books.

1925 ~ Birthday of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone.

1934 ~ Birthday of The Dionne quintuplets (http://www.quintland.com/), the world's first surviving quintuplets.

1936 ~ Alan Turing submitted On Computable Numbers (http://abelard.org/turpap2/tp2-ie.asp#section-1) for publication.

1964 ~ The Palestine Liberation Organization (http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1948to1967_plo_backgd.php) was formed.

1971 ~ Death of Audie Murphy, American actor & war hero.

1987 ~ Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old West German pilot, landed a private plane in Moscow's Red Square (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,819972,00.html) after evading Soviet air defenses.

1984 ~ President Reagan led a state funeral (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0528.html#article) at Arlington National Cemetery for an unidentified American soldier killed in the Vietnam War.

1996 ~ President Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, James & Susan McDougal, and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker, were convicted of fraud.

1998 ~ Pakistan matched India (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/28/newsid_2495000/2495045.stm) with five nuclear test blasts.

[jseal]

1903 ~ Birthday of Bob Hope (http://www.bobhope.com/), British-born Comedian & Actor.

1906 ~ Birthday of T.H. White (http://www2.netdoor.com/~moulder/thwhite/), English author.

1913 ~ Igor Stravinsky's ballet score “The Rite of Spring” premiered in Paris.

1917 ~ Birthday of John Kennedy, U.S. President.

1919 ~ Arthur Eddington's observation of shifted star positions during a solar eclipse confirmed Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8061449.stm).

1953 ~ Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0529.html#article) became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1972 ~ Three Japanese Red Army gunmen opened fire on crowds (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/29/newsid_2542000/2542263.stm) at Lod (now Ben Gurion) International Airport, Israel, killing 26 people and injuring dozens more.

1998 ~ Death of Barry Goldwater, U.S. senator & presidential candidate.

1999 ~ The Discovery Space Shuttle completed the first docking with the International Space Station (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html).

2005 ~ French voters rejected the European Union's proposed constitution (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/29/AR2005052900644.html).

[jseal]

1431 ~ Death of Joan of Arc (http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_short_biography.html), Condemned Heretic (burned at the stake in Rouen, France).

1778 ~ Death of Voltaire, French philosopher & Author.

1912 ~ Death of Wilbur Wright, aviation pioneer, the elder of the Wright Brothers.

1926 ~ Birthday of Christine Jorgensen (http://www.transgenderzone.com/features/ChristineJorgensen.htm), transsexual activist.

1942 ~ 1,047 British bombers launched a 90-minute attack (http://www.answers.com/topic/bombing-of-cologne-in-world-war-ii) on Cologne, Germany.

1964 ~ Death of Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-American nuclear physicist.

1982 ~ Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr played the first of 2,632 consecutive games. His streak ended on September 20, 1998.

1989 ~ The 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy (http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/05/goddess-of-democracy-erected-in-beijing-workers-resistance-lags/)" statue was unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

1997 ~ Child molester Jesse K. Timmendequas was convicted in Trenton, N.J., of raping and strangling a 7-year-old neighbor, Megan Kanka - a case that inspired ''Megan's Law (http://www.megans-law.net/)", which requires that communities be notified when sex offenders move in.

2001 ~ Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/30/newsid_2542000/2542475.stm) was convicted of corruption. Interestingly, that month, prosecutors dropped their case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Strauss-Kahn) – a former finance minister in Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's cabinet, and the same DSK who has now been charged in NYC with sexual assault - for forgery and misappropriation of funds.

[jseal]

1678 ~ The first Godiva Procession, in commemoration of the legendary ride (http://www.phoenixrisingcanada.com/pa/NewboldRevel/Godiva.htm).

1819 ~ Birthday of Walt Whitman (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/whitman.html), American Poet.

1889 ~ A dam broke near Johnstown, Pa (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0531.html#article), drowning more than 2,000.

1916 ~ British and German fleets fought the Battle of Jutland (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/jutland.htm) off Denmark.

1923 ~ Birthday of Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

1927 ~ The Ford Model T (http://www.modelt.ca/background-fs.html) assembly line shut down after a production run of 15,007,003.

1938 ~ Birthday of Peter Yarrow, American folk singer ("Peter, Paul and Mary").

1957 ~ Playwright Arthur Miller was convicted of contempt of Congress (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/31/newsid_4417000/4417523.stm).

1993 ~ Death of Spuds Mackenzie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7t7qT-R_10&feature=related), the original party animal.

1996 ~ Death of Timothy Leary (http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/sixties/leary.html), LSD advocate.

[jseal]

1494 ~ :angel: Friar John Cor (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=87282004) :angel: recorded the first known batch of scotch whisky.

1804 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer.

1918 ~ The Battle for Belleau Wood (http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/ct_bw.htm) began, during which came forth the famous phrase "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" Heroes indeed!

1926 ~ Birthday of Marilyn Monroe (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000054/bio), Actress.

1938 ~ Action Comics issued the first Superman comic (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/yeung/actioncomics/cover.html).

1958 ~ Charles de Gaulle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/1/newsid_2995000/2995283.stm) became premier of France.

1968 ~ Death of Helen Keller (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0601.html#article), American humanitarian.

1967 ~ The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (http://www.beatletracks.com/btsgtppr.html) was released.

1990 ~ President Bush and General Secretary Gorbachev signed a treaty to end chemical weapon production.

2009 ~ General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

[jseal]

1740 ~ Birthday of Marquis de Sade (http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/sade/index_1.html), Famous French Pervert.

1835 ~ Start of P.T. Barnum (http://www.ptbarnum.org/)’s circus’ first tour of the U.S.

1840 ~ Birthday of Thomas Hardy, Poet & Novelist.

1897 ~ Mark Twain, responding to rumors that he was dead, was quoted (http://www.twainquotes.com/quotesatoz.html) as saying, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

1946 ~ Italians voted to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic.

1953 ~ Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0602.html#article) of the United Kingdom.

1966 ~ First U.S. Lunar soft landing (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/2/newsid_4081000/4081677.stm), by Surveyor 1.

1990 ~ Death of Rex Harrison, English actor.

1994 ~ Death of David Stove (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stove), Australian philosopher of Science.

2003 ~ ESA’s Mars Express (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/index.html) was launched.

[jseal]

1875 ~ Death of Georges Bizet, French composer.

1888 ~ The poem Casey at the Bat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PgfWd3Fyuo&feature=related), by Ernest Thayer, was published in the SF Examiner.

1899 ~ Death of Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer.

1924 ~ Death of Franz Kafka (http://www.kafka-franz.com/kafka-Biography.htm), Austrian novelist.

1926 ~ Birthday of Allen Ginsberg (http://www.allenginsberg.org/), American poet.

1937 ~ The Duke of Windsor (http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542031) married American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson (http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19370104,00.html), for whom he had abdicated the British throne.

1965 ~ Edward White became the first American astronaut to walk in space (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0603.html#article).

1969 ~ The science fiction television series Star Trek aired its final new episode (http://www.tv.com/star-trek/turnabout-intruder/episode/24962/summary.html?tag=episodes;title;0) after being canceled by NBC.

1982 ~ The Israeli ambassador to Britain was shot (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/3/newsid_2496000/2496109.stm) on a London street.

1989 ~ Death of Ayatollah Khomeini, Iranian Shi'ite leader.

[jseal]

1798 ~ Death of Giacomo Casanova (http://www.lifeinitaly.com/heroes-villains/giacomo-casanova.asp), Italian Lover.

1928 ~ Birthday of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, German-American Sex Therapist.

1940 ~ The Allies completed the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/4/newsid_3500000/3500865.stm), France.

1944 ~ Birthday of Michelle Phillips, American Singer (The Mamas & the Papas (http://www.classicbands.com/mamas.html)).

1975 ~ Birthday of Angelina Jolie, American Actress.

1984 ~ The album ''Born in the U.S.A. (http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/BornInTheUSA.html)'' by Bruce Springsteen was released.

1919 ~ Birthday of Jenaveve Jolie (http://www.clubjenaveve.com/tour1.html), Mexican-American Porn Actress .

1986 ~ Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to espionage (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_pollard.html) for selling top secret U.S. military intelligence to Israel.

1989 ~ The Tiananmen Square Massacre (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0604.html#article).

1998 ~ Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

[jseal]

1723 ~ Birthday of Adam Smith (http://www.econlib.org/Library/Enc/bios/Smith.html), Scottish Economist.

1883 ~ Birthday of John Keynes (http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/het/profiles/keynes.htm), English Economist.

1944 ~ The first of the three Axis capitals, Rome, was liberated.

1947 ~ At a speech at Harvard University, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall called for economic aid to Europe.

1961 ~ Death of Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist.

1963 ~ UK Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigned over a sex scandal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/5/newsid_2660000/2660375.stm).

1967 ~ Israel began the “Six Day War (http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1948to1967_sixday_backgd.php)” with a pre-emptive attack on Egypt.

1968 ~ Sen. Robert Kennedy was shot (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0605.html#article) in Los Angeles, CA.

1975 ~ Death of Paul Keres (http://www.phileo.demon.co.uk/uk_files.htm#PK), Estonian chess player.

1977 ~ The first practical personal computer, the Apple II (http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/06/dayintech_0605), went on sale.

[jseal]

1844 ~ The Young Men's Christian Association (http://www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/history_of_the_ymca.html) (YMCA) was founded in London.

1868 ~ Birthday of Robert Falcon Scott, English Explorer.

1901 ~ Birthday of Sukarno, first President of Indonesia.

1944 ~ D-Day began (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0606.html#article) with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France.

1956 ~ Birthday of Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player.

1983 ~ Birthday of Gianna Michaels (http://www.giannamichaelsxxx.com/gianna_main.html), Porn Actress.

1984 ~ Indian troops stormed the Golden Temple (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499341.stm) in Amritsar.

1985 ~ Authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as that of Dr. Josef Mengele (http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blmengele.htm), the Nazi doctor who conducted medical experiments on inmates at Auschwitz.

2002 ~ A Near Earth Object (NEO), estimated at 10 metres diameter, exploded over the Mediterranean Sea. (http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=8834) The explosion is estimated to have been roughly equal to that used at Nagasaki.

2002 ~ The Wye Oak (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/wyeoak.html), Maryland's honorary state tree, was destroyed in a thunderstorm.

[jseal]

1099 ~ Beginning of Siege of Jerusalem (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/fulk2.html).

1848 ~ Birthday of Paul Gauguin (http://www.abcgallery.com/G/gauguin/gauguin.html), French Post-Impressionist Painter.

1897 ~ Birthday of George Szell, Hungarian Conductor.

1917 ~ Birthday of Dean Martin, Singer & Actor.

1929 ~ Vatican City (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0607.html#article) became a sovereign state.

1942 ~ The U.S. beat the Japanese in the Battle of Midway (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_3499000/3499378.stm).

1954 ~ Death of Alan Turing (http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/), Mathematician, Computer Scientist.

1981 ~ The Israeli Air Force destroyed Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor (http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/facility/osiraq.htm).

2000 ~ U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the breakup of Microsoft. (http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm)

2008 ~ Death of Jim McKay, Sports Announcer.

[jseal]

632 ~ Death of Muhammad (http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/timeline_flash.shtml), founder of Islam.

1810 ~ Birthday of Robert Schumann, Composer.

1874 ~ Death of Cochise, Apache leader.

1887 ~ Herman Hollerith (http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/hollerith.html) received a patent for his punch card calculator.

1916 ~ Birthday of Professor Francis Harry Compton Crick (http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1962/crick-bio.html), OM FRS, most noted for being one of the discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule. Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1962.

1910 ~ Death of George Mallory (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/lost/), English mountain climber.

1949 ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four (http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/work/summaries/1984.html) by George Orwell was published.

1968 ~ James Earl Ray was arrested in London (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0608.html#article) in connection with the murder of Martin Luther King.

1982 ~ An Argentine air attack sank the Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram supply ships (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/8/newsid_2500000/2500607.stm) in the Falklands.

1998 ~ Charlton Heston assumed the presidency of the National Rifle Association.

[jseal]

1870 ~ Death of Charles Dickens, English author.

1891 ~ Birthday of Cole Porter (http://www.coleporter.org/bio.html), Composer.

1934 ~ Donald Duck debuted in The Wise Little Hen.

1954 ~ Beginning of the end of the McCarthy Era (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0609.html#article).

1959 ~ The USS George Washington (http://navysite.de/ssbn/ssbn598.htm) launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles ("Boomers").

1963 ~ Birthday of Johnny Depp (http://www.johnnydeppweb.com/), Actor (Edward Scissorhands, Pirates of the Caribbean++).

1970 ~ Assassination attempt on King Hussein (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/9/newsid_4461000/4461735.stm) of Jordan.

1973 ~ Secretariat won the Triple Crown.

1983 ~ Birthday of Alektra Blue (http://www.clubalektrablue.com/main.php?), Porn Actress.

2004 ~ The FCC (http://www.fcc.gov/) agreed to a $1.75 million settlement with Clear Channel (http://www.clearchannel.com/) to resolve indecency complaints against Howard Stern (http://www.howardstern.com/) and other radio personalities.

[jseal]

1829 ~ First Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge (http://www.theboatrace.org/article/introduction/history).

1846 ~ The California Republic declared independence from Mexico.

1921 ~ Birthday of Prince Philip (http://www.royal.gov.uk/ThecurrentRoyalFamily/TheDukeofEdinburgh/90thLandingpage.aspx), Duke of Edinburgh.

1922 ~ Birthday of Judy Garland (http://www.jgdb.com/), Singer & Actress.

1967 ~ End of the Six-Day War (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0610.html#article).

1971 ~ Death of Michael Rennie, English actor (Klaatu in the classic science fiction film "The Day the Earth Stood Still").

1977 ~ The Apple II personal computer (http://oldcomputers.net/byteappleII.html) started shipping.

1998 ~ Death of Hammond Innes, English author.

1999 ~ Yugoslav troops departed Kosovo (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/10/newsid_4482000/4482403.stm), prompting NATO to suspend its air war.

2004 ~ Death of Ray Charles (http://www.raycharles.com), Singer & Musician.

[jseal]

1892 ~ The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, opened in Melbourne.

1937 ~ Death of R. J. Mitchell, British aircraft designer, developer of the Spitfire (http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/spitfire/).

1939 ~ Birthday of Jackie Stewart (http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/stew_bio.htm), Race car driver.

1942 ~ The U.S. and the USSR signed a lend lease agreement (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0611.html#article) to aid the Soviet war effort in WWII.

1963 ~ Alabama Governor George Wallace stood at the door of Foster Auditorium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_in_the_Schoolhouse_Door) at the University of Alabama in an attempt to prevent two black students from attending that school.

1963 ~ Death of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc (http://www.quangduc.com/menu2.html) by self-imolation in Saigon to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

1979 ~ Death of John Wayne, Actor.

1987 ~ Margaret Thatcher became the first British PM in 160 years to win a third consecutive term in office (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/11/newsid_2511000/2511095.stm).

2001 ~ Death of Timothy McVeigh, terrorist (executed).

2004 ~ Cassini-Huygens (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm) made its closest flyby of Phoebe.

[jseal]

1924 ~ Birthday of George Bush senior, 41st President of the U.S.

1942 ~ Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday.

1963 ~ Death of Medgar Evers (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1294360), American civil rights activist.

1967 ~ In Loving v. Virginia (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=388&invol=1), the U.S. Supreme Court declared all state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.

1975 ~ Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was convicted (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/12/newsid_2511000/2511691.stm) on electoral corruption charges.

1979 ~ Bryan Allen flew the man powered Gossamer Albatross (http://www.donaldmonroe.com/) across the English Channel.

1987 ~ Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0612.html#article).

1991 ~ Boris Yeltsin (http://youtube.com/watch?v=t98Eq0c9Gus&feature=user) was elected the first President of the Russian Federation.

1994 ~ Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered outside her home in Los Angeles, California.

2003 ~ Death of Gregory Peck (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/peck_g.html), Actor.

[jseal]

1865 ~ Birthday of William Butler Yeats (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1923/yeats-bio.html), Poet, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1923.

1944 ~ Germany launched the first V1 “Buzz Bomb” attack on England.

1966 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0613.html#article) them (Miranda v. Arizona).

1967 ~ Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall (http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/marshall.htm) was nominated as the first black Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1970 ~ "The Long and Winding Road" became the Beatles' last #1 song.

1985 ~ Birthday of Lela Star (http://www.lelastar.com/t1/revscf=lsenter/home.html), Porn Actress.

1986 ~ Death of Benny Goodman (http://www.bennygoodman.com/), the ''King of Swing,'.

1995 ~ French president Jacques Chirac announced the resumption of nuclear tests in French Polynesia.

1998 ~ Death of Reg Smythe, British comic artist (Andy Capp (http://www.creators.com/comics/andy-capp.html))

2005 ~ A jury acquitted Michael Jackson (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/13/newsid_4939000/4939536.stm) of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor at his Neverland ranch.

[jseal]

1775 ~ The U.S. Army (http://www.army.mil/) was founded.

1919 ~ John Alcock and Arthur Brown (http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm) depart St. John's, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.

1940 ~ WWII: German troops enter Paris (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/14/newsid_4485000/4485727.stm).

1942 ~ Anne Frank (http://www.annefrank.org/) began her diary.

1952 ~ The keel was laid for the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus (http://www.ussnautilus.org/nautilus/index.shtml).

1982 ~ Birthday of Lang Lang (http://www.youtube.com/user/langlang), Chinese pianist.

1982 ~ Argentine forces in the capital Port Stanley unconditionally surrender to British forces, bringing the Falklands War to an end (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0614.html#article).

1991 ~ Death of Dame Peggy Ashcroft, British actress.

1994 ~ Death of Henry Mancini, American composer.

1995 ~ Death of Roger Zelazny, American fantasy and science fiction writer.

[jseal]

1215 ~ King John put his seal to the Magna Carta at Runnymede (http://www.bl.uk/treasures/magnacarta/magna.html), England.

1836 ~ Arkansas became the 25th state.

1844 ~ Charles Goodyear received a patent for a process to strengthen rubber.

1843 ~ Birthday of Edvard Grieg, Norwegian Composer.

1904 ~ More than 1,000 people died in a fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0615.html#article).

1916 ~ President Wilson signed a bill granting a federal charter (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode36/usc_sup_01_36_06_II_08_B_10_309.html) to the Boy Scouts of America, stating that their purpose is to:

"... promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues ..."

1978 ~ King Hussein of Jordan married Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor (http://www.nooralhusseinfoundation.org/).

1995 ~ Death of John Vincent Atanasoff (http://www.angelfire.com/ma/kilenm/2k03ppl.html), computer pioneer.

1980 ~ Birthday Mary Carey (http://marycareyproductions.com/home.php), Candidate for Governor of California in 2003 & Porn Actress.

1996 ~ In Manchester, U.K., a terrorist bomb injured over 200 people (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/15/newsid_2527000/2527009.stm).

[jseal]

1829 ~ Birthday of Geronimo (http://www.indigenouspeople.net/geronimo.htm), Apache Warrior & Leader.

1858 ~ Abraham Lincoln gave his “House Divided (http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/house.htm)” speach in Springfield, Illinois. A brilliant piece of argument!

1903 ~ The Ford Motor Company was incorporated.

1912 ~ Birthday of Enoch Powell, British politician.

1933 ~ Start of President Roosevelt’s New Deal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0616.html#article).

1938 ~ Birthday of Joyce Carol Oates (http://jco.usfca.edu/), novelist.

1963 ~ Valentina Tereshkova (http://www.gale.com/free_resources/whm/bio/tereshkova_v.htm) became the first woman in space.

1976 ~ Riots broke out in the black South African township of Soweto (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/16/newsid_2514000/2514467.stm).

1977 ~ Death of Wernher von Braun (http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/bio.html), rocket scientist.

1990 ~ Death of Megan Leigh, Porn Actress.

[jseal]

1631 ~ Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Shah Jahan I, build her a tomb, the Taj Mahal (http://www.tajmahal.org.uk/).

1885 ~ The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York.

1898 ~ Birthday of M.C. Escher (http://www.mcescher.com/), Dutch Artist.

1928 ~ Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0617.html#article).

1945 ~ Birthday of Ken Livingstone (http://kenlivingstone.com/), English politician (first Mayor of London).

1961 ~ Rudolf Nureyev (http://www.nureyev.org/index.php) defected at Le Bourget airport in Paris.

1966 ~ Birthday of Christy Canyon, former Porn Actress.

1974 ~ The Irish Republican Army bombed the UK’s House of Parliament (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/17/newsid_2514000/2514827.stm).

1975 ~ Birthday of Chloe Jones, former Porn Actress.

1996 ~ Death of Thomas Kuhn (http://tech.mit.edu/V116/N28/kuhn.28n.html), Philosopher of science (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (http://des.emory.edu/mfp/Kuhn.html)).

[Oldfart]

1945 ~ Birthday of Ken Livingstone, English politician (first Mayor of London).

Didn't Dick Whittington and a few dozen others get in before him?

[dicksbro]

I think he was the first "elected" Mayor of London. :shrug:

Dick Whittington, I believe, was appointed Lord Mayor of London ... three times maybe.

[jseal]

Dick Whittington was Lord Mayor of London (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Mayor_of_London) several times.

[jseal]

1178 ~ Five Canterbury monks saw what was possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed (http://www.weblore.com/richard/june_18_1178_impact_crater.htm) on the Moon.

1815 ~ British and Prussian troops defeated the French under Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/waterloo.htm) in Belgium.

1928 ~ Death of Roald Amundsen (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ice/peopleevents/pandeAMEX87.html), Explorer, first to the South Pole.

1942 ~ Birthday of Paul McCartney, Singer & Songwriter.

1942 ~ Birthday of Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.

1948 ~ The UN Commission on Human Rights adopted its International Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0618.html#article).

1967 ~ Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar (http://members.tripod.com/Yelnats_Yarkled/Monterey/page7.html) on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival.

1974 ~ Death of Georgy Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union.

1979 ~ Presidents Carter and Brezhnev signed the SALT II (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/18/newsid_4508000/4508409.stm) strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.

1983 ~ Sally Ride became the first American woman in space (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html).

[jseal]

1623 ~ Birthday of Blaise Pascal, Mathematician.

1865 ~ More two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas were finally informed of their freedom (http://www.juneteenth.com/).

1896 ~ Birthday of Wallis Warfield, the future Duchess of Windsor.

1934 ~ The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/federalcommu/federalcommu.htm) (FCC) was established.

1937 ~ Death of J.M. Barrie, Author, creator of the character Peter Pan.

1944 ~ First day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_philippine_sea.htm).

1945 ~ Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html), Politician, recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

1953 ~ Death of Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, convicted spies (http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/atom/atom.htm).

1964 ~ The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0619.html#article) after surviving a filibuster in the Senate.

1982 ~ An Italian banker, Roberto Calvi, was found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/19/newsid_3092000/3092625.stm) in London.

1623 ~ Death of Sir William Golding, English writer; Nobel laureate. (Lord of the Flies, Rites of Passage)

[Oldfart]

1623 ~ Death of Sir William Golding, English writer; Nobel laureate. (Lord of the Flies, Rites of Passage)

Testing us again jseal? 1993.

[jseal]

Dang! I always wince when I see you post to Strange Days, as it usually is to correct an error in my post.

Sorry 'bout that folks, good writer, tho'.

TY!

[Oldfart]

If an old friend can't keep you on your toes, it leaves room for newbies to horn in.

[jseal]

1819 ~ Birthday of Jacques Offenbach, Composer.

1837 ~ Queen Victoria (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheHanoverians/Victoria.aspx) ascended to the British throne.

1877 ~ Alexander Graham Bell installed the first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario.

1899 ~ Birthday of Jean Moulin (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWmoulin.htm), leader of the French Resistance in WW II.

1909 ~ Birthday of Errol Flynn, Actor.

1942 ~ Birthday of Brian Wilson, one of The Beach Boys (http://www.thebeachboys.com/home.aspx).

1948 ~ The Ed Sullivan Show (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/edsullivans/edsullivans.htm), (née Toast of the Town) debuted.

1967 ~ Muhammad Ali was convicted (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0620.html#article) of violating Selective Service laws.

1995 ~ Shell Oil abandoned plans to dump (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/20/newsid_4509000/4509527.stm) its Brent Spar oil rig at sea.

2002 ~ Death of Erwin Chargaff (http://post.queensu.ca/~forsdyke/bioinfo1.htm), biochemist.

[jseal]

1527 ~ Death of Niccolò Machiavelli (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/), Italian Historian & Political Author.

1905 ~ Birthday of Jean-Paul Sartre (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1964/sartre-bio.html), Philosopher & Playwright, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1964.

1908 ~ Death of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Composer.

1919 ~ Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttled the German fleet (http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/scuttle.html) in Scapa Flow, Orkney.

1945 ~ The battle for Okinawa ended (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/21/newsid_3564000/3564489.stm); 12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed in the 83-day campaign.

1964 ~ Three civil rights workers disappeared in Philadelphia, Miss. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0621.html#article) Their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later.

1984 ~ Birthday of Alicia Alighatti, Porn Actress.

1989 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that flag burning is protected speech (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=491&page=397) under the Constitution.

2004 ~ SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded space plane to achieve spaceflight (http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/SpaceShipOne2004/).

2005 ~ Death of Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila.

[jseal]

1856 ~ Birthday of H. Rider Haggard (http://kirjasto.sci.fi/haggard.htm), Author.

1874 ~ Death of Howard Staunton, English chess master, and inspiration for the standard for tournament chess pieces (http://www.houseofstaunton.com/history.html).

1940 ~ WWII: France forced to sign armistice with Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0622.html#article).

1941 ~ WWII: Germany invaded the USSR (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/22/newsid_3526000/3526691.stm).

1969 ~ Death of Judy Garland, Singer & Actress.

1976 ~ Canadian House of Commons voted to abolish capital punishment.

1986 ~ Diego Maradona scored both the Hand of God goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbbsytHDp2o) and the Goal of the Century (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-kXwjASEE&feature=related) against England during the FIFA World Cup in Mexico City.

1987 ~ Death of Fred Astaire, Dancer & Actor.

1978 ~ Discovery of the first satellite of Pluto, Charon (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Plu_Charon).

2008 ~ Death of George Carlin (http://www.georgecarlin.com/home/home.html), Comedian.

[jseal]

1314 ~ Scotland regained its independence in the Battle of Bannockburn (http://www.braveheart.co.uk/macbrave/history/bruce/banseq.htm), when Scotland's King Robert I defeated the English.

1519 ~ Death of Lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara.

1896 ~ Birthday of Jack Dempsey (http://www.cmgww.com/sports/dempsey/biography.htm), Heavyweight boxer.

1910 ~ Japan invaded Korea (http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/webcourse/key_points/kp_11.htm).

1915 ~ Birthday of Fred Hoyle (http://www.hoyle.org.uk/index.html), cosmologist and science fiction author.

1948 ~ Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the U.S. to organize the Berlin Airlift (http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/docs.php).

1947 ~ Birthday of Mick Fleetwood, Musician (Fleetwood Mac (http://www.fleetwoodmac.com/)).

1957 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.

1985 ~ STS-51-G Discovery completed its mission, with Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as the Payload Specialist.

1997 ~ The Roswell Incident debunked (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0624.html#article) by the USAF.

[jseal]

1876 ~ Col. George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry were wiped out in the Battle of Little Big Horn (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0625.html#article).

1894 ~ Birthday of Hermann Oberth (http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/oberth/SP2.htm), Physicist & one of the founding fathers of Rocketry and Astronautics.

1903 ~ Birthday of George Orwell, Writer.

1950 ~ The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/25/newsid_2699000/2699641.stm).

1975 ~ Birthday of Vladimir Kramnik (http://www.kramnik.com/), Russian chess player.

1991 ~ Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia.

1993 ~ Kim Campbell (http://www.collectionscanada.ca/primeministers/h4-3481-e.html) became the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

1997 ~ An unmanned cargo ship crashed into Russia's Mir space station (http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html), knocking out half of the station's power and rupturing a pressurized laboratory.

1997 ~ Death of Jacques-Yves Cousteau (http://www.nndb.com/people/250/000085992/), French Explorer, Scientist & Inventor.

1998 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 unconstitutional.

[jseal]

1824 ~ Birthday of Lord Kelvin (http://www.google.com/search?q=+Lord+Kelvin%2C&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&ie=&oe=#q=Lord+Kelvin,&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&prmd=ivns&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=L34GTqGaH-fy0gHo0PTDCw&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=18&ved=0CH4Q5wIwEQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=18775b43b0670ef8&biw=1184&bih=674), Physicist. In 1900, he gave a lecture titled Nineteenth-Century Clouds over the Dynamical Theory of Heat and Light (http://www.iafe.uba.ar/e2e/phys230/history/clouds.html). Talk about prescient!

1898 ~ Birthday of Willy Messerschmitt (http://freespace.virgin.net/john.dell/bf109/Bf109WMBio.html), Aircraft Designer.

1933 ~ Birthday of Claudio Abbado, Conductor.

1934 ~ Initial flight of the first practical helicopter (http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/reitsch.html), the Focke-Wulf 61. You must scroll down a bit through the Hanna Reitsch page to get to the FW-61 entry, but her write up of her experience it is an interesting read.

1959 ~ Queen Elizabeth and President Eisenhower (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/26/newsid_2988000/2988148.stm) inaugurated the St Lawrence Seaway.

1963 ~ President Kennedy visited West Berlin (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0626.html#article), where he offered American solidarity to the citizens of West Germany: "Ich bin ein Berliner (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQhss4Yc)".

1964 ~ The Beatles released the album A Hard Day's Night (http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=39).

1997 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Communications Decency Act violated the First Amendment, and thus unconstitutional.

2003 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-102.ZS.html).

2007 ~ Death of Liz Claiborne, Belgian born fashion designer.

[jseal]

1829 ~ Death of James Smithson, English scientist and philanthropist.

1838 ~ Birthday of Paul von Mauser, Weapon Designer.

1880 ~ Birthday of Helen Keller (http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/aboutsightloss/famous/Pages/helenkeller.aspx#H2Heading1), spokeswoman for the Deaf and Blind.

1905 ~ Mutiny on the battleship Potemkin (http://flot.sevastopol.info/eng/ship/predreadnoughts/potemkin.htm).

1950 ~ The U.S. decided to send armed forces to fight in the Korean War (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0627.html#article).

1954 ~ The world's first nuclear power station went on line (http://bellona.no/bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/npps/24072) in Obninsk, near Moscow.

1957 ~ First British Smoking Causes Lung Cancer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27/newsid_2956000/2956618.stm) report released.

1967 ~ The world's first ATM installed in Enfield (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6230194.stm), London.

1984 ~ Pierre Trudeau (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0008141) won the Albert Einstein Peace Prize.

2001 ~ Death of Jack Lemmon, Actor & Film Director.

[Oldfart]

1838 ~ Birthday of Paul von Mauser, Weapon Designer.

A giant among armourers.

I own and use a Mauser G98 which is a minimum 94 years old (max 113) which saw action in 3 wars.

[jseal]

I just looked it up. A good piece of gear, as my brother would say!

[Oldfart]

As close to an antique as I'll ever own, and it still goes bang.

[jseal]

1577 ~ Birthday of Peter Paul Rubens (http://www.peterpaulrubens.org/), Flemish Baroque Painter.

1712 ~ Birthday of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/ROUSSEAU.HTM), Franco-Swiss Philosopher.

1880 ~ The Australian bushranger Ned Kelly was captured (http://www.glenrowan1880.com/) at Glenrowan.

1914 ~ Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophia were killed by a Serbian nationalist, the casus belli of World War I.

1919 ~ The Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending World War I (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0628.html#article).

1926 ~ Birthday of Mel Brooks, Filmmaker.

1992 ~ Death of Mikhail Tal (http://www.geocities.com/lifemasteraj/m_tal.html), eighth World Chess Champion.

1996 ~ The Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.

2001 ~ Death of Mortimer Adler, Philosopher & co-founder of Great Books of the Western World (http://www.thegreatideas.org/).

2004 ~ The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/28/newsid_4517000/4517865.stm).

[jseal]

1861 ~ Death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Poet. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… (http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/elizabethbarrettbrowning/poems/sonnetsfromtheportuguese/howdoilovetheeletmecounttheways.html)”

1895 ~ Death of Thomas Henry Huxley, Scientist. "Darwin's Bulldog (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/2/l_022_09.html)"

1922 ~ France granted 1 km² at Vimy Ridge (http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/vimy/vmemory&CFID=16246983&CFTOKEN=55502061) "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes".

1963 ~ Birthday of Anne-Sophie Mutter, Violinist.

1971 ~ Birthday of Kaitlyn Ashley, Porn Actress.

1974 ~ Isabel Peron is sworn in as first female president for Argentina (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/29/newsid_2857000/2857121.stm).

1995 ~ U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with Russian space station Mir (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0629.html#article).

1995 ~ The Sampoong Department Store collapse (http://www.hazardcards.com/card.php?id=8) disaster.

2003 ~ Death of Katharine Hepburn, Actress.

2007 ~ Apple released the iPhone (http://www.apple.com/iphone/).

[kena]

Samuel Colt, inventor of the Colt revolver, born today in 1814. Great idea dm....this could be fun and informative! I love trivial facts! Seems to suggest, be grateful for where you live!

[jseal]

1905 ~ During his annus mirabilis, Albert Einstein published the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies (http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/specrel/www/) (PDF) in which he introduced special relativity.

That must have been an exciting period to be a physicist!

1908 ~ Tunguska impact (http://www-th.bo.infn.it/tunguska/) event occurred in Siberia.

1934 ~ Night of the Long Knives (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/roehm.htm), Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany took place.

1936 ~ ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell published.

1943 ~ Birthday of Florence Ballard, American Singer (The Supremes (http://www.history-of-rock.com/supremes.htm)).

1971 ~ The crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2523000/2523365.stm) when the landing capsule depressurized after separating from the main craft.

1990 ~ East and West Germany merged their economies.

1997 ~ The UK returns sovereignty over Hong Kong (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0630.html#article) to the PRC.

2003 ~ Death of Buddy Hackett, American comic.

2007 ~ Death of Ingmar Bergman (http://www.ingmarbergman.com/), Swedish Film-maker.

[jseal]

1646 ~ Birthday of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (http://www.friesian.com/leibniz.htm), German Mathematician & Philosopher.

1863 ~ The American Civil War battle of Gettysburg began (http://www.civilwarhome.com/gettyscampaign.htm).

1916 ~ On the first day of the Battle of the Somme (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm) 18,000 British soldiers were killed, and 40,000 wounded.

1925 ~ Death of Erik Satie, French Composer.

1963 ~ The British Government admitted that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_philby.html).

1980 ~ "O Canada (http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10175)" became the national anthem of Canada.

2000 ~ Death of Walter Matthau (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000527/), Actor.

2004 ~ Cassini-Huygens was successfully inserted into orbit (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/1/newsid_4640000/4640793.stm) around Saturn.

2004 ~ Death of Marlon Brando, Actor.

2007 ~ Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces.

[jseal]

1906 ~ Birthday of Hans Bethe (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1967/bethe-bio.html), German-born Physicist., awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1967.

1937 ~ Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0702.html#article) over the Pacific Ocean.

1947 ~ Something the Army Air Force later said was a weather balloon crashed near Roswell, N.M. (http://www.coverups.com/roswell/index.htm) Eyewitness accounts gave rise to speculation it might have been an alien spacecraft.

1961 ~ Death of Ernest Hemingway (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1954/hemingway-bio.html), Author, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1954.

1964 ~ President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/2/newsid_3787000/3787809.stm).

1966 ~ France began nuclear weapons testing at Moruroa in the South Pacific.

1977 ~ Death of Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist.

1982 ~ Larry Walters attached 45 helium balloons to a lawn chair (http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp) and ascended into history and to a height of 11,000 feet.

1989 ~ Death of Andrei Gromyko (http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/wpna-5e079d-interview-with-andrei-gromyko-1988), Soviet politician.

1997 ~ Death of Jimmy Stewart, Actor.

[jseal]

1863 ~ The final day of the battle of Gettysburg (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0703.html#article).

1883 ~ Birthday of Franz Kafka, Czech-born German author.

1935 ~ Death of André Citroën (http://www.citroenet.org.uk/), Automobile Pioneer.

1938 ~ World speed record, 126 mph, set for a steam railway locomotive, by the Mallard (http://www.wandleys.demon.co.uk/mallard.htm).

1962 ~ Algeria became independent (http://www.algeria.com/) after 132 years of French rule.

1969 ~ Death of Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones).

1969 ~ A test flight of the Soviet N1 rocket ended in a spectactular failure (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/239925/russian_moon_rocket_disaster/).

1971 ~ Death of Jim Morrison (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/3/newsid_3776000/3776701.stm), lead singer of The Doors.

1986 ~ Death of Rudy Vallee, Singer, Actor, Bandleader, & Entertainer.

1988 ~ USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/flight801/stories/july88crash.htm) over the Persian Gulf.

[jseal]

1776 ~ The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence (http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration.html).

1845 ~ Henry David Thoreau began a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Mass.

1855 ~ The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems Leaves of Grass (http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/logr/log_029.html) was published.

1885 ~ Birthday of Louis B. Mayer, Movie Executive (one of the M’s in MGM).

1934 ~ Death of Marie Curie (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html), Polish-born scientist, recipient of he Nobel Prize in Physics 1903.

1971 ~ Birthday of Koko, the sign-language gorilla (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/koko/).

1976 ~ The U.S. celebrated its Bicentennial (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0704.html#article).

1976 ~ Israeli commandos rescued 100 hostages at Entebbe (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_2786000/2786967.stm) Airport, Uganda.

1982 ~ Birthday of Hannah Harper (http://www.xxxhannahharper.com/), Porn Actress.

2006 ~ North Korea tested four short-range, one medium-range, and a long-range missle over the Sea of Japan.

[jseal]

1810 ~ Birthday of Phineas Taylor "P. T." Barnum (http://www.ptbarnum.org/), Circus Owner.

1826 ~ Death of Sir Stamford Raffles, British statesman, the "Father of Singapore".

1911 ~ Birthday of Georges Pompidou, President of France.

1937 ~ Spam (http://www.spam.com/) was introduced the Hormel Foods Corporation.

1948 ~ British National Health Service (NHS) Act enacted.

1951 ~ William Shockley (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1956/shockley-bio.html) invented the junction transistor.

1972 ~ Birthday of Letha Weapons (http://www.lovelethaweapons.com/), Porn Actress.

1975 ~ Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles' championship (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0705.html#article).

1989 ~ Oliver North received a $150,000 fine and a suspended prison term (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/5/newsid_2772000/2772471.stm) for his part in the Iran-Contra affair.

1996 ~ Birthday of Dolly the sheep (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/dolly/index.asp), first cloned mammal.

[jseal]

1935 ~ Birthday of Tenzin Gyatso (http://www.dalailama.com/), 14th and current Dalai Lama.

1946 ~ Birthday of Sylvester Stallone, Actor, The Italian Stallion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Md9lCfO-lo).

1957 ~ Althea Gibson (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0706.html#article) became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title.

1964 ~ A Hard Day's Night, the first Beatles film, premiered.

1971 ~ Death of Louis Armstrong (http://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/), Jazz Musician.

1973 ~ Death of Otto Klemperer, German Conductor.

1974 ~ The radio program A Prairie Home Companion (http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/) was first broadcast.

1989 ~ The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea was destroyed (http://www.exponent.com/Piper_Alpha_Disaster/) by explosions and fires killing 167 oil workers.

1997 ~ The rover Sojourner rolled onto the Martian landscape (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/6/newsid_4105000/4105727.stm) to begin inspecting soil and rocks.

1998 ~ Death of Roy Rogers, Cowboy Actor & Singer.

[jseal]

1860 ~ Birthday of Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer.

1887 ~ Birthday of Marc Chagall (http://www.chagallpaintings.org/index.html), Russian-born Painter.

1898 ~ The U.S. annexed Hawaii as a territory.

1907 ~ Birthday of Robert Heinlein, Science Fiction Writer.

1930 ~ Death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (http://www.ash-tree.bc.ca/acdsocy.html), Scottish Writer.

1940 ~ Birthday of Ringo Starr (http://www.ringostarr.com/), Beatle.

1947 ~ The Roswell UFO incident (http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/roswell.html).

1980 ~ Sharia law (http://www.zikr.co.uk/content/view/32/52/) established in Iran.

1981 ~ President Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0707.html#article) to become the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

2005 ~ Terrorist bombings in London (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/7/newsid_4942000/4942238.stm) killed 52 victims and four suicide bombers.

[jseal]

1822 ~ Death of Percy Shelley (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRshelley.htm), English poet (http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/).

1882 ~ Birthday of Percy Grainger (http://www.percygrainger.org/), Australian Composer.

1889 ~ In the last championship bare-knuckle boxing match, John L. Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain.

1889 ~ The first issue of the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/us) published.

1950 ~ General Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of UN forces (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0708.html#article) in Korea.

1983 ~ Birthday of Elizabeth Del Mar (http://www.elizabethdelmar.com/pictures.html), Porn Actress.

1986 ~ Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria (http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9359005&sa_campaign=blog_referral/guardian/obits/wroe) despite a controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes.

1994 ~ Death of Kim Il-sung, North Korean despot.

1997 ~ The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland were invited to join NATO.

1997 ~ Mayo Clinic researchers warned that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" could cause severe heart and lung damage (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/hazard/fenphen.html).

[jseal]

1896 ~ William Jennings Bryan delivered his “Cross of Gold (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0709.html#article)” speech.

1879 ~ Birthday of Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (Pines of Rome, Ancient Airs and Dances).

1900 ~ Queen Victoria gave royal assent to an act creating the Commonwealth of Australia (http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/history.html), uniting separate colonies under one federal government.

1911 ~ Birthday of John A. Wheeler, American physicist (coined the terms black hole and wormhole (http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html)).

1916 ~ Birthday of Edward Heath (http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/edward-heath), P.M. of the UK

1973 ~ The Bahamas' last day as a British colony.

1974 ~ Death of Earl Warren (http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/warren.html), Governor of California, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1995 ~ The Grateful Dead (http://www.dead.net/) played their last concert, at Soldier Field in Chicago.

1997 ~ Mike Tyson's boxing license was suspended and he was fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.

2001 ~ The Big Bang Theory (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/9/newsid_2498000/2498637.stm) of the origin of the universe received substantial support.

[jseal]

1839 ~ Birthday of Adolphus Busch, German-born Brewer.

1856 ~ Birthday of Nikola Tesla (http://www.pbs.org/tesla/), Croatian physicist.

1940 ~ The Luftwaffe began the Battle of Britain (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0710.html#article).

1962 ~ The world's first active communications satellite (http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/satcomhistory.html), Telstar (http://www.cedmagic.com/history/telstar.html), and first privately sponsored space launch.

1985 ~ The Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior was sunk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/10/newsid_2499000/2499283.stm) in Auckland Harbor by French agents.

1989 ~ Death of Mel Blanc, Voice Actor ( Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Beaky Buzzard, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely).

1997 ~ Scientists reported their DNA analysis findings which support the Out of Africa (https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/atlas.html) hypothesis of human evolution.

2002 ~ At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens' painting The Massacre of the Innocents was sold for $76.2 million (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,753262,00.html).

2003 ~ Death of Lord Shawcross, U.K. chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.

2011 ~ After 168 years, the British tabloid News of the World (http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/notw/public/home/) published its last edition.

[jseal]

1798 ~ The U.S. Marine Corps (http://www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp?flashRedirect=true) was re-created by an act of Congress.

1859 ~ Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities (http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/twocities/)" was published.

1899 ~ Birthday of E. B. White (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ebwhite.htm), American Writer. (Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan.)

1914 ~ Babe Ruth (http://www.baberuth.com/) made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox.

1920 ~ Birthday of Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor.

1937 ~ Death of George Gershwin, American Composer.

1977 ~ The Gay News and its editor Denis Lemon were found guilty of blasphemous libel (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/11/newsid_2499000/2499721.stm).

1994 ~ Death of Savannah (http://adultoutlook.com/nsmith/savannah/index.html), Porn Star.

1979 ~ Skylab deorbited (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0711.html#article).

1989 ~ Death of Sir Laurence Olivier, Actor.

[jseal]

1536 ~ Death of Erasmus (http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/erasmus.html), Dutch Writer & Philosopher.

1690 ~ William of Orange's army won the Battle of the Boyne (http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,342562,00.html).

1730 ~ Birthday of Josiah Wedgwood (http://www.wedgwoodusa.com/about/history.asp), English Potter.

1773 ~ Death of Johann Joachim Quantz, German Flutist & Composer.

1862 ~ Medal of Honor (http://www.cmohs.org/) authorized by the U.S. Congress.

1943~ Birthday of Christine McVie, British singer, musician, & songwriter (Fleetwood Mac).

1943 ~ Turning point of CITADEL (http://www.uni.edu/~licari/citadel.htm) (Battle of Kursk).

1962~ The Rolling Stones perform their first public concert.

1984 ~ Walter Mondale named Geraldine Ferraro (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0712.html#article) his Vice Presidential running mate.

1990~ Russian republic president Boris Yeltsin resigned from the Communist Party (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/12/newsid_4493000/4493177.stm).

[jseal]

100 BC ~ Birthday of Julius Caesar (http://www.roman-empire.net/republic/caesar-index.html), Soldier & Politician.

1837 ~ Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace (http://www.britainexpress.com/London/buckingham-palace.htm) – the first monarch to live there.

1908 ~ Women first included in modern Olympic competition.

1923 ~ The first Hollywood Sign (http://www.hollywoodsign.org/history.html) was dedicated. It read "HOLLYWOODLAND".

1940 ~ Birthday of Patrick Stewart, English actor (Star Trek: The Next Generation (http://www.startrek.com/page/star-trek-the-next-generation)).

1955 ~ Ruth Ellis became the last woman in England to be executed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/13/newsid_2745000/2745023.stm).

1960 ~ John F. Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Los Angeles.

1973 ~ Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the Nixon tapes to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in.

1977 ~ A 25-hour blackout hit New York City (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0713.html#article).

1985 ~ Live Aid (http://www.herald.co.uk/local_info/live_aid.html), an international rock concert in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, Australia, was held to raise money for Africa's starving people.

[jseal]

1789 ~ Citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille ( http://www.essortment.com/all/historyofbas_rffz.htm). Generally recognized as the beginning of the French Revolution.

1798 ~ The Sedition Act (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/sedact.asp) made it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the U.S. government.

1862 ~ Birthday of Gustav Klimt (http://www.expo-klimt.com/), Austrian Painter & Graphic Artist.

1881 ~ Billy the Kid (http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/) was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett.

1887 ~ Death of Alfred Krupp, German munitions manufacturer.

1912 ~ Birthday of Woody Guthrie (http://www.woodyguthrie.org/), American folk singer.

1913 ~ Birthday of Gerald Ford, U.S. President.

1965 ~ Mariner 4 flyby of Mars took the first close-up photos of another planet (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0714.html#article).

2000 ~ A Florida jury ordered five major tobacco companies to pay smokers $145 billion in punitive damages. (The verdict was later overturned by the Florida Supreme Court.).

2007 ~ Russia withdrew from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/cfe.html).

[jseal]

1099 ~ The Crusaders of the First Crusade took Jerusalem (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-jlem.html).

1606 ~ Birthday of Rembrandt Van Rijn (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/), Dutch artist (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/1650/aristotle-homer.jpg).

1799 ~ French Captain Pierre Bouchard found the Rosetta Stone (http://www.kingtutshop.com/freeinfo/rosetta-stone.htm).

1870 ~ Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

1918 ~ WWI: Second Battle of the Marne (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0715.html#article) began.

1926 ~ Birthday of Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine Dictator.

1954 ~ First flight of the Boeing 707, the first American jet passenger airliner.

1995 ~ Bosnian Serbs force Muslims out of Srebrenica (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/15/newsid_3736000/3736438.stm).

2002 ~ John Walker Lindh (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/lindh_07-15-02.html), the "American Taliban", pleaded guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.

2006 ~ Death of Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters of America (http://www.hooters.com/home.aspx).

[jseal]

622 ~ Start of the Islamic calendar.

1872 ~ Birthday of Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who led the expedition which was the first to reach the South Pole.

1918 ~ At Ekaterinburg, Russia, Bolsheviks executed Czar Nicholas II and his family (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0716.html#article).

1945 ~ Allied leaders Winston Churchill, Harry Truman Josef Stalin meet at Potsdam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/16/newsid_4685000/4685683.stm).

1945 ~ The U.S. detonated the first nuclear weapon (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/atomictest.htm) at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

1955 ~ The original Disneyland park opened.

1969 ~ Apollo 11 was launched from Cape Kennedy (http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html) to become the first manned mission to land on the moon.

1980 ~ Birthday of Jesse Jane (http://www.jessejane.com/bio.php), Porn Actress.

1980 ~ Birthday of Justine Joli (http://www.justinejoli.com/), Porn Actress.

1994 ~ Death of Julian Schwinger (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1965/schwinger-bio.html), American physicist, Nobel laureate.

[jseal]

1790 ~ Death of Adam Smith (http://www.adamsmith.org/), Scottish Economist.

1899 ~ Birthday of James Cagney (http://themave.com/Cagney/), Actor.

1947 ~ Birthday of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/royals/camilla.html) (formerly Parker Bowles), former British royal mistress and now wife of Prince Charles.

1962 ~ Tha nuclear test shot Little Feller I (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Storax.html) became the last American atmospheric detonation at the Nevada Test Site.

1975 ~ An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0717.html#article) in orbit marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations.

1979 ~ Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza resigned and fled into exile (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/17/newsid_3870000/3870281.stm) in Miami.

1989 ~ First flight of the B-2 Spirit (http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=82) Stealth Bomber.

2003 ~ Death of Dr. David Kelly, U.N. Weapons Inspector.

2005 ~ Death of Joe Vialls, Australian conspiracy theorist and internet journalist.

2005 ~ Death of Edward Heath, UK PM.

[jseal]

1887 ~ Birthday of Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian Politician & Traitor.

1909 ~ Birthday of Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Diplomat & President.

1918 ~ Birthday of Nelson Mandela (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html), former President of SA, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1993.

1922 ~ Birthday of Thomas Kuhn (http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Kuhnsnap.html), Philosopher of Science.

1925 ~ Adolf Hitler’s "Mein Kampf (http://www.crusader.net/texts/mk/)" was published.

1927 ~ Birthday of Kurt Masur, Conductor.

1942 ~ The Messerschmitt Me-262 (http://www.vectorsite.net/avme262.html#m2) was test flown using only its jets for the first time.

1969 ~ After a party, Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a wooden bridge (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm) into a pond, and his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, died.

1973 ~ Death of Jack Hawkins (http://www.britishcinemagreats.com/Actors_page/jack_hawkins/jack_hawkins_page_1.htm), English film actor.

2001 ~ In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derailment occurred in a tunnel (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-trainfire,0,6380020.special), sparking a fire that lasted days and virtually shut down downtown.

2005 ~ Eric Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison for an abortion clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer.

[jseal]

1374 ~ Death of Petrarch, Italian Poet & early Humanist.

1692 ~ Five women were hanged following the Salem Witch Trials (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM) for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

1834 ~ Birthday of Edgar Degas (http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Degas/html/index.html), Impressionist Painter (http://images.google.com/images?q=Edgar+Degas&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADBF&um=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title).

1848 ~ America’s first women's rights convention convened in Seneca Falls, N.Y. and "Bloomers (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr040.html)" were introduced.

1870 ~ The Franco-Prussian war began.

1941 ~ Winston Churchill launched his "V for Victory (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0719.html#article)" campaign in Europe.

1947 ~ Death of Aung San, Burmese nationalist. Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html), is now the leader of the Burmese opposition to the current military regime.

1996 ~ Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic was forced out of office (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/19/newsid_4521000/4521063.stm).

2003 ~ Death of Bill Bright, evangelist, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ.

2008 ~ Death of Anastasia Blue (http://www.genesisonline.com/26/anastasia-blue-1980-2008/), Porn Actress.

[jseal]

1933 ~ In London, 500,000 marched against anti-Semitism.

1938 ~ Birthday of Dame Diana Rigg (http://www.dianarigg.net/), Actress (The Avengers (http://theavengers.tv/forever/), In This House of Brede (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073160/)).

1938 ~ Birthday of Natalie Wood (http://www.starpulse.com/Actresses/Wood,_Natalie/Biography/), Actress (Rebel Without a Cause (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/), West Side Story (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055614/)).

1944 ~ Adolf Hitler was slightly wounded (http://www.gdw-berlin.de/b12/b12-3-e.php) when a bomb exploded at his Rastenburg headquarters.

1946 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives voted 265-79 to put control of atomic energy in the hands of a civilian body, the Atomic Energy Commission, rather than leave the military in control.

1960 ~ Ceylon elected Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first female head of government (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_2784000/2784527.stm).

1969 ~ Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0720.html#article).

1974 ~ Turkey invaded Cyprus (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_3866000/3866521.stm).

1999 ~ After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule was lifted to the surface (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/20/grissom.capsule.01/).

2004 ~ The UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding that Israel tear down the barrier it was building to seal off the West Bank.

[Oldfart]

42 years since the Eagle landed in Tranquility. Seems like yesterday.

[jseal]

1899 ~ Birthday of Ernest Hemingway (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1954/hemingway-bio.html) , American Author.

1861 ~ First Battle of Bull Run (http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va005.htm) - the first major battle of the American Civil War began.

1911 ~ Birthday of Marshall McLuhan (http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/main.html), Canadian Communications Theorist.

1925 ~ In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John Scopes was found guilty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0721.html#article) of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.

1948 ~ Birthday of Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), English Singer.

1954 ~ France surrendered North Vietnam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_3894000/3894175.stm) to the Viet Minh.

1970 ~ The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed at the end of eleven years of construction

1994 ~ Tony Blair was declared the winner (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515825.stm) of the leadership election of the British Labour Party.

1998 ~ Death of Alan Shepard (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/shepard-alan.html) , Astronaut.

2006 ~ Death Ta Mok, Khmer Rouge war criminal.

[jseal]

1822 ~ Birthday of Br. Gregor Mendel (http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BC/Gregor_Mendel.html), Austrian Geneticist.

1887 ~ Birthday of Gustav Hertz (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1925/hertz-bio.html), German Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1925.

1898 ~ Birthday of Alexander Calder, American Artist.

1933 ~ Wiley Post (http://www.acepilots.com/post.html) became the first man to fly solo around the world.

1934 ~ John Dillinger was shot to death (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0722.html#article) by FBI agents in Chicago.

1967 ~ Death of Carl Sandburg, Poet.

1977 ~ Deng Xiaoping returned to Chinese Government.

1992 ~ Pablo Escobar (http://www.cocaine.org/colombia/pablo-escobar.html), fearing extradition to the U.S., escaped from his luxury prison.

2003 ~ Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai were killed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/22/newsid_3808000/3808659.stm) when U.S. forces stormed a villa in Mosul, Iraq.

2005 ~ Death of Jean Charles de Menezes, Brazilian electrician (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Charles_de_Menezes).

[jseal]

1892 ~ Birthday of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia.

1914 ~ Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0723.html#article) following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand.

1942 ~ The Treblinka (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shtetl/treblinka/) extermination camp opened.

1952 ~ Creation of the European Coal and Steel community. This gave birth to European Economic Community (EEC), which itself later became the European Union.

1962 ~ Telstar relayed the first live trans-Atlantic television signal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstar).

1973 ~ Birthday of Monica Lewinsky, White House intern.

1982 ~ The International Whaling Commission voted a moratorium on commercial whaling (http://iwcoffice.org/) by 1985-86.

1984 ~ Vanessa Williams (http://www.vanessawilliams.de/about_bioengl.htm) became the first Miss America to resign her title, because of nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine.

1986 ~ Prince Andrew, Duke of York married Sarah Ferguson (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/23/newsid_2516000/2516203.stm) at Westminster Abbey.

2002 ~ Death of Leo McKern (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0571674/) , Australian actor, and one of my favorites.

[Oldfart]

2002 ~ Death of Leo McKern , Australian actor, and one of my favorites.

. . . and the judge said to the prisoner, "Before I pass sentence upon you, is there anything you wish to say?"

The prisoner replied, "Bugger all Your Worship."

The Judge looked at his soliciter and said, "What did he say?"

"He said 'Bugger all Your Worship'."

"Funny, I could have sworn I saw his lips move."


Rumpole was great.

[jseal]

1783 ~ Birthday of Simón Bolívar, South American liberator.

1898 ~ Birthday of Amelia Earhart, American Aviatrix.

1924 ~ The World Chess Federation, FIDE (http://www.fide.com/), was founded in Paris.

1943 ~ The RAF Bomber Command bombed Hamburg by night, USAAF 8th Air Force Bomber Command by day (http://experts.about.com/e/b/bo/Bombing_of_Hamburg_in_World_War_II.htm). By the end of the operation, 9,000 tons of explosive & incendiary bombs created a firestorm which killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.

1948 ~ Marvin the Martian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Martian) made his first appearance.

1959 ~ Khrushchev and Nixon had a war of words in the “Kitchen Debate (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0724.html#article)”.

1967 ~ During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declared in Montreal "Vive le Québec libre! (http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/07/24/1132/)" (Long live free Quebec!). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians.

1974 ~ Death of James Chadwick (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1935/chadwick-bio.html), English physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1935.

1980 ~ Birthday of Gauge, Porn Star.

1980 ~ Death of Peter Sellers (http://www.petersellers.com/), Actor.

[jseal]

1834 ~ Death of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet. (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/151/151-h/151-h.htm#2H_PART1) & Kubla Khan (http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/640/) )

1907 ~ Korea became a protectorate of Japan.

1917 ~ Sir Thomas Whyte introduced the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).

1848 ~ Birthday of Arthur Balfour, UK PM, remembered for issuing the British declaration of support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

1946 ~ Crossroads Baker (http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/films/film.aspx?ID=66), a 21-kiloton nuclear weapon was detonated underwater in the lagoon of Bikini atoll.

1956 ~ 51 people died when the Italian liner Andrea Doria (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0725.html#article) collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm.

1976 ~ Birthday of Tera Patrick (http://www.terapatrick.com/?adv_id=1000&campaign=&origin=promo&program_id=8&subprogram_id=1&site_id=109&gallery_id=0&second_click=1&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terapatrick.com%2F), Porn Actress.

1978 ~ Louise Brown, the first baby conceived by in-vitro fertilization (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-75-610-3415/science_technology/infertility/clip2), was born in Oldham, England.

1984 ~ Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya (http://great.russian-women.net/Svetlana_Savitskaya.shtml) became the first woman to walk in space.

2000 ~ An Air France Concorde crashed just after takeoff (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2797000/2797965.stm) from Paris, killing 113.

[Oldfart]

1956 ~ 51 people died when the Italian liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm.


Not an early expression of the Stockholm Syndrome.

[jseal]

1856 ~ Birthday of George Bernard Shaw (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1925/shaw-bio.html), Author, Playwright, awarded t he Nobel Prize in Literature 1925.

1882 ~ Richard Wagner's "Parsifal (http://www.monsalvat.no/index.htm)" premiered at Bayreuth.

1898 ~ Birthday of Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft engineer and designer.

1928 ~ Birthday of Stanley Kubrick (http://kubrickfilms.warnerbros.com/), Movie Director.

1943 ~ Birthday of Mick Jagger, English Musician. (Rolling Stones)

1947 ~ U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0726.html#article) into law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.

1953 ~ Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution (http://www.cubaverdad.net/revolution.htm) began.

1956 ~ Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/26/newsid_2701000/2701603.stm) sparking international condemnation.

1973 ~ Birthday of Vaniity (http://www.vaniity.info/), Tanssexual Porn Actress.

1991 ~ Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman, was arrested for allegedly masturbating at a Sarasota, Florida adult theatre.

[Oldfart]

1973 ~ Birthday of Vaniity, Tanssexual Porn Actress.

It's nice to see an actress with a nice tan.

[jseal]

1904 ~ Birthday of Isaac Bashevis Singer (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1978/singer-bio.html), Writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1946 ~ Death of Gertrude Stein (http://www.ellensplace.net/gstein2.html), American Writer & Cult Figure.

1949 ~ Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet (http://www.dh-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/DH-106/index.html), the first jet-powered airliner.

1953 ~ The Korean War stopped (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0727.html#article). The U.S., People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea signed an armistice agreement.

1974 ~ The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to recommend the first article of impeachment against President Nixon: Obstruction of Justice.

1980 ~ Death of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran.

1984 ~ Death of James Mason, English actor.

1990 ~ Belarus (http://www.belarusguide.com/main/index.html) declared independence from the Soviet Union.

2002 ~ Ukraine airshow disaster (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2136241946237981827).

2003 ~ Death of Bob Hope (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/27/newsid_3818000/3818693.stm), English-born Entertainer.

[jseal]

1741 ~ Death of Antonio Vivaldi, Italian Composer.

1750 ~ Death of Johann Sebastian Bach (http://www.jsbach.org/), German Composer.

1794 ~ Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine.

1866 ~ Birthday of Beatrix Potter, English Author. (The Tale of Peter Rabbit)

1868 ~ The 14th Amendment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) to the U.S. Constitution passed Congress, which integrated Due Process & Equal Protection into the constitution.

1904 ~ Birthday of Pavel Cherenkov (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1958/cerenkov-bio.html), Soviet Physicist, awarded one third the Nobel Prize in Physics 1958.

1914 ~ World War I began (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0728.html#article) as Austria declared war on Serbia.

1996 ~ The remains of a prehistoric man, Kennewick Man (http://www.kennewick-man.com/), was discovered near Kennewick, Washington.

1998 ~ Monica Lewinsky (http://www.coffeeshoptimes.com/monica.html) was given blanket immunity from prosecution in exchange for grand jury testimony in the investigation of her relationship with President Bill Clinton.

2004 ~ Death of Professor Francis Harry Compton Crick (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/crick-bio.html), awarded one third the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 for his contributions towards understanding the role of DNA in genetics.

[jseal]

1905 ~ Birthday of Dag Hammarskjöld (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1961/hammarskjold-bio.html), UN Secretary-General. Awarded the The Nobel Peace Prize 1961.

1907 ~ Sir Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts movement with the first scout camp at Brownsea Island (http://www.thescoutingpages.org.uk/first_camp.html). :thumb:

1958 ~ The U.S. Congress created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html) (NASA).

1969 ~ Birthday of Adele Stevens (http://www.adele-stevens.com/inside.htm), English porn star.

1974 ~ Death of Mama Cass Elliot, Musician.

1975 ~ Death of James Blish, Science Fiction Writer.

1981 ~ Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, Prince of Wales (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0729.html#article).

1993 ~ The Israeli Supreme Court acquitted Nazi camp guard John Demjanjuk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/29/newsid_4561000/4561917.stm) of all charges.

1996 ~ The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act was struck down as too broad in U.S. federal court.

2005 ~ Astronomers Brown, Trujillo, and Rabinowitz announced their discovery of Eris (http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/).

[jseal]

1729 ~ The city of Baltimore was founded (http://baltimore.org//about-baltimore).

1792 ~ The French national anthem ''La Marseillaise'' by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, was first sung in Paris.

1818 ~ Birthday of Emily Brontë (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/ebronte/bio.html), English Novelist.

1898 ~ Birthday of Henry Moore (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/moore.html), Sculptor.

1941 ~ Birthday of Paul Anka, Singer and Composer.

1945 ~ World War II: Japanese submarine I-58 sank the USS Indianapolis (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0730.html#article).

1966 ~ England won the first televised Football World Cup (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/30/newsid_2644000/2644065.stm), beating Germany 4 to 2.

2003 ~ The last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle (http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/30/pf/autos/bc.autos.vw.beetle/) manufactured in Mexico.

2006 ~ After 42 years, the BBC show "Top of the Pops" was broadcast for the last time.

2007 ~ Death of Ingmar Bergman (http://www.ingmarbergmanfoundation.com/), Swedish director.

[jseal]

1886 ~ Death of Franz Liszt (http://www.d-vista.com/OTHER/franzliszt.html), Hungarian Composer.

1912 ~ Birthday of Milton Friedman (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1976/friedman-autobio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in economics, 1976.

1917 ~ The Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ypres3.htm)) started in Flanders. With casualties from both sides exceeding 550,000, the name Passcheddaele has come to be used as a synonym for pointless slaughter.

"...I died in Hell
(they called it Passchendaele) my wound was slight
and I was hobbling back; and then a shell
burst slick upon the duckboards; so I fell
into the bottomless mud, and lost the light"

Siegfried Sassoon

1941 ~ Hermann Göring ordered SS general Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/order-bio.htm)."

1964 ~ Ranger program: Ranger 7 sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0731.html#article).

1965 ~ Birthday of J. K. Rowling, Author.

1970 ~ The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.

1991 ~ Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/31/newsid_4582000/4582773.stm) (START) signed in Moscow.

1999 ~ NASA intentionally crashed the Lunar Prospector (http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/history/index.htm) spacecraft into the Moon, ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.

2001 ~ Death of Poul Anderson, Science Fiction author (Tau Zero (http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=342)).

[Oldfart]

Tau Zero.

It should be required reading.

[jseal]

10 B.C. ~ Birthday of Claudius (http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudius.htm), Roman Emperor.

1774 ~ The element oxygen was discovered by Joseph Priestley (http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/priestley.html).

1779 ~ Birthday of Birthday of Francis Scott Key, Composer of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

1834 ~ Slavery was abolished in the British Empire.

1932 ~ Birthday of Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League (http://www.jdl.org/).

1936 ~ The Summer Olympic Games opened in Berlin (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0801.html#article).

1944 ~ Anne Frank made the last entry in her diary (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/annefran.htm).

1957 ~ The United States and Canada formed the North American Air Defense Command (http://www.norad.mil/) (NORAD).

1977 ~ Death of Gary Powers, Spy Plane Pilot (http://www.foia.cia.gov/powers.asp).

2005 ~ Death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

[jseal]

216 B.C. ~ Hannibal destroyed the double Consular Roman army of Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Publius Terentius Varro in the Battle of Cannae (http://www.unrv.com/empire/battle-of-cannae.php).

1776 ~ Delegates to the Continental Congress began to sign the Declaration of Independence (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/).

1876 ~ Death of James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok (http://abacom.com/~jkrause/hickok.html), Gunfighter.

1921 ~ Death of Enrico Caruso (http://www.gmmy.com/tenors/caruso/), Italian Tenor.

1932 ~ Birthday of Peter O'Toole, Actor. (Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter).

1934 ~ Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.

1939 ~ Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program.

1964 ~ Gulf of Tonkin Incident (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/index.htm) – North Vietnamese gunboats allegedly fire on U.S. destroyers.

1976 ~ Death of Fritz Lang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Lang), Film Director (Metropolis (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/synopsis), M, Frau im Mond (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019901/plotsummary)).

1990 ~ Iraq invaded Kuwait (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/2/newsid_2526000/2526937.stm), leading to the Gulf War.