Strange Days

[sillyme]

1782 Britain signs agreement recognizing US independence

1803 Spain cedes her claims to Louisiana Territory to France

1981 Porn star John Holmes arrested on fugitive charges

[Steph]

On Dec. 1, 1959, representatives of 12 countries, including the United States, signed a treaty in Washington setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, free from military activity.

[dm383]

Today is, as many of you will probably know, is World AIDS Day!


The 1824 presidential election between John Q. Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Crawford, and Henry Clay was turned over to the House of Representatives due to the lack of an electoral-vote majority


Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes appeared for the first time in print in the story "A Study in Scarlet" today in 1887


Today in 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her front-section bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.


Representatives from more than 150 countries gathered at a global warming summit in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, and over the course of ten days forged an agreement to control the emission of greenhouse gases.

[Steph]

On Dec. 2, 1954, the Senate voted to condemn Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R Wis., for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."

[dm383]

"Official" Lunatic the Marquis de Sade died today in 1814. (He probably enjoyed it, too!! :))


Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor of France in Paris by Pope Pius VII in 1814.


In 1823 President James Monroe outlined his famous doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere


In 1859 Abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on Harper's Ferry


The first controlled nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated at the University of Chicago today in 1942


Today in 1970 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established


Barney B. Clark became the first person to receive an artificial heart in a transplant operation carried out today in 1982


A combined Protestant and Catholic cabinet convened for the first time in Northern Ireland today in 1999.

[Steph]

On Dec. 3, 1984, more than 4,000 people died after a cloud of gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India.

[dm383]

1918 ~ Illinois becomes the 21st State of the United States


1833 ~ Oberlin College in Ohio became the first coed institution of higher learning in the U.S.


1919 ~ French painter and sculptor Pierre A. Renoir died at age 78.


1967 ~ Dr. Christiaan N. Barnard performed the world's first successful human heart transplant.

[dm383]

1993 ~ Frank Zappa, Rock Legend, died of prostate cancer


1783 ~ George Washington delivered his farewell address to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City.


1816 ~ James Monroe of Virginia was elected (by electors) the fifth president of the United States


1875 ~ William Marcy "Boss" Tweed of New York's Tammany Hall escaped from jail and fled the country.


1945 ~ The Senate approved U.S. participation in the United Nations


1991 ~ Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson is released after seven years as a hostage in Lebanon

[sillyme]

1918 Pres Wilson sails for Versailles Peace Conference in France, 1st chief executive to travel outside US while in office

1927 Duke Ellington opens at the Cotten Club in Harlem

1952 Killer fogs begin in London, England; 'smog' becomes a word



And Holidays for Today:

Mexico: Day of the Artisans

Tonga: Proclamation Day

[Steph]

1995 United Nations New York - Former Newfoundland premier Brian Tobin signs UN Treaty on migrating fish stocks; Fisheries Minister wants to protect Grand Bank stocks outside Canada's jurisdiction.

[Steph]

1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.

[dm383]

I must apologise (to those who care!!) for not posting today...... a combination of 4 nights crap sleep, having the news my dog is being given away by my Ex, and smashing my car...... NOT a good day!!

AND....... I'm pissed!! (Drunk, that is!) ....... so, SUE ME!!

:D


DM

[dm383]

1557 ~ A Pig was sentenced to be "Buried all alive" after eating a child in St. Quentin, France


1877 ~ The first sound recording, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," was made by Thomas Edison.


1884 ~ Construction of the Washington Monument was completed.


1889 ~ Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.


1923 ~ A presidential address was broadcast on the radio for the first time when Calvin Coolidge spoke before Congress.


1926 ~ French impressionist painter Claude Monet died at age 86.


1998 ~ Hugo Chavez elected president of Venezuela.

[Steph]

1921 CANADIAN WOMEN EXERCISE FIRST FEDERAL VOTE

Agnes McPhail (1890-1954) is elected to the House of Commons for the United Farmers of Ontario in the first election in which all Canadian women exercise their right to vote (wives of soldiers could vote during World War I); a country schoolteacher, she is Canada's first female MP.

It's not even 100 years ago!!!!!!!

[dm383]

1882 ~ Charles Brooks became the first person to be executed by lethal injection in Texas.


1787 ~ Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution


1917 ~ The U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary in World War I.


1941 ~ The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.


1972 ~ America's final moon mission, Apollo 17, blasted off from Cape Canaveral


1975 ~ Indonesia invaded East Timor, leading to a 25-year occupation


1988 ~ A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit Armenia, killing 25,000.


2001 ~ Taliban forces fled from Kandahar, their last stronghold in Afghanistan

[dicksbro]

In the year 185, Emperor Lo-Yang of China saw a supernova which is now identified as MSH15-52 (?).

In 1842, the New York Philharmonic played it's 1st concert.

[Steph]

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, an act that led to America's entry into World War II.

[dicksbro]

On Dec. 7, 2003, I woke up early and joined the hardy few at Pixies for some posting. :D That's noteworthy, isn't it? ;)

[dm383]

Originally posted by Steph
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, an act that led to America's entry into World War II.



Don't mean to be picky or anything Steph....... but, didn't I already do that one? ;) (Not in as much detail, admittedly!!)
{Just my wee joke, sweetie.....hehehehe! :D}



On Dec. 7, 2003, I woke up early and joined the hardy few at Pixies for some posting. That's noteworthy, isn't it?

Sure is dicksbro!! :D

DM

[Steph]

On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

(Whoops, missed the double post! :D)

[dm383]

1980 ~ John Lennon was shot dead outside his New York apartment


1854 ~ Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.


1886 ~ The American Federation of Labor was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio.


1987 ~ President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers


1993 ~ President Bill Clinton signed The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law

[Steph]

On Dec. 9, 1992, Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separatio

[dm383]

1753 ~ Newgate Prison in London held its first public execution.


1941 ~ China declared war against Japan, Germany, and Italy


1958 ~ The anti-Communist John Birch Society was formed.


1965 ~ "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiered.


1993 ~ U.S. astronauts completed repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope.


1996 ~ Archaeologist and anthropologist Mary Leakey died in Kenya at age 83.

[dm383]

1990 ~ Buff, the "Human beat-box" of The Fat Boys, died of heart failure


1817 ~ Mississippi became the 20th state in the United States.


1869 ~ The territory of Wyoming authorized women to vote and hold office.


1901 ~ The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace.


1948 ~ The United Nations General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.


1950 ~ Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first black to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.


1964 ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received the Nobel Peace Prize.

[Steph]

1985 - Supreme Court of Canada upholds firing of public servant Neil Fraser for criticizing the government's metric conversion policies.

[Steph]

On Dec. 11

1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States; the U.S. responded in kind.

[dm383]

1816 ~ Indiana became the 19th state.


1844 ~ Nitrous oxide was used for the first time in dentistry.


1936 ~ King Edward VIII abdicated the throne of Britain for the woman he loved, Mrs. Wallis Simpson.


1946 ~ The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established


1994 ~ Russian troups invade Chechnya in an unsuccessful attempt to restore Moscow's power in the region.


1997 ~ Housing secretary Henry Cisneros is indicted for conspiracy, obstructing justice, and false statements to the FBI.

[PantyFanatic]

I haven’t been here for a while after becoming frustrated with myself for ferreting out little ditties from random sources only to miss posting them at the right time. :o Today just had too many significant events happen to let it go past. I have to start with something near and dear to my heart.;)

In 1998, the Mars Climate Orbiter was successfully launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida. However, the probe disappeared on 23 Sep 1999, apparently destroyed because scientists had failed to convert English measures to metric values. The orbiter's instruments would have monitored the Martian atmosphere and image the planet's surface on a daily basis for one Martian year (1.8 Earth years) with observations of the appearance and movement of atmospheric dust and water vapor, as well as characterizing seasonal changes on the surface.

The deeds of a lady of note has to be mentioned today also. In 1911, at Stockholm, Sweden, Marie Curie became the first person to be awarded a second Nobel prize. She had isolated radium by electrolyzing molten radium chloride. This second prize was for her individual achievements in Chemistry, whereas her first prize (1903) was a collaborative effort with her husband, Pierre, and Henri Becquerel in Physics for her contributions in the discovery of radium and polonium.

An old chat buddy of Al’s was born 11 Dec 1882, and his insights has effected mankind’s concepts forever. Max Born, was a German physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1954, with Walther Bothe of Germany, for his statistical formulation of the behavior of subatomic particles. His studies of the wave function led to the replacement of the original quantum theory, which regarded electrons as particles, with a mathematical description.

The anniversary of the last thing that HAS to be noted is in 1998, scientists announced in the Dec 11 issue of the journal Science that they have deciphered the entire genetic blueprint of an animal - the tiny nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans. This is the first time genetic instructions have been spelt out for an animal that, like humans, has a nervous system, digests food, and has sex. The worm's genetic code is spelt out by 97 million genetic letters corresponding to 20,000 genes. This work is a milestone in global efforts to unravel the entire human genetic code - or genome - which was completed earlier this year and is the tool for medical wonders undreamt of. The research grew into a collaboration between 1,500 scientists in 250 laboratories worldwide. The efforts were led by John Sulston, in England and Dr Bob Waterston in the U.S.

Somebody was busy today.:D

[Steph]

Today our new Prime Minister, Paul Martin is being sworn in.

Also in political news, on this day in 2000, a divided U.S. Supreme Court halted the presidential recount in Florida, effectively making Republican George W. Bush the winner.

[dm383]

1917 ~ An overloaded French troop train cuaght fire near Modane in the Alps, and de-railed at 75mph. More than 800 died in the world's WORST rail accident


1787 ~ Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.


1913 ~ The Mona Lisa was recovered in Florence after having been stolen two years earlier (August 1911) from the Louvre.


1963 ~ Kenya gained its independence from Britain.


1998 ~ The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Clinton.


2001 ~ Yasir Arafat closed the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

[dm383]

1916 ~ Not EVERYONE who died in WWI was in the fighting!! An avalanche in Tyrol, Austria, killed over 10,000 Italian and Austrian troops.


1642 ~ New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.


1918 ~ President Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Europe while in office.


1978 ~ The U.S. Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the first U.S. coin honoring a woman.


1981 ~ The Polish government imposed martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement.


1996 ~ Kofi Annan of Ghana chosen to become UN secretary-general.


2000 ~ George W. Bush accepted presidency 36 days after election; Al Gore, Jr., conceded.


2003 ~ CA & I fly to Dublin, to indulge in ALL SORTS of high-jinks and debauchery, fuelled by copious amounts of "Proper" Guinness!! :D :D


This programme will now take a short(ish!) intermission..... normal service will be resumed on December 17th!!

DM

[dicksbro]

And, just in time for the season ... in 1843, Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" was published with 6,000 copies sold.

(BTY, TY DM)

[Steph]

1981~ Israel annexed the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967.

[Steph]

1916 ~ the French defeated the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun.

[jseal]

1770 ~ Birth of Ludwig Van Beethoven

[Steph]

1950 ~ President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight "Communist imperialism."

[PantyFanatic]

Originally posted by Steph
1985 - Supreme Court of Canada upholds firing of public servant Neil Fraser for criticizing the government's metric conversion policies.
What happened? Did they deport him to some backward southern nation?:confused:



Margaret Mead- Born 1901
She was twenty-three years old when she first traveled to the South Pacific, to conduct research for her doctoral dissertation. The resulting book, Coming of Age in Samoa, was - and remains - a best-seller.

Alexander Ross Clarke- Born 1828;
English geodesist whose calculations of the size and shape of the Earth (the Clarke ellipsoid) were the first to approximate accepted modern values with respect to both polar flattening and equatorial radius.

In 1884, the first U.S. patent was issued for an automatic liquid vending machine to William H. Fruen of Minneapolis, Minn. (No. 309,219).

[Steph]

Originally posted by PantyFanatic
What happened? Did they deport him to some backward southern nation?:confused:

LOL I KNOW! I was quite young when metric was introduced so it was just another part of school for me. I guess it caused some controversy!

[dm383]

1855 ~ Jem Smith beat Jack Davies in the last official bare-knuckle British heavyweight championship fight.


1777 ~ France recognized American independence.


1903 ~ Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first flight in a heavier-than-air plane at Kitty Hawk, N.C.


1944 ~ The U.S. Army announced the end of its policy of holding Japanese-Americans in internment camps, allowing "evacuees" to return home.


1969 ~ The U.S. Air Force ended its "Project Blue Book" and concluded that there was no evidence of extraterrestrial activity behind UFO sightings.


1992 ~ North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

[dm383]

1997 ~ Anthony DeCulit shoots three fellow postal workers in Milwaukee, before turning the gun on himself


1737 ~ Violin maker Antonio Stradivari died in Cremona, Italy.


1787 ~ New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.


1865 ~ Slavery was abolished with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.


1892 ~ Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" premiered at St. Petersburg's Maryinksy Theatre.


1956 ~ Japan was admitted to the United Nations


1957 ~ The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania became the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States.


1969 ~ The British Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.


2000 ~ George W. Bush received 271 votes in the delayed Electoral College balloting.

[Steph]

1984: Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997

[dm383]

1989 ~ ~U.S. troops invade Panama to overthrow President General Noriega


1732 ~ Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanac.


1776 ~ Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."


1843 ~ Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol."


1946 ~ War broke out in Indochina when Ho Chi Minh attacked the French.


1972 ~ Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.


1998 ~ President Bill Clinton impeached on two counts by the House of Representatives.

[dm383]

2001 ~ Scottish rock band Big Country's lead singer, Stuart Adamson, found dead in a hotel room. He had committed suicide.


1803 ~ The United States purchased the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million.


1860 ~ South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.


1968 ~ Author John Steinbeck died at age 66.


1989 ~ The United States had invaded Panama and installed a new government but failed to capture General Manuel Antonio Noriega.


1996 ~ Astronomer Carl Sagan died at age 62.

[Steph]

(In a big country! Loved that song!)

1991 Argentia Newfoundland - US Navy announces plans to close Argentia base in 1994; 500 personnel will leave; once the largest US base on foreign soil.

1991 OTTAWA SENATORS COME BACK

NHL Governors grant permanent membership to the new Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning teams. The original Senators went out of business in 1932, due to the Depression.

[PantyFanatic]

Born 20 Dec 1868; died 7 Feb 1938.
Harvey S(amuel) Firestone was an American industrialist who introduced straight-side pneumatic tires for the Model T Ford.

In 1879, Thomas A. Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, New Jersey. He had invented the lamp on 21 Oct 1879 after 13 months of experimentation to discover a suitable material for the filament.

[dm383]

1988 ~ The bomb aboard a Pan AM Boeing 747 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.


1620 ~ The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts.


1891 ~ The first basketball game, invented at Springfield College in Massachusetts by James E. Naismith, was played.


1898 ~ Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium.


1913 ~ The first crossword puzzle was printed in the New York World.


1937 ~ Disney's Snow White, the first feature length color and sound cartoon, premiered.


1970 ~ Elvis Presley met with president Richard Nixon in the White House.


1991 ~ Eleven of the former Soviet republics form the Commonwealth of Independent States.

[PantyFanatic]

1904- Born (died 24 May 1992)
Francis Thomas Bacon was an English engineer who developed the first practical hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, which convert air and fuel directly into electricity through electrochemical processes.

1933- Died (born 7 Jun 1879)
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen, Danish-Eskimo explorer and ethnologist who, in the course of completing the longest dog-sledge journey to that time, across the American Arctic, made a scientific study of virtually every Eskimo tribe in that vast region.

1945- General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. 3rd Army, dies from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident. He was 60 years old.

1958- Three months after a new French constitution was approved, Charles de Gaulle is elected the first president of the Fifth Republic by a sweeping majority of French voters.

1968- Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders aboard.

[jseal]

1989 ~ Brandenburg Gate re-opens, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.

[PantyFanatic]

1870- Jules Janssen, flew in a balloon in order to study the solar eclipse.

1882- The first string of Christmas Tree lights was created by Thomas Edison's associate, Edward H. Johnson. He decorated a Christmas tree at his home. Previously, trees were decorated with wax candles from the early days of the Christmas tree tradition.

1911- Born (died 20 Dec 2002)
Grote Reber, U.S. astronomer and radio engineer who built the first radio telescope and was largely responsible for the early development of radio astronomy, an entirely study of the universe.

1937- The Lincoln Tunnel in New York opened to traffic.

1964- Comedian Lenny Bruce is sentenced to four months in a New York jail for violating obscenity laws during his nightclub act.

1968- The first U.S. live telecast from a manned spacecraft in outer space was transmitted from Apollo VIII.

[Steph]

On Dec. 22, 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to President Lincoln from Georgia, saying, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."

[jseal]

1956 ~ The United Nations Emergency Force takes over in Egypt after British and French forces withdraw from Port Said and Port Fuad ending the Suez Crisis.

[Steph]

1986 The experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

[dm383]

1995 ~ 16 members of the Solar Temple sect were found in a clearing near Grenoble, France. 14 were presumed shot by two of the group, who then committed suicide


1783 ~ George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army.


1788 ~ Maryland voted to cede a 100-square-mile area for the District of Columbia.


1823 ~ The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("'Twas the night before Christmas"), written by either Clement C. Moore or Maj. Henry Livingston, Jr., was published in the Troy Sentinel of New York.


1947 ~ The transistor was invented by American physicists John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, and William Shockley.

[Steph]

Christmas Eve! My guy, Joey Smallwood was born today.

1900-1991

journalist, politician, born on this day at Mint Brook, just outside Gambo, Newfoundland; died at St. John's Dec. 17, 1991.

Smallwood worked as a left-wing journalist in New York from 1920-25, and campaigned for the Progressive Party; 1925 returned to Newfoundland to serve as a union organizer and radio broadcaster; 1933 failed to win a seat in the election; 1943-46 ran a piggery at the Gander air base; 1946 elected to the Newfoundland Convention and tirelessly campaigned for admission into Canada; July 22, 1948 won second of two hard-fought and close referenda using the bait of family allowances; April 1, 1949 became interim Premier, May 1949 won election as Newfoundland's first provincial Premier, a post he held until 1971; Oct. 1971 defeated by the Conservatives led by Frank Moores; 1977 left politics to write his 5 volume Encyclopedia of Newfoundland, but only lived to see publication of three volumes. It was completed in 1994.

1781 CANADA'S FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE

Sorel Quebec - Friedrich, Baron von Riedesel 1738-1800 erects Canada's first Christmas tree for the garrison in Fort Sorel.

[jseal]

1962 ~ The last of more than 1,000 men taken prisoner at the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was returned to the United States.

[dm383]

1914 ~ The first EVER German bomb was dropped on Britain!! A bit unsporting, old boy..what??


1524 ~ Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama died in Cochin, India. Hope he got his prezzies first!! :)


1814 ~ The War of 1812 between America and Britain ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. Now, THAT'S what christmas should be about, isn't it?


1818 ~ "Silent Night" was composed by Franz Joseph Gruber. Been hearing this all week! :(


1865 ~ The Ku Klux Klan was formed in Pulaski, Tennessee. They should ALL be Damned, just for this!! (Just a thought!)


1871 ~ Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida premiered in Cairo, Egypt, at the opening of the Suez Canal. *wonders if dicksbro has seen that one?*


1992 ~ President Bush pardoned former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others in the Iran-Contra scandal. Just one of the boys, y'know??

[dm383]

I'm not going to post anything today, mainly cos in the sources I use, there's NOTHING even remotely amusing or uplifting!!

So, instead, I'll just say.....


MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYPIXIE!!!



DM :D

[jseal]

1991 ~ Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as Soviet Union breaks up. "…as a result of the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent states I hereby discontinue my activities at the post of president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" .

[Steph]

Merry Christmas, DM!

It's hard to believe Gorbachev has only been gone for 12 years.

(sorry, I had no new news besides his resignation, either :) )

[Steph]

Here's a surprising one . . . I would have thought a Prime Minister of Britain met or spoke with the Americans before this:

On Dec. 26, 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.

[dm383]

2000 ~ A gunman opened fire at an internet firm in Wakefield in the the U.S., killing seven people.


1492 ~ Christopher Columbus established the first Spanish settlement in the New World.


1776 ~ George Washington defeated the Hessians at Trenton.


1865 ~ James H. Nason invented the coffee percolator.


1972 ~ The 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Mo.

[dm383]

1979 ~ Soviet forces seize control of Afghanistan. The resulting civil war lasted 10 years, and gave rise to the Taliban.


1831 ~ Darwin began his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.


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


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


1945 ~ The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.


1996 ~ Rwanda's first genocide trial opened for the 1994 slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis.


2001 ~ The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


2001 ~ Also on this day, President Bush permanently normalized trade relations with China.

[jseal]

1985 ~ 16 people are killed and more than 100 injured during twin terrorist attacks at Rome and Vienna airports.

[Steph]

1979

Just to add to the Afghanistan fact - President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.

[dm383]

Kind of a BUSY day, today!!


1983 ~ The only Beach Boy who could actually surf, Dennis Wilson, died after diving into a Californian dock


1065 ~ Westminster Abbey consecrated.


1832 ~ John C. Calhoun became the first vice president in U.S. history to resign from office.


1846 ~ Iowa became the 29th state in the United States.


1869 ~ William F. Semple patented chewing gum.


1895 ~ The Lumiere Brothers gave the first movie show at the Grand Cafe in Paris.


1937 ~ Composer Maurice Ravel died in Paris at age 62.


1945 ~ Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.


1981 ~ Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American test-tube baby, was born in Norfolk, Va.

[Steph]

On Dec. 29, 1940, during World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London.

[dm383]

1890 ~ Defeat at the Battle of Wounded Knee effectively ended Native American resistance to white settlement!


1170 ~ Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by four knights acting under the orders of Henry II.


1845 ~ Texas became the 28th state in the United States.


1851 ~ The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) opened in Boston.


1937 ~ The Constitution of Ireland, changing the Irish Free State into Eire, went into effect.


1989 ~ Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia.


1996 ~ A peace agreement was signed, ending 36 years of conflict in Guatemala.

[dm383]

It's New Years Eve Eve, today!! :D


1916 ~ Rasputin, the "Mad Monk" was finally killed by a group of Russian aristocrats, after being; poisoned (cakes AND wine!), shot (twice), bludgeoned and then stabbed. Still not dead, he was tied up and thrown in the River Neva, where his body was washed up several weeks later!


1853 ~ The United States bought some 45,000 sq mi of land from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase.


1896 ~ Jose Rizal, national hero of the Philippine Revolution, was executed by firing-squad by the Spanish.


1911 ~ Sun Yat-sen was elected the first president of the Republic of China.


1922 ~ The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics was established through the confederation of Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, and Transcaucasian Federation.


1924 ~ Edwin Hubble announced the existence of other galactic systems.


1972 ~ President Nixon halted the heavy bombing on North Vietnam.


1993 ~ Israel and the Vatican signed an agreement of mutual recognition to put an end to Jewish-Christian hostilities.

[Steph]

1981 GRETZKY SHATTERS RICHARD RECORD
Edmonton Alberta - Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, including his 50th of the season into an empty net, leading the Oilers to a 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Scoring in only his 39th game of the season, Gretzky becomes the first player to reach the mark in fewer than 50 games, shattering Maurice Richard's NHL record.

[jseal]

1964 ~ Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record, becoming the only man to break the world land and water speed records in the same year.

[Steph]

(Wow, jseal - that guy was a daredevil, eh? I'll have to look him up!)

1946 President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

[dm383]

404A.D. ~ The last EVER gladitorial contest takes place in Rome


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


1938 ~ The first breath test for drivers, "drunkometer," was introduced in Indianapolis.


1946 ~ President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.


1961 ~ The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.



1963 ~ Central African Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was formally dissolved.


1987 ~ Robert Mugabe sworn in as Zimbabwe's president.


2003 ~ Have a DAMN GOOD New Year, everybody!! DM & CA :D

[dm383]

Happy New Year !!!


1735 ~ Paul Revere was born.


1863 ~ Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.


1908 ~ The ball signifying the New Year was dropped for the first time at Times Square in New York City.


1914 ~ The world's first airline, St. Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, starts operation in St. Petersburg, Florida.


1959 ~ Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries took over Cuba and toppled Fulgencio Batista's regime.


1975 ~ John Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, and John Ehrlichman were convicted of obstruction of justice in the Watergate affair.


1993 ~ Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.


1994 ~ The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect.


2002 ~ Euro coins and notes went into circulation in twelve European nations.

[Steph]

On Jan. 2, 1905, Japanese General Nogi received from Russian General Stoessel at 9 p.m. a letter formally offering to surrender, ending the Russo-Japanese War.

[dm383]

1944 ~ Helicopters were first used in war today, as part of the British Atlantic patrol


1492 ~ Muhammad XI, the leader of the last Arab stronghold in Spain, surrendered to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I.


1788 ~ Georgia was admitted to the Union as the 4th state.


1839 ~ Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre took the first photograph of the Moon.


1905 ~ The Russo-Japanese war ended.


1923 ~ The African-American town of Rosewood, Fla., was burned by a white mob.


1935 ~ The Bruno R. Hauptmann trial began for the kidnap and murder of the Lindbergh baby.


1959 ~ The first spacecraft to orbit the Sun, Mechta (Luna 1) was launched by the USSR.


1994 ~ Rudolph Giuliani is inaugurated as New York City's mayor.

[dm383]

Busy day, today! :)


1943 ~ Stalingrad - 23 German generals, 2,000 officers and 130,000 soldiers surrender to the Russians. Only 5,000 survived captivity.


1966 ~ A successful coup d'etat took palce in Burkina Faso.... today now known as Revolution Day!


1521 ~ Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X.


1777 ~ George Washington defeated Cornwallis's forces at the Battle of Princeton.


1833 ~ Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands.


1870 ~ Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began.


1920 ~ The "curse of the Bambino" haunted the Boston Red Sox after they sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.


1947 ~ Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time.


1958 ~ Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole overland.


1959 ~ Alaska became the 49th state in the United States.


1962 ~ Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.


1987 ~ Aretha Franklin became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


1990 ~ Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces.

[jseal]

1967 ~ Donald Campbell died just before breaking his own water speed record in his jet-powered boat, the Bluebird K7.

[dm383]

1981 ~ Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested and admits to 13 murders.


1790 ~ President George Washington delivered the first "State of the Union" address.


1885 ~ Dr. William W. Grant of Davenport, Iowa, performed what is thought to be the first appendectomy


1896 ~ Utah was admitted as 45th state in the United States.


1904 ~ In Gonzales v. Williams, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that citizens of Puerto Rico are not aliens and can enter the U.S. freely.


1948 ~ Burma (Myanmar) gained independence from Great Britain.


1951 ~ During the Korean War, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul.


1965 ~ President Johnson outlined his "Great Society" in his State of the Union address.


1999 ~ Former wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as Minnesota's governor.


Also in 1999 ~ The U.S. Mint began distributing the 50 State Quarters.

[Steph]

On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day.

[dm383]

From today on, the first post of the day will be SOME kind of anniversary from around the world... revolutions, institution days, stuff like that! Todays is.....

Granada, Spain ~ Dia de la Toma....."Day of the Taking". Commemorates the day Spain recaptured the Andalucian hot-spot from the Moors in 1492.


1896 ~ A German newspaper reported German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of X-rays.


1914 ~ Henry Ford introduced the $5-a-day minimum wage.


1925 ~ Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman governor of a state (Wyoming).


1972 ~ President Nixon ordered the development of the space shuttle


2000 ~ INS Commissioner Doris Meissner ruled that 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez must be returned to Cuba.

[dm383]

Venezuela ~ La Paradura del Nino....... "The Parade of Baby Jesus". A carnival where statues of Jesus are paraded down the street


1540 ~ King Henry VIII of England married his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves.


1838 ~ Samuel Morse gave the first public demonstration of the telegraph.


1912 ~ New Mexico became the 47th state in the United States.


1987 ~ University of California astronomers first witnessed the birth of a galaxy that contained 1 billion stars.

[Steph]

On Jan. 6, 1919, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, died in Oyster Bay, N.Y., at age 60.

[jseal]

1899 ~ French composer Francis Poulenc born

[Steph]

1979 Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government.

[dm383]

Cambodia ~ Following on from Steph's post, this day is now known as "Victory over the Genocidal Regime Day". Catchy, huh?


1789 ~ The first Presidential election was held in the U.S.


1896 ~ Fanny Farmer published her first cookbook.


1927 ~ Transatlantic commercial telephone service began between New York and London.


Not too much going on "today" ...... see y'all tomorrow!! :)

[Steph]

(VERY catchy, DM! LOL)

1918 President Woodrow Wilson outlined his 14 points for peace after World War I.

[jseal]

1959 ~ Charles de Gaulle becomes first President of the new Fifth Republic of France during a ceremony at the Elysée Palace. Retiring president, M. René Coty, welcomed the new president saying: "The first among Frenchmen is now the first in France."

[dm383]

VERY quiet day today...... was it a holiday or something?!?!

1935 ~ Birthdate of ELVIS AARON PRESLEY (Wasn't he some kinda singer or something??)


1798 ~ The 11th Amendment to the Constitution, modifying the power of the Supreme Court, was ratified.


1812 ~ Last battle in the War of 1812 was fought.


1958 ~ Bobby Fischer won the United States Chess Championship for the first time at age 14.

[Steph]

1968
The Surveyor 7 space probe made a soft landing on the moon, marking the end of the American series of unmanned explorations of the lunar surface.

[dm383]

Andorra ~ "Epiphany" .... I guess you have to be Andorran to understand WHY!!!


1788 ~ Connecticut became the 5th state in the United States.


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


1905 ~ The Russian Revolution of 1905 was sparked by troops firing on petitioners to Czar Nicholas in St. Petersburg.


1964 ~ Anti-American rioting broke out in the Panama Canal Zone.

[dm383]

Benin ~ "Traditional Day" aka "National Voodoo Day" Just what it sounds like! (Involves a LOT of hard liquor and some unlucky goats!!)


1776 ~ Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which greatly influenced the authors of the Declaration of Independence, was published.


1863 ~ The first underground passenger railway, the Metropolitan, opened in London.


1920 ~ The League of Nations came into existence.


1967 ~ The first African-American senator elected by popular vote, Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, took his seat.


1984 ~ The U.S. and the Vatican reestablished diplomatic relations after a 117-year break.

[Steph]

On Jan. 11, 1935, aviator Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.

[dm383]

Puerto Rico ~ "Hostos Day". Honouring freedom fighter Eugenio Maria deHostos y Bonilla. The first Argentinian train was also named after him.


1963 ~ The first discotheque, the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, opened in Los Angeles.


1964 ~ The first government report regarding the dangers of cigarette smoking was issued by the U.S. Surgeon General, Luther Terry.


1973 ~ Baseball's American League adopted the "designated hitter" rule which allowed another player to bat for the pitcher.


2002 ~ The first al-Qaeda prisoners arrive at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

[dm383]

Turkmenistan ~ "Anniversary of the Battle of Geok-Tepe". 6,000 Russian troops overwhelmed 25,000 Turkomans in 1881.


1773 ~ The first public museum in the U.S. was established in Charleston, S.C.


1896 ~ H. L. Smith took the first X-ray photograph. It was a hand with a bullet in it.


1915 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.


1932 ~ Hattie W. Caraway, a democrat from Arkansas became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.


1964 ~ One month after Zanzibar became independent, the ruling Zanzibar Nationalist Party was overthrown in a violent coup.


1991 ~ A divided Congress gave President Bush the go-ahead on the Persian Gulf War.


1998 ~ Nineteen European countries signed an agreement banning human cloning.

[Steph]

We've come a long way, baby.

Coming home on the subway with some coworkers, I mentioned it was only 80 years ago that women were given the vote. Hard to believe, DM!

[Tess]

Update - The museum in Charleston is still here, and the people that built it still control the town.

[dm383]

Ukraine ~ "St. Melania's Day" Carollers go from house to house, playing pranks or acting out a small play. Bit chilly!! :)


1559 ~ Queen Elizabeth I of England was crowned in Westminster Abbey.


1898 ~ French writer Emile Zola published his "J'Accuse" letter, accusing the French of a cover-up in the Alfred Dreyfus treason case.


1941 ~ Novelist James Joyce died in Zurich.


1990 ~ Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the first elected African-American governor in the United States.


1999 ~ Michael Jordan announced his second retirement from the NBA. He would "unretire" again in 2001.


2002 ~ After 17,162 performances, The Fantasticks ended its almost 42-year off-Broadway run.

[dm383]

Bosnia-Herzegovina ~ New Year (Orthodox!!) ANOTHER excuse for a good bevvy session. Slainte!!


1784 ~ The Untied States ratified treaty with England ending Revolutionary War.


1943 ~ President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill meet at the Casablanca Conference.


1953 ~ Tito formally became the first president of the Republic of Yugoslavia.


1954 ~ Marilyn Monroe married baseball legend Joe DiMaggio.


1963 ~ George Wallace sworn in as Alabama's governor, promising "segregation forever."


1973 ~ The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go undefeated and have a perfect season by beating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.


1990 ~ The Simpsons premiered on television. (Bart STILL doesn't look a day over 9, does he?!! :) )

[dm383]

Malawi ~ "John Chilembwe's Day" A reverend, he led a revolt against the occupying British in 1914. He was shot, in keeping with British policy in those days!!


1759 ~ The British Museum opened.


1870 ~ The donkey was first used as symbol of the Democratic Party in Harper's Weekly.


1943 ~ The world's largest office building, the Pentagon, was completed.


1974 ~ Happy Days premiered on television.

[Steph]

1967 The first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, 35-10.

[dm383]

United States ~ "Prohibition Remembrance Day". A celebration of the Banning of Booze!!


1547 ~ Ivan the Terrible was crowned the first czar of Russia.


1883 ~ The U.S. Civil Service Commission established.


1920 ~ (Pursuant to #1!!) A year after it was ratified, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages, went into effect.


1942 ~ Actress Carole Lombard, the wife of actor Clark Gable, died in a plane crash.

[Steph]

1991 The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

[dm383]

Britain (kinda) ~ Captain Scott reached the South Pole today in 1912; only to find the Norwegian Flag of Roald Amundsen, who beat him to it!!


1706 ~ Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston.


1806 ~ James Madison Randolph, the grandson of Thomas Jefferson, became the first child born in the White House.


1893 ~ Hawaii's Queen Liliuokalani was forced to abdicate by a group of planters and businessmen.


1945 ~ Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody.


1977 ~ Gary Gilmore became the first person executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reintroduced.


1991 ~ Operation Desert Storm was launched against Iraq.


1998 ~ President Clinton became the first sitting U.S. president to testify as a defendant in a criminal or civil suit.


2001 ~ Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency concerning California's electricity crisis.

[dm383]

Peru ~ "Lima Foundation Day" All sorts of parades, dancing, fireworks..... the whole nine-yards!! :)


1733 ~ The first polar bear was exhibited in America, in Boston.


1778 ~ Captain James Cook came across the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).


1782 ~ Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire.


1788 ~ The First Fleet, carrying convicts and sheep, arrived in Australia's Botany Bay.


1912 ~ The ill-fated Scott expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover Amundsen had been there first. (typical, ain't it.... WE celebrate this a day EARLY!!)


1943 ~ The Nazi siege of Leningrad was broken.

[dm383]

Philippines ~ "AtiAtihan Festival" No-one seems to know WHAT they're celebrating......but who cares? Partay!! Any Filipino members here, who can enlighten us?


1915 ~ The electric neon sign was patented in the United States by George Claude of Paris, France.


1953 ~ Lucy Ricardo gave birth to baby Ricky on I Love Lucy. More people tuned in to watch the show than the inauguration of President Eisenhower.


1955 ~ President Eisenhower okayed the first filming of a news conference for television.


1966 ~ Indira Gandhi was elected prime minister of India.


1981 ~ The United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months.


1997 ~ Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron for the first time in 30 years, as Israel hands over control of the West Bank city to Palestinians.

[Steph]

On Jan. 19, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

[dm383]

Laos ~ "Army Day" As 85% of the population peace-loving Buddhists, this is a fairly 'low-key' celebration!


1801 ~ John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court


1885 ~ LaMarcus A. Thompson of Coney Island patented the roller coaster.


1942 ~ The Nazis formulated their "Final Solution" regarding the Jews at the Wannsee Conference.


1981 ~ President Reagan became the oldest president to take office (69 years and 349 days).


1981 ~ Same day!! 52 American hostages seized from the American Embassy in Tehran were released after 444 days in captivity.


1986 ~ Martin Luther King, Jr., day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

[dm383]

Barbados ~ "Errol Barrow Day" Commemorates the Island's first Prime Minister. His achievements include the introduction of free school meals.


1793 ~ King Louis XVI was guillotined for treason.


1915 ~ The first Kiwanis Club was founded in Detroit.


1924 ~ Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died in Moscow.


1950 ~ George Orwell died in London.


Also1950 ~ Former State department official Alger Hiss found guilty of perjury.


1954 ~ USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine was launched.


1977 ~ President Carter pardoned most Vietnam War draft evaders.


2003 ~ The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Hispanics had surpassed Blacks as the largest minority group.

[dm383]

China ~ First day of the "Year of the Monkey"!!


1901 ~ Queen Victoria of England died after reigning for 63 years (the 4th longest among longest-reigning monarchs and the longest for queens).


1905 ~ 500 workers were killed by the Czar's troops in "Bloody Sunday" in St. Petersburg.


1938 ~ Thornton Wilder's play Our Town first performed publicly in Princeton, N.J.


1973 ~ The Supreme Court legalized some abortions in Roe v. Wade.


1973 ~ (also today!!) Former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at age 64.


1997 ~ The U.S. Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the first female secretary of state.


2002 ~ Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty.




Hey guys..... anybody else got any interesting "daily" facts to post? I just LOVE all this stuff....... I can even remember some of it, when I "need" too!!!

DM

[dm383]

The WORLD!! ~ "The A-Team" made it's TV debut in 1983....... and a LEGEND was born!!


1556 ~ The deadliest earthquake on record killed 830,000 in Shansi, China.


1789 ~ Georgetown University established in what is now Washington, DC.


1849 ~ Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman physician in the U.S.


1964 ~ The 24th Amendment to the Constitution, barring poll taxes, was ratified.


1968 ~ North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo (the crew was released 11 months later.)


1973 ~ President Nixon announced that an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War.


1989 ~ Salvador Dali died in Spain at age 84.

[dicksbro]

1994 ~ Worldwide Day for peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina

[Steph]

1965 Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.

[dm383]

Togo ~ "Economic Liberation Day". 'Deterioration of the financial sector, energy shortages, depressed commodity prices'..... so says the interweb!! SOME liberation, huh?


41A.D. ~ Roman emperor, Gaius Caesar, better known as Caligula (meaning Little Boot—he used to wear military boots as a child), was murdered.


1848 ~ Gold was first discovered in California, in Sutter's mill. When President Polk announced the news in December, the gold rush began.


1908 ~ Robert Baden-Powell organized the first Boy Scout troop in England.


1972 ~ Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was discovered in Guam, having spent 28 years hiding in the jungle thinking World War II was still going on.


1986 ~ Voyager Two space probe passes within 51,000 miles of Uranus.


2003 ~ The Department of Homeland Security, under Tom Ridge, became a cabinet department.

[Steph]

On Jan. 25, 1915, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service.

[jseal]

1971 ~ General Idi Amin seizes power in Uganda while President Milton Obote is away on a foreign visit.

[dm383]

Lithuania ~ "Kirmeline - The Day of Serpents" Locals shake apple trees, and knock on bee-hives to wake bees from their winter slumber. (No mention ANYWHERE of any snakes! :confused: )


Scotland ~ "Burns Night". Celebrates the birth of Scotlands 'National Bard' in 1759; plenty of Haggis, neeps, tatties...... and WHISKY!!! (Now, you didn't think I'd forget THIS one, did ya?!?! :D)


1890 ~ United Mine Workers of America was founded.


1924 ~ The first Winter Olympic games opened at Chamonix, France.


1961 ~ President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television.


1971 ~ Charles Manson was found guilty of murdering Sharon Tate and six others.

[Eros]

Jan 25, 1858, Mendelssohn’s "Wedding March" was presented for the first time, as the daughter of Queen Victoria married the Crown Prince of Prussia

[Eros]

1998 The Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers 31-24 in Super Bowl XXXII. The Broncos had lost 3 previous Super Bowl appearances with quarterback John Elway.

[Eros]

1905 Great Britain's Arthur MacDonald sets a new land speed record (149.875 miles per hour) at Daytona Beach, Florida.
1939 Filming begins on "Gone With The Wind."

[jseal]

1998 ~ President Clinton denies an 18-month affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1995. “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

[dm383]

Australia ~ "Australia Day" An 'official' excuse to get Royally drunk!! (Like they NEED one! :D)


1788 (and THIS is what th^t celebrates!! The first European settlers landed in Sydney, Australia.


1802 ~ Congress passed an act calling for establishment of a library within the US Capitol.


1837 ~ Michigan became the 26th state in the United States.


1950 ~ India, three years after gaining its independence from the United Kingdom, formally became a republic.


1979 ~ Former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller died in New York at age 70.


1993 ~ Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.


2001 ~ A magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocked the Indian state of Gujarat, killing more than 20,000 people.

[jseal]

1967 ~ Three American astronauts, Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died when fire swept through their Command Module while they were taking part in a rehearsal for the launch of the first Apollo mission.

[dm383]

Serbia & Montenegro ~ "Feast of St. Sava" Serbs honour the prince who founded their orthodox church.


1756 ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria. (I've been there!!)


1880 ~ Thomas Edison was granted a patent for his incandescent light.


1945 ~ The Russians liberated Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis had killed over 1.5 million people, including over 1 million Jews.


1973 ~ Vietnam War peace accords were signed in Paris.

[Steph]

On Jan. 27, 1967, astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Fla.

[dm383]

Rwanda ~ "Democracy Day" In this case, Democracy in 1994 Rwanda meant the 'freedom' for 800,000 deaths in a Civil War, plus at least that number again of refugees


1547 ~ King Henry VIII of England died and his nine-year-old son, Edward VI, assumed the throne.


1915 ~ Congress passed legislation creating the U.S. Coast Guard.


1916 ~ The first Jewish Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis, was appointed.


1986 ~ U.S. shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after lift off, killing all seven crew members aboard, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.


1999 ~ The creation of Element 114 (ununquadium) is announced by scientists.


2003 ~ In his second State of the Union Address, President Bush presents case for war with Iraq.

[Steph]

On Jan. 29, 1963, poet Robert Frost died in Boston.

[dm383]

Switzerland ~ "Landsgemeinde" The locals come together and democratically elect representatives. How much MORE fun could you have?!?! :eek:


1802 ~ John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress. He was paid $2 a day.


1845 ~ Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven was published.


1861 ~ Kansas became the 34th state in the United States.


1886 ~ Karl Benz received a patent for the first successful gasoline-driven car.


1936 ~ Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson were the first players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.


2002 ~ In his State of the Union address, President Bush labels Iraq, Iran, and North Korea an "axis of evil."

[dm383]

Music World ~ 1969, at the Top of the Apple Building. Last EVER performance by The Beatles..... has the world been the same, since?


1649 ~ King Charles I of England was beheaded.


1933 ~ Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany.


1948 ~ Gandhi was assassinated.


1968 ~ Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese soldiers launched the Tet (New Year) offensive.


1979 ~ The Iranian civilian government announced that the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini would be allowed to return.

[dm383]

Nauru ~ "Independence Day" Celebrating the Pacific Island's breaking free from the voracious, Empire-building dictatorship of...... Australia!! :D


1797 ~ Franz Schubert was born in Vienna.


1865 ~ Robert E. Lee was appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces.


Same day in 1865 ~ The House of Representatives approved the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery in the United States.


1940 ~ The first social security check was issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.


1958 ~ The first U.S. earth satellite, Explorer I, was launched.


1990 ~ The first McDonald's opened in Russia. Isn't democracy Wonderful?! :)

[jseal]

1983 ~ British drivers and front seat passengers began wearing seatbelts as required by a new law.

2000 ~ Dr Harold Shipman is jailed for life for murdering 15 of his patients, making him Britain's most prolific convicted serial killer.

[jseal]

2004 ~ The Festival of the Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) begins this evening with the sighting of the moon.

[dm383]

Montserrat ~ "St. Brigid's Day" . (Not the world's most 'exciting' Saint.....miracles include taming a Wolf to replace a Chieftains dog!


1790 ~ The Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time, in New York City.


1862 ~ Julia Ward Howe's poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was published in the Atlantic Monthly.


1884 ~ The first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary A–Ant, was published.


1960 ~ Four black college students began a series of sit-ins at a white-only lunch counter in Woolworth’s, Greensboro, N.C.


1979 ~ Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after 15 years of exile.


2003 ~ The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it tried to reenter the Earth's atmosphere after a sixteen-day mission in space. All seven members of the crew were lost.

[LixyChick]

Originally posted by Nubian
..1991

Comedian and actor Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure outside of an adult movie theater in Sarosota, Florida. Reubens apparently was masturbating while watching a porno flick in the theater. Following the arrest, toy stores across the nation removed all Pee-wee toys, and his kiddie-show career was destroyed.
Pardon me for pulling the above quote from so far back in this thread (July 26, 2003) but this story has always perplexed me and as I was reading through all the interesting facts...this one jumped out at me......again!

Now....I gotta ask......Did the authorities NOT see anyone else but Paul Reubens "waxing his carrot" in this adult theater? How can it be called "indecent exposure" if he was INSIDE the (presumedly darkened.....as there was a movie playing)theater...and not outside lurking around the ticket booth? Was he standing up and waving his schlong in the face of the other patrons? Did someone in the theater witness this act and get offended that he couldn't watch his porn flick while another patron was doing an act that might have been playing on the screen simultaneously? Is this act a revelation to the authorities? Was it masturbation that ruined his kiddie-show career, or was it the media blitz that followed the arrest for an act that should never have been reported to children in the first place?

That did, and still does, piss me off to the max......in purple passion style! I love Paul Reubens and they did him dirty for this selective arrest!

OK.....I'm done! *jumps off the soap box*

[dm383]

Canada ~ "US Groundhog Day" Eh?


1536 ~ The city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza.


1848 ~ The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican War, was signed. In the treaty, Mexico ceded to the United States a huge portion of what is today the American West and Southwest, including California and New Mexico.


1870 ~ The Cardiff Giant was revealed to be a hoax.


1876 ~ The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was formed.


1922 ~ James Joyce's Ulysses was published.


1943 ~ Nazi troops surrendered in the World War II Battle of Stalingrad.


1971 ~ Idi Amin became dictator of Uganda.

[jseal]

1990 ~ The President of South Africa, F. W. De Klerk, lifted the 30-year ban on the African National Congress, effectively dismantling apartheid in South Africa.

[jseal]

1959 ~ Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens died in an airplane crash. Don McLean immortalised the tragedy with his 1972 hit “American Pie”.

[dm383]

Vietnam ~ "Foundation of the Vietnamese Communist Party" Catchy little name, isn't it? :)


1468 ~ Johann Gutenberg, German printer and inventor, died.


1870 ~ The 15th Amendment (black suffrage) passed.


1913 ~ The 16th Amendment, establishing federal income tax, was ratified.


1917 ~ The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.


1969 ~ The Palestine National Congress appointed Yasir Arafat head of the Palestine Liberation Organization.


1995 ~ Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot the space shuttle when the Discovery blasted off.

[dm383]

Angola ~ "Commencement of Armed Struggle Day" There has been fighting in Angola continuously since 1961..... worth a celebration?


1783 ~ England proclaimed the formal end to the hostilities with the United States.


1787 ~ Shays's Rebellion, an uprising of Massachusetts farmers, was defeated.


1789 ~ George Washington and John Adams are elected the president and vice president of the United States.


1861 ~ Delegates from six southern states met at Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.


1945 ~ Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at the Yalta Conference.


1948 ~ Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) gained independence from the United Kingdom.


1976 ~ Benjamin Britten, British composer, died.


2003 ~ The country of Yugoslavia disappeared, to be replaced by the loose federation of Serbia and Montenegro.

[jseal]

1974 ~ Patty Hearst, The granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.


1982 ~ Pioneering budget airline Laker Airways collapsed, owing £270 million to creditors.

[dm383]

Taiwan ~ "Lantern Festival" Join the Thousands of visitors at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei


1811 ~ After George III was declared insane, the Prince of Wales became Prince Regent of England, and later George IV.


1917 ~ Congress passed the Immigration Act, which restricted Asian immigration, over President Wilson's veto.


Also 1917 ~ Mexico adopted its present constitution.


1937 ~ FDR proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices—"packing" the court.


1994 ~ Byron De La Beckwith was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Medgar Evers, 30 years after the crime in Jackson, Mississippi.


1997 ~ Under international pressure, three of Switzerland’s biggest banks created a fund worth 100 million Swiss francs for Holocaust victims and their families.

[dm383]

Jamaica ~ "Bob Marley Day" Speaks for itself..... da man woulda been 59 today.


1788 ~ Massachusetts ratified the U.S. Constitution, becoming the sixth state to join the Union.


1804 ~ Joseph Priestley, British chemist, died. His work on the isolation of gases led him to discover oxygen in 1774.


1899 ~ The Spanish-American War ended when a peace treaty between Spain and the United States was signed.


1933 ~ The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which set the date for the president’s inauguration on Jan. 20, was adopted.


1935 ~ The popular board game Monopoly® went on sale for the first time.


1952 ~ Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.


1971 ~ Astronaut Alan B. Shepard hit three golf balls on the moon.

[dm383]

Tibet ~ "Ghost Exorcising day" Sorcerors enter a trance, and perform a special dance to chase off evil spirits


1795 ~ The 11th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified.


1904 ~ Disastrous fire destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in downtown Baltimore.


1926 ~ Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week, which later evolved into Black History Month.


1964 ~ The Beatles arrived in the U.S. for the first time.


1971 ~ Women in Switzerland were finally granted suffrage. Now, I KNOW the Swiss have a reputation for being "Traditional", but Nineteen SEVENTY ONE?!?! Sheesh! :)

[jseal]

1992 ~ Ministers from the 12 countries in the European Community (EC) have taken another step towards political and economic union in Maastricht. The EC will now be known as the European Union (EU).

[dm383]

Norway ~ "Mothers's Day" (What's wrong with a WARM time of year? :confused:


1587 ~ Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded.


1693 ~ College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., received its charter, becoming the second institution of higher learning in the United States.


1904 ~ The Russo-Japanese war began when the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in northeast China.


1924 ~ The gas chamber was used for the first time as a method of execution in the United States. Gangster Gee Jon was put to death at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.


1985 ~ Opposition leader Kim Dae Jung returned to South Korea.

[jseal]

(with apologies)

1964 ~ The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, and changed & challenged American popular music.

[dm383]

Lebanon ~ "Feast of St. Maron" A feast of delicious pastries, in memory of popular hermit and patron Saint of Lebanon, Maron.


1861 ~ Jefferson Davis was chosen as the president of the Confederate States of America.


1867 ~ Nebraska became the 37th state in the United States.


1950 ~ Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed he had evidence there were card-carrying members of the Communist Party in the State Department.


1964 ~ The Beatles made their first appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show'.


1991 ~ Lithuanians voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union.

[Steph]

On Feb. 9, 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an American victory over Japanese forces.

[dm383]

Malta ~ "Feast of St. Paul's Shipwreck" Commemorating (?) the day when (St.) Pauls ship hit a rock off Malta in 60 A.D.


1763 ~ Treaty of Paris signed, ending the French and Indian War. France ceded Canada and all its North American territories east of the Mississippi to Great Britain.


1837 ~ Russian poet and novelist Alexander Pushkin was killed in a duel.


1840 ~ Queen Victoria married Prince Albert.


1942 ~ Glenn Miller received the first ever gold record for selling a million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo."


1962 ~ The Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolph Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States.


1996 ~ IBM's computer, Deep Blue, beat the world chess champion, Garry Kasparov.

[jseal]

1975 ~ The British Conservative Party chose Margaret Thatcher as its new leader.

1990 ~ Anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa after 27 years.

[BIBI]

February 11th,

1922 Leslie Nielson was born.......Regina Sask. Canada

Actor

[BIBI]

February 11th,

1993 Clinton selects Janet Reno as US attorney general

[jseal]

1809 ~ Birthday of Abraham Lincoln, (R) 16th pres (1861-65)

1809 ~ Birthday of Charles Darwin, discoverer of evolution

1909 ~ National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) founded

1912 ~ Last Manchu emperor of China, Henry P'u-i, abdicates

1924 ~ Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" premiers

1999 ~ The five-week impeachment trial of Bill Clinton comes to an end

[Steph]

On Feb. 12, 1973, the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place.

[jseal]

1689 ~ Following Britain's bloodless Glorious Revolution, Mary, the daughter of the deposed king James II, and William of Orange, her husband, are proclaimed joint sovereigns of Great Britain.

1867 ~ "Blue Danube" waltz premiers in Vienna.

1923 ~ Birthday of Chuck Yeagar, 1st man to break the sound barrier.

1945 ~ The most controversial episode in the Allied air war against Germany begins as hundreds of British bombers loaded with incendiaries and high-explosive bombs descend on Dresden. By February 15, the city was a smoldering ruin and an unknown number of civilians--somewhere between 35,000 and 135,000--were dead.

1959 ~ The Americana icon, the Barbie doll, goes on sale.

[Steph]

On Feb. 13, 1935, a jury in Flemington, N.J., found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-death of the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed.

[jseal]

1766 ~ Birthday of Thomas Malthus, population expert.

1779 ~ Captain James Cook is murdered by natives of Hawaii during his third visit to the Pacific island group.

1929 ~ St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago - 7 gangsters killed.

1974 ~ Soviet authorities formally charge Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn with treason one day after expelling him from the country.

1989 ~ Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini has issued a death threat against author Salman Rushdie and his publishers over the book “Satanic Verses”.

[jseal]

1564 ~ Birthday of Galileo Galilei, in Pisa, Italy. Excellent Scientist and Astronomer, but injudicious Author.

1820 ~ Birthday of Susan B. Anthony, who crusaded against slavery, was active in the temperance movement, and helped launch and then sustain the struggle to gain the vote for women.

1898 ~ A massive explosion of unknown origin sinks the battleship USS Maine in Cuba's Havana harbor, killing 260 of the approximately 400 crew members aboard.

1942 ~ The supposedly impregnable Singapore fortress surrenders to Japanese forces after a weeklong siege.

1950 ~ The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, the two largest communist nations in the world, announce the signing of a mutual defense and assistance treaty, which many at the time viewed as proof positive that communism was a monolithic movement.

1965 ~ In accordance with a proclamation by Queen Elizabeth, a new Canadian national flag, red and white, with a stylized 11-point red maple leaf in its center, is raised above Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

1971 ~ The British Government launched a new decimal currency. The familiar pound (£), shilling (s) and pence (d) coins were phased out over the next 18 months in favor of a system dividing the pound into units of ten, including half, one, two, five, ten and 50 pence denominations.

[jseal]

1600 ~ Giordano Bruno burned at stake

1923 ~ Howard Carter finds the tomb of Pharoah Tutankhamen.

1945 ~ The Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines is reoccupied by American troops, almost three years after the infamous "Bataan Death March".

1951 ~ In a statement focusing on the situation in Korea, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin charges that the United Nations has become "a weapon of aggressive war."

1959 ~ Fidel Castro, aged 32, sworn in as Cuban Prime Minister.

1979 ~ The Bee Gees receive the Grammy for Best Album of 1978 for "Saturday Night Fever".

[Catch22]

This Day In History | Civil War

February 16

1862 Capture of Fort Donelson

General Ulysses S. Grant finishes a spectacular campaign by capturing Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. This battle came ten days after Grant's capture of Fort Henry, just ten miles to the west on the Tennessee River, and opened the way for Union occupation of central Tennessee.
This Day In History | Old West

February 16

1878 Silver dollars made legal

Strongly supported by western mining interests and farmers, the Bland-Allison Act-which provided for a return to the minting of silver coins--becomes the law of the land.

This Day In History | Crime

February 16

1894 John Wesley Hardin is pardoned

Infamous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin is pardoned after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for murder. Hardin, who was reputed to have shot and killed a man just for snoring, was 41 years old at the time of his release.

Hardin probably killed in excess of 40 people during a six-year stretch beginning in 1868. When he was only 15, Hardin killed an ex-slave in a fight, becoming a wanted fugitive. Two years later, he was arrested for murder in Waco, Texas. Although it was actually one of the few he had not committed, Hardin did not want to run the risk of being convicted and escaped to the town of Abilene.

At that time, Abilene was run by Wild Bill Hickok, who was friendly with Hardin. However, one night Hardin was disturbed by the snoring in an adjacent hotel room and fired two shots through the wall, killing the man. Fearing that not even Wild Bill would stand for such a senseless crime, Hardin moved on again.

On May 26, 1874, Hardin was celebrating his 21st birthday when he got into an altercation with a man who fired the first shot. Hardin fired back and killed the man. A few years later, Hardin was tracked down in Florida and brought to trial. Because it was one of the more defensible shootings on Hardin's record, he was spared the gallows and given a life sentence. After his pardon, he moved to El Paso and became an attorney. But his past caught up with him, and the following year he was shot in the back as revenge for one of his many murders.

[Steph]

On Feb. 16, 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen's recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt.

[jseal]

1801 ~ House breaks electoral college tie, and Vice President Thomas Jefferson is finally elected the third president of the United States over his running mate, Aaron Burr.

1817 ~ Baltimore becomes 1st US city lit by gas.

1867 ~ Birthday of William Cadbury, English chocolate manufacturer.

1947 ~ The U.S. Voice of America (VOA) begins its first radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union.

1972 ~ The 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the production line, surpassing the Ford Model T’s previous production record to become the most produced car in history.

1979 ~ Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" debuts.

1979 ~ In response to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia (a client state of China), China launches an invasion of Vietnam.

[Catch22]

This Day In History | Civil War

February 17

1865 Sherman sacks Columbia, South Carolina

The soldiers from Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's army ransack Columbia, South Carolina, and leave a charred city in their wake.
This Day In History | World War II

February 17

1944 U.S. troops land on Eniwetok atoll

Operation Catchpole is launched as American troops devastate the Japanese defenders of Eniwetok and take control of the atoll in the northwestern part of the Marshall Islands.
This Day In History | Old West

February 17

1820 Senate passes Missouri Compromise

The Senate passes the Missouri Compromise, an attempt to deal with the dangerously divisive issue of extending slavery into the western territories.

[Steph]

On Feb. 17, 1972, President Nixon departed on his historic trip to China.

[Catch22]

This Day In History | General Interest

February 18

1930 Ninth planet discovered

Pluto, generally the ninth most distant planet from the sun, is discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh.
1967 J. Robert Oppenheimer dies

On February 18, 1967, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," dies in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 62.

This Day In History | World War II

February 18

1943 Nazis arrest White Rose resistance leaders

Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, the leaders of the German youth group Weisse Rose (White Rose), are arrested by the Gestapo for opposing the Nazi regime.

his Day In History | Civil War

February 18

1827 Lewis Armistead born

Confederate General Lewis Armistead is born in New Bern, North Carolina. Armistead is best known for leading Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, where he was mortally wounded.

This Day In History | Old West

February 18

1878 Murder ignites Lincoln County War

Long simmering tensions in Lincoln County, New Mexico, explode into a bloody shooting war when gunmen murder the English rancher John Tunstall.

[jseal]

1516 ~ Birthday of Queen Mary I, 1st reigning queen of Great Britain.

1745 ~ Birthday of Allesandro Volta, inventor of the battery.

1885 ~ Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" published

1898 ~ Birthday of Enzo Ferrari, well known in auto racing circles.

1929 ~ 1st Academy Awards announced. “Wings” won the Best Picture award.

1933 ~ Birthday of Yoko Ono.

1954 ~ The Secretary of the Army, Robert T. Stevens, ordered two generals to ignore their subpoenas from Senator McCarthy - head of the Senate's Permanent Investigations sub-committee.

1969 ~ Lulu (Shout, To Sir With Love) marries Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees.

1984 ~ Revised Concordat between Italy & the Vatican signed.

[Steph]

On Feb. 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Ala.

[Catch22]

This Day In History | General Interest


COPERNICUS BORN:
February 19, 1473

On February 19, 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus
is born in Torun, a city in north-central
Poland on the Vistula River. The father of
modern astronomy, he was the first modern
European scientist to propose that Earth and
other planets revolve around the sun.

February 19
1942 Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066

Ten weeks after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, authorizing the
removal of any or all people from military areas "as deemed necessary
or desirable." The military in turn defined the entire West Coast, home
to the majority of Americans of Japanese ancestry or citizenship, as a
military area. By June, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans were
relocated to remote internment camps built by the U.S. military in
scattered locations around the country. For the next two and a half
years, many of these Japanese Americans endured extremely difficult
living conditions and poor treatment by their military guards.




This Day In History | World War II

February 19

1945 Marines invade Iwo Jima

On this day, Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines' invasion of
Iwo Jima, is launched. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded
by Japanese artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime real
estate on which to build airfields to launch bombing raids against
Japan, only 660 miles away.

[jseal]

1797 ~ Almost 33% of papal domain ceded to France.

1878 ~ Thomas Edison patented the gramophone (phonograph).

1943 ~ Birthday of "Mama" Cass Elliot, actress/singer (Mamas & Papas-Monday Monday).

1960 ~ Birthday of Prince Andrew of England.

1986 ~ USSR launched Mir space station.

1997 ~ China's reformist leader Deng Xiaoping died at the age of 92.

[jseal]

1816 ~ Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville" premiers in Rome.

1902 ~ Birthday of photographer Ansel Adams.

1904 ~ Birthday of Aleksei N Kosygin, Soviet premier (1964-80).

1924 ~ Birthday of Sidney Poitier, actor (Porgy & Bess, A Raisin in the Sun, Guess who's Coming to Dinner, To Sir With Love).

1941 ~ First transport of Jews to concentration camp in Plotsk, Poland.

1954 ~ Birthday of Patty Hearst Shaw, famous kidnap hostage (Tanya).

1958 ~ The Sheerness docks closed. The first secretary of the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys, established the dockyard in the 17th century as an extension to the Royal Navy headquarters in nearby Chatham, which was itself later closed and became a Naval Museum.

1962 ~ Marine Lieutenant John Glenn, becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, as he circled the globe three times. He was fortunate enough to return to orbit aboard the Space Shuttle in 1998.

Now there’s a man I envy!

[osuche]

jseal, you're doing a wonderful job....

but damn.... I miss DM. :(

[jseal]

osuche,

Thank you.

I too miss DM.

[jseal]

1848 ~ 'The Communist Manifesto', written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, published in London.

1893 ~ Birthday of Andrés Segovia, father of the modern classical guitar movement.

1916 ~ Battle of Verdun begins. When concluded, the French and German combatants suffered an estimated 676,000 casualties. (Hard to believe, but true)

1926 ~ Greta Garbo starred in her first U.S. film, 'The Torrent'.

1965 ~ Malcolm X assassinated by three Black Muslim gunmen in New York City.

1970 ~ The Jackson 5 made their TV debut on 'American Bandstand'.

1972 ~ President Nixon began normalizing relations with the People's Republic of China by traveling to Beijing.

1988 ~ TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart resigned his ministry after being photographed taking a prostitute to a motel.

[Steph]

On Feb. 21, 1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death in New York by assassins identified as Black Muslims.

[Steph]

Malcolm, Gandhi, King . . .

great thoughts

[Grumble]

Well I know another Mr X a former Pixie who is going to marry Miss X in August. I will be staying with them on 10th April, Easter Saturday.

[jseal]

1371 ~ Robert II succeeded to the throne of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.

1732 ~ Birthday of George Washington, 1st President of the U.S.A.

1810 ~ Birthday of Frédéric Chopin , Pianist & Composer.

1857 ~ Birthday of Robert Baden-Powell, Chief Scout of the World.

1892 ~ Oscar Wilde's play, ’Lady Windermere's Fan’, first performed.

1950 ~ Walt Disney's animated movie ‘Cinderella’ opens.

1980 ~ The U.S. hockey team defeated the defending champion Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York.

(I watched that game, and I think I remember the magic of that afternoon!)

1989 ~ Tina Turner won the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocalist.

1994 ~ Aldrich Ames, a CIA operative and Russian double agent, arrested for selling secrets to Russia.

1997 ~ Ian Wilmut and colleagues announced that an adult sheep, later name ‘Dolly’ had been successfully cloned.

[jseal]

303 ~ Emperor Diocletian ordered general persecution of Christians.

1633 ~ Birthday of Samuel Pepys, Diarist, first ever secretary of the British Admiralty.

1685 ~ Birthday of George Frideric Handel, Composer.

1792 ~ Joseph Haydn's 94th Symphony in G premiered.

1893 ~ Rudolf Diesel received a German patent for the diesel engine.

1919 ~ The Fascist Party formed in Italy by Benito Mussolini.

1929 ~ Birthday of W.E.B. DuBois, political activist.

1940 ~ Folk singer Woody Guthrie writes ‘This Land is Your Land’, which became a rallying song for the Civil Rights movement.

1945 ~ U.S. Marines raised the U.S. flag at the top of Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima’s. The picture was not posed.

1978 ~ Fleetwood Mac won the Grammy for Best Album.

[Steph]

On Feb. 23, 1954, Dr. Jonas E. Salk developed a vaccine for polio.

[Steph]

1868

The House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson following his attempt to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; the Senate later acquitted Johnson.

[jseal]

1582 ~ Pope Gregory XIII announces New Style (Gregorian) calendar.(It is the one we are using now)

1607 ~ Claudio Monteverdi's opera ‘Orfeo’, premieres in Mantua. This is the earliest existing opera.

1786 ~ Birthday of Wilhelm Karl Grimm, story teller (Grimm's Fairy Tales).

1803 ~ First time the US Supreme Court rules a law unconstitutional (Marbury v Madison). An extraordinary work by Justice Marshal, it established the concept of Judicial Review.

1868 ~ First US parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile Alabama).

1943 ~ Birthday of George Harrison, singer, Composer.

1968 ~ First pulsar discovered (CP 1919 by Jocelyn Burnell at Cambridge).

1993 ~ Eric Clapton won six Grammy Awards for the song ‘Tears In Heaven’.

1998 ~ Elton John knighted.

[jseal]

1570 ~ Queen Elizabeth I of England, excommunicated by Pope Pius V.

1836 ~ Samuel Colt received a patent for the Colt 45.

1841 ~ Birthday of Pierre Renoir, Impressionist Painter.

1873 ~ Birthday of Enrico Caruso, Tenor.

1948 ~ Communists took control of the government in Czechoslovakia.

1963 ~ The Beatles released their first U.S. single ‘Please Please Me’.

1986 ~ Corazon Aquino became president of Philippines after Ferdinand Marcos fled after ruling for 20 years.

1913 ~ On a day that will live forever in infamy, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized a graduated income tax.

1998 ~ Switzerland's 1st legal brothel opened in Zurich.

[Steph]

1870

Hiram R. Revels, R-Miss., became the first black member of the United States Senate as he was sworn in to serve out the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis.

[thereIam]

1862 Legal Tender Act Passed

The U.S. Congress passes the Legal Tender Act, authorizing the use of paper notes to pay the government's bills. This ended the long-standing policy of using only gold or silver in transactions, and it allowed the government to finance the enormously costly war long after its gold and silver reserves were depleted.

And the place hasn't been the same since.
:(

[jseal]

1148 ~ Crusaders attacked Damascus.

1616 ~ Cardinal Bellarmine warned Galileo to abandon the Copernican opinions.

1787 ~ The Bank of England issued the first one pound note.

1802 ~ Birthday of Victor Hugo, Poet & Novelist

1815 ~ Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the island of Elba.

1829 ~ Birthday of Levi Strauss, Clothier

1846 ~ Birthday of William ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody, Scout & Showman

1932 ~ Birthday of Johnny Cash, Singer

1935 ~ RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt.

1955 ~ Billboard reported that the 45rpm single format was outselling the 78s for the first time.

1993 ~ Six people were killed and more than a thousand injured when a van exploded in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. The bomb had been built by Islamic extremists.

[jseal]

1670 ~ Jews expelled from Austria by order of Leopold I.

1814 ~ Premiere of Ludwig von Beethoven’s 8th Symphony.

1827 ~ First Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.

1902 ~ Birthday of John Ernst Steinbeck, Author.

1932 ~ Birthday of Elizabeth Taylor, Actress.

1933 ~ German parliament building, Reichstag, destroyed by fire, Nazis blame it on Communists.

1934 ~ Birthday of Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate.

1942 ~ Battle of Java Sea began. 13 US warships sunk, 2 Japanese.

1997 ~ In Ireland, divorce became legal.

2003 ~ Fred Rogers, of “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood”, died.

[Steph]

1991

President Bush declared that "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated," and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.

[jseal]

1759 ~ Pope Clement XIII allowed Bible to be translated into various languages.

1827 ~ First commercial railroad in U.S., Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) chartered.

1901 ~ Birthday of Linus Pauling, Chemist & Peace Worker (Nobel Prize 1954 & 1962).

1915 ~ Birthday of Zero Mostel, Actor.

1942 ~ Birthday of Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones.

1979 ~ Mr. Ed, talking horse died (This only makes sense to Americans).

1983 ~ Final TV episode of "M*A*S*H" airs; record 125 million watch.

1986 ~ Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated in Stockholm.

1991 ~ President George Bush announces a ceasefire in the Gulf after Iraq accepts all 12 UN resolutions.

[jseal]

1504 ~ Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians. This will be reprised by Hergé in “Prisoners Of The Sun”, a Tintin adventure.

1692 ~ Warrant issued for Sarah good & Tituba, accused of witchcraft, Salem, Massachusetts.

1792 ~ Birthday of Gioacchino Rossini, Composer

1860 ~ Birthday of Herman Hollerith, Inventor (Electric Tabulating Machine).

1904 ~ Birthday of Jimmy Dorsey, Big Band Leader.

1940 ~ Frederic from G & S "Pirates Of Penzance" finally released from apprenticeship.

1968 ~ First Pulsar discovered by Jocelyn Burnell at Cambridge.

1980 ~ Gordie Howe becomes first NHL player to score 800 career goals.

1984 ~ Pierre Trudeau, announced his resignation after more than 15 years as Canadian PM.

1988 ~ Nazi document implicates former UN General Secretary Kurt Waldheim in WW II deportations.

[Steph]

On March 1, 1932, the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J.

[jseal]

1260 ~ Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, took Damascus.

1810 ~ Birthday of Frédéric Chopin, Composer & Pianist.

1904 ~ England regains cricket Ashes from Australia.

1904 ~ Birthday of Glenn Miller, Big Band Leader.

1909 ~ Birthday of David Niven, Actor.

1927 ~ Birthday of Harry Belafonte, Singer & Actor.

1950 ~ Klaus Fuchs sentenced to 14 years for espionage.

1954 ~ U.S. detonated 20 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini atoll.

1974 ~ Watergate grand jury indicted 7 presidential aides.

1981 ~ Bobby Sands, IRA member, began 65-day hunger strike. He died from his efforts.

[jseal]

1824 ~ Birthday of Bedrich Smetana, Composer (The Moldau, The Bartered Bride).

1836 ~ Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico.

1904 ~ Birthday of Dr. Seuss [Theodor Geisel], Author.

1931 ~ Birthday of Mikhail S Gorbachev, Soviet Leader.

1946 ~ Ho Chi Minh elected President of Vietnam.

1956 ~ Morocco gained independence from France.

1969 ~ Concord flew for the first time.

1970 ~ Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia, declared Rhodesia a republic.

1983 ~ Final episode of M*A*S*H; 125 million viewers.

2001 ~ The Taliban began the destruction of ancient Buddha statues in Afghanistan.

[jseal]

1634 ~ First tavern in Boston opened.

1794 ~ First performance of Joseph Haydn's 101st Symphony in D.

1845 ~ Birthday of Georg Cantor, Mathematician.

1847 ~ Birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor.

1875 ~ Georges Bizet's opera ‘Carmen’ debuted in Paris.

1917 ~ Nicholas II, last Russian Tsar, abdicated.

1931 ~ The "Star-Spangled Banner" adopted as the U.S. national anthem.

1956 ~ Morocco gained its independence.

1978 ~ The remains of Charlie Chaplin were stolen from his grave.

1985 ~ NUM decides to return to work with no resolution on over pit closures. Arthur Scargill announced “We face not an employer but a government aided and abetted by the judiciary, the police and you people in the media …”.

[jseal]

1678 ~ Birthday of Antonio Vivaldi, Composer.

1681 ~ King Charles II granted William Penn royal charter for what would become Pennsylvania.

1748 ~ Birthday of Casimir Pulaski, General.

1789 ~ The Constitution of the United States went into effect.

1835 ~ Birthday of Giovanni Schiaparelli, Astronomer.

1885 ~ Gilbert & Sullivan's opera "Mikado", premieres in London.

1888 ~ Birthday of Knute Rockne, Football Coach.

1966 ~ John Lennon, said "We (Beatles) are more popular than Jesus".

1975 ~ Silent film comic Charlie Chaplin knighted.

1997 ~ President Clinton banned federally funded human cloning research.

[Steph]

On March 4, 1933, the start of President Roosevelt's first administration brought with it the first woman to serve in the Cabinet: Labor Secretary Frances Perkins.

[jseal]

1512 ~ Birthday of Gerardus Mercator, Cartographer.

1623 ~ The first temperance law in the colonies was enacted in Virginia. I would have expected it in New England.

1845 ~ The U.S. Congress appropriated $30,000 to ship camels to the western U.S. Just think – the “Ghan” could have been running from Sacramento to San Antonio!

1846 ~ First track meet between Oxford and Cambridge.

1898 ~ Birthday of Heitor Villa-Lobos, Composer.

1908 ~ Birthday of Rex Harrison, Actor.

1924 ~ Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corp. became IBM.

1931 ~ Birthday of Barry Tuckwell, Hornist

1946 ~ Winston Churchill's gave his "Iron Curtain" speech.

1976 ~ British £1 fell below $2 for first time.

[jseal]

1475 ~ Birthday of Michelangelo (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni), one of the most inspired creators in the history of art.

1619 ~ Birthday of Cyrano de Bergerac, Satirist, and Dramatist.

1836 ~ The thirteen-day siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna and his army ended. The Alamo fell.

1836 ~ HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard reached King George's Sound, Australia.

1853 ~ Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" opera opened in Venice.

1926 ~ Birthday of Alan Greenspan, Economist.

1944 ~ Birthday of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Singer.

1957 ~ The former British colonies of Togoland and the Gold Coast united to form independent Ghana.

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

1992 ~ The computer virus "Michelangelo" fizzled out.

[jseal]

1274 ~ Death of St. Thomas Aquinas, Philosopher, Theologian.

1844 ~ Birthday of Anthony Comstock, Social Reformer.

1875 ~ Birthday of Maurice Ravel, Composer,

1876 ~ Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.

1896 ~ Gilbert & Sullivan's last operetta "The Grand Duke," premiered in London.

1902 ~ Boers beat British troop in Tweebosch Transvaal.

1906 ~ Finland granted women the right to vote.

1933 ~ The board game “Monopoly” invented.

1936 ~ Adolf Hitler broke Treaty of Versailles, sent troops to Rhineland.

1939 ~ Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians recorded "Auld Lang Syne".

[thereIam]

It was on this day in 1933 that Charles Darrow created the game we know as Monopoly.

[dicksbro]

0322 BC - Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, died.

1774 - The British closed the port of Boston to all commerce.

1799 - In Palestine, Napoleon captured Jaffa and his men massacred more than 2,000 Albanian prisoners.

1848 - In Hawaii, the Great Mahele was signed.

1849 - The Austrian Reichstag was dissolved.

[jseal]

1714 ~ Birthday of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer

1859 ~ Birthday of Kenneth Grahame, Author of “The Wind In The Willows”.

1930 ~ Mahatma Gandhi began civil disobedience campaign in India.

1934 ~ Edwin Hubble photo showed as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars.

1942 ~ Japanese forces captured Rangoon, Burma.

1943 ~ Birthday of Lynn Redgrave, Actress.

1965 ~ First U.S. combat forces arrived in Vietnam.

1971 ~ Joe Frazier beats Muhammad Ali for the World Heavyweight Boxing title.

1979 ~ Volcanoes on Io discovered y Voyager 1.

1983 ~ President Reagan calls the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire".

[jseal]

1454 ~ Birthday of Amerigo Vespucci, Explorer.

1842 ~ Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Nabucco” opens in Milan.

1862 ~ The "Monitor" (Union) and "Merrimack" (Confederate) battle to a draw in Hampton Roads.

1873 ~ Royal Canadian Mounted Police founded.

1890 ~ Birthday of Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet Foreign Minister.

1910 ~ Birthday of Samuel Barber, Composer.

1934 ~ Birthday of Yuri Gagarin, first man into space (Vostok 1).

1943 ~ Birthday of Bobby Fischer, World Chess Champion

1945 ~ 334 US B-29 Superfortresses fire bomb Tokyo.

1959 ~ Barbie, the American icon, brought to market.

[jseal]

241 BC ~ Battle of Aegusa: Roman fleet sank 50 Carthaginian ships.

418 ~ Jews excluded from public office in the Roman Empire.

1844 ~ Birthday of Pablo de Sarasate, Composer.

1876 ~ First telephone call made (Alexander Graham Bell to Thomas Watson).

1913 ~ Harriet Tubman Abolitionist, died in New York.

1916 ~ Birthday of James Herriot, Author.

1940 ~ Birthday of Chuck Norris, Martial Art Champion, Actor.

1964 ~ Birthday of Prince Edward.

1977 ~ Rings of Uranus discovered.

1990 ~ At the not-so-gentle urging of the U.S., Lt Gen Avril resigns as President of Haiti.

[jseal]

1302 ~ Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare.

1931 ~ Birthday of Rupert Murdoch, Publisher.

1835 ~ HMS Beagle anchored off Valparaiso, Chile.

1936 ~ Birthday of Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

1952 ~ Birthday of Douglas Adams, Author.

1953 ~ Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, died. He was 73.

1982 ~ Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat sign peace treaty.

1985 ~ Mikhail Gorbachev replaced Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader.

1990 ~ Lithuania declared it's independence from Soviet Union.

1997 ~ Beatle Paul McCartney knighted by Queen.

[jseal]

1609 ~ Bermuda became an English colony.

1685 ~ Birthday of George Berkeley, Philosopher & Bishop Of Cloyne.

1832 ~ Birthday of Charles Boycott, landowner whose intransigent behavior gave rise to the term “Boycotts”.

1881 ~ Birthday of Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President.

1890 ~ Birthday of Vaslav Nijinsky, Ballet Master.

1927 ~ Birthday of Mstislav Rostropovich, Cellist & Conductor.

1930 ~ Mahatma Gandhi began a 200 mile march protesting British salt tax.

1964 ~ Jimmy Hoffa, the president of the American Teamsters union sentenced to eight years on bribery charges.

1964 ~ Malcolm X resigned from Nation of Islam. He was later murdered.

1999 ~ Yehudi Menuhin, one of the 20th century's finest violinists, died, aged 82.

[jseal]

1519 ~ Cortez arrived in Mexico.

1733 ~ Birthday of Joseph Priestly, Clergyman & Scientist, Isolated Oxygen.

1764 ~ Birthday of Charles Earl Grey, British PM (Whig, 1830-34).

1781 ~ Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus.

1855 ~ Birthday of Percival Lowell, Astronomer (predicted discovery of Pluto).

1868 ~ U.S. Senate began Pres. Andrew Johnson Impeachment trial. He was acquitted.

1897 ~ Birthday of William Herald, Swimmer (Olympic Gold -1920).

1930 ~ Clyde Tombaugh announced discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory.

1970 ~ Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) introduced PDP-11 Minicomputer.

1989 ~ Power grid of Qubec knocked off-line by solar flare.

[jseal]

1681 ~ Birthday of Georg Philipp Telemann, Late Baroque Composer.

1794 ~ Eli Whitney patented the Cotton Gin.

1804 ~ Birthday of Johann Strauss the Elder, Composer (Radetzky March).

1879 ~ Birthday of Albert Einstein, Physicist.

1885 ~ ”The Mikado”, arguably the most famous of G&S’s operas, opened at the Savoy Theatre.

1920 ~ Birthday of Hank Ketcham, Cartoonist.

1933 ~ Birthday of Michael Caine, Actor.

1946 ~ Birthday of Wes Unseld, NBA All-Star.

1971 ~ The Rolling Stones left England for France to escape taxes.

1984 ~ Gunmen shot and wounded the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams.

[bordendazed]

Today in Rotten History:

Mar 13 1881

An anarchist from the radical group People's Will throws a bomb which disrupts Czar Alexander II's motorcade. After he thanks God for his deliverance, the anarchist yells "It is too early to thank God" and throws a second bomb, causing injuries from which Alexander bleeds to death.

Mar 13 1923

Twenty-two persons killed in a poison rice episode, China. Five cooks are blamed.

Mar 13 1996

Salim and Ruksana Patel find the arabic word for Allah spelled in the seeds of an aubergine (a Persian eggplant variant) which they intended for a casserole at their home in Bolton, England. Their local mullah declares it a miracle.

Mar 13 1997

Hassan Abdullah's wife accidentally severs her husband's penis while she was "dreaming about strangling him". Luckily for Abdullah doctors in Malaysia were able to successfully reattach his endangered manhood, but not so lucky is the fact that he sleeps with a woman who keeps a knife in bed and dreams about strangling her husband.

A tip of the old severed head to: http://www.dailyrotten.com/

[jseal]

44 BC ~ Assassination of Julius Caesar, Rome.

1729 ~ Sister St. Stanislas Hachard, the first U. S. nun, takes her vows in New Orleans.

1827 ~ The University of Toronto was established, when King's College at York (Toronto) was granted its Royal Charter.

1875 ~ John McCloskey invested as first American cardinal

1877 ~ The first Test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne. Australia won by 45 runs.

1935 ~ Birthday of Judd Hirsch, Actor.

1956 ~ Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” opened on Broadway.

1957 ~ Great Britain became third nation to detonate a nuclear wepon.

1964 ~ Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor married in Montreal.

1999 ~ Pluto again became outermost planet.

[jseal]

1911 ~ Birthday of Dr. Josef Mengel, Angel of Death.

1926 ~ Robert Goddard launched the first liquid fuel rocket.

1926 ~ Birthday of Joseph Levitch AKA Jerry Lewis, Comedian.

1953 ~ Marshal Tito, the first Communist head of state to visit England, arrived in London.

1963 ~ Peter, Paul and Mary released "Puff the Magic Dragon”.

1972 ~ John Lennon & Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers.

1976 ~ U.K. Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns.

1978 ~ Italian politician Aldo Moro kidnapped by left-wing terrorists. He was later murdered by the group.

1988 ~ Indictments were issued for Lt. Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter of the National Security Council for their involvement in the Iran-Contra affair.

1999 ~ The 20 members of the European Union's European Commission announced their resignations amid allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement.

[jseal]

461 ~ Death of St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland.

1804 ~ Johann von Schiller's "Wilhelm Tell," premiered. This is the play upon which Rossini based (loosely) his opera, “William Tell”, and which, as we all know, provided the opening and closing music for TV’s “The Lone Ranger”. “Hi Ho Silver Away!”

http://mobilepark.co.uk/order.id_12722.type_ringtones.d_gioachino-rossini-wilhelm-tell---ouverture.html


1834 ~ Birthday of Gottlieb Daimler, pioneer of the modern internal combustion engine.

1919 ~ Birthday of Nat King Cole, Singer ("Mona Lisa", "Ramblin' Rose”, and many, many more).

1938 ~ Birthday of Rudolph Nureyev, Ballet Master.

1941 ~ Birthday of Paul Kantner, the only native San Franciscan among the Jefferson Airplane/Starship principles.

1959 ~ The Dalai Lama fled Tibet and went into exile in India.

1969 ~ Golda Meir was sworn in as P.M. of Israel.

1995 ~ President Clinton welcomed Gerry Adams to the White House. HM government was not amused.

1999 ~ The International Olympic Committee voted to expel six members for corruption.

[jseal]

1123 ~ First Latern Council (9th Ecumenical Council) opened in Rome.

1483 ~ Birthday of Raphael (Raphael Sanzio), Painter (The School of Athens)

http://www.theartgallery.com.au/ArtEducation/greatartists/Raphael/athens/

1844 ~ Birthday of Rimsky-Korsakov, Composer (Scheherazade).

1858 ~ Birthday of Rudolph Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine.

1869 ~ Birthday of Neville Chamberlain, British PM

1893 ~ Birthday of Wilfred Owen, Poet (S.I.W., Anthem for Doomed Youth).

1922 ~ Mahatma Gandhi sentenced to 6 years imprisonment.

1963 ~ U.S. Supreme Court's Miranda Decision; Defendants must have lawyers.

1967 ~ Beatles' "Penny Lane”, single went #1.

1992 ~ White South Africans voted for political reforms to end apartheid.

[jseal]

1748 ~ The English Naturalization Act passed granting Jews right to colonize in the U.S.

1821 ~ Birthday of Sir Richard Burton, Traveler, Linguist, and Anthropologist.

1848 ~ Birthday of Wyatt Earp, Gunslinger.

1859 ~ The opera ‘Faust’ by Charles Gounod premiered in Paris.

1900 ~ Archeologist Arthur Evans began the excavation of Knossos Palace in Crete.

1906 ~ Birthday of Adolph Eichmann, Nazi War Criminal.

1928 ~ Birthday of Hans Kung, Roman Catholic theologian.

1947 ~ Birthday of Glenn Close, Actress (The World According to Garp, Dangerous Liaisons).

1970 ~ The leaders of East and West Germany met for the first time since the country was divided in 1949.

2001 ~ California officials declared a power alert and ordered the first of two days of rolling blackouts.

[jseal]

1792 ~ In Paris, the Legislative Assembly approved the use of the guillotine. It saw much use.

1815 ~ Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris after his escape from Elba and began his "Hundred Days" rule.

1816 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed its right to review state court decisions.

1828 ~ Birthday of Henrik Ibsen, Playwright.

1852 ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" published.

1904 ~ Birthday of Burrhus Frederic (BF) Skinner, Psychologist.

1928 ~ Birthday of Fred "Mr." Rogers, Friend.

1939 ~ Birthday of Brian Mulroney, Canadian Prime Minister.

1948 ~ Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra featured in the first televised symphonic concert.

1956 ~ Tunisia gained independence from France.

[jseal]

1556 ~ Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and author of the Book of Common Prayer, burned at the stake for Heresy.

1685 ~ Birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer.

1826 ~ Beethoven's Quartet #13 in B flat major (Op 130) premiered in Vienna.

1839 ~ Birthday of Modest Mussorgsky, Composer.

1918 ~ The Somme Offensive started. This, followed by the Lys Offensive the following month accounted for about 1,125,000 total casualties. As difficult as this may be to believe, I’m not making it up.

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/thegreatwar/articles/timeline/sommeoff.htm
http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/thegreatwar/articles/timeline/lys.htm


1939 ~ "God Bless America" recorded by Kate Smith.

1960 ~ More than 50 people were killed when police opened fire on a "peaceful" protest in the South African township of Sharpeville.

1963 ~ The federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, closed.

1965 ~ More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.

1990 ~ Namibia became independent of South Africa.

[jseal]

1638 ~ Anne Hutchinsoon, a religious dissident, was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1887 ~ Birthday of Leonard (Chico) Marx, of the Marx Brothers, Comedian. He was the silent one with the horn.

1895 ~ Auguste and Louis Lumiere showed their first “moving picture show” to an invited audience in Paris.

1919 ~ The first international airline service inaugurated on a weekly schedule between Paris and Brussels.

1923 ~ Birthday of Marcel Marceau, the best Mime ever to grace a stage.

1948 ~ Birthday of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Composer of Musical Theater.

1963 ~ The Beatles' first album, "Please Please Me", released in the U.K.

1971 ~ The Andromeda Strain became first film to use computer animation.

1972 ~ The U.S. Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment. It was not ratified by the states.

1977 ~ The John Denver TV special "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" aired.

[jseal]

1703 ~ Antonio Vivaldi entered the priesthood. He had asthma attacks, or faked them, when he said Mass. But he never had the same problem while conducting a church orchestra or choir.

1792 ~ Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major (the "Surprise Symphony") performed publicly for the first time, in London.

1743 ~ George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" had its London premiere, at which the first "standing ovation" was recorded. King George was so inspired by the “Halleluiah” chorus that he jumped to his feet after which everyone else followed suit.

1912 ~ Birthday of Wernher von Braun, Rocket Scientist.

1919 ~ Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement in Milan, Italy.

1925 ~ The state of Tennessee enacted a law that made it a crime for a teacher in any state-supported public school to teach any theory that was in contradiction to the Bible's account of man's creation.

1929 ~ Birthday of Roger Bannister, Runner who broke the “4 minute mile” barrier in 1954.

1963 ~ The Beach Boys released "Surfin' U.S.A.".

1994 ~ Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's National Hockey League (NHL) career record with his 802nd goal.

1998 ~ The movie "Titanic" won 11 Oscars at the Academy Awards.

[jseal]

1721 ~ In Germany, Johann Sebastian Bach presented six concertos to the Marburg of Brandenburg.

1765 ~ Britain passed the Quartering Act that required the American colonies to house 10,000 British troops in public and private buildings. That one showed up in the Declaration of Independence.

1855 ~ Birthday of Andrew Mellon, Financier and Industrialist.

1874 ~ Birthday of Harry Houdini, Magician and Escape Artist.

1927 ~ Chinese Communists seized Nanking and break with Chiang Kai-shek over the Nationalist goals.

1947 ~ The U.S. Congress proposed the limitation of the presidency to two terms.

1955 ~ Tennessee Williams' “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” debuted on Broadway.

1980 ~ In San Salvador, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot to death by gunmen as he celebrated Mass.

1992 ~ Punch, Britain's oldest satirical magazine, closed after 150 years.

1999 ~ NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia. The attacks marked the first time in its 50-year history that NATO attacked a sovereign country. The bombings were in response to Serbia's refusal to sign a peace treaty with ethnic Albanians who were seeking independence for the province of Kosovo.

[jseal]

1306 ~ Robert the Bruce crowned king of Scotland.

1634 ~ Lord Baltimore founded the Catholic colony of Maryland.

1807 ~ The first railway passenger service began in England.

1867 ~ Birthday of Arturo Toscanini , Conductor.

1881 ~ Birthday of Béla Bartók, Composer.

1908 ~ Birthday of David Lean, Director, Producer, and Scriptwriter (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago).

1942 ~ Birthday of Aretha Franklin, Singer.

1947 ~ Birthday of Elton John, Singer.

1953 ~ The USS Missouri fired on targets at Kojo, North Korea.

1992 ~ British scientists find new largest perfect number (2 756839 -1 * 2 756839).

[jseal]

1827 ~ Death of Ludwig van Beethoven, who led the musical transition from the Classical style to the Romantic.

1828 ~ In Vienna, Austrian composer Franz Schubert gave his only public concert.

1875 ~ Birthday of Robert Frost, Poet.

1886 ~ Birthday of Al Jolson, early Superstar.

1911 ~ Birthday of Thomas Lanier (Tennessee) Williams, Playwright.

1913 ~ During the Balkan War, the Bulgarians took Adrianople. Interestingly, a few years earlier, 378 AD, in a battle that established the dominance of cavalry over infantry for the next thousand years, the Goths destroyed the Roman army led by the emporer Valens.

1930 ~ Birthday of Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman Justice of the US Supreme Court.

1942 ~ The Germans began sending Jews to Auschwitz in Poland.

1971 ~ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared East Pakistan to be the independent republic of Bangladesh.

1989 ~ The first free elections took place in the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin was elected.

[jseal]

1512 ~ Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida.

1836 ~ The first Mormon temple was dedicated in Kirtland, OH.

1836 ~ The Mexican army massacred about 400 Texan rebels at Goliad, TX, under the order of Santa Anna.

1845 ~ Birthday of Wilhelm Röntgen, Physicist. The unit of radiation exposure is named after him.

1863 ~ Birthday of Sir Frederick Royce, Engineer, automobile pioneer. Teamed up with some guy named Charles Rolls.

1899 ~ The first international radio transmission between England and France was achieved by the Italian inventor G. Marconi.

1912 ~ The first cherry blossom trees, a gift from Japan, were planted in Washington, DC.

1927 ~ Birthday of Mstislav Rostropovich, Cellist and Conductor.

1931 ~ Actor Charlie Chaplin received France’s Legion of Honor decoration.

1995 ~ Tupac Shakur's "Me Against the World" gave him the dubious distinction of being first rap artist to debut at No. 1 on the charts while in jail for sexual assault. He was later murdered.

[jseal]

1797 ~ Nathaniel Briggs patented a washing machine.

1854 ~ The Crimean War began with Britain and France declaring war on Russia.

1899 ~ Birthday of August Busch, Brewer & Team Owner.

1903 ~ Birthday of Rudolph Serkin, Pianist.

1930 ~ The Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora changed their names to Istanbul and Ankara respectively.

1939 ~ The Spanish Civil War ended as Madrid fell to Francisco Franco.

1945 ~ Germany launched the last of the V-2 rockets against England.

1970 ~ Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Woodstock" was released.

1979 ~ A major accident occurred at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. A nuclear power reactor overheated and suffered a partial meltdown.

1986 ~ More than 6,000 radio stations of all format varieties played "We are the World" simultaneously at 10:15 a.m. EST.

[jseal]

1867 ~ The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.

1903 ~ A regular news service began between New York and London on Marconi's wireless.

1918 ~ Birthday of Pearl Bailey, Jazz Singer.

1918 ~ Birthday of Sam Walton (Wal-Mart), Retailer.

1943 ~ Birthday of John Major, English Prime Minister.

1951 ~ Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. They were executed in June 19, 1953.

1951 ~ A Rodgers & Hammerstein triumph, “The King and I” opened on Broadway, with Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence in the principal roles.

1973 ~ The last US combat troops left South Vietnam.

1976 ~ Bruce Springsteen jumped a fence at Graceland in an attempt to see his idol, Elvis Presley.

1992 ~ Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton said "I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again" in reference to when he had experimented with marijuana.

[jseal]

1492 ~ King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella signed a decree expelling all Jews from Spain.

1746 ~ Birthday of Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, Painter

1820 ~ Birthday of Anna Sewell, Author (Black Beauty)

1853 ~ Birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, Painter

1900 ~ Birthday of Ted Heath, English Big Band Leader - really!

1945 ~ Birthday of Eric Clapton, Musician

1947 ~ Lord Mountbatten arrived in India as the new Viceroy.

1950 ~ President Truman denounced Senator Joe McCarthy as a saboteur of U.S. foreign policy.

1981 ~ Ronald Reagan was shot by John W. Hinckley Jr.

1998 ~ Rolls-Royce was purchased by BMW in a $570 million deal.

[jseal]

1596 ~ Birthday of René Descartes, Philosopher & Mathematician.

1621 ~ Birthday of Andrew Marvell, Metaphysical Poet.

1732 ~ Birthday of Franz Joseph Haydn, Composer.

1811 ~ Birthday of Robert Bunsen, Chemist and inventor of the Bunsen burner.

1889 ~ Eiffrel Tower inaugurated.

1928 ~ Birthday of Gordie Howe, Athlete.

1943 ~ Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "Oklahoma!" opened on Broadway

1945 ~ ”The Glass Menagerie” opened on Broadway.

1959 ~ The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, crossed the border into India after a 15-day journey on foot from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, over the Himalayan mountains.

1995 ~ Selena was killed by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar.

[jseal]

1578 ~ Birthday of William Harvey, Scientist (circulatory system).

1735 ~ Handel's "Organ Concerto in F major”, Op. 4 No. 4 premiered.

1815 ~ Birthday of Otto von Bismarck, founder of the German Empire.

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

1883 ~ Birthday of Lon Chaney, Actor (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Phantom Of The Opera).

1905 ~ The British East African Protectorate became the colony of Kenya.

1918 ~ The Royal Air Force (RAF) formed by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy Air Service.

1924 ~ Adolf Hitler sentenced to five years in prison for high treason in the "Beer Hall Putsch”.

1948 ~ The Big Bang theory was proposed in a letter to the Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow.

1957 ~ The BBC's "Panorama" airs a piece on the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/70000/video/_70980_aprilfool_vi.ram

[jseal]

1725 ~ Birthday of Giovanni Casanova, Libertine

1800 ~ Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 first performed for Baron von Swieten.

1805 ~ Birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, Author.

1875 ~ Birthday of Walter Chrysler, Industrialist (Chrysler Corp.).

1905 ~ The Simplon rail tunnel officially opened. The tunnel went under the Alps and linked Switzerland and Italy.

1914 ~ Birthday of Alec Guinness, Actor (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi).

1953 ~ Francis Crick and James Watson described a double helix structure for DNA in the journal “Nature”.

1964 ~ The Beach Boys recorded "I Get Around."

1998 ~ Former French cabinet minister Maurice Papon been found guilty of war crimes for his part in deporting Jews from France during World War II.

1982 ~ Argentina invaded the British territory of the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic.

[jseal]

1783 ~ Birthday of Washington Irving, Author (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle).

1829 ~ James Carrington, sometimes called “Saint Carrington” patented the coffee mill.

1888 ~ Birthday of Ma Rainey, the "Mother of the Blues".

1924 ~ Birthday of Marlon Brando, Actor (Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, The Godfather, Last Tango in Paris).

1930 ~ Birthday of Helmut Kohl, last Chancellor of West Germany & first Chancellor of the reunified Germany.

1934 ~ Birthday of Jane Goodall , Ethologist.

1936 ~ Richard Hauptmann executed for the kidnapping and death of the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh.

1946 ~ Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March was executed.

1973 ~ The first portable phone call was placed by inventor Martin Cooper.

1989 ~ Pepsi dismissed Madonna as a spokesperson after her "Like a Prayer" video was called "blasphemous" by the Vatican.

[jseal]

1541 ~ Ignatius of Loyola became the first superior-general of the Jesuits.

1581 ~ Frances Drake completed the circumnavigation of the world.

1884 ~ Birthday of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, planner of the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

1887 ~ Susanna Salter became mayor of Argonia, KS, making her the first woman mayor in the U.S.

1895 ~ Birthday of Arthur Murray, Dance Instructor, burlesqued in one of the “Avengers” episodes.

1915 ~ Blues legend McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters.

1917 ~ Birthday of Gregory Peck, Actor.

1949 ~ Delegates from 12 countries met in Washington to sign the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO.

1968 ~ U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death.

1969 ~ Dr. Denton Cooley implanted the first total artificial heart.

[jseal]

1588 ~ Birthday of Thomas Hobbes, Materialist Philosopher.

1614 ~ Pocahontas marries colonist John Rolfe.

1827 ~ Birthday of Sir Joseph Lister, surgeon and medical scientist who was the founder of antiseptic medicine.

1843 ~ Queen Victoria proclaimed Hong Kong to be a British crown colony.

1895 ~ Playwright Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry.

1900 ~ Birthday of Spencer Tracy, Actor.

1908 ~ Birthday of Bette Davis, Actress.

1953 ~ Jomo Kenyatta was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison for orchestrating the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya.

1955 ~ Sir Winston Churchill resigned as British PM.

1985 ~ John McEnroe said "Any man can beat any woman at any sport, especially tennis".

[jseal]

1862 ~ The U.S. Civil War’s Battle of Shiloh began. There was a two day toll of 23,746 casualties.

1890 ~ Birthday of Anthony Fokker, Aircraft Manufacturer.

1896 ~ The first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece.

1928 ~ Birthday of James Watson, Biophysicist.

1929 ~ Birthday of André Previn, Pianist & Conductor.

1930 ~ Hostess Twinkies were invented.

1957 ~ Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" was released.

1989 ~ British government announced it would repeal legislation which guaranteed Dockers' 'jobs for life’.

1994 ~ The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a plane crash near the Rwandan capital, Kigali. This led to the massacre of at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

1998 ~ Pakistan successfully tested medium-range missiles capable of attacking neighboring India.

[jseal]

1652 ~ The Dutch established a settlement at Cape Town, South Africa.

1770 ~ Birthday of William Wordsworth, one of the 'Lake Poets'.

1795 ~ France adopted the meter as the unit of length and the base of the metric system.

1860 ~ Birthday of W.K. Kellog, who started a business named ‘Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company’.

1908 ~ Birthday of Percy Faith, Composer.

1915 ~ Birthday of Billie Holiday, Jazz Singer

1920 ~ Birthday of Ravi Shankar, Sitar player & Composer.

1945 ~ The Japanese battleship ‘Yamato’, the world’s largest battleship, was sunk during the battle for Okinawa.

1949 ~ The musical ‘South Pacific’ by Rogers and Hammerstein opened on Broadway.

1975 ~ Beverly Sills made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Gioacchino Rossini's "Siege of Corinth". What a voice!

[jseal]

1513 ~ Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.

1692 ~ Birthday of Giuseppe Tartini, Voilinist & Composer.

1730 ~ 1st Jewish congregation in US forms synagogue, "Shearith Israel, NYC"

1850 ~ Birthday of William Henry Welch, who, as the first dean of the medical school at Johns Hopkins University, played a major role in the introduction of modern medical practice to the U.S.

1939 ~ Italy invaded Albania. King Zog I flees.

1953 ~ Dag Hammarskjold chosen as Secretary-General of UN

1963 ~ At the 35th Academy Awards, "Lawrence of Arabia", Anne Bancroft & Gregory Peck win.

1966 ~ Leonid Brezhnev elected Secretary-General of USSR Communist Party.

1974 ~ Hank Aaron hits 715th home run breaking Babe Ruth's record.

1975 ~ Frank Robinson became first black manager of a major league baseball team.

[jseal]

193 ~ Lucius Septimius Severus proclaimed Roman emperor. April was a good month for him.

1682 ~ Robert La Salle claimed the lower Mississippi River and all lands that touch it for France.

1865 ~ General Robert E. Lee and his 26,765 troops surrendered to Union General Grant. This event was effectively the end of the U.S. Civil War.

1906 ~ Birthday of Antal Dorati, Conductor.

1919 ~ Birthday of John Presper Eckert, who worked with John Mauchly to build what many think was the first general-purpose electronic digital computer, ENIAC. (J.A.).

1926 ~ Birthday of Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine.

1928 ~ Birthday of Tom Lehrer, one of comedy's great paradoxes: a respected Harvard mathematics professor by day, at night he was among the foremost song satirists of the postwar era.

1933 ~ Birthday of Jean-Paul Belmondo, France's most popular male film star throughout the 1960s.

1940 ~ Germany invaded Norway and Denmark.

1966 ~ Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves A Woman" was released.

[jseal]

1633 ~ Bananas appeared on sale in Britain for the first time, in the shop window of Thomas Johnson of Snow Hill, London.

1794 ~ Birthday of Matthew Perry, American Commodore who forced the opening of Japan to the West.

1814 ~ Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Toulouse by the British and the Spanish. The defeat led to his abdication and exile to Elba.

1865 ~ Birthday of Jack Miner, Naturalist, Author, and bird Conservationist.

1912 ~ RMS Titanic departs Southampton, England on its maiden voyage.

1932 ~ Birthday of Omar Sharif, Actor (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Funny Girl ).

1963 ~ The submarine USS Thresher lost at sea, with all hands (129 officers, crewmen and civilian technicians).

1967 ~ The song "Somethin' Stupid" became the first father-daughter song to hit No. 1. The song was performed by Nancy and Frank Sinatra.

1970 ~ Paul McCartney announces that The Beatles have broken up.

1972 ~ United States and the Soviet Union joined some 70 nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.

[jseal]

146 ~ Birthday of Lucius Septimius Severus, Roman emperor. April was a good month for him.

1689 ~ William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

1775 ~ Last execution for witchcraft in Germany.

1945 ~ American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald, in Germany.

1947 ~ Jackie Robinson made his major-league debut, playing in an exhibition between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

1961 ~ The trial began in Israel of Adolf Eichmann, the man accused of helping Hitler in his plan to exterminate the Jews.

1968 ~ The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

1970 ~ Apollo 13 was launched on a mission to the moon that was disrupted when an explosion crippled the spacecraft. Cmdr Swigert reported: "Houston, we've had a problem". The astronauts managed to return safely.

1991 ~ The U.N. Security Council announced a formal end to the Persian Gulf War.

1992 ~ The musical "Miss Saigon," denounced by detractors as racist and sexist, opened on Broadway. Sound familiar?

[jseal]

65 ~ Death of Lucius Seneca, Philosopher & Statesman.

1204 ~ The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople.

1606 ~ England adopts the Union Jack as its flag.

1633 ~ Galileo is convicted of heresy.

1857 ~ Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" published.

1861 ~ The American Civil War begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

1877 ~ British annex Transvaal, South Africa.

1954 ~ The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began hearings to revoke Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance.

1961 ~ Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space.

1984 ~ Arthur Scargill vetoes national ballot on NUM strike. This brought about the destruction of his union.

[jseal]

1205 ~ Battle of Adrianople between Bulgars and Crusaders. Ever notice how large the Balkans figure in European history?

1629 ~ Birthday of Christiaan Huygens, Mathematician.

1828 ~ Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.

1865 ~ Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

1866 ~ Birthday of Anne Sullivan, special educator (Hellen Keller).

1899 ~ Birthday of Arnold Toynbee, Historian.

1904 ~ Birthday of Sir John Gielgud, Actor.

1940 ~ Birthday of Loretta Lynn, Singer.

1962 ~ Georges Pompidou becomes PM of France.

2000 ~ Kenneth Noye, who carried out a "road rage" killing just off M25, received a life sentence.

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1452 ~ Birthday of Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance Man.

1688 ~ Birthday of Johann Friedrich Fasch, Composer.

1843 ~ Birthday of Henry James, Author.

1871 ~ "Wild Bill" Hickok became the marshal of Abilene, Kansas.

1880 ~ William Gladstone became PM of England.

1912 ~ The RMS Titanic sank at 2:27 AM.

1924 ~ Rand McNally published its first road atlas.

1955 ~ Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.

1989 ~ 96 people die and more than 200 injured at Hillsborough, in Britain's worst-ever sporting disaster.

1998 ~ Pol Pot died, and thereby evaded prosecution for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians.

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1705 ~ Queen Anne of England knighted Isaac Newton.

1746 ~ Battle of Culloden, in Scotland, the last battle fought on British soil.

1889 ~ Birthday of Charlie Chaplin, Actor, Writer.

1917 ~ Vladmir Lenin returns from exile.

1921 ~ Birthday of Peter Ustinov, Actor, Writer.

1924 ~ Birthday of Henry Mancini, film and TV Composer.

1927 ~ Birthday of Joseph Ratzinger, Cardinal.

1943 ~ Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychic effects of LSD.

1947 ~ Birthday of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Athlete.

2002 ~ Sony Music Entertainment filed a complaint against the Dixie Chicks for breach of contract.

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1524 ~ Giovanni da Verrazano discovered New York harbor.

1622 ~ Birthday of Henry Vaughan, Metaphysical Poet.

1837 ~ Birthday of J.P. Morgan, Financier.

1861 ~ Virginia secedes from the U.S.

1894 ~ Birthday of Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Leader.

1903 ~ Birthday of Gregor Piatigorsky, Cellist.

1924 ~ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed.

1961 ~ Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba begins.

1969 ~ Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek is deposed, bringing to and end the “Prague Spring”.

1984 ~ Yvonne Fletcher is killed by gunfire from Libyan embassy in London. Ten other people were wounded.

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1521 ~ Martin Luther confronted the emperor Charles V in the Diet of Worms and refused to retract his views that led to his excommunication.

1775 ~ American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott rode though the towns of Massachusetts giving the warning that "the British are coming."

1819 ~ Birthday of Franz von Suppe, Composer.

1857 ~ Birthday of Clarence Darrow, Lawyer.

1882 ~ Birthday of Leopold Stokowski, one of the greatest conductors of all time.

1946 ~ Birthday of Hayley Mills, Actress.

1949 ~ The Republic of Ireland was established.

1954 ~ Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power in Egypt.

1980 ~ Rhodesia became in independent nation of Zimbabwe.

1984 ~ Michael Jackson went into surgery to repair damage done after his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

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1587 ~ Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz Harbor.

1770 ~ Captain James Cook first spots Australia.

1772 ~ Birthday of David Ricardo, Economist.

1861 ~ A clash between pro-South civilians and Union troops in Baltimore, Maryland resulted in what is commonly accepted to be the first bloodshed of the American Civil War.

1927 ~ Birthday of Erma Bombeck, humorist.

1943 ~ German troops enter the Warsaw ghetto to round up the remaining Jews, starting the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

1956 ~ Grace Kelly marries Rainier III of Monaco.

1993 ~ A 50-day siege of the Branch Davidian complex outside Waco, Texas ends when a fire broke out. Eighty-one people died.

1995 ~ In retaliation for the deaths of the Branch Davidians in 1993, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is bombed, killing 168.

1999 ~ The German Parliament returns to Berlin.

Today is Primrose Day in England. Primroses are placed on the statue of Benjamin Disraeli in Parliament Square, London on the anniversary of his death in1881.

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1139 ~ The Second Lateran Council opens. It was at this council that the prohibition of marriage by religious was formalized.

1745 ~ Birthday of Phillip Pinel, French physician who pioneered in the humane treatment of the mentally ill.

1889 ~ Birthday of Adolf Hitler, Dictator.

1908 ~ Birthday of Lionel Hampton, Musician.

1928 ~ Birthday of Gerald S. Hawkins, Astronomer and Mathematician who identified Stonehenge to be a prehistoric astronomical observatory.

1951 ~ General MacArthur addressed the joint session of Congress after being relieved by U.S. President Truman.

1968 ~ English politician Enoch Powell makes controversial “Rivers of Blood Speech”.

1983 ~ Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down over Soviet airspace.

1984 ~ Britain announced that its administration of Hong Kong would cease in 1997.

1999 ~ Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold open fire in their high school leaving 15 dead and 23 wounded.

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1816 ~ Birthday of Charlotte Brontë, Author.

1838 ~ Birthday of John Muir, Naturalist.

1899 ~ Birthday of Randall Thompson, Composer.

1912 ~ The New York Giants and New York Yankees play an exhibition game to benefit survivors of the Titanic.

1915 ~ Birthday of Anthony Quinn, Actor

1918 ~ Manfred von Richthofen, the “Red Barron” lost in action.

1926 ~ Birthday of Elizabeth Windsor, Queen of England.

1960 ~ Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.

1970 ~ Hutt River Province secedes from the Commonwealth of Australia.

1994 ~ The first discovery of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

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1529 ~ Spain and Portugal divided the eastern hemisphere in Treaty of Saragosa.

1658 ~ Birthday of Giuseppe Torelli, Composer.

1724 ~ Birthday of Immanuel Kant, Philosopher.

1864 ~ The U.S. Congress mandated that coins minted as U.S. currency bear the inscription "In God We Trust".

1870 ~ Birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin), Dictator.

1904 ~ Birthday of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Physicist.

1915 ~ At the Second Battle Ypres the Germans introduced the use of poison gas.

1916 ~ Birthday of Yehudi Menuhin, Musician.

1970 ~ First Earth Day led to many apocalyptic predictions.

2000 ~ Elian Gonzalez was reunited with his father. He had to be taken from his Miami relatives by U.S. agents in a predawn raid.

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1348 ~ King Edward the Third of England established the Order of the Garter.

1564 ~ Traditional birthday of William Shakespeare, Playwright.

1772 ~ Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle wrote the French National Anthem, "La Marseillaise".

1858 ~ Birthday of Max Planck, Physicist. (1918 Nobel Prize)

1891 ~ Birthday of Sergei Prokofiev, Composer.

1933 ~ The Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei) established.

1936 ~ Birthday of Roy Orbison, Musician.

1948 ~ Birthday of Bernadette Devlin, MP.

1954 ~ Hank Aaron hit his first major league home run.

2003 ~ Beijing closed all schools for two weeks due to the SARS virus.

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1800 ~ The United States Library of Congress established.

1814 ~ British troops burn Washington, DC.

1856 ~ Birthday of Philippe Pétain, General.

1905 ~ Birthday of Robert Penn Warren, Author.

1916 ~ Easter Uprising in Ireland.

1934 ~ Birthday of Shirley MacLaine, Actress & Author.

1942 ~ Birthday of Barbra Streisand, Entertainer.

1953 ~ Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1967 ~ Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died in Soyuz 1.

1990 ~ The Hubble Space Telescope launched aboard Space Shuttle “Discovery”.

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1599 ~ Birthday of Oliver Cromwell, Protector.

1719 ~ ”Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe is published.

1840 ~ Birthday of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer.

1859 ~ Ground is broken for the Suez Canal.

1874 ~ Birthday of Guglielmo Marconi, Electrical engineer and Nobel Prize laureate.

1900 ~ Birthday of Wolfgang Pauli, physicist and Nobel Prize laureate.

1953 ~ In an article in "Nature", James Watson and Francis Crick described the structure of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

1917 ~ Birthday of Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz Singer.

1959 ~ The St. Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean officially opened.

1961 ~ Robert Noyce is granted the first patent for an integrated circuit.


ANZAC Day (Australia, New Zealand)

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1607 ~ An expedition of English colonists, including Captain John Smith, went ashore at Cape Henry, Virginia, to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

1787 ~ Birthday of John Audubon, Naturalist.

1865 ~ John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, was surrounded and killed by federal troops near Bowling Green, Virginia.

1895 ~ Birthday of Rudolf Hess, Reichsminister/SS-Obergruppenführer

1900 ~ Birthday of Charles Richter, Seismologist.

1937 ~ Planes from Nazi Germany raided the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Pablo Picasso used this event for his tour de force “Guernica”.

1964 ~ The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.

1986 ~ The world's worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union.

1992 ~ Christians officially celebrated the first Russian Orthodox Easter in Moscow in 74 years.

1994 ~ Voting began in South Africa's first all-race elections.

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1667 ~ The blind, impoverished John Milton sold the copyright of “Paradise Lost” for £10.

1737 ~ Birthday of Edward Gibbon, Historian.

1773 ~ The British Parliament passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

1791 ~ Birthday of Samuel Morse, Inventor.

1820 ~ Birthday of Herbert Spencer, Philosopher, editor of “The Economist”, who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest".

1822 ~ Birthday of Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. General & President.

1908 ~ The 1908 Summer Olympics opened in London.

1960 ~ Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.

1961 ~ Sierra Leone is granted its independence from the United Kingdom.

1981 ~ Xerox PARC introduced the computer mouse.