Strange Days

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1872 ~ Birthday of Bertrand Russell (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1950/russell-bio.html), Logician & Philosopher, awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature 1950.

1910 ~ The Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet.

1911 ~ Death of Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer.

1919 ~ Birthday of Dame Margot Fonteyn, Ballet dancer.

1937 ~ Birthday of Brooks Robinson, Baseball Hall of Famer.

1944 ~ Monte Cassino (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/18/newsid_3544000/3544047.stm) fell to the Allies.

1974 ~ India became the sixth nuclear nation (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaSmiling.html) by successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon.

1975 ~ Death of Leroy Anderson, American Composer.

1980 ~ Mount St. Helens (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0518.html#article) in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing.

1998 ~ The U.S. government filed an antitrust case against Microsoft Corp.

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1536 ~ Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England was beheaded for adultery.

1795 ~ Birthday of Johns Hopkins (http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/photos/philanthropy/html/hopkins.htm), Philanthropist.

1864 ~ Death of Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Author.

1890 ~ Birthday of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader.

1897 ~ Oscar Wilde was released from Reading Gaol.

1921 ~ The U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act (http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1920s/QuotaAct1918.html), which established national quotas for immigrants.

1925 ~ Birthday of Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge leader.

1935 ~ Death of T. E. Lawrence (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0519.html#article), English soldier ("Lawrence of Arabia").

1965 ~ Tui Malila (http://www.extremescience.com/OldestLivingcreature.htm), the longest living animal known, died in Tonga at the age of either 188 or 192.

2001 ~ One child policy: Zhonghua Sun was killed by People's Republic of China government officials because she refused to be sterilized.

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1772 ~ Birthday of Sir William Congreve, English inventor (By the rockets' red glare (http://www.nasm.si.edu/spacecraft/RM-Congreve32.htm)).

1806 ~ Birthday of John Stuart Mill, English philosopher.

1873 ~ Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

1883 ~ The eruption of Krakatoa (http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Krakatau.html) began, leading ultimately to the volcano's destruction three months later.

1896 ~ Death of Clara Schumann, German Pianist and Composer.

1901 ~ Birthday of Max Euwe, Dutch world chess champion.

1927 ~ Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island, New York, on the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean (http://www.charleslindbergh.com/history/paris.asp), arriving in Paris the next day.

1961 ~ U.S. marshals were sent to restore order in race-torn Montgomery, Alabama (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0520.html#article).

1980 ~ In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejected by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.

2000 ~ Death of Jean Pierre Rampal, French flutist.

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1471 ~ Birthday of Albrecht Dürer (http://turnbull.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/PictDisplay/Durer.html), German painter and graphic artist.

1881 ~ Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/brief.asp).

1895 ~ Death of Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer.

1921 ~ Birthday of Andrei Sakharov, physicist and human rights activist, awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize.

1924 ~ Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing".

1933 ~ Birthday of Maurice André, trumpeter.

1956 ~ The U.S. detonated the first airborne hydrogen bomb (http://www.shundahai.org/US_Atmospheric_Nuclear_Tests_Database.htm#Redwing) over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

1991 ~ Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/21/newsid_2504000/2504739.stm) by a female suicide bomber.

2000 ~ Death of Sir John Gielgud, British actor.

2004 ~ Stanislav Petrov (http://www.mosnews.com/feature/2004/05/21/petrov.shtml) was awarded the World Citizen Award for averting a potential World War III in 1983.

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1813 ~ Birthday of Richard Wagner, Composer.

1840 ~ Transporting British convicts to the New South Wales colony was abolished.

1856 ~ In one of the more ornate expressions of American democracy, Congressman Preston Brooks (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000885) of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S001068) with a cane in the hall of the U.S. Senate (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm) because of a speech Sumner had made which attacked Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas.

1859 ~ Birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Physician & Writer.

1885 ~ Death of Victor Hugo, French author.

1907 ~ Birthday of Sir Laurence Olivier, Actor & Director.

1907 ~ Birthday of Hergé (http://tintin.francetv.fr/uk/), comic book creator.

1947 ~ The Truman Doctrine (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0522.html#article) was enacted.

1969 ~ The lunar module of Apollo 10 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/22/newsid_3034000/3034569.stm) separated from the command module and flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing..

1972 ~ Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka, adopted a new constitution, and joined the British Commonwealth.

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1430 ~ Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.

1701 ~ Captain William Kidd was hanged in London after being convicted of piracy and murder.

1848 ~ Birthday of Otto Lilienthal, aviation pioneer.

1873 ~ Canada's North West Mounted Police (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/history/origins2_e.htm) force was established.

1906 ~ Death of Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian writer.

1908 ~ Birthday of John Bardeen (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1972/bardeen-bio.html), the only person to have been awarded the Nobel prize in Physics twice; 1956 & 1972.

1934 ~ Death of Bonnie and Clyde (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0523.html#article), Outlaws.

1951 ~ Birthday of Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion.

1967 ~ Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and blockaded the port of Eilat at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping, laying the foundations for the Six Day War.

1969 ~ The UK release of Tommy (http://www.thewho.net/linernotes/Tommy.htm), by rock band The Who; the first rock opera.

[jseal]

1819 ~ Birthday of Queen Victoria.

1844 ~ The first telegram was sent by Samuel Morse, from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, D.C., saying "What hath God wrought?".

1883 ~ The Brooklyn Bridge (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0524.html#article) was opened.

1935 ~ The first MLB game played at night took place at Cincinnati's Crosley Field as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies.

1941 ~ The German battleship Bismarck sank the battlecruiser HMS Hood (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-atl/batlt-41/bismk-c3.htm) in the North Atlantic, killing all but three crewmen.

1941 ~ Birthday of Bob Dylan, Singer and Songwriter.

1969 ~ Death of Willy Ley (http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Ley.html), rocket scientist.

1995 ~ Death of Harold Wilson, British statesman and P.M.

2001 ~ 23 people were killed and hundreds injured at a wedding party in Jerusalem when the floor collapsed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/24/newsid_4530000/4530071.stm).

2001 ~ Democrats gained control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1994 when Sen. Jeffords of Vermont declared himself an independent.

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1803 ~ Birthday of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet & Philosopher.

1889 ~ Birthday of Igor Sikorsky, developer of the helicopter.

1895 ~ Playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted of a morals charge (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/oscar_wilde/13.html) in London and sentenced to prison.

1926 ~ Birthday of Miles Davis, Jazz Musician

1929 ~ Birthday of Beverly Sills, Soprano.

1934 ~ Death of Gustav Holst, English composer.

1953 ~ The U.S. conducted its only nuclear artillery test (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Upshotk.html).

1961 ~ President Kennedy set the US goal to put the first man on the moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/25/newsid_4369000/4369187.stm) by the end of that decade.

1963 ~ The Organisation of African Unity (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/25/newsid_2502000/2502771.stm) was set up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

1973 ~ Mike Oldfield released Tubular Bells.

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1703 ~ Death of Samuel Pepys, English civil servant, famous for his diary (http://www.pepysdiary.com/).

1799 ~ Birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, Russian author.

1896 ~ The first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (http://www.mdleasing.com/djia.htm) published

1897 ~ Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Bloodline.html) went on sale in London.

1907 ~ Birthday of Rachel Carson, Environmental writer.

1908 ~ The first commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjid-al-Salaman in southwest Iran (Persia).

1928 ~ Birthday of Jack Kevorkian, Physician.

1940 ~ The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.

1951 ~ Birthday of Sally Ride, Astronaut.

2002 ~ The Mars Odyssey found signs of huge water ice deposits on Mars (http://www.daviddarling.info/archive/2002/archiveMay02.html).

[jseal]

1837 ~ Birthday of Wild Bill Hickok, Gunfighter.

1877 ~ Birthday of Isadora Duncan, Dancer.

1923 ~ Birthday of Henry Kissinger (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1973/kissinger-bio.html), American diplomat, recipient of The Nobel Peace Prize 1973.

1933 ~ The Walt Disney Co. released the cartoon The Three Little Pigs, with its hit song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/badwolf.htm)

1934 ~ Birthday of Harlan Ellison, Science Fiction author.

1937 ~ The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic.

1964 ~ Death of Jawaharlal Nehru (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0527.html#article), independent India’s first PM.

1968 ~ Future U.S. president George W. Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard.

1995 ~ Actor Christopher Reeve (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001659/) (Superman) was paralyzed when he was thrown from his horse during a jumping event.

1999 ~ A U.N. tribunal indicted Slobodan Milosevic for crimes against humanity, holding the Yugoslav president personally responsible for the horrors in Kosovo.

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1892 ~ In San Francisco, California, John Muir organized the Sierra Club.

1908 ~ Birthday of Ian Fleming, author of James Bond books.

1925 ~ Birthday of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone.

1934 ~ Birthday of The Dionne quintuplets, the world's first surviving quintuplets.

1936 ~ Alan Turing submitted On Computable Numbers (http://abelard.org/turpap2/tp2-ie.asp#section-1) for publication.

1964 ~ The Palestine Liberation Organization was formed.

1971 ~ Death of Audie Murphy, American actor & war hero.

1984 ~ President Reagan led a state funeral at Arlington National Cemetery for an unidentified American soldier killed in the Vietnam War (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0528.html#article).

1987 ~ Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old West German pilot, landed a private plane in Moscow's Red Square (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,819972,00.html) after evading Soviet air defenses.

1998 ~ Pakistan matched India with five nuclear test blasts (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/28/newsid_2495000/2495045.stm).

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1453 ~ Ottoman armies captured Constantinople (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1046.html), ending the Byzantine Empire.

1860 ~ Birthday of Isaac Albéniz, Spanish Composer.

1874 ~ Birthday of G. K. Chesterton, English author.

1903 ~ Birthday of Bob Hope, British-born Comedian & Actor.

1906 ~ Birthday of T.H. White, English author.

1913 ~ Igor Stravinsky's ballet score “The Rite of Spring” premiered in Paris.

1919 ~ Observation of shifted star positions during a solar eclipse confirmed Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity (http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/coles.asp).

1953 ~ Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0529.html#article).

1972 ~ Three Japanese Red Army gunmen opened fire on crowds at Lod (now Ben Gurion) International Airport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/29/newsid_2542000/2542263.stm), Israel, killing 26 people and injuring dozens more.

2005 ~ French voters rejected the European Union's proposed constitution.

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1431 ~ Death of Joan of Arc (http://www.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_short_biography.html), French commander and saint (burned at the stake by a pro-English tribunal).

1640 ~ Death of Peter Paul Rubens, German painter.

1778 ~ Death of Voltaire, French philosopher & Author.

1926 ~ Birthday of Christine Jorgensen, transsexual activist.

1942 ~ 1,047 British bombers (http://www.answers.com/topic/bombing-of-cologne-in-world-war-ii) launched a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.

1964 ~ Death of Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-American nuclear physicist.

1982 ~ Spain became NATO's 16th member.

1982 ~ Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr played the first of 2,632 consecutive games. His streak ended on September 20, 1998.

1989 ~ The 33-foot high Goddess of Democracy (http://www.flyingfists.org/archives/002942.html) statue was unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

1997 ~ Child molester Jesse K. Timmendequas was convicted in Trenton, N.J., of raping and strangling a 7-year-old neighbor, Megan Kanka - a case that inspired Megan's Law (http://www.megans-law.net/), which requires that communities be notified when sex offenders move in.

[jseal]

1669 ~ Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys (http://www.pepys.info/) made the last entry in his diary.

1809 ~ Death of Joseph Haydn, Composer.

1819 ~ Birthday of Walt Whitman, American Poet.

1889 ~ A dam broke near Johnstown, Pa, drowning more than 2,000 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0531.html#article).

1916 ~ British and German fleets fought the Battle of Jutland (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/jutland.htm) off Denmark.

1923 ~ Birthday of Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

1927 ~ The Ford Model T assembly line shut down after a production run of 15,007,003.

1938 ~ Birthday of Peter Yarrow, American folk singer ("Peter, Paul and Mary").

1957 ~ Playwright Arthur Miller was convicted of contempt of Congress (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/31/newsid_4417000/4417523.stm).

1996 ~ Death of Timothy Leary, LSD advocate.

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1494 ~ Friar John Cor :angel: recorded the first known batch of scotch whisky (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=87282004).

1801 ~ Birthday of Brigham Young, Mormon Church leader.

1804 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer.

1890 ~ The U.S. Census Bureau began using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns.

1918 ~ the Battle for Belleau Wood began, during which came forth the famous phrase Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever? (http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Whos_Who/Daly_DJ.htm) Heroes indeed!

1926 ~ Birthday of Marilyn Monroe, Actress.

1938 ~ Action Comics issued the first Superman comic.

1965 ~ Birthday of Nigel Short, English chess player.

1968 ~ Death of Helen Keller (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0601.html#article), symbol of courage.

1967 ~ The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (http://www.beatletracks.com/btsgtppr.html) was released.

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1740 ~ Birthday of Marquis de Sade (http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics/marquis/), French Nobleman & Author.

1835 ~ Start of P.T. Barnum’s circus’ first tour of the U.S.

1840 ~ Birthday of Thomas Hardy, Poet & Novelist.

1857 ~ Birthday of Edward Elgar, English Composer.

1896 ~ Guglielmo Marconi received a patent for the radio.

1897 ~ Mark Twain, responding to rumors that he was dead, was quoted as saying, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

1953 ~ Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0602.html#article) of the United Kingdom.

1966 ~ First U.S. Lunar soft landing, by Surveyor 1 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/2/newsid_4081000/4081677.stm).

1987 ~ Death of Andres Segovia, Spanish guitarist.

1990 ~ Death of Rex Harrison (http://www.thegoldenyears.org/harrison.html), English actor.

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1875 ~ Death of Georges Bizet, French composer.

1888 ~ The poem Casey at the Bat (http://www.bu.edu/favoritepoem/poems/thayer/index.html), by Ernest Thayer, was published in the SF Examiner.

1899 ~ Death of Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer.

1924 ~ Death of Franz Kafka, Austrian novelist.

1925 ~ Birthday of Tony Curtis, Actor.

1926 ~ Birthday of Allen Ginsberg, American poet.

1937 ~ The Duke of Windsor married American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom he had abdicated the British throne.

1965 ~ Edward White became the first American astronaut to walk in space (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0603.html#article).

1969 ~ The science fiction television series Star Trek aired its final new episode (http://www.tv.com/star-trek/turnabout-intruder/episode/24962/summary.html?tag=episodes;title;0) after being canceled by NBC.

1982 ~ The Israeli ambassador to Britain (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/3/newsid_2496000/2496109.stm) was shot on a London street.

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1798 ~ Death of Giacomo Casanova, Italian Lover.

1919 ~ Birthday of Robert Merrill, American Baritone.

1928 ~ Birthday of Dr. Ruth Westheimer (http://love.ivillage.com/author/bio/0,,prtr,00.html), German-American Sex Therapist.

1940 ~ The Allies completed the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/4/newsid_3500000/3500865.stm), France.

1944 ~ Birthday of Michelle Phillips, American Singer (The Mamas & the Papas).

1975 ~ Birthday of Angelina Jolie, American Actress.

1984 ~ The album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' by Bruce Springsteen was released.

1986 ~ Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to espionage (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_pollard.html) for selling top secret U.S. military intelligence to Israel.

1989 ~ The Tiananmen Square Massacre (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0604.html#article).

1998 ~ Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

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1723 ~ Birthday of Adam Smith, Scottish Economist.

1883 ~ Birthday of John Keynes, English Economist.

1910 ~ Death of O. Henry, American author.

1944 ~ WWII: Rome was liberated (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/5/newsid_3547000/3547329.stm).

1947 ~ At a speech at Harvard University, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall called for economic aid to Europe.

1963 ~ UK Secretary of State for War, John Profumo (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/5/newsid_2660000/2660375.stm), resigned over a sex scandal.

1967 ~ Israel began the Six Day War (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/5/newsid_2654000/2654251.stm) with a pre-emptive attack on Egypt.

1968 ~ Sen. Robert Kennedy (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0605.html#article) was shot in Los Angeles, CA.

1975 ~ Death of Paul Keres, Estonian chess player.

2004 ~ Death of Ronald Reagan.

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1683 ~ Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum (http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/) opened to the public as the world's first university museum.

1844 ~ The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in London.

1868 ~ Birthday of Robert Falcon Scott, English Explorer.

1901 ~ Birthday of Sukarno, first President of Indonesia.

1903 ~ Birthday of Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer.

1944 ~ D-Day began (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0606.html#article) with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France.

1961 ~ Death of Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist.

1984 ~ Indian troops stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499341.stm).

1985 ~ Authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as that of Dr. Josef Mengele (http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blmengele.htm), the Nazi doctor who conducted medical experiments on inmates at Auschwitz.

2002 ~ The Wye Oak, Maryland's honorary state tree, was destroyed in a thunderstorm.

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632 ~ Death of Muhammad (http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/timeline_flash.shtml), founder of Islam.

1810 ~ Birthday of Robert Schumann, Composer.

1866 ~ The Canadian Parliament met for the first time in Ottawa.

1876 ~ Death of George Sand, Author.

1887 ~ Herman Hollerith (http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/hollerith.html) received a patent for his punch card calculator.

1910 ~ Birthday of John W. Campbell Jr., Science Fiction Writer, Publisher, & Editor.

1916 ~ Birthday of Professor Francis Harry Compton Crick (http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1962/crick-bio.html), OM FRS, most noted for being one of the discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule. Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1962.

1949 ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four (http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/work/summaries/1984.html) by George Orwell was published.

1984 ~ Homosexuality is decriminalized in New South Wales, Australia.

1998 ~ Charlton Heston assumed the presidency of the National Rifle Association.

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1810 ~ Birthday of Otto Nicolai, Composer.

1870 ~ Death of Charles Dickens, English author.

1891 ~ Birthday of Cole Porter, Composer.

1916 ~ Birthday of Robert McNamara, U.S. Secretary of Defense, former president of the World Bank.

1934 ~ Donald Duck debuted in The Wise Little Hen (http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/characterstandard/donald/debut/debut.html).

1954 ~ Beginning of the end of the McCarthy Era (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0609.html#article).

1959 ~ The USS George Washington launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.

1970 ~ Assassination attempt on King Hussein of Jordan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/9/newsid_4461000/4461735.stm).

1973 ~ Secretariat (http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/tc99/history/winners/secretariat/default.asp) won the Triple Crown.

2004 ~ The FCC agreed to a $1.75 million settlement with Clear Channel to resolve indecency complaints against Howard Stern and other radio personalities.

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1829 ~ First Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge.

1836 ~ Death of André-Marie Ampère, French physicist.

1846 ~ The California Republic declared independence from Mexico.

1915 ~ Birthday of Saul Bellow, Canadian-born American author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1921 ~ Birthday of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (http://194.203.40.17/output/page413.asp).

1922 ~ Birthday of Judy Garland, Singer & Actress.

1940 ~ Italy declared war on France and Britain; Canada declared war on Italy.

1967 ~ End of the Six-Day War (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0610.html#article).

1999 ~ Yugoslav troops departed Kosovo (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/10/newsid_4482000/4482403.stm), prompting NATO to suspend its air war.

2004 ~ Death of Ray Charles (http://www.raycharles.com/the_man_biography.html), Singer & Musician.

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1770 ~ Captain James Cook ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

1776 ~ Birthday of John Constable (http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Haywain-1819-Posters_i310390_.htm), English painter.

1864 ~ Birthday of Richard Strauss, Composer & Conductor.

1892 ~ The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, opened in Melbourne.

1918 ~ Birthday of Nelson Mandela (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html), former President of SA, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1993.

1937 ~ Death of R. J. Mitchell, British aircraft designer, developer of the Spitfire.

1942 ~ The U.S. and the USSR (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0611.html#article) signed a lend lease agreement to aid the Soviet war effort in WWII.

1987 ~ Margaret Thatcher (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/11/newsid_2511000/2511095.stm) became the first British PM in 160 years to win a third consecutive term in office.

2001 ~ Death of Timothy McVeigh, terrorist (executed).

2004 ~ Cassini-Huygens made its closest flyby of Phoebe.

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1897 ~ Birthday of Anthony Eden, British P.M.

1942 ~ Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday.

1962 ~ Three prisoners escaped from Alcatraz (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/12/newsid_4464000/4464939.stm) prison.

1963 ~ Death of Medgar Evers (http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/evers_medgar/), American civil rights activist.

1967 ~ In Loving v. Virginia (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=388&invol=1), the U.S. Supreme Court declared all state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.

1979 ~ Bryan Allen flew the man powered Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel.

1987 ~ Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0612.html#article).

1994 ~ Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered outside her home in Los Angeles. O. J. Simpson was acquitted of the killings, but held liable in a civil suit.

1997 ~ Major league baseball began interleague play.

2003 ~ Death of Gregory Peck, Actor.

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1777 ~ Marquis de Lafayette arrived in America to help train its army.

1865 ~ Birthday of William Butler Yeats (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1923/yeats-bio.html), Poet, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1923.

1892 ~ Birthday of Basil Rathbone, Actor.

1944 ~ Germany launched the first V1 “Buzz Bomb” attack on England.

1966 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the police must inform suspects of their rights (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0613.html#article) before questioning them (Miranda v. Arizona).

1967 ~ Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall was nominated as the first black Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1970 ~ "The Long and Winding Road" became the Beatles' last #1 song.

1981 ~ A teen-ager fired six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/13/newsid_2512000/2512333.stm) during a parade in London.

1982 ~ Fahd became King of Saudi Arabia (http://www.kingfahdbinabdulaziz.com/main/b.htm) upon the death of his brother, Khalid.

1995 ~ French president Jacques Chirac announced the resumption of nuclear tests in French Polynesia.

[jseal]

1671 ~ Birthday of Tomaso Albinoni, Italian Composer.

1736 ~ Birthday of Charles Augustin de Coulomb, French mathematician. The unit of electrical charge, the coulomb, and Coulomb's law are named after him.

1841 ~ The first Canadian parliament opened in Kingston.

1903 ~ Birthday of Alonzo Church, Mathematician & Logician.

1909 ~ Birthday of Burl Ives, American Folk Singer, Author & Actor.

1919 ~ John Alcock and Arthur Brown (http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm) depart St. John's, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.

1940 ~ WWII: German troops enter Paris (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/14/newsid_4485000/4485727.stm).

1952 ~ The keel was laid for the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus (http://www.ussnautilus.org/history.html).

1982 ~ Argentine forces in the capital Port Stanley unconditionally surrender to British forces, bringing the Falklands War to an end (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0614.html#article).

1995 ~ Death of Roger Zelazny, science fiction author.

[jseal]

1215 ~ King John put his seal to the Magna Carta (http://www.bl.uk/treasures/magnacarta/magna.html) at Runnymede, England.

1752 ~ Benjamin Franklin showed that lightning is electricity.

1844 ~ Charles Goodyear received a patent for a process to strengthen rubber.

1843 ~ Birthday of Edvard Grieg, Norwegian Composer.

1904 ~ A fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0615.html#article) killed a 1,000 people.

1978 ~ King Hussein of Jordan married 26-year-old Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor.

1983 ~ Julia Fischer, German Violinist.

1995 ~ Death of John Vincent Atanasoff, computer pioneer.

1996 ~ In Manchester, U.K. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/15/newsid_2527000/2527009.stm), a terrorist bomb injured over 200 people.

1996 ~ Death of Ella Fitzgerald (http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/about/index.php), Jazz singer.

[jseal]

1829 ~ Birthday of Geronimo, Apache Warrior & Leader.

1890 ~ Birthday of Stan Laurel (http://www.laurel-and-hardy.com/), Comedian.

1912 ~ Birthday of Enoch Powell, British politician.

1933 ~ Start of President Roosevelt’s New Deal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0616.html#article).

1938 ~ Birthday of Joyce Carol Oates, novelist.

1948 ~ The Miss Macao passenger seaplane became the first skyjacking of a commercial plane.

1961 ~ Rudolf Nureyev defected at Le Bourget airport in Paris.

1963 ~ Valentina Tereshkova (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/16/newsid_2685000/2685283.stm) became the first woman in space.

1976 ~ Riots broke out in the black South African township of Soweto (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/16/newsid_2514000/2514467.stm).

1977 ~ Death of Wernher von Braun, rocket scientist.

[jseal]

1631 ~ Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Shah Jahan I, built her a tomb, the Taj Mahal (http://judypat.com/india/tajmahal.htm).

1775 ~ The Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston during the Revolutionary War.

1818 ~ Birthday of Charles Gounod, French Composer.

1882 ~ Birthday of Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer.

1885 ~ The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York.

1898 ~ Birthday of M.C. Escher, Dutch Artist.

1928 ~ Amelia Earhart (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0617.html#article) became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.

1929 ~ Birthday of Tigran Petrosian, Georgian chess player.

1945 ~ Birthday of Eddy Merckx (http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/8230.0.html), Belgian Cycling Champion.

1974 ~ The Irish Republican Army bombed the UK’s House of Parliament (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/17/newsid_2514000/2514827.stm).

[jseal]

1178 ~ Five Canterbury monks saw what was possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed on the Moon.

1815 ~ British and Prussian troops defeated the French under Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in Belgium.

1873 ~ Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.

1915 ~ Birthday of Red Adair, Firefighter.

1928 ~ Death of Roald Amundsen, Explorer, first to the South Pole.

1942 ~ Birthday of Paul McCartney (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5087006.stm), Singer & Songwriter.

1945 ~ William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) was charged with treason.

1967 ~ Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival (http://members.tripod.com/Yelnats_Yarkled/Monterey/page7.html).

1979 ~ Presidents Carter and Brezhnev signed the SALT II (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/18/newsid_4508000/4508409.stm) strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.

1983 ~ Sally Ride (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html) became the first American woman in space.

[jseal]

1623 ~ Birthday of Blaise Pascal, Mathematician.

1865 ~ More two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas were finally informed of their freedom.

1886 ~ The proposed annexation of Nova Scotia (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0619.html), Canada, by the United States lampooned.

1896 ~ Birthday of Wallis Warfield, the future Duchess of Windsor.

1934 ~ The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/federalcommu/federalcommu.htm) (FCC) was established.

1937 ~ Death of J.M. Barrie, Author, creator of the character Peter Pan.

1945 ~ Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, Politician, recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

1953 ~ Death of Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, convicted spies.

1978 ~ First appearance of the comic strip Garfield (http://www.qkiz.com/cartoon-solitaire/hot-garfield.html).

1982 ~ Roberto Calvi (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/19/newsid_3092000/3092625.stm), an Italian banker, was found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge in London.

[jseal]

1819 ~ Birthday of Jacques Offenbach, Composer.

1837 ~ Queen Victoria (http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page118.asp) ascended to the throne.

1877 ~ Alexander Graham Bell installed the first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario.

1899 ~ Birthday of Jean Moulin (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWmoulin.htm), leader of the French Resistance in WW II.

1909 ~ Birthday of Errol Flynn, Actor.

1948 ~ The Ed Sullivan Show (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/edsullivans/edsullivans.htm), (née Toast of the Town) debuted.

1953 ~ Birthday of Cyndi Lauper, singer.

1966 ~ Canada sold 336 million bushels of wheat to the U.S.S.R.

1977 ~ Oil began to flow through the Trans-Alaska pipeline.

2002 ~ Death of Erwin Chargaff (http://post.queensu.ca/~forsdyke/bioinfo1.htm), biochemist.

[jseal]

1527 ~ Death of Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian Historian & Political Author.

1749 ~ Halifax, Nova Scotia founded.

1781 ~ Birthday of Siméon-Denis Poisson, Mathematician & Physicist.

1905 ~ Birthday of Jean-Paul Sartre (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1964/sartre-bio.html), Philosopher & Playwright, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1964.

1908 ~ Death of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Composer.

1919 ~ Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttled the German fleet in Scapa Flow (http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/scuttle.html), Orkney.

1965 ~ The Byrds released their debut album “Mr. Tambourine Man”.

1989 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that flag burning is protected speech (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=491&page=397) under the Constitution.

2001 ~ Death of Carroll O'Connor, American Actor.

2004 ~ SpaceShipOne (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/SS1_touchdown_040621.html) became the first privately funded space plane to achieve spaceflight.

[jseal]

1837 ~ Birthday of Paul Morphy, Chess master.

1856 ~ Birthday of H. Rider Haggard, Author.

1940 ~ WWII: France forced to sign armistice with Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0622.html#article).

1941 ~ WWII: Germany invaded the Soviet Union (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/22/newsid_3526000/3526691.stm).

1969 ~ Death of Judy Garland, Singer & Actress.

1976 ~ Canadian House of Commons voted to abolish capital punishment.

1986 ~ Diego Maradona scored both the Hand of God goal (http://2002.fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/02/en/011221/4/44c.html) and the Goal of the Century (http://www.rediff.com/sports/football/2002/may/30mara.htm) against England during the FIFA World Cup in Mexico City.

1987 ~ Death of Fred Astaire, Dancer & Actor.

1996 ~ The Quake computer game was released.

2002 ~ Death of Ann Landers, Columnist.

[jseal]

1894 ~ Birthday of Alfred Kinsey, Sexologist.

1912 ~ Birthday of Alan Turing, Mathematician.

1927 ~ Birthday of Bob Fosse (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/fosse/fosse.html), Choreographer.

1940 ~ Adolf Hitler toured Paris in now occupied France.

1943 ~ Birthday of Vint Cerf, co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and one of the “Fathers of the Internet”.

1947 ~ President Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0623.html#article) overridden.

1956 ~ Gamal Abdel Nasser elected president of Egypt.

1992 ~ John Gotti (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/23/newsid_2518000/2518975.stm), convicted of racketeering charges, was sentenced in to life in prison.

1993 ~ Lorena Bobbitt (http://www.digitas.harvard.edu/~perspy/old/issues/2000/retro/lorena_bobbitt.html) sexually mutilated her husband after he allegedly raped her.

1995 ~ Death of Jonas Salk, developer of the Salk polio vaccine.

[jseal]

1314 ~ Scotland regained its independence in the Battle of Bannockburn (http://www.braveheart.co.uk/macbrave/history/bruce/banseq.htm), when Scotland's King Robert I defeated the English.

1519 ~ Death of Lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara.

1692 ~ Kingston, Jamaica founded.

1901 ~ First exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work.

1910 ~ Japan invaded Korea (http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/webcourse/key_points/kp_11.htm).

1915 ~ Birthday of Fred Hoyle, cosmologist and science fiction author.

1948 ~ Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the U.S. to organize the Berlin Airlift (http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/docs.php).

1997 ~ The Roswell Incident (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0624.html#article) debunked by the USAF.

2003 ~ Death of Leon Uris, Author.

2004 ~ Federal investigators questioned President Bush in connection with the news leak of a CIA operative's name.

[jseal]

1822 ~ Death of E.T.A. Hoffmann, German Writer, Composer & Painter.

1876 ~ Col. George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry were wiped out in the Battle of Little Big Horn (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0625.html#article).

1894 ~ Birthday of Hermann Oberth, Physicist & one of the founding fathers of Rocketry and Astronautics.

1903 ~ Birthday of George Orwell, Writer.

1950 ~ The start of the Korean War (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/25/newsid_2699000/2699641.stm).

1991 ~ Croatia (http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/croatia.htm) and Slovenia (http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/slovenia.htm) declared their independence from Yugoslavia.

1993 ~ Kim Campbell became the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

1981 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the male-only draft registration was constitutional.

1997 ~ Death of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French Explorer, Scientist & Inventor.

1998 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 unconstitutional.

[jseal]

1541 ~ Death of Francisco Pizarro, Spanish Conqueror of Peru.

1824 ~ Birthday of Lord Kelvin, Physicist.

1898 ~ Birthday of Willy Messerschmitt, Aircraft Designer.

1933 ~ Birthday of Claudio Abbado, Conductor.

1934 ~ Initial flight of the first practical helicopter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 (http://www.answers.com/topic/focke-wulf-fw-61).

1959 ~ Queen Elizabeth and President Eisenhower inaugurated the St Lawrence Seaway (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/26/newsid_2988000/2988148.stm).

1963 ~ President Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he offered American solidarity to the citizens of West Germany: "Ich bin ein Berliner (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0626.html#article)".

1964 ~ The Beatles released the album A Hard Day's Night (http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=39).

1975 ~ Death of St. Josemaría Escrivá, creator of Opus Dei.

1997 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Communications Decency Act violated the First Amendment, and thus unconstitutional.

[jseal]

1838 ~ Birthday of Paul von Mauser, Weapon Designer.

1880 ~ Birthday of Helen Keller (http://www.helenkeller.org/graphicversion/bio.html), spokeswoman for the Deaf and Blind.

1893 ~ Crash of the New York Stock Exchange.

1905 ~ Mutiny on the battleship Potemkin.

1931 ~ Birthday of Charles Bronfman, Industrialist & Philanthropist.

1950 ~ The U.S. decided to send armed forces to fight in the Korean War (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0627.html#article).

1954 ~ The world's first nuclear power station (http://eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_reactors/superla.html) went on line in Obninsk, near Moscow.

1957 ~ First British Smoking Causes Lung Cancer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27/newsid_2956000/2956618.stm) report released.

1967 ~ The world's first ATM installed in Enfield, London.

2001 ~ Death of Jack Lemmon, Actor & Film Director.

[jseal]

1577 ~ Birthday of Peter Paul Rubens (http://www.mcs.csuhayward.edu/~malek/Rubens.html), Flemish Baroque Painter.

1712 ~ Birthday of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Franco-Swiss Philosopher.

1880 ~ The Australian bushranger Ned Kelly was captured at Glenrowan.

1906 ~ Birthday of Maria Goeppert-Mayer, Physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics.

1914 ~ Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophia were killed (http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914/ferddead.html) by a Serbian nationalist, the casus belli of World War I.

1919 ~ The Treaty of Versailles (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0628.html#article) was signed, ending World War I.

1926 ~ Birthday of Mel Brooks, Filmmaker.

1992 ~ Death of Mikhail Tal, eighth World Chess Champion.

1996 ~ The Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.

2004 ~ Sovereignty returned to Iraq (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/28/newsid_4517000/4517865.stm) by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule.

[jseal]

1861 ~ Death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Poet. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… (http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/elizabethbarrettbrowning/poems/sonnetsfromtheportuguese/howdoilovetheeletmecounttheways.html) ”

1868 ~ Birthday of George Ellery Hale, Astronomer.

1880 ~ France annexed Tahiti.

1895 ~ Death of Thomas Henry Huxley, Scientist. "Darwin's Bulldog"

1922 ~ France granted 1 km² at Vimy Ridge (http://collections.ic.gc.ca/turner/ar_vimy.html) "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes".

1925 ~ Canada House opened in London.

1963 ~ Birthday of Anne-Sophie Mutter, Violinist.

1974 ~ Isabel Peron is sworn in as first female president of Argentina (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/29/newsid_2857000/2857121.stm).

1995 ~ U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0629.html#article).

2003 ~ Death of Katharine Hepburn, Actress.

[jseal]

1817 ~ Birthday of Joseph Dalton Hooker, Botanist & Champion of Charles Darwin.

1905 ~ During his annus mirabilis, Albert Einstein published the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies (http://lorentz.phl.jhu.edu/AnnusMirabilis/AeReserveArticles/specrel.pdf) in which he introduced special relativity.

That must have been an exciting time to be a physicist!

1908 ~ Tunguska impact event occurred in Siberia.

1934 ~ Night of the Long Knives (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/roehm.htm), Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany took place.

1936 ~ ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell published.

1943 ~ Birthday of Florence Ballard, American Singer (The Supremes).

1960 ~ Congo gained independence from Belgium.

1971 ~ The crew of the Soyuz 11 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2523000/2523365.stm) spacecraft died when the landing capsule depressurized after separating from the main craft.

1985 ~ Birthday of Michael Phelps, American Swimmer.

1997 ~ The UK returns sovereignty over Hong Kong (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0630.html#article) to the PRC.

[jseal]

1646 ~ Birthday of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German Mathematician & Philosopher.

1863 ~ The American Civil War: The Battle of Gettysburg (http://www.civilwarhome.com/gettyscampaign.htm) began.

1906 ~ Birthday of Estée Lauder, Cosmetics Pioneer.

1916 ~ WWI: On the first day of the Battle of the Somme (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm) 18,000 British soldiers were killed, and 40,000 wounded.

1925 ~ Death of Erik Satie, French Composer.

1963 ~ The British Government admitted that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent.

2000 ~ Death of Walter Matthau (http://www.matthau.com/sys-tmpl/door/), Actor.

2000 ~ Vermont's civil unions law went into effect.

2004 ~ Cassini-Huygens was successfully inserted into orbit around Saturn. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/1/newsid_4640000/4640793.stm)

2004 ~ Death of Marlon Brando, Actor.

[jseal]

1714 ~ Birthday of Christoph Willibald Gluck, German Composer.

1906 ~ Birthday of Hans Bethe (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1967/bethe-bio.html), German-born Physicist., awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1967.

1908 ~ Birthday of Thurgood Marshall, U. S. Supreme Court justice.

1932 ~ New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt became the Democratic nominee for president at their convention in Chicago.

1937 ~ Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0702.html#article) disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.

1961 ~ Death of Ernest Hemingway (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1954/hemingway-bio.html), Author, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1954.

1976 ~ Reunification of North and South Vietnam as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

1977 ~ Death of Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born writer.

1982 ~ Larry Walters (http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp) attached 45 helium balloons to a lawn chair and ascended into history and to a height of 11,000 feet.

2002 ~ Steve Fossett became the first man to fly a balloon solo around the world.

[jseal]

1608 ~ The city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.

1844 ~ The last pair of Great Auks (http://www.biology.mcgill.ca/undergra/c465a/biodiver/2000/great-auk/great-auk.htm) was killed.

1854 ~ Birthday of Leoš Janáček, Czech Composer.

1863 ~ The final day of the battle of Gettysburg (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0703.html#article).

1883 ~ Birthday of Franz Kafka, Czech-born German author.

1935 ~ Death of André Citroën, Automobile Pioneer.

1938 ~ World speed record (http://www.wandleys.demon.co.uk/mallard.htm), 126 mph, set for a steam railway locomotive, by the Mallard.

1971 ~ Death of Jim Morrison, Singer (The Doors).

1986 ~ Death of Rudy Vallee, Singer, Actor, Bandleader, & Entertainer.

1988 ~ USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/3/newsid_4678000/4678707.stm) over the Persian Gulf.

[jseal]

1054 ~ A supernova was recorded by the Chinese near the star ζ Tauri. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula (http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/m/m001.html).

1807 ~ Birthday of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian Patriot.

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

1855 ~ The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems Leaves of Grass was published.

1883 ~ Birthday of Rube Goldberg, Cartoonist.

1885 ~ Birthday of Louis B. Mayer, Movie Executive (one of the M’s in MGM).

1934 ~ Death of Marie Curie (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html), Polish-born scientist, recipient of he Nobel Prize in Physics 1903.

1946 ~ After 381 years, the Philippines became an independent nation.

1976 ~ The U.S. celebrated its Bicentennial (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0704.html#article).

1976 ~ Israeli commandos rescued 100 hostages (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_2786000/2786967.stm) at Entebbe Airport, Uganda.

[jseal]

1810 ~ Birthday of Phineas Taylor "P. T." Barnum, Circus Owner.

1853 ~ Birthday of Cecil Rhodes, South African Politician.

1911 ~ Birthday of Georges Pompidou, President of France.

1948 ~ British National Health Service (http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/316/7124/6) Act enacted.

1951 ~ William Shockley invented the junction transistor.

1969 ~ Death of Walter Gropius, German architect.

1971 ~ The voting age in the U.S. was reduced to 18 from 21.

1975 ~ Arthur Ashe (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0705.html#article) becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles' championship.

1989 ~ Oliver North (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/5/newsid_2772000/2772471.stm) received a $150,000 fine and a suspended prison term for his part in the Iran-Contra affair.

1996 ~ Birthday of Dolly the sheep (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/dolly/index.asp), the first cloned mammal.

[jseal]

1946 ~ Birthday of George W. Bush, 43rd President of the U.S.

1957 ~ Althea Gibson (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0706.html#article) became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title.

1962 ~ Death of William Faulkner, American Novelist.

1964 ~ A Hard Day's Night, the first Beatles film, premiered.

1971 ~ Death of Louis Armstrong, Jazz Musician.

1973 ~ Death of Otto Klemperer, German Conductor.

1974 ~ The radio program A Prairie Home Companion (http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/) was first broadcast.

1989 ~ The Piper Alpha (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/6/newsid_3017000/3017294.stm) drilling platform in the North Sea was destroyed by explosions and fires killing 167 oil workers.

1997 ~ The rover Sojourner (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/6/newsid_4105000/4105727.stm) rolled onto the Martian landscape to begin inspecting soil and rocks.

1998 ~ Death of Roy Rogers, Cowboy Actor & Singer.

[jseal]

1860 ~ Birthday of Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer.

1887 ~ Birthday of Marc Chagall, Russian-born Painter.

1898 ~ The U.S. annexed Hawaii as a territory.

1907 ~ Birthday of Robert Heinlein (http://www.heinleinsociety.org/), Science Fiction Writer.

1930 ~ Death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (http://www.ash-tree.bc.ca/acdsocy.html), Scottish Writer.

1940 ~ Birthday of Ringo Starr, Beatle.

1958 ~ President Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act.

1978 ~ The Solomon Islands gained independence from the U.K.

1981 ~ President Reagan announced his nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0707.html#article) to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

2005 ~ Terrorist bombings in London (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/7/newsid_4942000/4942238.stm) killed 52 victims and four suicide bombers.

[jseal]

1695 ~ Death of Christiaan Huygens, Dutch Scientist.

1776 ~ The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

1822 ~ Death of Percy Shelley, English poet.

1838 ~ Birthday of Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, German Inventor.

1882 ~ Birthday of Percy Grainger, Australian Composer.

1889 ~ In the last championship bare-knuckle boxing match, John L. Sullivan (http://www.ibhof.com/sullivan.htm) defeated Jake Kilrain.

1889 ~ The first issue of the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/us) published.

1892 ~ St. John's, Newfoundland was devastated by the Great Fire of 1892.

1986 ~ Kurt Waldheim (http://aia.lackland.af.mil/homepages/pa/spokesman/May05/atc13.cfm) was inaugurated as president of Austria despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes.

1997 ~ Mayo Clinic researchers warned that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" could cause severe heart and lung damage (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/hazard/fenphen.html).

[jseal]

1896 ~ William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0709.html#article) speech.

1900 ~ Queen Victoria gave royal assent to an act creating the Commonwealth of Australia, uniting separate colonies under one federal government.

1916 ~ Birthday of Edward Heath, P.M. of the UK

1947 ~ The engagement of Britain's Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten was announced.

1974 ~ Death of Earl Warren, Governor of California, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/warren.html).

1984 ~ York Minster was struck by lightning (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/9/newsid_2498000/2498525.stm); the resulting fire destroyed the roof of the South Transept.

1989 ~ Two bombs exploded in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.

1995 ~ The Grateful Dead played their last concert, at Soldier Field in Chicago.

1997 ~ Mike Tyson's boxing license was suspended and he was fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.

2001 ~ The Big Bang Theory (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/9/newsid_2498000/2498637.stm) of the origin of the universe received substantial support.

[jseal]

18420 ~ Birthday of :angel: Adolphus Busch (http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/kingofbeer1.shtml), German-born Brewer.

1856 ~ Birthday of Nikola Tesla, Croatian physicist.

1895 ~ Birthday of Carl Orff, German Composer.

1940 ~ The Luftwaffe began the Battle of Britain (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0710.html#article).

1962 ~ The world's first active communications satellite (http://www.lucent.com/minds/telstar/fit.html), Telstar (http://www.lucent.com/minds/telstar/telstarsat.jpg), was launched.

1979 ~ Death of Arthur Fiedler, American Conductor.

1985 ~ The Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/10/newsid_2499000/2499283.stm) was sunk in Auckland Harbor by French agents.

1997 ~ Scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neanderthal skeleton which support the Out of Africa hypothesis of human evolution.

2002 ~ Peter Paul Rubens' painting The Massacre of the Innocents was sold for $76.2 million.

2003 ~ Death of Lord Shawcross, U.K. chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.

[jseal]

1798 ~ The U.S. Marine Corps was re-created by an act of Congress.

1857 ~ Birthday of Alfred Binet, French Psychologist.

1859 ~ Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities (http://www.literature.org/authors/dickens-charles/two-cities/book-01/chapter-01.html) was published.

1899 ~ Birthday of E. B. White (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ebwhite.htm), American Writer. (Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan.)

1914 ~ Babe Ruth made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox.

1937 ~ Death of George Gershwin, American Composer.

1979 ~ Skylab deorbited (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0711.html#article).

1971 ~ Death of John W. Campbell, Writer & Editor.

1989 ~ Death of Sir Laurence Olivier, Actor.

1995 ~ Bosnian Serbs capture the city of Srebrenica (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/11/newsid_4080000/4080690.stm).

[jseal]

1536 ~ Death of Erasmus, Dutch Writer & Philosopher.

1690 ~ William of Orange's army won the Battle of the Boyne.

1730 ~ Birthday of Josiah Wedgwood, English Potter.

1773 ~ Death of Johann Joachim Quantz, German Flutist & Composer.

1817 ~ Birthday of Henry David Thoreau, American Writer & Philosopher.

1862 ~ Medal of Honor authorized by the U.S. Congress.

1933 ~ U.S. Congress passes the first federal minimum wage law in the U.S.

1943 ~ The largest tank engagement of WWII took place, part of the Battle of Kursk

1984 ~ Walter F. Mondale named Geraldine A. Ferraro his Vice Presidential running mate, making her the first woman to run on a major party ticket (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0712.html#article).

1990~ Boris Yeltsin resigns from the Soviet Communist Party (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/12/newsid_4493000/4493177.stm).

[jseal]

100 BC ~ Birthday of Julius Caesar, Soldier & Politician.

1793 ~ French revolutionary writer Jean Paul Marat was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday (http://www.things.org/music/al_stewart/history/charlotte_corday.html), who was executed four days later.

1837 ~ Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace – the first monarch to live there.

1908 ~ Women first included in modern Olympic competition.

1951 ~ Death of Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian Composer.

1955 ~ Ruth Ellis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/13/newsid_2745000/2745023.stm) became the last woman in England to be executed.

1960 ~ John F. Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Los Angeles.

1977 ~ A 25-hour blackout (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0713.html#article) hit New York City.

1982 ~ Montreal was host to the first baseball All-Star Game outside the U.S.

1985 ~ Live Aid (http://www.herald.co.uk/local_info/live_aid.html), an international rock concert in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, Australia, was held to raise money for Africa's starving people.

[jseal]

1789 ~ Citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille. Generally recognized as the beginning of the French Revolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/14/newsid_2503000/2503109.stm).

1798 ~ The Sedition Act (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/statutes/sedact.htm) made it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the U.S. government.

1862 ~ Birthday of Gustav Klimt, Austrian Painter & Graphic Artist.

1881 ~ Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett (http://frontpage.nmia.com/~btkog/garrett.htm).

1887 ~ Death of Alfred Krupp, German munitions manufacturer.

1912 ~ Birthday of Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic.

1913 ~ Birthday of Gerald Ford, U.S. President.

1933 ~ Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.

1965 ~ Mariner 4 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0714.html#article) flyby of Mars took the first close-up photos of another planet.

2000 ~ A Florida jury ordered five tobacco companies to pay smokers a record $145 billion in punitive damages.

[jseal]

1099 ~ Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders.

1606 ~ Birthday of Rembrandt Van Rijn, Dutch artist.

1796 ~ Birthday of Thomas Bulfinch, American Mythologist.

1799 ~ French Captain Pierre Bouchard found the Rosetta Stone (http://www.kingtutshop.com/freeinfo/rosetta-stone.htm).

1870 ~ Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

1918 ~ WWI: Second Battle of the Marne (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0715.html#article) began.

1926 ~ Birthday of Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine Dictator.

1954 ~ First flight of the Boeing 707, the first American jet passenger airliner.

1997 ~ Fashion designer Gianni Versace (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/15/newsid_2503000/2503757.stm) was shot to death outside his home in Miami.

2002 ~ John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/lindh_07-15-02.html), pleaded guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.

[jseal]

622 ~ Start of the Islamic calendar (http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-islamic.html).

1790 ~ The District of Columbia was established as the seat of the U.S. Federal Government.

1872 ~ Birthday of Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who led the expedition which was the first to reach the South Pole.

1918 ~ At Ekaterinburg, Bolsheviks executed Czar Nicholas II and his family (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0716.html#article).

1945 ~ Allied leaders Winston Churchill, Harry Truman Josef Stalin meet at Potsdam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/16/newsid_4685000/4685683.stm).

1945 ~ The U.S. detonated the first nuclear weapon at the Trinity (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/atomictest.htm) site near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

1948 ~ Birthday of Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli Violinist.

1969 ~ Apollo 11 (http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html) was launched from Cape Kennedy to become the first manned mission to land on the moon.

1981 ~ Death of Harry Chapin, American Singer & Songwriter.

1989 ~ Death of Herbert von Karajan, Austrian Conductor.

[jseal]

1790 ~ Death of Adam Smith (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/), Scottish Economist.

1899 ~ Birthday of James Cagney, Actor.

1935 ~ Birthday of Donald Sutherland, Actor.

1947 ~ Birthday of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (formerly Parker Bowles), former British royal mistress and now wife of Prince Charles.

1955 ~ Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Calif.

1961 ~ Death of Baseball hall-of-famer Ty Cobb.

1962 ~ The Small Boy nuclear test shot Little Feller I (http://www.tonyrogers.com/weapons/davy_crockett.htm) became the last atmospheric detonation at the Nevada Test Site.

1975 ~ An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock in orbit (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0717.html#article) marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations.

1979 ~ Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza resigned and fled into exile (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/17/newsid_3870000/3870281.stm) in Miami.

2003 ~ Death of Dr. David Kelly, U.N. Weapons Inspector.

[jseal]

1817 ~ Death of Jane Austen, English Novelist.

1887 ~ Birthday of Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian Politician & Traitor.

1909 ~ Birthday of Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Diplomat & President.

1922 ~ Birthday of Thomas Kuhn (http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Kuhnsnap.html), Philosopher of Science.

1925 ~ Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (http://www.adolfhitler.ws/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=2) was published.

1927 ~ Birthday of Kurt Masur, Conductor.

1942 ~ The Messerschmitt Me-262 (http://www.vectorsite.net/avme262.html) was test flown using only its jets for the first time.

1969 ~ After a party, Senator Ted Kennedy (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm) drove his car off a wooden bridge, into a pond, and his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, died.

2001 ~ In Baltimore, Maryland, a 60-car train derailment occurred in a tunnel, sparking a fire that lasted days and virtually shut down downtown Baltimore.

2005 ~ Eric Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison for an abortion clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer.

[jseal]

1374 ~ Death of Petrarch, Italian Poet & early Humanist.

1834 ~ Birthday of Edgar Degas, Impressionist Painter.

1848 ~ The two day Women's Rights Convention (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr040.html) opened in Seneca Falls, New York and the "Bloomers" were introduced.

1870 ~ The Franco-Prussian war began.

1898 ~ Birthday of Herbert Marcuse, Communist Philosopher.

1941 ~ Winston Churchill launched his "V for Victory (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0719.html#article)" campaign in Europe.

1947 ~ Death of Aung San, Burmese nationalist. Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi (http://nobelprize.virtual.museum/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html), is now the leader of the Burmese opposition to the current military regime.

1993 ~ President Clinton announced a compromise allowing homosexuals to serve in the military, but only if they refrained from homosexual activity.

1996 ~ Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/19/newsid_4521000/4521063.stm) was forced out of office.

2003 ~ Death of Bill Bright, evangelist, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ.

[jseal]

1933 ~ In London, 500,000 marched against anti-Semitism.

1938 ~ Birthday of Dame Diana Rigg, Actress (The Avengers, In This House of Brede).

1938 ~ Birthday of Natalie Wood, Actress (From Here to Eternity, Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story).

1944 ~ Adolf Hitler (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_3505000/3505014.stm) was only slightly wounded when a bomb exploded at his Rastenburg headquarters.

1946 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives voted 265-79 to put control of atomic energy in the hands of a civilian body, the Atomic Energy Commission, rather than leave the military in control.

1960 ~ Ceylon elected Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_2784000/2784527.stm), the world's first female head of government.

1969 ~ Apollo 11 landed on the Moon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0720.html#article/). Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on its surface.

1982 ~ The Provisional IRA detonated two bombs in Hyde Park and Regents Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, and wounding forty-seven people.

1999 ~ After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/20/grissom.capsule.01/) was lifted to the surface.

2004 ~ The UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding that Israel tear down the barrier it was building to seal off the West Bank.

[jseal]

1796 ~ Death of Robert Burns, Scottish Poet.

1899 ~ Birthday of Ernest Hemingway, American Author.

1861 ~ First Battle of Bull Run (http://www.civilwarhome.com/1manassa.htm) - the first major battle of the American Civil War began.

1911 ~ Birthday of Marshall McLuhan, Canadian Communications Theorist.

1920 ~ Birthday of Isaac Stern, Ukrainian born Violinist.

1925 ~ In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John Scopes (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0721.html#article) was found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.

1948 ~ Birthday of Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), English Singer.

1954 ~ France surrendered North Vietnam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_3894000/3894175.stm) to the Viet Minh.

1970 ~ The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed at the end of eleven years of construction

1994 ~ Tony Blair (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515825.stm) was declared the winner of the leadership election of the British Labour Party.

[jseal]

1822 ~ Birthday of Br. Gregor Mendel, Austrian Geneticist.

1887 ~ Birthday of Gustav Hertz (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1925/hertz-bio.html), German Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1925.

1898 ~ Birthday of Alexander Calder, American Artist.

1934 ~ John Dillinger (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0722.html#article) was shot to death by FBI agents in Chicago.

1946 ~ The Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, headquarters of the British administration, killing ninety.

1967 ~ Death of Carl Sandburg, Poet.

1977 ~ Deng Xiaoping (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/22/newsid_2516000/2516339.stm) returns to Chinese Government.

1992 ~ Pablo Escobar, fearing extradition to the U.S., escaped from his luxury prison.

1998 ~ Death of Alan Shepard, Astronaut.

2003 ~ Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/22/newsid_3808000/3808659.stm) were killed when U.S. forces stormed a villa in Mosul, Iraq.

[jseal]

1757 ~ Death of Domenico Scarlatti, Italian Composer.

1892 ~ Birthday of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/selassie.htm).

1914 ~ Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0723.html#article) following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand.

1942 ~ The Treblinka extermination camp opened.

1952 ~ Egyptian military officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew King Farouk I.

1962 ~ Telstar relayed the first live trans-Atlantic television signal.

1972 ~ The U.S. launched Landsat 1, first Earth-resources satellite.

1982 ~ The International Whaling Commission (http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/international_policy/treaties/international_whaling_commission/whaling_and_the_international_whaling_commission.html) voted a moratorium on commercial whaling by 1985-86.

1984 ~ Vanessa Williams became the first Miss America to resign her title, because of nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine.

1986 ~ Prince Andrew, Duke of York married Sarah Ferguson (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/23/newsid_2516000/2516203.stm) at Westminster Abbey.

[jseal]

1783 ~ Birthday of Simón Bolívar, South American liberator.

1802 ~ Birthday of Alexandre Dumas, French writer. (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers)

1898 ~ Birthday of Amelia Earhart, American Aviatrix.

1943 ~ Operation Gomorrah (http://experts.about.com/e/b/bo/Bombing_of_Hamburg_in_World_War_II.htm): The RAF Bomber Command bombed Hamburg by night, USAAF 8th Air Force Bomber Command by day. By the end of the operation, 9,000 tons of explosive & incendiary bombs created a firestorm which killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.

1959 ~ Khrushchev and Nixon have war of words in the “Kitchen Debate (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0724.html#article)”.

1967 ~ During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-236-1132-11/on_this_day/politics_economy/vive_quebec_libre) declared in Montreal "Vive le Québec libre!" (Long live free Quebec!). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians.

1969 ~ The Apollo 11 astronauts, two of whom had been the first men to set foot on the moon, splashed down safely in the Pacific.

1974 ~ Death of James Chadwick, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.

1980 ~ Death of Peter Sellers, Actor.

2005 ~ Lance Armstrong (http://www.lancearmstrong.com/) closed out his cycling career with a seventh consecutive Tour de France victory.

[jseal]

1797 ~ Horatio Nelson lost more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife Island.

1834 ~ Death of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet. (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (http://etext.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mariner.html) & Kubla Khan )

1907 ~ Korea became a protectorate of Japan.

1909 ~ Louis Bleriot made the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine. Calais to Dover in 37 minutes.

1917 ~ Sir Thomas Whyte introduced the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).

1952 ~ Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.

1956 ~ 51 people died when the Italian liner Andrea Doria (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0725.html#article) collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm.

1978 ~ Louise Brown (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2499000/2499411.stm), the first baby conceived by in-vitro fertilization, was born in Oldham, England.

1984 ~ Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space.

2000 ~ An Air France Concorde (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2797000/2797965.stm) crashed just after takeoff from Paris, killing 113.

[jseal]

1822 ~ Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín met in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

1856 ~ Birthday of George Bernard Shaw (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1925/shaw-bio.html), Author, Playwright, awarded t he Nobel Prize in Literature 1925.

1875 ~ Birthday of Carl Jung, Swiss Psychiatrist.

1898 ~ Birthday of Willy Messerschmitt (http://freespace.virgin.net/john.dell/bf109/Bf109WMBio.html), German aircraft engineer and designer.

1928 ~ Birthday of Stanley Kubrick, Movie Director.

1941 ~ In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the seizure of all Japanese assets in the U.S.

1943 ~ Birthday of Mick Jagger, English Musician. (Rolling Stones)

1947 ~ .S. President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0726.html#article) into law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.

1956 ~ Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/26/newsid_2701000/2701603.stm) sparking international condemnation.

1991 ~ Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman, was arrested for allegedly masturbating at a Sarasota, Florida adult theatre.

[jseal]

1844 ~ Death of John Dalton (http://www.slcc.edu/schools/hum_sci/physics/whatis/biography/dalton.html), English Chemist.

1904 ~ Birthday of Isaac Bashevis Singer, Writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1921 ~ Researchers at the University of Toronto led by biochemist Frederick Banting announced the discovery of the hormone insulin.

1946 ~ Death of Gertrude Stein, American Writer & Cult Figure.

1949 ~ Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet (http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/de-havilland-comet-1a.htm), the first jet-powered airliner.

1953 ~ The Korean War stopped (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0727.html#article). The U.S., People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea signed an armistice agreement.

1974 ~ The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to recommend the first article of impeachment against President Nixon: Obstruction of Justice.

1980 ~ Death of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran.

1990 ~ Belarus declared independence from the Soviet Union.

2003 ~ Death of Bob Hope (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/27/newsid_3818000/3818693.stm), English-born Entertainer.

[jseal]

1741 ~ Death of Antonio Vivaldi, Italian Composer.

1750 ~ Death of Johann Sebastian Bach, German Composer.

1794 ~ Maximilien Robespierre (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/robespierre-terror.html), a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine.

1866 ~ Birthday of Beatrix Potter, English Author. (The Tale of Peter Rabbit)

1904 ~ Birthday of Pavel Cherenkov, Russian Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1958.

1914 ~ WWI develops (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0728.html#article): Austria Formally declares war on Serbia.

1973 ~ Watkins Glen, NY concert attended by 600,000 to see The Band, The Allman Brothers Band, and the Grateful Dead.

1996 ~ The remains of a prehistoric man, Kennewick Man (http://www.kennewick-man.com/), was discovered near Kennewick, Washington.

1998 ~ Monica Lewinsky was given blanket immunity from prosecution in exchange for grand jury testimony in the investigation of her relationship with President Bill Clinton..

2004 ~ Death of Professor Francis Harry Compton Crick (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/crick-bio.html), OM FRS, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962.

[Stuyvo]

A US Army B-25 bomber crashes into the Empire State Building between the 78th and 79th floors. An engine plunges down an elevator shaft, sparking a fire in the basement. Eleven people in the building are killed, in addition to the three man bomber crew

[jseal]

1856 ~ Death of Robert Schumann, Composer.

1890 ~ Death of Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter.

1905 ~ Birthday of Dag Hammarskjöld, UN Secretary-General.

1907 ~ Sir Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts (http://users.aol.com/randywoo/bsahis/b-p.htm) movement with the first scout camp at Brownsea Island.

1958 ~ The U.S. Congress created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html?skipIntro=1) (NASA).

1974 ~ Death of Mama Cass Elliot, Musician.

1975 ~ Death of James Blish, Science Fiction Writer.

1981 ~ Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, Prince of Wales (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0729.html#article).

1993 ~ The Israeli Supreme Court acquitted Nazi camp guard John Demjanjuk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/29/newsid_4561000/4561917.stm) of all charges.

1996 ~ The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act was struck down as too broad in U.S. federal court.

[Stuyvo]

1921: Adolf Hitler is selected as leader of the National Socialist Party.

1968: Pope Paul VI issues encyclical Humanae Vitae, prohibiting all unnatural forms of birth control.

[jseal]

1718 ~ Birthday of William Penn, English founder of the Province of Pennsylvania.

1729 ~ The city of Baltimore (http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=baltimore@20) was founded.

1792 ~ The French national anthem ''La Marseillaise'' by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, was first sung in Paris

1818 ~ Birthday of Birthday of Emily Brontë, English Novelist.

1898 ~ Birthday of Henry Moore, Sculptor.

1941 ~ Birthday of Paul Anka, Singer and Composer.

1945 ~ World War II: Japanese submarine I-58 sank the USS Indianapolis (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0730.html#article).

1966 ~ England won (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/30/newsid_2644000/2644065.stm) the first televised Football World Cup, beating Germany 4 to 2.

1974 ~ Cyprus Crisis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/30/newsid_2492000/2492515.stm): Greek, Turkish and U.K. foreign ministers signed a peace agreement for Cyprus.

2003 ~ The last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle manufactured in Mexico.

[jseal]

1099 ~ Death of El Cid , Spanish warrior.

1498 ~ Discovery of Trinidad by Christopher Columbus.

1556 ~ Death of Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest, founder of the Jesuits.

1886 ~ Death of Franz Liszt, Hungarian Composer.

1912 ~ Birthday of Milton Friedman (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1976/friedman-autobio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in economics, 1976.

1917 ~ The Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ypres3.htm)) started in Flanders. With casualties from both sides exceeding 550,000, the name Passcheddaele has come to be used as a synonym for pointless slaughter.

"...I died in Hell
(they called it Passchendaele (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ypres3.htm)) my wound was slight
and I was hobbling back; and then a shell
burst slick upon the duckboards; so I fell
into the bottomless mud, and lost the light"

Siegfried Sassoon

1941 ~ Hermann Göring ordered SS general Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."

1964 ~ Ranger program: Ranger 7 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0731.html#article) sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon.

1991 ~ Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/31/newsid_4582000/4582773.stm) (START) signed in Moscow.

1999 ~ NASA intentionally crashed the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.

[jseal]

10 B.C. ~ Birthday of Claudius, Roman Emperor.

1774 ~ The element oxygen was discovered by Joseph Priestley.

1779 ~ Birthday of Birthday of Francis Scott Key (http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/anthem.html), Composer of The Star-Spangled Banner.

1819 ~ Birthday of Herman Melville (http://www.online-literature.com/melville/), Writer.

1834 ~ Slavery was abolished in the British Empire.

1894 ~ The First Sino-Japanese War began between Japan and China over Korea.

1932 ~ Birthday of Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League (http://www.jdl.org/).

1944 ~ Anne Frank made the last entry in her diary.

1957 ~ The United States and Canada formed the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD (http://www.norad.mil/)).

1977 ~ Death of Gary Powers, Spy Plane Pilot.

[jseal]

216 B.C. ~ During the Battle of Cannae (http://www.roman-empire.net/army/cannae.html), in a masterpiece of tactical warfare, Hannibal destroyed the double Consular Roman army of Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Publius Terentius Varro.

1776 ~ Delegates to the Continental Congress began to sign the Declaration of Independence (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/).

1876 ~ Death of James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, Gunfighter.

1921 ~ Death of Enrico Caruso, Italian Tenor.

1922 ~ Death of Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor.

1932 ~ Birthday of Peter O'Toole, Actor. (Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter).

1939 ~ Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program.

1943 ~ PT-109 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0709_020710_kennedyPT109.html), commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy rammed and sunk.

1976 ~ Death of Fritz Lang, Film Director.(Metropolis, M, Frau im Mond)

1990 ~ Iraq invaded Kuwait (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/2/newsid_2526000/2526937.stm), leading to the Gulf War.

[jseal]

1900 ~ Birthday of John T. Scopes, defendant in the Monkey Trial

1904 ~ Birthday of Clifford D. Simak (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/clifford-d-simak/), Science Fiction Author.

1914 ~ First World War: Germany declared war against France.

1924 ~ Death of Joseph Conrad (http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/), Author. (Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim)

1924 ~ Birthday of Leon Uris, American Writer. (Exodus, QB VII)

1943 ~ Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice.

1958 ~ The USS Nautilus (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0803.html#article) traveled beneath the Arctic ice cap.

1972 ~ U.S. Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

1977 ~ Death of Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus.

2003 ~ The U.S. Anglican Church approved the appointment of an openly homosexual bishop (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/3/newsid_3909000/3909559.stm).

[jseal]

1704 ~ An Anglo-Dutch force seized the rock of Gibraltar.

1792 ~ Birthday of Percy Shelley, Poet.

1840 ~ Birthday of Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Sexologist.

1875 ~ Death of Hans Christian Andersen, Writer.

1901 ~ Birthday of Louis Armstrong, Jazz Musician.

1914 ~ The UK declared war on Germany. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0804.html#article)

1944 ~ Anne Frank and her family were betrayed to the Gestapo.

1964 ~ The bodies of three missing civil rights workers (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/4/newsid_2962000/2962638.stm) were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.

1983 ~ New York Yankee Dave Winfield (http://experts.about.com/e/d/da/Dave_Winfield.htm) accidentally killed a seagull during a baseball game and was charged by police for his "act of cruelty to animals".

1984 ~ The African republic Upper Volta changed its name to Burkina Faso (http://www.helge.at/photos/burkina2003/).

[jseal]

1884 ~ The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid.

1895 ~ Death of Friedrich Engels, Socialist Philosopher.

1930 ~ Birthday of Neil Armstrong, Astronaut.

1962 ~ Death of Marilyn Monroe (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/5/newsid_2657000/2657289.stm), Actress.

1963 ~ The U.S., UK, and U.S.S.R. signed a nuclear test ban treaty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0805.html#article).

1966 ~ The album ''Revolver'' by the Beatles was released.

1973 ~ Arab gunmen opened fire and threw grenades into a passenger lounge at Athens airport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/5/newsid_4533000/4533763.stm).

1981 ~ The federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone on strike.

1984 ~ Death of Sir Richard Burton, Actor.

2000 ~ Death of Sir Alec Guinness (http://www.starwars.com/bio/siralecguinness.html), Actor.

[jseal]

1809 ~ Birthday of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet (http://poetry.eserver.org/light-brigade.html).

1881 ~ Birthday of Alexander Fleming, scientist.

1911 ~ Birthday of Lucille Ball, Actress, Comedienne.

1943 ~ Birthday of Jon Postel, creator of DNS (http://www.brainbliss.com/cat02/art05.html).

1945 ~ A nuclear bomb codenamed Little Boy (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0806.html#article) was dropped on the city of Hiroshima.

1961 ~ Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/6/newsid_2944000/2944638.stm) spent a day in orbit.

1962 ~ Jamaica became independent.

1990 ~ The UN Security Council ordered a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

1991 ~ Tim Berners-Lee released his idea for the "World Wide Web (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5242252.stm)".

1991 ~ Death of Harry Reasoner, Reporter.

[jseal]

1560 ~ Birthday of Elizabeth Bathory (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_131.html), serial killer.

1867 ~ Birthday of Mata Hari (Margaretha Zelle), spy.

1942 ~ Birthday of Garrison Keillor, radio host.

1947 ~ Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft the Kon-Tiki (http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/kontiki.htm), arrived at the Tuamotu Islands after a 101 day 4,300 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean, proving that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America..

1957 ~ Death of Oliver Hardy, Comedian & Actor.

1960 ~ Côte d'Ivoire becomes independent.

1964 ~ U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0807.html#article), giving President Johnson broad powers to deal with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

1974 ~ French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.

1998 ~ Bombing of the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/7/newsid_3131000/3131709.stm) that killed 224 people and injured over 4,500.

2004 ~ Death of Red Adair, American oil well firefighter.

[jseal]

1844 ~ Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons following the killing of Joseph Smith.

1879 ~ Birthday of Emiliano Zapata, Mexican Revolutionary.

1902 ~ Birthday of P.A.M. Dirac (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/dirac-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

1937 ~ Birthday of Dustin Hoffman (http://www.answers.com/topic/dustin-hoffman), Actor (The Graduate, Tootsie, Kramer vs. Kramer).

1945 ~ The U.S. ratified the United Nations Charter.

1963 ~ Britain's Great Train Robbery (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/8/newsid_2714000/2714055.stm) took place when thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.

1966 ~ The Beatles' released “Revolver”

1974 ~ U.S. President Nixon announced his resignation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0808.html#article) effective August 9.

1988 ~ U.N. Secretary-General Cuellar announced a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq.

1996 ~ Death of Frank A Whittle, inventor of the Jet engine.

[jseal]

1173 ~ Construction of the (Leaning) Tower of Pisa (http://torre.duomo.pisa.it/index_eng.html) began. It took two centuries to complete.

1483 ~ Opening of the Sistine Chapel (http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Main.html).

1896 ~ Birthday of Jean Piaget, Child Psychologist.

1902 ~ Edward VII was crowned king of England following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

1936 ~ Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay.

1945 ~ A nuclear bomb codenamed Fat Man (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0809.html#article) was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.

1969 ~ Members of a cult led by Charles Manson (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/9/newsid_2998000/2998214.stm) murdered five people including Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring and, Abigail Folger.

1975 ~ Death of Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer.

1986 ~ The Headington Shark (http://www.headington.org.uk/history/misc/shark.htm) is erected in Oxford.

1995 ~ Death of Jerry Garcia, guitarist: Grateful Dead.

[jseal]

1519 ~ Ferdinand Magellan (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1519magellan.html)'s 5 ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe.

1675 ~ Foundation stone set of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

1846 ~ The Smithsonian Institution (http://www.si.edu/) was chartered following a $500,000 donation by scientist Joseph Smithson.

1885 ~ America's first commercially operated electric streetcar began operation in Baltimore.

1896 ~ Death of Otto Lilienthal, Aviation Pioneer.

1945 ~ Death of Robert Goddard, Rocket Scientist.

1985 ~ Michael Jackson purchased ATV Music (all the Beatle songs) for $47 million.

1990 ~ The Magellan space probe (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/magellan.htm) arrived at Venus.

1995 ~ Norma McCorvey, '”Jane Roe” in the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which legalized abortion, announced she had joined the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

2003 ~ The highest temperature ever recorded in England (http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/extremes/index.html), 38.5°C, recorded in Kent.

[jseal]

3114 B.C. ~ Beginning of our current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar (http://www.sungwh.freeserve.co.uk/sapienti/maya/maya.htm).

480 B.C. ~ Persians under Xerxes defeated Spartans under King Leonidas in the Battle of Thermopylae (http://www.hoplites.co.uk/html/thermopylae.html). The Spartans fight to the last man.

The Battle of Thermopylae (http://www.hoplites.co.uk/html/thermopylae.html) has served as an example to officers and soldiers alike of what courage and self-sacrifice could achieve. It is still remembered, almost 2,500 years later, as a classic example of virtue.

1253 ~ Death of Saint Clare of Assisi (http://www.catholicforum.com/SAINTS/saintc03.htm), Patron Saint of television.

1905 ~ Birthday of Erwin Chargaff, biochemist.

1919 ~ Death of Andrew Carnegie, Industrialist & Philanthropist.

1929 ~ Babe Ruth became the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs.

1943 ~ Birthday of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general & President.

1950 ~ Birthday of Steve Wozniak, Computer Pioneer.

1984 ~ U.S. President Reagan joked (http://www.yaf.com/reagan.wav) during a voice test for a paid political radio address that he had ''signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.''

2003 ~ NATO took over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe.

[Stuyvo]

30 BC Cleoptara, Queen of Egypt and former wife to Julius Caesar,
commits suicide by means of venomous snakebite to the
mammary gland.
1676 Wampanoag chieftain Metacom (or "Philip") is killed in a swamp
near Mount Hope. Thus ends King Philip's War, the first war
between Indians and European settlers.
1869 In San Francisco, Emperor Norton I issues a stern edict
outlawing both the Republican and Democratic political parties.
Violators face a prison term of five-to-ten years.
1951 Dr. Jean Vieu discovers two patients stricken with abdominal
pain and grotesque hallucinations in Pont St. Esprit, France.
They are just the first of more than 230 afflicted townspeople,
thanks to bread tainted with ergot.
1985 30 minutes after takeoff, JAL flight 123 loses all hydraulic
pressure, rendering the controls inoperable. The crew attempts
a return to Tokyo-Haneda airport by adjusting power to the
engines, but the 747 crashes into a mountain ridge near Mt.
Osutaka. When rescue workers arrive the following morning, they
find 4 survivors and 520 dead.

[jseal]

1851 ~ Isaac Singer was granted a patent for his sewing machine.

1859 ~ Birthday of Katherine Lee Bates, Poet (America the Beautiful (http://www.brownielocks.com/americathebeautifulWAVE.html)).

1887 ~ Birthday of Erwin Schrödinger (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/schrodinger-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

1927 ~ Birthday of Mstislav Rostropovich, Cellist.

1928 ~ Death of Leos Janacek, Czech Composer.

1953 ~ The Soviet Union detonated its first hydrogen bomb.

1960 ~ The first communications satellite, Echo I (http://roland.lerc.nasa.gov/~dglover/sat/echo.html), was launched.

1964 ~ Death of Ian Fleming, Novelist.

1981 ~ The IBM PC (http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa031599.htm) was introduced.

2002 ~ Russian submarine Kursk (http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/kursk.htm) sank in the Barents Sea.

[jseal]

1521 ~ Tenochtitlán (present day Mexico City) fell to conquistador Hernán Cortés (http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/cortez.htm).

1860 ~ Birthday of Annie Oakley, Sharpshooter.

1899 ~ Birthday of Alfred Hitchcock (http://www.hitchcock.nl/eng.htm), Director.

1942 ~ Walt Disney's animated cartoon Bambi premiered.

1946 ~ Death of H. G. Wells, Writer.

1948 ~ Birthday of Kathleen Battle, Opera Singer.

1961 ~ The Berlin Wall (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0813.html#article) began to be built.

1966 ~ Beginning of China’s Cultural Revolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/13/newsid_4537000/4537605.stm).

1997 ~ The popular, controversial animated series South Park debuted.

2003 ~ Libya agreed to set up a $2.7 billion fund for families of 270 people killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing.

[jseal]

1862 ~ Birthday of Ernest Thayer, Poet (Casey at the Bat (http://www.onenet.net/~njtdb/casey.html)).

1880 ~ After 632 years, Cologne Cathedral was completed.

1945 ~ Japan surrendered (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0814.html#article), ending World War II.

1947 ~ Pakistan & India gained independence from the UK (http://soc.enotes.com/india-pakistan-article) at midnight, Pakistan commemorating the event on August 14 and India on August 15.

1951 ~ Death of William Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate.

1971 ~ Rod Stewart released Maggie May (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rod+stewart/maggie+may_20117602.html).

1980 ~ Workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/14/newsid_2802000/2802553.stm), Poland, in a job action that resulted in the creation of the Solidarity labor movement.

1988 ~ Death of Enzo Ferrari, Automobile Designer.

1994 ~ Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, was captured.

2003 ~ A blackout hit the northeastern U.S. and part of Canada; 50 million people lost power.

[jseal]

778 ~ The Battle of Roncevaux Pass (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/roland-ohag.html), in which Roland was killed.

1769 ~ Birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte, general and politician.

1877 ~ Thomas Edison made the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

1890 ~ Birthday of Jacques Ibert, French Composer.

1945 ~ The Allies proclaimed V-J Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/15/newsid_3581000/3581971.stm), one day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

1948 ~ Republic of Korea established south of 38th Parallel.

1951 ~ Death of Artur Schnabel, Pianist.

1967 ~ Death of René Magritte, Surrealist painter.

1969 ~ First day of Woodstock Music and Art Festival (http://www.woodstock69.com/).

I was able to talk my cousin out of going to this. She had called me a month or so earlier and said she could get a couple of tickets if we wanted to go. It was inconvenient to get to, and when I said so, she agreed, and so….

1998 ~ A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/15/newsid_2496000/2496009.stm), killed 29 people and injured 370. It was the single deadliest act of violence in 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

[jseal]

1858 ~ U.S. President Buchanan inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria.

1888 ~ Birthday of Lawrence of Arabia (http://telawrence.info/telawrenceinfo/index.htm).

1896 ~ Gold was discovered in the Klondike.

1899 ~ Death of Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, chemist.

1930 ~ First color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, was made by Ub Iwerks.

1948 ~ Death of Babe Ruth, baseball player.

1960 ~ Cyprus gained its independence from the UK.

1962 ~ The Beatles fired Pete Best (http://www.petebest.com/) and replaced him with Ringo Starr (http://www.ringostarr.com/).

1977 ~ Death of Elvis Presley (http://www.elvis.com/), Singer, Actor.

2003 ~ Death of Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator.

[jseal]

1601 ~ Birthday of Pierre de Fermat, Mathematician.

1786 ~ Birthday of Davy Crockett, Frontiersman, Soldier.

1807 ~ Robert Fulton's steamboat left New York City for Albany, New York, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.

1863 ~ In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.

1882 ~ Birthday of Samuel Goldwyn, Hollywood producer.

1911 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Botvinnik, World Chess Champion.

1962 ~ East German border guards shot and mortally wounded 18-year-old Peter Fechter (http://www.videofact.com/cold_war/berlin/berlin10e_1.html), who had attempted to cross over the Berlin Wall into the western sector.

1970 ~ Venera 7 (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1970-060A) was launched. It became the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet, Venus.

1980 ~ Azaria Chamberlain (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/1988/64.html) disappeared, likely taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history and one of the more famous wrongful conviction when her parents were found guilty of murder.

1998 ~ US President Bill Clinton admitted in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admitted before the nation that he "misled people (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/17/newsid_4537000/4537597.stm)" about his relationship.

[jseal]

1227 ~ Death of Genghis Khan, Mongol leader.

1587 ~ Birthday of Virginia Dare (http://www.outerbanks.com/manteo/history/vadare.htm); the first English child born in the Americas.

1750 ~ Birthday of Antonio Salieri (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/salieri.html), Composer.

1774 ~ Birthday of Meriwether Lewis, Explorer.

1877 ~ Asaph Hall discovered Phobos, the moon of Pluto.

1920 ~ 19th Amendment to US constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women's right to vote.

1958 ~ Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita was published in the U.S.

1963 ~ James Meredith (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0818.html#article) became the first black to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

1969 ~ Jimi Hendrix played the unofficial last day of Woodstock (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/18/newsid_2760000/2760911.stm).

1991 ~ Downfall of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was put under house arrest while he was vacationing in the Crimea.

[jseal]

1871 ~ Birthday of Orville Wright, Aviator.

1902 ~ Birthday of Ogden Nash, Poet.

1921 ~ Birthday of Gene Roddenberry, creator of Start Trek

1934 ~ The creation of the position Führer (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0819.html#article) approved in a German plebiscite.

1942 ~ About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/19/newsid_3560000/3560309.stm), France, suffering about 50 percent casualties.

1960 ~ A tribunal in Moscow convicted American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/19/newsid_2962000/2962600.stm) of espionage.

1977 ~ Death of Groucho Marx, Comedian & Actor.

1981 ~ Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi sent two Sukoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two U.S. F-14 Tomcats over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets shot down the Libyan fighters.

1990 ~ Leonard Bernstein conducted his final concert, ending with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony # 7.

1994 ~ Death of Linus Pauling (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1962/pauling-bio.html), Scientist & Peace Activist.

He was a physical chemist, among the most influential chemists of the twentieth century, and one of the most important scientists of all time. He was one of the first quantum chemists, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 for his work describing the nature of chemical bonds. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his campaign against above-ground nuclear testing, becoming one of only two people to receive the Nobel Prize in more than one field, the other being Marie Curie.

[jseal]

1882 ~ Piotr Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture debuted in Moscow.

1890 ~ Birthday of H. P. Lovecraft (http://www.hplovecraft.com/), Horror Writer.

1923 ~ Birthday of Jim Reeves, country and western singer.

1940 ~ UK PM Winston Churchill paid tribute to the RAF, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

1941 ~ Birthday of Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

1968 ~ Warsaw Pact troops and tanks invaded Czechoslovakia to end the Prague Spring (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0820.html#top) of political liberalization.

1991 ~ Downfall of the Soviet Union: Estonia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

1998 ~ The Supreme Court of Canada (http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1998/1998rcs2-217/1998rcs2-217.html) ruled that Quebec could not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.

1998 ~ The U.S. launched cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

2001 ~ Death of Sir Fred Hoyle (http://www.cf.ac.uk/maths/wickramasinghe/hoyle.html), Astronomer, Science Fiction Writer.

[jseal]

1858 ~ The first of seven debates between U.S. Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas was held.

1872 ~ Birthday of Aubrey Beardsley, Illustrator (http://www.artpassions.net/cgi-bin/show_image.pl?../galleries/beardsleye/examherald_e.jpg).

1904 ~ Birthday of Count Basie, Bandleader.

1923 ~ Birthday of Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel.

1936 ~ Birthday of Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Hall of Famer.

1940 ~ Death of Leon Trotsky, exiled Russian revolutionary.

1959 ~ Hawaii (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0821.html#article) was admitted as the 50th U.S. state.

1983 ~ Assassination of Benigno S. Aquino Jr. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/21/newsid_2534000/2534945.stm), Philippine opposition leader.

1986 ~ Suffocating gas erupted from volcanic Lake Nyos (http://www.mala.bc.ca/~earles/nyos-feb01.htm) in Cameroon, killing more than 1,700.

1991 ~ A hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

[jseal]

1485 ~ King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field (http://www.pomian.demon.co.uk/bosworth.htm), ending the War of the Roses (http://www.warsoftheroses.com/).

1770 ~ James Cook (http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu1.htm)'s expedition arrived on the east coast of Australia.

1851 ~ The schooner America outraced the Aurora off the English coast to win a trophy that became known as the America's Cup.

1862 ~ Birthday of Claude Debussy, Composer.

1893 ~ Birthday of Dorothy Parker (http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Dorothy_Parker/), Writer & Wit.

1910 ~ Japan annexed Korea.

1920 ~ Birthday of Ray Bradbury, science fiction author and fantasy author (Fahrenheit 451).

1962 ~ The Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered ship, completed its maiden voyage.

1978 ~ Death of Jomo Kenyatta (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/22/newsid_2500000/2500553.stm), first Prime Minister of Kenya.

2001 ~ For the Geeks among us, a sad day. The Trojan room coffee pot (http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/coffee.html) was switched off for the last time.

[jseal]

1305 ~ Execution of William Wallace (http://www.opendemocracy.net/xml/xhtml/articles/2774.html).

1754 ~ Birthday of King Louis XVI of France.

1829 ~ Birthday of Moritz Cantor, Mathematician.

1912 ~ Birthday of Gene Kelly, Dancer & Actor.

1927 ~ Italian-born anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0823.html#article) were executed in Boston.

1951 ~ Birthday of Queen Noor of Jordan.

1962 ~ First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite.

1990 ~ Saddam Hussein (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/23/newsid_2512000/2512289.stm) appeared on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests”.

1990 ~ West Germany and East Germany announced that they would unite.

2000 ~ Richard Hatch (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2229667&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312) won the $1 million prize in the first season finale of the reality show ''Survivor''.

[jseal]

79 ~ Mount Vesuvius erupted (http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html). The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae were buried in volcanic ash.

1456 ~ The printing of the Gutenberg Bible (http://www.ideafinder.com/features/everwonder/won-printbook.htm) was completed.

1814 ~ British troops invaded Washington, D.C. and burnt down the White House and other buildings.

1880 ~ Birthday of Joshua Lionel Cowen (http://www.lionel.com/), inventor of the toy electric train.

1929 ~ Birthday of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader.

1932 ~ Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop.

1951 ~ Birthday of Orson Scott Card, novelist.

1960 ~ Birthday of Cal Ripken, Jr., baseball player.

1981 ~ Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 to life for the murder of John Lennon.

1992 ~ Hurricane Andrew (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0824.html#article) hit South Florida.

[jseal]

1609 ~ Galileo (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.html) demonstrated his first telescope to the Venetian Senate.

1835 ~ The New York Sun printed The Great Moon Hoax (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/moonhoax.html).

1867 ~ Death of Michael Faraday, Scientist.

1875 ~ Matthew Webb became the first man to swim the English Channel.

1894 ~ Shibasaburo Kitasato discovered the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and published his findings in The Lancet.

1900 ~ Birthday of Sir Hans Adolf Krebs (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1953/krebs-bio.html), Scientist. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1953.

1900 ~ Death of Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher.

1918 ~ Birthday of Leonard Bernstein, Conductor & Composer.

1944 ~ Paris was liberated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0825.html#article) by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation.

1982 ~ Voyager 2 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_2535000/2535545.stm) spacecraft flew by Neptune.

[jseal]

55 B.C. ~ Julius Caesar invaded Britain.

1071 ~ The Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire at Manzikert (http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/markham.htm).

1498 ~ Michelangelo commissioned to carve the Pieta (http://www.christusrex.org/www1/citta/B1-Pieta.html).

1743 ~ Birthday of Antoine Lavoisier, Chemist.

1839 ~ The ship Amistad was captured off Long Island.

1847 ~ Liberia was proclaimed an independent republic.

1920 ~ The 19th Amendment (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment19/) to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0826.html#article), was declared in effect.

1961 ~ The International Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto.

1968 ~ The Beatles' Hey Jude (http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1172.html) was released as a single in the U.S.

1975 ~ Death of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia (http://www.imperialethiopia.org/selassie.htm).

[jseal]

1776 ~ British forces under General William Howe defeated the Americans under General George Washington in the Battle of Long Island.

1813 ~ Napoleon defeated the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.

1828 ~ The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.

1896 ~ Anglo-Zanzibar War (http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=46235). With a duration of only 45 minutes, it holds the record of being the shortest war in recorded history.

1900 ~ British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal.

1928 ~ Kellogg-Briand Pact (http://www.bartleby.com/65/ke/KelloggB.html), outlawing war, signed by sixty nations.

1939 ~ First jet aircraft flight; a Heinkel He 178, piloted by Erich Warsitz.

1945 ~ American troops began landing in Japan following the surrender of the Japanese government in World War II.

1962 ~ The Mariner 2 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0827.html#article) space probe launched to Venus.

1979 ~ An IRA bomb killed Lord Mountbatten (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/27/newsid_2511000/2511545.stm) and 3 others on holiday.

[jseal]

430 ~ Death of Augustine of Hippo (http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/jod/augustine/), Philosopher, Theologian.

1749 ~ Birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Philosopher, Scientist.

1828 ~ Birthday of Leo Tolstoy, Author. His “The Law of Love and the Law of Violence” influenced Martin Luther King, Jr.

1845 ~ First issue of Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com/) magazine published.

1850 ~ Richard Wagner's opera “Lohengrin” premiered, from which comes the Bridal Chorus, traditionally played at Western weddings, and commonly known as "Here Comes the Bride".

1897 ~ Birthday of Charles Boyer (http://www.themave.com/Boyer/), Actor.

1963 ~ During a civil rights rally in at the Lincoln Memorial (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0828.html#article) in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream (http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html) ” speech.

Do yourself a favor; take a quarter of an hour out of your busy day and listen to it (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm).

1972 ~ During the Olympic Games of Munich, Mark Spitz (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mm-spitz.html) won his first of seven gold medals in swimming events.

1990 ~ Iraq declared Kuwait to be a province of Iraq.

1996 ~ Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales were divorced.

[jseal]

1261 ~ Urban IV became Pope, the last man to do so without first being a Cardinal.

1632 ~ Birthday of John Locke, Philosopher.

1885 ~ Gottlieb Daimler patented the world's first motorcycle.

1896 ~ Chop suey (http://www.snopes.com/food/origins/chopsuey.asp) was invented in New York City.

1949 ~ The Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan (http://www.nnc.kz/e_index.php?id=190).

1952 ~ Premiere of John Cage's 4'33" (http://interglacial.com/~sburke/stuff/cage_433.html) in Woodstock, New York.

1957 ~ Sen. Strom Thurmond, D-S.C., ended the longest filibuster in Senate history after talking for 24 hours, 18 minutes against a civil rights bill.

1966 ~ The Beatles performed their last concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

1991 ~ The Downfall of the Soviet Union: The Supreme Soviet suspended all activities of the Soviet Communist Party. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0829.html#article)

2005 ~ Hurricane Katrina (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/29/newsid_4947000/4947378.stm) made landfall along the Louisiana coast, overwhelming the levees protecting New Orleans and causing massive flooding.

[jseal]

1797 ~ Birthday of Mary Shelley, Author (Frankenstein (http://www.sangfroid.com/frank/)).

1871 ~ Birthday of Ernest Rutherford (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1908/rutherford-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908.

1918 ~ Birthday of Baseball hall-of-famer Ted William.

1935 ~ Birthday of John Phillips, American singer (The Mamas and the Papas).

1940 ~ Death of J.J. Thomson (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1906/thomson-bio.html), English physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics 1906. Prof. Thomson identified the electron as a subatomic particle, the first one to be discovered. In one of the greatest ironies of modern physics his son, G.P. Thomson (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1937/thomson-bio.html) later received the prize for proving that the electron was also, in fact, a wave. (http://www.qmw.ac.uk/~zgap118/)

1941 ~ Siege of Leningrad began.

1963 ~ Hotline between U.S. and Soviet (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0830.html#article) leaders went into operation.

1987 ~ Thurgood Marshall (http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/marshall.htm) confirmed as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1999 ~ East Timorese voted for independence in a referendum.

2003 ~ Death of Charles Bronson, Actor.

[jseal]

1834 ~ Birthday of Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (La Gioconda - It contains "The Dance of the Hours").

1879 ~ Birthday of Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel. This woman knew how to live!

1888 ~ Mary Ann Nichols murdered. She was perhaps the first of Jack the Ripper (http://www.casebook.org/)'s victims.

1918 ~ Birthday of Alan Jay Lerner, American composer ( Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady (http://www.foxhome.com/myfairlady/index_frames.html)).

1935 ~ Birthday of Frank Robinson, Baseball Player, Manager.

1945 ~ Birthday of Itzhak Perlman, Violinist.

1945 ~ Birthday of Van Morrison, Irish musician (“Brown-Eyed Girl", "Moondance" and "Domino").

1962 ~ Trinidad and Tobago became independent.

1980 ~ Solidarity (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4194204.stm) labor union formed in Poland.

1997 ~ Death of Diana, Princess of Wales (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/31/newsid_2510000/2510615.stm), in a car crash in Paris.

[jseal]

1653 ~ Birthday of Johann Pachelbel, Composer. Remember the theme music of “Ordinary People”? That’s “Pachelbel's Canon (http://www.helander.se/stefan/pachelbel/files/canonstr.mid)” (which is not really a Canon).

1715 ~ King Louis XIV of France ("L'État, c'est moi") died after a reign of 72 years — the longest of any major European monarch.

1875 ~ Birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Writer, creator of Tarzan (http://www.tarzan.org/).

1905 ~ Alberta and Saskatchewan join the Canadian confederation.

1914 ~ The last Passenger Pigeon (http://www.eco-action.org/dt/pigeon.html) died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo.

1939 ~ Germany attacked Poland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0901.html#article), beginning World War II.

1972 ~ In Reykjavik, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beat Russian Boris Spassky and became the world chess champion (http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/7072$wix.htm).

1983 ~ Korean Air Flight KAL-007 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/1/newsid_2493000/2493469.stm) shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft entered Soviet airspace.

1985 ~ A joint American-French expedition located the wreck of the RMS Titanic (http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/titanic/technology/technology.html).

1991 ~ Uzbekistan declared independence from the Soviet Union.

[jseal]

31 B.C. ~ Battle of Actium (http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~murray/actium/brochure.html): Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra. This date is often used for the beginning of the Roman Empire.

1666 ~ Great Fire of London (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/londonfire.htm) started in Pudding Lane at the house of Thomas Farrinor near London Bridge. Samuel Pepys, a neighbor, was woken by the fire at around 1 AM. The fire burned for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral, but only 16 people are known to have died.

1752 ~ The UK adopted the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.

1898 ~ Battle of Omdurman (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/empire/episodes/episode_68.shtml): British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeated Sudanese tribesmen led by Khalifa Abdullah al-Taashi, establishing British dominance in the Sudan.

1901 ~ Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, "Speak softly and carry a big stick", in a speech.

1924 ~ Birthday of Daniel arap Moi, President of Kenya.

1945 ~ The official surrender of Japan (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0902.html#article) was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz from a delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, bringing World War II to an end.

1964 ~ Death of Alvin York (http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/sgtayork.htm), Hero. He was the most decorated American soldier of World War I.

1969 ~ Death of Ho Chi Minh (http://www.vietquoc.com/0006vq.htm), Vietmamese Revolutionary, President & Prime Minister.

1973 ~ Death of J.R.R. Tolkien (http://www.tolkiensociety.org/), British writer.

[jseal]

301 ~ San Marino, the world's oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus.

1658 ~ Death of Oliver Cromwell (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/cromwell_01.shtml), Lord Protector of England.

1875 ~ Birthday of Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer.

1893 ~ Death of James Harrison (http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010479b.htm), Australian pioneer of mechanical refrigeration.

1935 ~ Malcolm Campbell reached 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first man to drive an automobile over 300 MPH.

1939 ~ World War II: France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3/newsid_3493000/3493279.stm).

1954 ~ The last new episode of The Lone Ranger (http://www.radiohof.org/adventuredrama/loneranger.html) was aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years.

1962 ~ Death of e. e. cummings (http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/eecummings/), poet.

1976 ~ The Viking 2 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0903.html#article) spacecraft landed on Mars and took the first close-up, color photos of the planet's surface.

2004 ~ More than 200 people die at the end of a three-day siege at a school in Beslan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3/newsid_4652000/4652213.stm), Russia came to a bloody end.

[jseal]

476 ~ Romulus Augustus (http://www.roman-empire.net/collapse/romulus.html), the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed.

1781 ~ Los Angeles founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula (http://www.californiahistory.net/4_PAGES/pueblos_nuestra.htm) (the City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula).

1824 ~ Birthday of Anton Bruckner, Composer.

1888 ~ George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak, and received a patent for his camera which uses roll film.

1891 ~ Birthday of Fritz Todt, developer of the German autobahn, the archtype for the limited access highway.

1907 ~ Death of Edvard Grieg, Norwegian Composer.

1957 ~ The Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution in Great Britain (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/4/newsid_3007000/3007686.stm) came to the conclusion that outlawing homosexuality impinged upon civil liberties.

1965 ~ Death of Albert Schweitzer (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1952/schweitzer-bio.html), Physician, J.S. Bach interpreter, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1952.

1972 ~ Mark Spitz won his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

1995 ~ Death of William Kunstler, Attorney.

[jseal]

1735 ~ Birthday of Johann Christian Bach (http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/bachjc.html), Composer, son of Johann Sebastian Bach.

1774 ~ First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1793 ~ The French National Convention voted to implement terror measures to enforce the principles of the French Revolution. This Reign of Terror (http://britannia.com/history/euro/1/2_2.html) lasted until the spring of 1794 and killed 35,000-40,000 people.

1847 ~ Birthday of Jesse James (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/james/1.html), outlaw.

1857 ~ Birthday of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (http://www.spaceline.org/history/21.html), Visionary & Pioneer of Astronautics.

1948 ~ Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France. He is considered to be one of the founders of the European Union.

1950 ~ Birthday of Cathy Guisewite, Cartoonist.

1957 ~ “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac was published.

1972 ~ Munich Massacre (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0905.html#article): A Palestinian terrorist group called “Black September” attacked Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.

1997 ~ Death of Mother Teresa (http://www.ewtn.com/motherteresa/), Inspiration.

[jseal]

1620 ~ The Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower (http://www.plymouthdata.info/Pilgrim%20Fathers.htm) from Plymouth, England, to settle in North America.

1766 ~ Birthday of John Dalton, British chemist and physicist. He was one of the earlier proponents of the atomic theory (http://dl.clackamas.cc.or.us/ch104-04/dalton's.htm).

1847 ~ Henry Thoreau (http://www.transcendentalists.com/1thorea.html) left Walden Pond (http://www.walden.org/Map_WW.htm) and moved in with Ralph Waldo Emerson (http://www.transcendentalists.com/1emerson.html) and his family in Concord, Massachusetts.

1915 ~ The first prototype tank is tested by the British Army.

1928 ~ Birthday of Robert Pirsig, Author (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

1941 ~ The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jew" inscribed, was extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.

1986 ~ In Istanbul, two Arab terrorists from Abu Nidal's terror organization killed 22 and wounded six inside the Neve Shalom synagogue (http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/special/jewish/neve_shalom.html) during Sabbath services.

1991 ~ The Soviet Union recognized the independence of the Baltic states.

1995 ~ Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's record (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/rookies_to_legends/ripken_gehrig_finales.htm) of playing 2,131 consecutive baseball games

1996 ~ Eddie Murray (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/murray_eddie.htm) became the 15th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Oriole Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

[jseal]

1776 ~ World's first submarine attack. American submersible craft Turtle (http://www.submarine-history.com/NOVAone.htm) attempted to attach a bomb to the hull of the British flagship Eagle in New York Harbor.

1901 ~ The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ended with the signing of the Peking Protocol.

1908 ~ Birthday of Dr. Michael DeBakey, Heart Surgeon and inventor of the MASH.

1912 ~ Birthday of David Packard (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/execteam/bios/packard.html), Electrical Engineer.

1940 ~ The Blitz (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/7/newsid_3515000/3515708.stm) – Under orders from Adolf Hitler, the Luftwaffe began to bomb London. This was the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.

1977 ~ The U.S. agreed to transfer control of the Panama Canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.

1986 ~ Desmond Tutu (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html) becomes the first black to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

1994 ~ Death of James Clavell, Author (Shogun; To Sir, with Love; The Great Escape).

1997 ~ Death of Mobutu Sese Seko (http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/07/mobutu.wrap/), dictator of Zaire.

1998 ~ Google Inc. (http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/history.html#1998) was founded.

[Oldfart]

jseal,

Clavel was a prolific writer, but Paul Brickhill wrote "The Great Escape", while "To Sir with Love" was ER Braithewaite.

He directed "To Sir with Love" and wrote the screenplay for "Escape".

[jseal]

jseal,

Clavel was a prolific writer, but Paul Brickhill wrote "The Great Escape", while "To Sir with Love" was ER Braithewaite.

He directed "To Sir with Love" and wrote the screenplay for "Escape".
Oldfart,

Misplaced writing credits! I shall revise for the future. The Great Escape (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057115/), To Sir with Love (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062376/)

Thank your sir. :)

[Oldfart]

No sweat, jseal.

You do a fine job with this thread, but can't let you get too comfortable LOL.

[jseal]

828 ~ Birthday of Ali al-Hadi (http://home.swipnet.se/islam/imams/10th_imam/al-hadi.htm), Shia Imam

1636 ~ Harvard College founded as the first college in the Americas.

1841 ~ Birthday of Antonin Dvorak, Composer.

1886 ~ Birthday of Siegfried Sassoon (http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/sassoon.htm), Poet (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8103/Sassoon1.html)

1925 ~ Birthday of Peter Sellers (http://www.petersellers.com/), Actor (A Shot in the Dark, Dr. Strangelove, The Pink Panther, etc.).

1930 ~ 3M began marketing Scotch transparent tape.

1944 ~ London was hit by a V2 rocket (http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=71652) for the first time.

1949 ~ Death of Richard Strauss, Composer.

1966 ~ The first episode (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68672.html) of the science fiction television series Star Trek aired.

1974 ~ President Ford granted an unconditional pardon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0908.html#article) to former President Nixon.

[jseal]

1585 ~ Birthday of Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95sep/richelieu.html), French statesman.

1754 ~ Birthday of William Bligh (http://www.lareau.org/bounty.html), British naval officer.

1776 ~ The Continental Congress officially named their new country the United States.

1824 ~ Birthday of Anton Bruckner, Austrian Composer.

1828 ~ Birthday of Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (Anna Karenina, War and Peace).

1839 ~ John Herschel took the first astronomical glass plate photograph (http://www.todayinsci.com/cgi-bin/indexpage.pl?http://www.todayinsci.com/9/9_09.htm).

1945 ~ Admiral Grace Hopper discovered the first computer bug (http://www.waterholes.com/~dennette/1996/hopper/bug.htm).

1956 ~ Elvis Presley (http://www.elvis.com/) appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (http://www.fiftiesweb.com/elvis.htm) for the first time.

1976 ~ Death of Mao Zedong (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/9/newsid_3020000/3020374.stm), leading architect of the Chinese Communist Revolution.

2001 ~ Ahmed Shah Massoud (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0110/junger.html), leader of the Northern Alliance, was assassinated in Afghanistan.

[jseal]

1846 ~ Elias Howe of Spencer, Mass., received a patent for the sewing machine.

1939 ~ World War II: The submarine HMS Oxley was sunk by mistake by the submarine HMS Trition off the coast of Norway and became the first loss of the Royal Navy.

1942 ~ Birthday of Stephen Jay Gould (http://www.stephenjaygould.org/), American paleontologist.

1943 ~ World War II: German forces began their occupation of Rome.

1945 ~ Vidkun Quisling (http://www.bartleby.com/65/qu/Quisling.html) sentenced to death for collaboration with Nazi Germany.

1960 ~ Birthday of Colin Firth (http://www.firth.com/), Actor (Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually)

1971 ~ Death of Nikita Khrushchev (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSkhrushchev.htm), Premier of the Soviet Union.

1977 ~ Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of murder, became the last person to be executed by the guillotine (http://www.metaphor.dk/guillotine/Pages/Guillot.html) in France.

1990 ~ The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro (http://www.answers.com/topic/basilica-of-our-lady-of-peace-of-yamoussoukro), the largest church in Africa and perhaps the world, consecrated by Pope John Paul II.

2002 ~ Switzerland became the 190th member of the United Nations.

[jseal]

1297 ~ William Wallace led a Scottish army to defeat the English in the Battle of Stirling Bridge (http://www.scotclans.com/history/1297_stirling.html).

1711 ~ Birthday of William Boyce, Composer.

1914 ~ In one of the earlier military engagements of WWI, Australian forces defeat Germans in New Britain (http://www.answers.com/topic/new-britain-1).

1922 ~ British Mandate of Palestine began.

1948 ~ Death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P009), first Governor-General of Pakistan.

1962 ~ The Beatles recorded their debut single, Love Me Do.

1973 ~ A military coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/11/newsid_3199000/3199155.stm) toppled elected Marxist President Salvador Allende.

1987 ~ CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, angry over being preempted for a tennis match, marched off the set, leaving affiliates with six minutes of an empty news desk.

1997 ~ Scotland voted to re-establish its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England and the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

2001 ~ The September 11 terrorist attacks (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0911.html#article) destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, part of The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and crashed a passenger airliner in Pennsylvania. In total, almost 3,000 are killed (http://www.september11victims.com/september11victims/victims_list.htm).

[jseal]

490 B.C. ~ Athenians defeated Persians at the Battle of Marathon (http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/PERSIAN.HTM).

1814 ~ War of 1812: An American detachment halted the British land advance to Baltimore in the Battle of North Point (http://www.societyofthewarof1812.org/inMaryland/BattleOfNorthPoint/).

1880 ~ Birthday of H.L. Mencken (http://www.io.com/gibbonsb/mencken.html), Journalist, Author.

1888 ~ Birthday of Maurice Chevalier (http://www.hollywoodlegends.com/maurice-chevalier.html), Singer, Actor (Gigi, Thank Heaven For Little Girls (http://www.weddingvendors.com/music/lyrics/m/maurice-chevalier/thank-heaven-for-little-girls/)).

1933 ~ Leó Szilárd (http://www.dannen.com/szilard.html), waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, came up with the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.

1940 ~ Cave paintings discovered in Lascaux, France (http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/).

1959 ~ Bonanza premiered. First regularly-scheduled TV program presented in color.

1977 ~ Death of Steve Biko (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0912.html#article), South African anti-apartheid activist.

2003 ~ The U.N. Security Council lifted sanctions against Libya after Libya agreed to accept responsibility and make payment of US $2.7 billion to the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

2003 ~ Death of Johnny Cash (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/12/newsid_3595000/3595300.stm), Country Music Great.

[jseal]

1321 ~ Death of Dante Alighieri (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dante/), writer (The Divine Comedy)

1819 ~ Birthday of Clara Schumann (http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasase/1945/WSB/clara.html), Pianist, Composer.

1857 ~ Birthday of Milton S. Hershey (http://www.hersheys.com/discover/milton/milton.asp), chocolate entrepreneur and founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company.

1874 ~ Birthday of Arnold Schoenberg, Composer.

1939 ~ Canada entered World War II.

1948 ~ Margaret Chase Smith was elected senator, and became the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

1971 ~ Frank Robinson (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/robinson_frank.htm) became the 11th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

1977 ~ Death of Leopold Stokowski, Conductor.

1893 ~ Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands on a peace deal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0913.html#article).

1999 ~ A bomb exploded in Moscow, killing some 119 people.

[jseal]

1737 ~ Birthday of Michael Haydn, Austrian composer.

1752 ~ The British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar (http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa041301c.htm), skipping eleven days (September 2 was followed directly by September 14 that year).

1760 ~ Birthday of Luigi Cherubini, Composer.

1814 ~ Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner (http://www.gofish.com/userVideoPlayer.gfp?gfid=30-1040249) (‘though not the melody).

1927 ~ Death of Isadora Duncan (http://www.isadoraduncan.org/about_isadora.html), Dancer.

1948 ~ Ground was broken in New York City for the United Nations' world headquarters.

1959 ~ The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashed onto the Moon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0914.html#article), becoming the first man-made object to reach it.

1975 ~ The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, was canonized by Pope Paul VI.

1982 ~ Death of Princess Grace (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/14/newsid_2516000/2516601.stm) of Monaco.

2005 ~ A federal judge in San Francisco ruled the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional.

[jseal]

1254 ~ Birthday of Marco Polo (http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml), Italian explorer.

1789 ~ Birthday of James Fenimore Cooper (http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/), American novelist.

1928 ~ Alexander Fleming (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1945/fleming-bio.html) noticed a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.

1935 ~ The Nuremberg Laws deprived German Jews of their citizenship and made the swastika the official symbol of Nazi Germany.

1950 ~ The UN staged its fist offensive operation in the Korean War; an amphibious assault at Inchon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/15/newsid_3633000/3633301.stm).

1963 ~ The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0915.html#article) kills four children in Birmingham, Alabama.

1975 ~ Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia.

1977 ~ Death of Maria Callas (http://www.serendipity.li/callas.html), Opera Diva.

1981 ~ The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Sandra Day O'Connor to the U. S. Supreme Court.

1982 ~ The first issue of USA Today is published.

[osuche]

In honor of jseal....who is out having fun this weekend...


1810 ~ Fr. Miguel Hidalgo proclaimed Mexico's independence from Spain.

1736 ~ Death of Gabriel Fahrenheit, German Physicist.

1795 ~ British captured Capetown South Africa.

1940 ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Selective Training and Service Act (http://www.sss.gov/backgr.htm).

1956 ~ Play-Doh (http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/playdoh.htm) was first introduced.

1959 ~ French President De Gaulle recognized Algerian right of self determination.

1968 ~ Candidate Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh-in (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/rowanandmar/rowanandmar.htm).

1974 ~ U.S. President Ford announced a conditional amnesty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0916.html#article) program for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders.

1987 ~ The Montreal Protocol (http://www.afeas.org/montreal_protocol.html) was signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

1996 ~ Howard Stern Radio Show (http://www.howardstern.com/) premiered.

[osuche]

1394 ~ King Charles VI of France ordered all Jews expelled from France.

1640 ~ Boston, Massachusetts is incorporated.

1787 ~ The text of the U.S. Constitution was completed (http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/usconst.html) in Philadelphia.

1862 ~ Union forces repelled a Confederate invasion of Maryland in the Civil War Battle of Antietam (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0917.html#article).

1908 ~ Death of Lt. Thomas Selfridge (http://history1900s.about.com/od/1900s/a/firstcrash.htm), first to die in an airplane crash.

1929 ~ Birthday of Sir Stirling Moss (http://www.stirlingmoss.com/), Formula One racer.

1939 ~ The Soviet Union joined Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland.

1970 ~ Civil war (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/17/newsid_4575000/4575159.stm) broke out in Jordan.

1978 ~ The Camp David Accords (http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/campdavid/accords.phtml) were signed by Israeli and Egyptian representatives.

1991 ~ North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia joined the United Nations.


Feastdays & Holidays


Feast Day of Hildegard of Bingen (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.html), recording artist (http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/composers/hildegard.html).

[jseal]

1709 ~ Birthday of Samuel Johnson, Essayist & Critic.

1759 ~ The British capture Quebec (http://www.philaprintshop.com/frchintx.html) City.

1819 ~ Birthday of Leon Foucault, Physicist.

1927 ~ Columbia Broadcasting System (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/columbiabroa/columbiabroa.htm) went on the air.

1961 ~ Death of Dag Hammarskjöld (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1961/hammarskjold-bio.html), Secretary General of the UN.

1970 ~ Death of Jimi Hendrix (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/18/newsid_3528000/3528692.stm), Rock Musician.

1971 ~ Birthday of Lance Armstrong (http://www.lancearmstrong.com/), Cyclist Extraordinaire.

1975 ~ Patty Hearst was arrested after a year on the FBI Most Wanted List.

1990 ~ Liechtenstein became a member of the UN.

1998 ~ ICANN (http://www.icann.org/) was formed.

[jseal]

1737 ~ Birthday of Charles Carroll (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/carroll.htm) of Carrollton, Declaration of Independence Signer, Senator.

1796 ~ George Washington made his farewell address (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/washing.htm).

1900 ~ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbed the First National Bank of $32,640.

1934 ~ Bruno Hauptmann was arrested for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Junior.

1935 ~ Death of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (http://www.informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html), rocket scientist, physicist.

1941 ~ Birthday of Mama Cass Elliott, musician.

1945 ~ Lord Haw Haw (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/entertainers/radio/lord-haw-haw/) (William Joyce) sentenced to death in London.

1955 ~ Juan Peron was deposed in Argentina.

1989 ~ A terrorist bomb exploded in a UTA DC-10 (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/france/10/20/gadhafi.plane/index.html) above Niger killing 171.

1991 ~ Ötzi the Iceman (http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/otzi.htm) was discovered by German tourists.

[jseal]

1908 ~ Death of Pablo de Sarasate, Violinist.

1934 ~ Birthday of Sophia Loren (http://www.sophialoren.com/home.htm), Italian actress.

1948 ~ Birthday of George R. R. Martin, Science Fiction Writer.

1970 ~ The Soviet probe Luna 16 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/20/newsid_4092000/4092669.stm) collected moon soil sample for return to earth.

1973 ~ Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0920.html#article) in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a $100,000 winner-take-all “Battle of the Sexes“ tennis match.

1979 ~ A coup d'état in the Central African Empire (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4007.htm#history) overthrew Emperor Bokasa I.

1984 ~ A suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/20/newsid_2525000/2525197.stm) annex in north Beirut, killing 20 people.

2000 ~ After playing 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Jr took a day off.

2004 ~ CBS News apologized for a ''mistake in judgment (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/politics/main644546.shtml)'' in its story questioning President George W. Bush's National Guard service, saying it could not vouch for the authenticity of documents featured in the report.

2005 ~ Death of Simon Wiesenthal (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/20/obit.wiesenthal/), Nazi hunter.

[jseal]

1756 ~ Birthday of John MacAdam (http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/macadam_john.htm), road builder.

1780 ~ Benedict Arnold (http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/arnold.html) gave the British the plans to West Point.

1866 ~ Birthday of H. G. Wells, science fiction author.

1874 ~ Birthday of Gustav Holst, Composer.

1896 ~ British force under Horatio Kitchener (http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/kitchener_h/kitchener_h.html) took Dongola in the Sudan.

1897 ~ The Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus (http://beebo.org/smackerels/yes-virginia.html) letter was published in the New York Sun.

1937 ~ J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit (http://www.mi.uib.no/~respl/tolkien/).

1947 ~ Birthday of Stephen King, Author.

1964 ~ Malta (http://www.visitmalta.com/en/timeline/chronologie/time_line.html) became independent from the UK

2003 ~ The Galileo mission was terminated (http://www.nasa.gov/news/mission/galileo_dies.html) by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere.

[jseal]

1784 ~ Russia established a colony at Kodiak, Alaska (http://www.city.kodiak.ak.us/).

1791 ~ Birthday of Michael Faraday, Scientist.

1828 ~ Death of Shaka Zulu (http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/shaka.html), Zulu leader.

1862 ~ President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0922.html#article).

1869 ~ Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold (http://www.rwagner.net/opere/e-t-rheingold.html) opened in Munich.

1960 ~ Mali gained independence from France.

1975 ~ Sara Jane Moore (http://www.geocities.com/proprioter/y_moore.html)’s assassination attempt on U.S. President Gerald Ford was foiled by Oliver Sipple (http://www.randomhouse.com/features/americancentury/imperialpres.html).

1980 ~ Iraq invaded Iran. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/22/newsid_4242000/4242336.stm)

1999 ~ Death of George C. Scott, Actor.

2001 ~ Death of Isaac Stern (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/stern_i.html), Violinist.

[jseal]

63 B.C. ~ Birthday of Caesar Augustus (http://www.roman-emperors.org/auggie.htm), 1st Roman Emperor.

1642 ~ First commencement at Harvard College.

1806 ~ Discovery of Neptune by French astronomer Urbain LeVerrier (http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Neptune_and_Pluto.html).

1884 ~ Herman Hollerith (http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hollerith/) applied for a patent on his mechanical adding machine.

1920 ~ Birthday of Mickey Rooney, actor.

1930 ~ Birthday of Ray Charles (http://www.raycharles.com/), U.S. R&B and jazz musician, singer.

1932 ~ The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd were renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (http://www.saudinf.com/).

1949 ~ Birthday of Bruce Springsteen (http://www.brucespringsteen.com/), Singer & Songwriter.

1962 ~ The Jetsons premiered.

1983 ~ Saint Kitts and Nevis joined the United Nations.

[jseal]

622 ~ Muhammad (http://www.muhammad.net/) completed his hegira from Mecca to Medina.

1664 ~ The Netherlands surrendered New Amsterdam (http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/kingston/colonization.htm) to England.

1755 ~ Birthday of John Marshall, the fourth and longest-serving Chief Justice of the American Supreme Court.

1890 ~ As a pre-condition to Utah being admitted to the U.S., the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (http://www.lds.org/site_main_menu/frameset-global.html) (Mormons) officially renounced polygamy.

1896 ~ Birthday of F Scott Fitzgerald, Novelist (This Side of Paradise (http://www.online-literature.com/fitzgerald/sideparadise/), The Great Gatsby (http://www.online-literature.com/fitzgerald/greatgatsby/),…)

1936 ~ Birthday of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets (http://muppets.go.com/main.html).

1957 ~ The Brooklyn Dodgers (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/schedule.php?y=1957&t=BRO) played their last game at Ebbets Field, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0.

1988 ~ Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/24/newsid_2529000/2529005.stm) beat American Carl Lewis for the gold at the Seoul Olympics in the 100 Meters sprint. Mr. Johnson was later disqualified for using anabolic steroids.

1991 ~ Death of Dr. Seuss (http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm), Writer.

1993 ~ Broderbund released the computer game Myst (http://www.mysterium.ch/myst/myst_info_e.html).

[jseal]

1066 ~ Battle of Stamford Bridge (http://www.worldofthevikings.com/stamford.html), which marked the end of the Viking era.

1683 ~ Birthday of Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer.

1890 ~ Yosemite National Park (http://www.yosemitepark.com/) established.

1906 ~ Birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer.

1932 ~ Birthday of Glenn Gould, Pianist.

1950 ~ The South Korean capital, Seoul, recaptured by UN forces (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/25/newsid_4606000/4606807.stm).

1957 ~ U.S. Army paratroopers ended the Little Rock school crisis (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0925.html#article).

1981 ~ Sandra Day O'Connor (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96mar/oconnor.html) was sworn in as the 102nd Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the first woman to hold the office.

1983 ~ Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov (http://www.brightstarsound.com/world_hero/article.html) averted World War III by refusing to accept - despite the (erroneous) alert given by the Soviet early warning system - that the U.S. had launched missiles against the USSR.

1996 ~ The last of the Magdalen Asylums (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Magdalen_Asylum) was closed.

[jseal]

1687 ~ The Parthenon (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=Perseus:image:1987.09.0276)in Athens is partially destroyed after an explosion caused by the bombing from the Venetian forces besieging the Ottoman Turks.

1820 ~ Death of Daniel Boone (http://www.bocomo.org/dboone.htm), American icon.

1888 ~ Birthday of T. S. Eliot, Poet.

1898 ~ Birthday of George Gershwin (http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/gershwin.html), Composer.

1907 ~ New Zealand and Newfoundland became dominions.

1944 ~ Allied troops began a retreat from Arnhem (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/26/newsid_3523000/3523972.stm).

1945 ~ Death of Béla Bartók, Composer.

1948 ~ Birthday of Olivia Newton-John, Singer.

1960 ~ Presidential candidates Kennedy and Nixon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0926.html#article) in first TV debate.

1983 ~ Australia II (http://www.nachohat.org/gallery/ships_australia2/P5190085) won the “Americas Cup”.

[jseal]

1389 ~ Birthday of Cosimo de Medici, Florentine ruler.

1540 ~ The Jesuit Order (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0858742.html) received its charter from Pope Paul III.

1722 ~ Birthday of Samuel Adams (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/adams_s.htm), Patriot & Brewer.

1840 ~ Birthday of Thomas Nast, political cartoonist.

1917 ~ Death of Edgar Degas, Impressionist painter.

1921 ~ Death of Engelbert Humperdinck, Composer.

1964 ~ The Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0927.html#article) in assassinating President Kennedy.

1968 ~ The Musical "Hair" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/27/newsid_3107000/3107815.stm) opened in London.

1996 ~ In Afghanistan, the Taliban captured Kabul (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/27/newsid_2539000/2539973.stm). They then dragged former leader Mohammad Najibullah out of the U.N. compound and hanged him from a traffic light pole.

2001 ~ An armed man went on a shooting rampage in Zug, Switzerland (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/27/newsid_2539000/2539769.stm), killing 14 people before taking his own life.

[jseal]

1066 ~ William the Conqueror invaded England (http://www.essentialnormanconquest.com/), landing at Pevensey, Sussex.

1915 ~ Birthday of Ethel Rosenberg (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040806.html), Spy.

1924 ~ The first round-the-world flight completed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0928.html#article). It took 175 days.

1925 ~ Birthday of Seymour Cray, Computer Scientist.

1939 ~ Germany and the Soviet Union agreed on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II.

1953 ~ Death of Edwin Hubble (http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_bio_001.htm), Astronomer.

1961 ~ A military coup in Damascus, Syria brought an end to the United Arab Republic (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850056.html).

1976 ~ Stevie Wonder released Songs in the Key of Life (http://steviewonder.free.fr/html/album22.html).

1988 ~ Death of Charles Addams (http://www.charlesaddams.com/), Cartoonist, creator of The Adams Family.

2000 ~ Death of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada.

[jseal]

1547 ~ Birthday of Miguel de Cervantes (http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/biography/new_english_cerv_bio.html), Author (Don Quixote (http://quixote.mse.jhu.edu/)).

1714 ~ George, Elector of Hanover (http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon53.html), arrived in Greenwich to assume the British throne as King George I. (Thanks dm383!)

1758 ~ Birthday of Horatio Nelson, English icon.

1901 ~ Birthday of Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist.

1954 ~ CERN opened for business.

1960 ~ Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/29/newsid_3087000/3087171.stm) disrupted a meeting of the UN General Assembly.

1962 ~ Alouette 1 (http://www.spaceref.ca/news/viewpr.html?pid=9361), the first Canadian satellite was launched.

1978 ~ Death of Pope John Paul (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/29/newsid_2542000/2542375.stm), who reigned just 33 days.

2004 ~ The asteroid 4179 Toutatis (http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/4179_Toutatis/toutatis.html) passed within 964,000 miles of Earth.

2004 ~ The Montreal Expos played their last game at Olympic Stadium.

[jseal]

1882 ~ Birthday of Hans Geiger (http://www.nndb.com/people/123/000099823/), German physicist & co-inventor of the Geiger counter.

1896 ~ Madagascar became a French protectorate.

1913 ~ Death of Rudolf Diesel (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1435.htm), German inventor.

1924 ~ Birthday of Truman Capote (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/capote_t.html), Author (In Cold Blood (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061809/)).

1938 ~ British, French, German and Italian leaders (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0930.html#article) agreed that Nazi Germany would be allowed to annex Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

1954 ~ The submarine USS Nautilus (http://www.ussnautilus.org/history.html) was commissioned as the first nuclear reactor powered vessel.

1955 ~ Death of James Dean (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/30/newsid_3722000/3722463.stm), American actor.

1960 ~ The last episode of The Howdy Doody Show aired.

1991 ~ President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti was forced from office.

1999 ~ Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred at a uranium reprocessing facility in Tokai-mura, northeast of Tokyo.

[jseal]

1903 ~ The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Americans 7-3 in the first World Series (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsmenu.shtml) game.

1905 ~ The Julliard School of Music (http://www.juilliard.edu/about/history.html) was founded in New York City.

1908 ~ The Model T automobile was introduced by Henry Ford - it sold for $825.

1939 ~ British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during a radio broadcast described the Soviet Union as ''a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma''.

1943 ~ The International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremburg sentenced 12 Nazi leaders to death.

1949 ~ The People's Republic of China was formed with Mao Zedong (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/) as its head.

1968 ~ The cult horror movie "Night of the Living Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/)" had its world premiere in Pittsburgh.

1971 ~ Walt Disney World (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/parkLanding?id=MKLandingPage) opened in Orlando, Florida. Eventually it would become the largest artificial tourist attraction in the world.

1986 ~ Former President Jimmy Carter's presidential library and museum were dedicated in Atlanta.

2001 ~ The Supreme Court suspended former President Bill Clinton (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/567504/posts) from practicing before the high court.

[jseal]

1187 ~ Saladin (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/saladin.htm) captured Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule.

1800 ~ Birthday of Nat Turner (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html), American leader of slave uprising.

1836 ~ Charles Darwin returned to England (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/darwin.htm) after a 5-year journey aboard the HMS Beagle collecting data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.

1852 ~ Birthday of William Ramsay, Scottish chemist.

1869 ~ Birthday of Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (http://www.mkgandhi.org/), Indian political leader.

1890 ~ Birthday of Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor.

1935 ~ Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

1950 ~ The comic strip Peanuts (http://www.snoopy.com/) by Charles M. Schulz is first published in US newspapers.

1967 ~ Thurgood Marshall sworn in (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1002.html#article) as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court.

1985 ~ Death of Rock Hudson (http://www.cmgworldwide.com/stars/hudson/about/biography.htm), Actor.

[jseal]

1873 ~ Birthday of Emily Post (http://www.emilypost.com/about/timeline.htm), etiquette advisor.

1900 ~ Birthday of Thomas Wolfe, American novelist.

1916 ~ Birthday of James Herriot, veterinarian, author.

1922 ~ Rebecca L. Felton, D-Ga., became the first woman to be seated in the U.S. Senate (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Speeches_Felton.htm).

1925 ~ Birthday of Gore Vidal (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/vidal_g.html), author.

1929 ~ The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

1967 ~ Death of Woody Guthrie, folk musician.

1973 ~ Frank Robinson (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/Robinson_Frank.htm) was named major league baseball's first black manager as he was put in charge of the Cleveland Indians.

1990 ~ The re-unification of Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1003.html#article). East Germany ceased to exist.

1995 ~ O. J. Simpson found not guilty (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_2486000/2486673.stm) of murder.

[jseal]

1880 ~ Birthday of Damon Runyon, Writer.

1903 ~ Birthday of John Vincent Atanasoff (http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/do_Atanasoff.html), inventor of the digital electronic computer.

1924 ~ Birthday of Charlton Heston, Actor.

1941 ~ Birthday of Anne Rice, horror/fantasy writer.

1943 ~ Birthday of H. Rap Brown (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/13/national/main503687.shtml), civil rights activist & murderer.

1957 ~ Launch of Sputnik I (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1004.html#article), the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

1983 ~ The first Hooters (http://www.hooters.com/company/about_hooters/) restaurant opens in Clearwater, Florida.

1993 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered the army to begin storming the Russian parliament building.

2002 ~ John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/terrorists/john-walker-lindh/)”, received a 20-year sentence.

2004 ~ The SpaceShipOne (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/10/04/spaceshipone.attempt.cnn/) rocket plane broke through Earth's atmosphere for the second time in five days to capture a $10 million prize.

[jseal]

1713 ~ Birthday of Denis Diderot, philosopher.

1813 ~ Death of Tecumseh, American Indian leader.

1882 ~ Birthday of Robert Goddard, rocket scientist.

1902 ~ Birthday of Ray Kroc (http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/kroc.html), founder of McDonald's Corporation.

1936 ~ Birthday of Václav Havel, playwright, president of the Czech Republic.

1947 ~ President Harry Truman gave the first televised White House address (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1005.html#article).

1994 ~ Forty eight members of a Swiss cult die in a mass suicide (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/5/newsid_3933000/3933957.stm).

1969 ~ “Monty Python's Flying Circus (http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/)” made its debut on BBC Television.

1972 ~ Montreal, Quebec: British Trade Commissioner James Cross was kidnapped (http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/readings/october.htm) by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

2000 ~ Mass demonstrations in Belgrade (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/5/newsid_2493000/2493021.stm) led to the resignation of Slobodan Milosevic.

[jseal]

1600 ~ Jacopo Peri's "Euridice (http://www.naxos.com/NewDesign/fintro.files/bintro.files/operas/Euridice(Jacopo_Peri).htm)", the earliest surviving opera, premiered in Florence.

1846 ~ Birthday of George Westinghouse (http://www.georgewestinghouse.com/life.html), Engineer & Inventor.

1887 ~ Birthday of Le Corbusier, Swiss architect.

1892 ~ Death of Alfred Tennyson, British poet laureate.

1914 ~ Birthday of Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer, leader of the “Kon-Tiki” expedition.

1927 ~ Opening of "The Jazz Singer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018037/)", first talking movie.

1948 ~ Birthday of Gerry Adams, Irish politician.

1973 ~ Egyptian troops cross the Suez Canal, starting the Yom Kippur War (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/6/newsid_2514000/2514317.stm).

1981 ~ Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1006.html#article)

1995 ~ The first extrasolar planet (http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/extrasolar/) was discovered orbiting 51 Pegasi, in the constellation of Pegasus.

[Oldfart]

Home!

[jseal]

1571 ~ The Ottoman Empire was defeated at the battle of Lepanto (http://www.nafpaktos.com/battle_of_lepanto.htm).

1849 ~ Death of Edgar Allan Poe (http://www.lfchosting.com/eapoe/), American writer.

1885 ~ Birthday of Niels Bohr (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1922/bohr-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1922.

1900 ~ Birthday of Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official and leader of the SS.

1908 ~ Crete revolts against the Ottoman Empire and aligns with Greece.

1931 ~ Birthday of Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and anti-apartheid activist.

1955 ~ Birthday of Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist.

1985 ~ "Achille Lauro (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1007.html#article)" hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.

2001 ~ The U.S. began its air offensive (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/7/newsid_2519000/2519353.stm) against al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan.

2003 ~ California governor Gray Davis was recalled (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/18/MN253560.DTL) from office and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[jseal]

1871 ~ The Great Chicago Fire (http://www.chicagohs.org/fire/intro/gcf-index.html) destroyed about 17,450 buildings, killed about 250 people and left another 90,000 homeless.

1895 ~ Birthday of Juan Perón, former president of Argentina.

1920 ~ Birthday of Frank Herbert (http://www.dunenovels.com/bios/frank.html), Science Fiction writer.

1949 ~ Birthday of Sigourney Weaver, Actress.

1961 ~ In London, the Post Office Tower (http://www.lightstraw.co.uk/ate/main/postofficetower/) opened.

1967 ~ Guerrilla leader Che Guevara (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/guevar.htm) was captured in Bolivia.

1982 ~ All labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1008.html#article).

1992 ~ Death of Willy Brandt, German politician.

2003 ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/8/newsid_3659000/3659108.stm) was elected governor of California.

2004 ~ Martha Stewart (http://www.courttv.com/trials/stewart/index.html) went to jail.

[Oldfart]

Frank Herbert, a challenging author.

[jseal]

Oldfart,

Yessir, he certainly was.

[jseal]

1776 ~ Fr Francisco Palou set up the Mission San Francisco de Asis, which became San Francisco, California.

1835 ~ Birthday of Camille Saint-Saëns (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/saint_saens.html), Composer.

1859 ~ Birthday of Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer.

1897 ~ Henry Sturmey became the 1st man to drive from Land's End, Cornwall to John O'Groats, Scotland.

1940 ~ Birthday of John Lennon (http://www.john-lennon.com/), Musician & Songwriter.

1942 ~ Statute of Westminster Adoption Act (http://www.statusquo.org/WestminsterAct.html) formalized Australian autonomy.

1948 ~ Birthday of Jackson Browne (http://www.jrp-graphics.com/jb/jbbio.html) (Doctor My Eyes, The Pretender, Running On Empty).

1961 ~ Ray Charles' Hit the Road Jack (http://www.discoverynet.com/~ajsnead/5060jb/5009.html) reached No. 1.

1970 ~ The Khmer Republic (http://www.answers.com/topic/cambodian-civil-war) was proclaimed in Cambodia.

1974 ~ Death of Oskar Schindler (http://www.oskarschindler.com/), businessman.

[jseal]

1813 ~ Birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer.

1845 ~ In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy (http://www.usna.edu///homepage.php)) opened with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.

1875 ~ Death of Aleksey Tolstoy, Novelist & Poet.

1966 ~ Simon and Garfunkel released the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

1970 ~ A crisis hit Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier Pierre Laporte became the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group (http://www.uni.ca/sep_origins.html).

1973 ~ Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1010.html#article) pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion and resigned.

1975 ~ Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor remarried (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_4089000/4089030.stm).

1980 ~ UK PM Margaret Thatcher gave a defiant speech (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm) at the Tory party conference "…I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!"

1985 ~ U.S. Navy F-14s intercepted the plane (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-14-combat.htm) carrying the “Achille Lauro” cruise ship hijackers and forced it to land at a NATO base in Sicily where they were arrested.

1985 ~ Death of Yul Brynner, Actor and Orson Welles, Director & Actor.

[Oldfart]

jseal,

Yul Brynner was really Orson Welles?

[jseal]

Oldfart,

Not too many are in on the secret, but they were one and the same! If you look closely, you can see that both Yul Brynner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yul_Brynner) and Orson Welles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Welles) were white males, and if you have listened to them in The King and I (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049408/) and Citizen Kane (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/), you’ll also know that neither could sing!

It doesn’t take too much imagination to see how the rough, tough Mr. Brenner could pander to his softer, artistic side by popping on a wig, and Presto, he gets two careers for the price of one! It should come as no surprise that “they” died on the same day.

It seems that I cannot slip anything past you, can I? :sad:

[Oldfart]

Sharp as a razor, this little black duck. LOL

[wyndhy]

he had me for a few seconds. :p

[jseal]

1779 ~ Death of Casimir Pulaski (http://www.answers.com/topic/casimir-pulaski#Wikipedia), Polish fighter for American independence.

1809 ~ Death of Meriwether Lewis, explorer.

1844 ~ Birthday of Henry Heinz (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/4547/heinz.html), food manufacturer.

1896 ~ Death of Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer.

1899 ~ Boer War (http://www.anglo-boer.co.za/): In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State began.

1961 ~ Death of Chico Marx, comedian.

1962 ~ Pope John XXIII convenes the Second Vatican Council (http://vatican2.org/).

1968 ~ Launch of Apollo 7 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1011.html#article), the first manned Apollo mission.

1975 ~ Saturday Night Live premiered (http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75a.phtml) with George Carlin as the guest host.

1987 ~ Operation Deepscan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/11/newsid_3166000/3166741.stm): An exploration of Loch Ness using sonar ended without finding Nessie.

[Oldfart]

Trust the southerners to pick the three weeks she's on holidays to go chasing her.

wyndhy, you're messing with my head again.

[jseal]

1492 ~ Christopher Columbus's first expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean. But where? (http://www.columbusnavigation.com/cclandfl.shtml)

1609 ~ Three Blind Mice (http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/modern/#D13) published by Thomas Ravenscroft (http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/).

1870 ~ Death of Gen. Robert E. Lee (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1012.html#article), Leader.

1935 ~ Birthday of Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor.

1968 ~ Summer Olympics open in Mexico City.

1977 ~ Four Palestinians hijacked a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia and demanded release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.

1986 ~ Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_3732000/3732902.stm) failed to agree on Star Wars at a disarmament summit in Reykjavik.

1997 ~ Death of John Denver (http://www.john-denver.org/default.asp?nc=1168&id=444), American singer.

2000 ~ Suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole (http://www.pianoladynancy.com/recovery_usscole.htm) in the Yemeni port of Aden.

2002 ~ A car bomb at a Bali nightclub (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/13/1034222664046.html) killed 202 people, mainly Australians.

[jseal]

54 ~ Death of Claudius (http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudius.htm), Roman Emperor.

1307 ~ All Knights Templar (http://www.templarhistory.com/who.html) in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of the French king, to be later tortured into admitting heresy.

1812 ~ Death of Sir Isaac Brock (http://www.warof1812.ca/brock.htm), British general (killed in the Battle of Queenston Heights).

1925 ~ Birthday of Margaret Thatcher (http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp), UK PM.

1941 ~ Birthday of Paul Simon, Singer & Songwriter.

1954 ~ Birthday of Mordechai Vanunu (http://www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk/), Israeli nuclear technician.

1959 ~ Birthday of Marie Osmond, Singer & Actress.

1974 ~ Death of Ed Sullivan, Television Personality.

1988 ~ The Thatcher Government lost the Spycatcher (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/13/newsid_2532000/2532583.stm) battle

1992 ~ The UK government announced plans to close one third of the coal mines (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1992-10-19/Debate-1.html).

[jseal]

1066 ~ Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings (http://www.battle1066.com/).

1894 ~ Birthday of E. E. Cummings, American poet.

1926 ~ Winnie-the-Pooh (http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/pooh75/home.html), by A.A. Milne, was published.

1940 ~ Birthday of Cliff Richard, British rock singer.

1944 ~ Given the choice between a public treason trial and a certain death by firing squad or suicide with honor, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/rommel.htm) chose the latter.

1947 ~ Chuck Yeager flew a Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound (http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/bellX1.html), the first man to do so in level flight.

1962 ~ Cuban Missile Crisis began (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/): A U-2 flight over Cuba took photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed.

1964 ~ Civil Rights movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1014.html#article) became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1990 ~ Death of Leonard Bernstein, Composer & Conductor.

1994 ~ PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shared the Nobel Peace Prize (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1994/).

[jseal]

70 BC ~ Birthday of Virgil (http://www.online-literature.com/virgil/), Roman poet.

1844 ~ Birthday of Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher.

1908 ~ Birthday of John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist.

1917 ~ Mata Hari was executed (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/matahari.htm) by firing squad for spying for Germany.

1951 ~ I Love Lucy (http://www.lucyfan.com/) premiered starring comedian Lucille Ball and her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz.

1964 ~ Death of Cole Porter, Composer.

1964 ~ Nikita Khrushchev “retired” (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1015.html#article) as head of USSR.

1970 ~ 35 construction workers died when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapsed.

1991 ~ The Senate confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A23641-2002Jul30&notFound=true) to the Supreme Court.

2003 ~ China launched its first manned spacecraft (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/newsid_3699000/3699842.stm) into orbit, becoming the third country to do so.

[jseal]

1793 ~ Death of Marie Antoinette (http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2antoinettem.htm) – guillotined.

1854 ~ Birthday of Oscar Wilde (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/wilde/wildeov.html), Irish writer.

1859 ~ John Brown (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html) led a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

1886 ~ Birthday of David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel.

1925 ~ Birthday of Angela Lansbury, actress.

1964 ~ China detonated its first nuclear weapon. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1016.html#article)

1970 ~ Anwar Sadat (http://www.arab.net/egypt/et_sadat.htm) was elected President of Egypt.

1978 ~ Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/16/newsid_3170000/3170452.stm). He was the first non Italian to be elevated to the position since 1522.

1981 ~ Death of Moshe Dayan, Israeli general.

1983 ~ The Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1983), 4 games to 3 in the 80th World Series.

[jseal]

1777 ~ British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y.

1888 ~ Thomas Edison filed a patent for the Optical Phonograph.

1915 ~ Birthday of Arthur Miller (http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/), Playwright.

1931 ~ Al Capone convicted (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1017.html#article) of income tax evasion.

1956 ~ Queen Elizabeth opened the first commercial nuclear power station (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_3147000/3147145.stm), at Calder Hall.

1972 ~ Birthday of Eminem, rap music performer.

1973 ~ Arab oil-producing nations announced they would cut back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo (http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2002/arab.html) that lasted until March 1974.

1979 ~ Mother Teresa (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html) of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on behalf of the destitute in Calcutta.

1980 ~ Queen Elizabeth became the first (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_3966000/3966411.stm) British monarch to make a state visit to the Vatican.

1989 ~ Loma Prieta earthquake (http://www.vibrationdata.com/earthquakes/lomaprieta.htm) hit the San Francisco Bay Area.

[jseal]

1545 ~ Death of John Taverner, Composer.

1767 ~ The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon line (http://geography.about.com/od/politicalgeography/a/masondixon.htm), was agreed upon.

1851 ~ Moby-Dick (http://www.melville.org/hmmoby.htm), a novel by Herman Melville, was first published as The Whale.

1871 ~ Death of Charles Babbage (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Babbage.html), mathematician and inventor of computing machines.

1908 ~ Death of Charles Gounod, composer.

1919 ~ Birthday of Pierre Trudeau (http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/trudeau-pierre.html), fifteenth PM of Canada.

1926 ~ Birthday of Chuck Berry (http://www.chuckberry.com/index.php), Musician.

1939 ~ Birthday of Lee Harvey Oswald, Assassin.

1962 ~ Dr. James D. Watson of the United States, and Dr. Francis Crick and Dr. Maurice Wilkins of Britain, were named winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/).

1989 ~ Erich Honecker was ousted (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/18/newsid_2450000/2450783.stm) as leader of East Germany after 18 years in power.

[jseal]

1745 ~ Death of Jonathan Swift (http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/), Author.

1781 ~ Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, effectively ending the American War of Independence.

1931 ~ Birthday of John Le Carré (http://www.johnlecarre.com/profile.html), Author.

1943 ~ Streptomycin (http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0846951.html) was isolated; the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis.

1950 ~ Death of Edna St. Vincent Millay (http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Edna_St_Vincent_Millay/edna_st_vincent_millay_contents.htm), Poet.

1954 ~ Metal fatigue was identified as the cause of Comet crashes (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/19/newsid_3112000/3112466.stm).

1960 ~ The U.S. imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba.

1987 ~ The DJI fell by 22% (Black Monday (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1019.html#article)).

2003 ~ Mother Teresa beatified by Pope John Paul II.

2005 ~ Trial of Saddam Hussein began.

[jseal]

1632 ~ Birthday of Sir Christopher Wren, Architect (http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=169345dwprEOVViTRLd8xXbHBDHGbzge).

1740 ~ Maria Theresa (http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/mariatheres.html) took the throne of Austria.

1803 ~ The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase (http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/louisiana/).

1882 ~ Birthday of Bela Lugosi, Actor.

1893 ~ Birthday of Jomo Kenyatta, President of Kenya.

1931 ~ Birthday of Mickey Mantle, athlete.

1983 ~ Grenada's Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/20/newsid_3720000/3720608.stm), was assassinated.

1968 ~ Jackie Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

1973 ~ The Sydney Opera House (http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Sydney_Opera.html) opened.

1984 ~ Death of Paul Dirac (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/dirac-bio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

[Mae]

Is PF planning to celebrate "National Mole Day" on October 23rd? Mole is that formula you had to memorize in high school chemistry class:

Avogadro's number ----- 6.024 x 10 (to the 23rd)

The formula defines the number of atomic mass units in a gram.

[jseal]

1772 ~ Birthday of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (http://incompetech.com/authors/coleridge/), Poet (http://etext.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mariner.html).

1805 ~ A British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar (http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/battle-of-trafalgar.html) off the coast of Spain.

1833 ~ Birthday of Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and benefactor of the Nobel Prize.

1854 ~ Florence Nightingale (http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/florrie.html) and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.

1879 ~ Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1021.html#article).

1912 ~ Birthday of Sir Georg Solti, Conductor.

1917 ~ Birthday of Dizzy Gillespie (http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/dizzygillespie.html), Jazz Musician.

1929 ~ Birthday of Ursula K. Le Guin, Science Fiction Author.

1944 ~ The first kamikaze attack (http://experts.about.com/e/h/hm/HMAS_Australia_(1927).htm): HMAS Australia was hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg bomb.

1983 ~ The meter was defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.

[jseal]

1797 ~ Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first recorded parachute jump (http://www.batnet.com/mfwright/garnerin.html) over Paris.

1811 ~ Birthday of Franz Liszt, Composer.

1836 ~ Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas (http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/index.html).

1844 ~ Birthday of Sarah Bernhardt, Actress.

1906 ~ Death of Paul Cezanne, Painter (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/sl/cezanne.cherries.jpg).

1920 ~ Birthday of Timothy Leary (http://deoxy.org/leary.htm), writer, psychedelic drug advocate.

1943 ~ Birthday of Catherine Deneuve, Actress.

1943 ~ The RAF air raid on Kassel (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=9mmpmke4ht9ms?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Bombing+of+Kassel+in+World+War+II&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1&sbid=lc05a&linktext=Bombing%20of%20Kassel%20in%20World%20War%20II), a city of 236,000 people, killed 10,000, and left 150,000 homeless.

1962 ~ US President Kennedy announced that American spy planes had discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1022.html#article), and that he had ordered a naval "quarantine" of the island nation.

1990 ~ The region around the Aral Sea assessed as the world’s worst ecological disaster (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/22/newsid_3756000/3756134.stm).

[jseal]

4004 BC ~ The start of the universe, according to the Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Ussher-Lightfoot_Calendar).

1892 ~ Birthday of Gummo Marx, actor, comedian (Marx Brothers (http://www.marx-brothers.org/)).

1935 ~ Birthday of Chi Chi Rodriguez, golf champion.

1940 ~ Birthday of Pelé, soccer player Extraordinaire.

1942 ~ In Egypt, British forces begin a major offensive against Axis forces by initiating the Second Battle of El Alamein (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWelalamein.htm).

1956 ~ Hungarians took to the streets in to demand an end to Soviet rule. Thousands died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/23/newsid_3140000/3140400.stm).

1958 ~ Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced a new set of comic strip characters The Smurfs (http://www.smurf.com/).

1983 ~ U.S. & French barracks in Beirut hit by truck bombs, killing 241 U.S. servicemen and 58 French (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1023.html#article).

1993 ~ Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter became the second player to end a World Series with a home run - three-run shot that gave Toronto an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6.

1998 ~ Death of Dr. Barnett Slepian, physician.

[jseal]

1632 ~ Birthday of Anton van Leeuwenhoek, microbiologist.

1799 ~ Death of Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Composer.

1929 ~ "Black Thursday (http://mutualfunds.about.com/cs/history/a/black_thursday.htm)" crash of the New York Stock Exchange.

1945 ~ Founding of the United Nations (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1024.html#article).

1947 ~ The expression “Cold War (http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide20/part05c.html)” was first used by Bernard Baruch to the U.S. Senate War Investigation Committee.

1948 ~ Death of Franz Lehár, Composer.

1991 ~ Death of Gene Roddenberry (http://www.pathcom.com/~boby/gene.htm), creator of the Star Trek series.

1992 ~ In the first real "World" Series, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-US team to win the World Series (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1992).

2002 ~ Army veteran John Muhammad and teenager Lee Malvo (http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/05/23/sniper.trial/index.html) were arrested in connection with the Washington D.C. area sniper attacks.

2003 ~ The Concorde completed its last commercial flight (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/24/newsid_3701000/3701490.stm), bringing the first era of civil supersonic transport to a close.

[Oldfart]

Another interesting selection of human behaviours.

[jseal]

1400 ~ Death of Geoffrey Chaucer ( http://geoffreychaucer.org/), Poet.

1825 ~ Birthday of Johann Strauss II, Composer.

1838 ~ Birthday of Georges Bizet, Composer.

1854 ~ Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War. You can listen and follow along (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/tennyson.shtml) to Lord Tennyson as he reads his poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3944699.stm)”.

1881 ~ Birthday of Pablo Picasso (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/P/picasso.html), Painter & Sculptor.

1924 ~ First appearance of "Little Orphan Annie (http://www.liss.olm.net/loahp/)”.

1936 ~ Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini created the Rome-Berlin Axis (http://www.p38lessonplan.com/axis.htm).

1971 ~ The UN General Assembly (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1025.html#article) seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China.

1993 ~ Jean Chrétien became prime minister of Canada.

1993 ~ Death of Vincent Price, Actor.

[jseal]

1685 ~ Birthday of Domenico Scarlatti, Composer.

1881 ~ The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (http://clantongang.com/oldwest/gunfight.html) took place at Tombstone, Arizona.

1905 ~ Norway became independent from Sweden.

1918 ~ Erich von Ludendorff is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilhelm_kaiser_ii.shtml) of Germany for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.

1947 ~ The Maharaja of Kashmir (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051026/j&k.htm) agreed to allow his kingdom to join India.

1965 ~ The Beatles (http://www.beatles.com/) are appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs).

1972 ~ Death of Igor Sikorsky, helicopter pioneer.

1994 ~ Announcement of Andrew Wiles’ correct proof of Fermat's Last Theorem (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/proof/wiles.html).

1999 ~ Britain's House of Lords voted to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.

2001 ~ The USA Patriot Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HR03162:%5D) passed into law.

[jseal]

1466 ~ Birthday of Erasmus (http://www.studyworld.com/desiderius_erasmus.htm) of Rotterdam, Dutch writer and philosopher.

1662 ~ Charles II of England sold Dunkirk (http://www.bartleby.com/65/du/DunkirkFr.html) to Louis XIV.

1728 ~ Birthday of James Cook, British Captain and explorer.

1787 ~ The first of the Federalist Papers (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html), a series of essays calling for ratification of the U.S. Constitution, was published.

1811 ~ Birthday of Isaac Singer, inventor of the sewing machine.

1914 ~ Birthday of Dylan Thomas, British poet and writer. If you’ve never heard Richard Burton read Under Milk Wood (http://www.undermilkwood.net/prose_umw1.html), you have a treat in store for you!

1959 ~ The Mouse That Roared (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053084/) premiered.

1991 ~ Turkmenistan (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tx.html) achieved independence from the Soviet Union.

2002 ~ Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected President of Brazil.

2004 ~ The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918 (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/ps/y2004/index.jsp), beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 in Game 4.

[jseal]

1485 ~ Le Morte D'Arthur (http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/m/malory/thomas/m25m/) was published.

1492 ~ Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba (http://www.athenapub.com/coluvoy1.htm).

1726 ~ Gulliver's Travels (http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/index.html) published.

1886 ~ The Statue of Liberty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1028.html#article) was dedicated.

1903 ~ Birthday of Evelyn Waugh, Novelist.

1914 ~ Birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95oct/jesalk.html), developer of the first effective polio vaccine.

1955 ~ Birthday of Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/about/default.mspx).

1962 ~ Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the U.S. that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/28/newsid_2621000/2621915.stm).

1965 ~ The 630-foot-tall steel Gateway Arch (http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/arch-slides.htm) in St. Louis, Missouri was completed.

1980 ~ Ronald Reagan asked voters during a debate with Jimmy Carter in Cleveland ''are you better off than you were four years ago?''.

[jseal]

1675 ~ Leibniz made the first use of the long s, ∫, for integral (http://www.answers.com/topic/integral-sign#wp-_ref-1).

1785 ~ Mozart's opera Don Giovanni (http://opera.stanford.edu/Mozart/DonGiovanni/main.html) received its first performance in Prague.

1911 ~ Death of Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper publisher and journalist.

1923 ~ The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (http://www.theottomans.org/english/history/index.asp).

1929 ~ New York Stock Exchange stock prices collapsed amid panic selling (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1029.html#article).

1957 ~ Death of Louis B. Mayer, film producer. The second “M” in “MGM”.

1964 ~ Tanganyika and Zanzibar became Tanzania (http://www.tanzania.go.tz/index.html).

1969 ~ The first computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET (http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/).

1975 ~ General Franco’s dictatorship (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/29/newsid_3582000/3582983.stm) of Spain came to an end.

2004 ~ Osama bin Laden, in a videotaped statement, directly admitted for the first time that he'd ordered the Sept. 11 attacks.

[Belial]

1969 ~ The first computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET (http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/).



I find it amazing that they were able to keep up the pretense that the network was for defence and not porn, which we all know is the primary driver for any technology :)

[jseal]

1831 ~ Nat Turner (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html) was arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in U.S. history.

1839 ~ Birthday of Alfred Sisley (http://www.abcgallery.com/S/sisley/sisley.html), one of the creators of French Impressionism.

1885 ~ Birthday of Ezra Pound, Poet.

1918 ~ The Ottoman Empire signed an armistice with the Allies (http://www.turkses.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=262&Itemid=46), ending World War I (http://www.firstworldwar.com/index.htm) in the Middle East.

1938 ~ Orson Welles’ broadcast of “The War of the Worlds (http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/sf_radio/wow.html)” caused a panic.

1939 ~ Birthday of Grace Slick, singer with Jefferson Airplane.

1961 ~ The Soviet Union detonated the 58 megaton hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/30/newsid_3666000/3666785.stm).

1968 ~ The film The Lion in Winter (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063227/), starring Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Anthony Hopkins & Timothy Dalton was released.

1974 ~ Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1030.html#article) to regain the World Heavyweight Boxing championship.

1995 ~ Quebec separatists lost a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (http://www.uni.ca/dialoguecanada/trent_guide.html) (vote was 50.6% to 49.4%

[jseal]

1517 ~ Protestant Reformation got under way: Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. For a unique insight to this happening, click here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3944549.stm).

1795 ~ Birthday of John Keats, Poet (http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/songoftheindianmaid.html).

1892 ~ Arthur Conan Doyle published The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Arthur_Conan_Doyle/The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes/).

1926 ~ Death of Harry Houdini, Magician.

1931 ~ Birthday of Dan Rather, Broadcast Journalist

1954 ~ The Algerian National Liberation Front (http://home.mtholyoke.edu/~easokolo/algeria/1962.htm) began a revolt against French rule.

1956 ~ Suez Crisis: The U.K. and France began bombing Egypt (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/suez.htm) to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

1971 ~ An IRA bomb exploded in London’s Post Office tower (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/31/newsid_2464000/2464143.stm).

1984 ~ Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1031.html#article) by two Sikh security guards (riots soon broke out in New Delhi and nearly 2,000 innocent Sikhs were killed).

1987 ~ Death of Joseph Campbell (http://www.jcf.org/about_jc.php), Author and expert on mythology.

[jseal]

1512 ~ The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html), painted by Michelangelo, was exhibited to the public for the first time.

1604 ~ At Whitehall Palace in London, the William Shakespeare tragedy Othello (http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/othello/) was presented for the first time.

1755 ~ Lisbon, Portugal was destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between sixty and ninety thousand people.

1892 ~ Birthday of Alexander Alekhine (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/alekhine/alekhine.htm), World Chess Champion.

1923 ~ Birthday of Gordon R. Dickson, Science Fiction author.

1935 ~ Birthday of Gary Player, South African golfer.

1952 ~ The U.S. successfully detonated the first hydrogen bomb (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1101.html#article), codenamed Mike, at Eniwetok island in the Bikini atoll.

1963 ~ The Arecibo Observatory (http://www.naic.edu/) in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opened.

1972 ~ Death of Ezra Pound (http://www.lit.kobe-u.ac.jp/~hishika/pound.htm), Poet.

1993 ~ The Maastricht Treaty (http://www.eurotreaties.com/maastrichtext.html) took effect, formally establishing the European Union.

[Oldfart]

There are still many European nationalists who think of it as the Mass Tricked Treaty.

[jseal]

1739 ~ Birthday of Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Composer.

1755 ~ Birthday of Marie Antoinette (http://www.batguano.com/VigeeMAgallery.html), Queen of France.

1815 ~ Birthday of George Boole, Mathematician & Philosopher.

1930 ~ Haile Selassie (http://www.royalty.nu/Africa/Ethiopia/Selassie.html) was crowned emperor of Ethiopia.

1936 ~ The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/history/1901-1939.shtml) was established.

1950 ~ Death of George Bernard Shaw, Playwright.

1976 ~ Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1102.html#article).

1964 ~ In a family coup, King Saud of Saudi Arabia was deposed, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal.

1983 ~ President Reagan signed a bill establishing a federal holiday in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode05/usc_sec_05_00006103----000-.html)

1988 ~ The Morris worm (http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/morris-worm.html) was launched from MIT.

[jseal]

1801 ~ Birthday of Vincenzo Bellini, Italian opera composer.

1838 ~ The Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/), the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper was founded.

1903 ~ Panama proclaimed itself independent from Colombia.

1918 ~ Poland declared its independence from Russia.

1954 ~ Death of Henri Matisse (http://images.google.com/images?q=Henri+Matisse&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape:en-US&sa=N&tab=ii&oi=imagest), French artist.

1957 ~ Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter space - a dog named Laika (http://www.space.com/news/laika_anniversary_991103.html).

1964 ~ Incumbent President Lyndon Johnson defeated challenger Barry Goldwater (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/3/newsid_3641000/3641464.stm) with over 60 percent of the popular vote.

1986 ~ Iran-Contra Affair (http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/) : The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reported that the United States had been selling weapons to Iran in secret in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

1992 ~ U.S. presidential election: Challenger Bill Clinton defeated incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush & independent candidate Ross Perot.

1993 ~ Death of Leon Theremin, Russian inventor.

[jseal]

1847 ~ Death of Felix Mendelssohn (http://www.felixmendelssohn.com/Default.htm), German composer.

1869 ~ The first issue of scientific journal Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html) was published.

1900 ~ Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Freud/Dreams/) was published.

1922 ~ British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men found the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb (http://www.crystalinks.com/tut.html) in the Valley of the Kings.

1924 ~ Death of Gabriel Fauré, French composer.

1948 ~ T.S. Eliot won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1956 ~ Soviet troops invaded Hungary (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_2739000/2739039.stm) to crush the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23. Thousands were killed, more were wounded, and nearly a quarter million left the country.

1979 ~ Students storm the US embassy in Tehran (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1104.html#article) and took 90 hostages.

1993 ~ Jean Chrétien took office as PM of Canada.

1995 ~ The Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated (http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/rabin/funeral/wrap/index.html) at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

[jseal]

1605 ~ Gunpowder Plot (http://www.gunpowder-plot.org/): A plot to blow up the English Houses of Parliament is foiled when Guy Fawkes was discovered in a cellar below the building.

1872 ~ Suffragist Susan B. Anthony (http://www.susanbanthonyhouse.org/biography.html) voted for the first time. She was fined $100 for the privilege.

1892 ~ Birthday of J. B. S. Haldane, Geneticist.

1911 ~ Birthday of Roy Rogers (http://www.royrogers.com/), American actor.

1914 ~ The UK annexed Cyprus (http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/0/de020800c01914bbc2257028003fbcbd?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=2#_Section2).

1930 ~ Sinclair Lewis (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1930/lewis-autobio.html) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1977 ~ Death of Guy Lombardo, Conductor.

1979 ~ Ayatollah Khomeini (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/religion/ayatollah-khomeni/) declares the USA to be "the great Satan".

1989 ~ Death of Vladimir Horowitz, Pianist.

1999 ~ Federal Judge Thomas Jackson declared Microsoft Corp. a monopoly (http://usvms.gpo.gov/ms-conclusions.html), saying the software giant's aggressive actions were ''stifling innovation'' and hurting consumers.

[jseal]

1528 ~ Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (http://ojinaga.com/cabeza/) became the first known European to see Texas.

1789 ~ Pope Pius VI appointed Father John Carroll (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03381b.htm) as the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States.

1854 ~ Birthday of John Philip Sousa (http://www.dws.org/sousa/about.htm), composer of the official march of the U.S., The Stars and Stripes Forever (http://www.dws.org/sousa/ra/dws-ssf1.ram) (requires RealPlayer (http://www.real.com/player/index.html?))

1861 ~ Birthday of James Naismith, inventor of basketball.

1869 ~ Rutgers (http://ruweb.rutgers.edu/about-the-university.shtml) University defeated Princeton University (http://www.princeton.edu/main/), 6-4, in the first official intercollegiate American football game (http://www.answers.com/topic/football).

1893 ~ Death of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer.

1913 ~ Mahatma Gandhi (http://www.mkgandhi.org/) was arrested while leading a march of Indian miners in South Africa.

1962 ~ The UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and called for all member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation.

1999 ~ Australians voted to keep the British queen (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/6/newsid_2514000/2514833.stm) as their head of state.

2000 ~ Death of L. Sprague De Camp, Science Fiction writer.

[jseal]

1665 ~ The London Gazette (http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/index.asp?webType=0), the oldest surviving English language journal, was first published.

1867 ~ Birthday of Marie Curie (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1903, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911.

1874 ~ The Republican Party was symbolized as an elephant (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1107.html) for the first time, in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly magazine.

1886 ~ Birthday of Aron Nimzowitsch (http://home19.inet.tele.dk/kastanie/), chess grandmaster.

1913 ~ Birthday of Albert Camus (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1957/camus-bio.html), writer, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1957.

1917 ~ Bolshevik leaders Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky lead revolutionaries in overthrowing the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1107.html#article).

1922 ~ Birthday of Al Hirt, Musician.

1926 ~ Birthday of Dame Joan Sutherland, Opera singer.

1934 ~ Premiere of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini at Baltimore, Maryland.

1940 ~ The middle section of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (http://www.ketchum.org/tacomacollapse.html) collapsed in a windstorm.

[jseal]

1674 ~ Death of John Milton (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jmilton.htm), English poet.

1847 ~ Birthday of Bram Stoker, Irish novelist.

1884 ~ Birthday of Hermann Rorschach, psychiatrist.

1895 ~ Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays (http://www.xray.hmc.psu.edu/rci/ss1/ss1_2.html).

1942 ~ World War II: Operation Torch (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWtorch.htm) – U.S. and UK forces landed in French North Africa.

1950 ~ Korean War: The first dog fight between jet aircraft (http://history.nasa.gov/Timeline/1950-54.html).

1986 ~ Death of Vyacheslav Molotov (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSmolotov.htm), Soviet politician.

1994 ~ The U.S. Republican Party took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

2002 ~ Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 (http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2002/sc2002.htm) – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Iraq, requiring Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences". (requires Adobe Acrobat)

2006 ~ The U.S. Democrtic Party took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

[jseal]

1731 ~ Birthday of Benjamin Banneker, American scientist.

1888 ~ Jack the Ripper killed Mary Jane Kelly (http://www.casebook.org/victims/), his last known victim.

1918 ~ As a result of the German Revolution, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicated and went into exile in the Netherlands.

1934 ~ Birthday of Carl Sagan (http://www.planetary.org/about/founders/carl_sagan.html), American Astronomer & Writer.

1936 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Tal (http://www.chessbase.com/columns/column.asp?pid=134), World Chess Champion.

1938 ~ Nazi Germany's first large-scale act of physical anti-Jewish violence, Kristallnacht (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/knacht.htm), began.

1953 ~ Death of Dylan Thomas (http://www.dylanthomas.com/), Welsh poet.

1965 ~ Several U.S. states and parts of Canada were hit by blackouts (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1109.html#article).

1970 ~ Death of Charles de Gaulle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/9/newsid_4275000/4275206.stm), French general and politician.

1989 ~ East Germany allowed its citizens to travel freely to West Germany for the first time since 1961.

[jseal]

1483 ~ Birthday of Martin Luther, a leader of the Protestant Reformation.

1775 ~ The Continental Congress passed a resolution creating the Continental Marines, later renamed the United States Marine Corps (http://www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp).

1871 ~ Henry Morton Stanley (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stanley_sir_henry_morton.shtml) located missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/livingstone_david.shtml) in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika saying "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

1919 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Kalashnikov (http://kalashnikov.guns.ru/), Soviet inventor, AK-47.

1925 ~ Birthday of Richard Burton, Actor.

1938 ~ Death of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (http://www.ataturk.com/), founder of Turkey.

1951 ~ Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service began in the United States.

1975 ~ The SS Edmund Fitzgerald (http://www.ssefo.com/) sank during a storm on Lake Superior. Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a song about the tragedy.

1982 ~ The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1110.html#article) in Washington D.C. opened to public.

1995 ~ Execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/10/newsid_2539000/2539561.stm), writer and human rights activist.

[jseal]

1821 ~ Birthday of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist.

1855 ~ Death of Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher.

1880 ~ Australian bushranger and bank robber Ned Kelly (http://www.australia-about.com/ned.html) was hung in Melbourne (http://www.ripefruit.com/melbourne/sights/old_melbourne_gaol.htm).

1885 ~ Birthday of George Patton (http://www.generalpatton.com/biography.html), American general.

1904 ~ Birthday of Alger Hiss (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhiss.htm), Spy.

1918 ~ The end of World War I (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1111.html#article): Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies.

1965 ~ Rhodesia proclaimed its independence from Britain.

1992 ~ The Church of England (http://www.cofe.anglican.org/) voted to allow women to become priests (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/11/newsid_2518000/2518183.stm).

2000 ~ A cable car full of skiers and snowboarders, many of them children, caught fire in Austria, killing 155 people.

2004 ~ Death of Yasser Arafat (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/11/newsid_4292000/4292998.stm), President of the Palestinian Authority.

[jseal]

1035 ~ Death of King Canute (http://www.viking.no/e/people/e-knud.htm).

1833 ~ Birthday of Alexander Borodin, Russian composer.

1840 ~ Birthday of Auguste Rodin, French sculptor.

1942 ~ The WWII naval Battle of Guadalcanal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1112.html#article) began.

1944 ~ The German battleship Tirpitz was sunk (http://www.kbismarck.com/tirpitz.html) off the coast of Norway.

1954 ~ Ellis Island closed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/12/newsid_3963000/3963251.stm).

1955 ~ Hovercraft patented (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blhovercraft.htm) by British engineer Christopher Cockerell.

1970 ~ The famous exploding whale (http://www.perp.com/whale/video.html) incident.

1990 ~ Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web (http://www.w3.org/Proposal.html).

2001 ~ Taliban forces abandoned Kabul ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/northern_alliance.htm) troops.

[jseal]

354 ~ Birthday of Saint Augustine of Hippo (http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/stanford/entries/augustine/), Theologian.

1850 ~ Birthday of Robert Louis Stevenson, Novelist.

1868 ~ Death of Gioacchino Rossini, Composer.

1940 ~ The animated film Fantasia (http://www.filmsite.org/fant.html) was released.

1956 ~ U.S. Supreme Court declared Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1113.html#article).

1985 ~ A mudslide triggered by the Nevado del Ruiz volcano (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/13/newsid_2539000/2539731.stm) buried the city of Armero, Colombia, killing some 23,000 people.

1990 ~ Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first known World Wide Web page (http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/FAQ.html#Examples).

1998 ~ President Clinton agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000 (http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/reference/wak/presidents/clinton_bill.html), ending the four-year legal battle over her sexual harassment lawsuit that spurred impeachment proceedings against him. Clinton did not admit guilt or apologize.

2001 ~ Afghanistan's ruling Taliban abandoned the capital Kabul without a fight, allowing Northern Alliance fighters to take over the city.

2002 ~ Saddam Hussein's government agreed to the return of international weapons inspectors (http://history.searchbeat.com/iraq-disarmament.htm) to Iraq.

[jseal]

1716 ~ Death of Gottfried Leibniz (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Leibniz.html), Philosopher & Mathematician.

1719 ~ Birthday of Leopold Mozart (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/lmozart.html), Austrian musician, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (http://www.mozartproject.org/).

1832 ~ Death of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (http://www.acton.org/publicat/randl/liberal.php?id=368), Declaration of Independence signer.

1840 ~ Birthday of Claude Monet, French impressionist painter.

1851 ~ Herman Melville's novel “Moby-Dick (http://www.melville.org/hmmoby.htm)” was first published in the U.S.

1900 ~ Birthday of Aaron Copland, Composer.

1922 ~ The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began radio service in the UK.

1972 ~ The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 1,000 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1114.html#article) for the first time.

1991 ~ Indictments handed down against two Libyan intelligence officials (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/14/newsid_2518000/2518895.stm) in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.

2001 ~ Northern Alliance fighters (http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,,592758,00.html) entered Kabul.

[jseal]

1630 ~ Death of Johannes Kepler (http://kepler.nasa.gov/johannes/), astrologer, astronomer and mathematician.

1787 ~ Death of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Composer.

1887 ~ Birthday of Georgia O'Keeffe (http://webpages.marshall.edu/~smith82/okeef.html), Painter.

1891 ~ Birthday of Erwin Rommel (http://www.achtungpanzer.com/gen1.htm), German Field Marshal.

1920 ~ First assembly of the League of Nations (http://www.indiana.edu/~league/index.htm) was held in Geneva.

1940 ~ The Luftwaffe destroyed most of the English town of Coventry (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_3522000/3522785.stm) during World War II.

1942 ~ Birthday of Daniel Barenboim, Pianist & Conductor.

1960 ~ The Polaris missile became operational (http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-27.html) on the USS George Washington (SSBN-598).

1969 ~ The Soviet submarine K-19 collided with the American submarine USS Gato.

1971 ~ Intel released the first commercial single-chip microprocessor (http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa092998.htm), the 4004.

[jseal]

1849 ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/fdosto.htm) sentenced to death; his execution was canceled at the last minute.

1885 ~ Louis Riel (http://www.shsb.mb.ca/Riel/indexenglish.htm), Canadian rebel leader and "Father of Manitoba", executed for high treason.

1895 ~ Birthday of Paul Hindemith, Composer.

1922 ~ Birthday of Gene Amdahl, computer scientist.

1933 ~ The U.S. and the USSR established diplomatic relations (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1116.html#article).

1959 ~ The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music)'' opened on Broadway.

1960 ~ Death of Clark Gable, Actor.

1965 ~ The Soviet Union launched the Venera 3 (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1965-092A) space probe toward Venus, the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.

1979 ~ Sir Anthony Blunt (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/16/newsid_3907000/3907233.stm), a former security service officer, identified as the "fourth man" in the Philby (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SSphilby.htm) affair.

[jseal]

1777 ~ Articles of Confederation (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/artconf.htm) submitted to the states for ratification.

1869 ~ The Suez Canal (http://i-cias.com/e.o/suez_can.htm) was opened.

1887 ~ Birthday of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

1917 ~ Death of Auguste Rodin (http://www.rodinmuseum.org/), Sculptor.

1929 ~ Death of Herman Hollerith, Statistician.

1959 ~ Death of Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian Composer.

1970 ~ In one of the greatest successes of the Soviet lunar exploration program (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunarussr.html), The USSR landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990109.html).

1970 ~ Douglas Engelbart received a patent for the first computer mouse (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_computer_mouse_patent.htm).

1997 ~ An Islamic extremist group killed 60 tourists (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/17/newsid_2519000/2519581.stm) at Luxor, Egypt.

2003 ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger was inaugurated Governor of California (http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/3333/).

[jseal]

1786 ~ Birthday of Carl Maria von Weber, Composer.

1836 ~ Birthday of Sir William S. Gilbert, Dramatist.

1883 ~ American and Canadian railroads instituted four standard continental time zones (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov18.html).

1916 ~ World War I (http://www.firstworldwar.com/): First Battle of the Somme (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm), which started on July 1, ended in stalemate – Approx. 1,120,000 casualties, 310,000 killed or missing.

1928 ~ Release of Steamboat Willie (http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon_information/3820-Steamboat_Willie.html), the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, featuring the Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

1945 ~ Operation Paperclip (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4443934.stm): The first of more than 700 German scientists arrived in the U.S. to help the development of rocket technology.

1976 ~ Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after the dictatorship of General Franco (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1118.html#article).

1978 ~ Jonestown, Guyana mass suicide (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_2540000/2540209.stm): 914 die, including 276 children.

2002 ~ UN weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

2004 ~ The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry.

[jseal]

1493 ~ Christopher Columbus became the first European to go ashore on what would become Puerto Rico.

1805 ~ Birthday of Ferdinand de Lesseps, Suez Canal engineer.

1828 ~ Death of Franz Schubert, Austrian Composer.

1863 ~ U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/gadrft.html) at the military cemetery dedication ceremony (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1119.html#article) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

1884 ~ Birthday of José Raúl Capablanca (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/capablanca/capablanca.htm), Cuban Chess Grand Master.

1917 ~ Birthday of Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India.

1941 ~ World War II: The Royal Australian Navy cruiser HMAS Sydney (http://www.hmassydney.com.au/) and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran sank each other off the coast of Western Australia.

1969 ~ The second Apollo mission, Apollo 12, landed on the Moon (http://www.astronomytoday.com/exploration/apollo.html) – in “the Ocean of Storms”.

1977 ~ Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/19/newsid_2520000/2520467.stm) and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.

1998 ~ Lewinsky scandal: The U.S. House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings against US President Bill Clinton.

[jseal]

1889 ~ Birthday of Edwin Hubble (http://www.edwinhubble.com/), Astronomer.

1908 ~ Birthday of Alistair Cooke (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/default.stm), Journalist.

1910 ~ Death of Leo Tolstoy, Novelist.

1924 ~ Birthday of Benoît Mandelbrot (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Mandelbrot.html), Mathematician.

1945 ~ The trials of 20 German Nazi leaders charged with war crimes (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1120.html#article) during World War II started at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.

1947 ~ The Princess Elizabeth (http://www.britainexpress.com/royals/queen.htm) married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (http://www.britainexpress.com/royals/philip.htm) at Westminster Abbey in London.

1995 ~ Diana, Princess of Wales, admitted to adultery during a TV interview (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/20/newsid_4341000/4341436.stm).

1998 ~ The first module of the International Space Station (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html), Zarya, was launched.

1998 ~ A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declared accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" (http://mideastnews.com/laden20.htm) in regards to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

2003 ~ Michael Jackson was arrested charges of child molestation.

[jseal]

1695 ~ Death of Henry Purcell, Composer.

1787 ~ Birthday of Samuel Cunard, Shipping Magnate.

1877 ~ Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record sound.

1898 ~ Birthday of René Magritte, Belgian painter.

1953 ~ Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announced that the skull of the "Piltdown Man (http://home.tiac.net/~cri_a/piltdown/piltdown.html)" was a hoax.

1964 ~ Verrazano Narrows Bridge (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1121.html#article) opened.

1969 ~ The first ARPANET link was established.

1980 ~ Lake Peigneur (http://members.tripod.com/~earthdude1/texaco/texaco.html) drained into an underlying salt deposit.

1985 ~ U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_pollard.html) was arrested for giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison.

1995 ~ Toy Story (http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/ts/) was released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.

[jseal]

1718 ~ English pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard was killed (http://www.piratesinfo.com/biography/biography.php?article_id=39) in battle off the coast of Virginia.

1890 ~ Birthday of Charles de Gaulle, General, President of France.

1900 ~ Death of Arthur S. Sullivan, Composer.

1913 ~ Birthday of Benjamin Britten, Composer.

1963 ~ Death of C. S. Lewis (http://cslewis.drzeus.net/bio/), Author.

1963 ~ Death of Aldous Huxley, Author. (Brave New World (http://www.huxley.net/))

1963 ~ President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1122.html#article).

1968 ~ The Beatles released The White Album (http://www.beatletracks.com/btwhite.html).

1977 ~ British Airways began London to New York City supersonic Concorde service (http://www.concordesst.com/).

1990 ~ UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm).

[jseal]

1860 ~ Birthday of Billy the Kid (http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/), Bandit.

1869 ~ The clipper ship "Cutty Sark (http://www.cuttysark.org.uk/index.cfm)" was launched. It is the only surviving example.

1887 ~ Birthday of Boris Karloff, Actor.

1888 ~ Birthday of Harpo Marx, Comedian.

1936 ~ The first edition of Life (http://www.life.com/Life/lifephotos.html)was published.

1943 ~ U.S. Marines seized control of the Tarawa and Makin atolls (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1123.html#article) from the Japanese.

1955 ~ Death of Shemp Howard, actor, comedian (The Three Stooges (http://www.threestooges.com/))

1963 ~ The first episode of the sci-fi TV series "Doctor Who (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056751/)" aired on the BBC.

1971 ~ The People's Republic of China was given the Republic of China's seat on the United Nations Security Council.

2004 ~ Dan Rather announced he would step down as principal anchorman of "The CBS Evening News".

[jseal]

1642 ~ Abel Tasman became the first European to discover the island of Tasmania.

1853 ~ Birthday of Bat Masterson, Gunslinger, Policeman, Sports Reporter.

1859 ~ British naturalist Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species (http://www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-origin-of-species/index.htm)", a book which argues that organisms gradually evolve through natural selection.

1868 ~ Birthday of Scott Joplin, Musician.

1941 ~ Birthday of Pete Best, original drummer of The Beatles.

1947 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve citations of contempt of Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10 (http://www.answers.com/topic/hollywood-ten) after they refused to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

1963 ~ Death of Lee Harvey Oswald (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1124.html#article), assassination suspect.

1991 ~ Death of Freddie Mercury (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/24/newsid_2546000/2546945.stm), musician (Queen).

1993 ~ In the UK, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were convicted of the murder of 2-year-old James Bulger.

1998 ~ America Online announced it would acquire Netscape Communications (http://news.com.com/2100-1023-218360.html?legacy=cnet).

[jseal]

1783 ~ American Revolutionary War (http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/index.html): The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

1844 ~ Birthday of Karl Benz (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbenz.htm), Engineer.

1913 ~ Birthday of Lewis Thomas, Physician & Essayist.

1926 ~ Birthday of Poul Anderson (http://www.catch22.com/SF/ARB/SFA/Anderson,Poul.php3), Science Fiction writer.

1940 ~ Woody Woodpecker first appeared in the film "Knock Knock (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146967/)"

1947 ~ New Zealand ratified (http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/L/LegalSystem/SourcesOfLaw/en) the Statute of Westminster and became independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.

1968 ~ Death of Upton Sinclair, Journalist, Politician, Writer.

1973 ~ Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_2546000/2546297.stm) in a bloodless military coup.

1986 ~ The Iran-Contra affair (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1125.html#article) became public knowledge.

1999 ~ Six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez was rescued (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/elian/etc/eliancron.html) by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida.

[jseal]

1778 ~ Captain James Cook discovered Maui (http://www.visitmaui.com/), in the Hawaiian Islands.

1862 ~ Lewis Carroll sent the handwritten manuscript of “Alice's Adventures Underground” to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.

1894 ~ Birthday of Norbert Wiener (http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_wiener.htm), mathematician, founder of cybernetics.

1922 ~ Birthday of Charles M. Schulz, Cartoonist.

1922 ~ Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon viewed the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

1942 ~ The film Casablanca premiered (http://www.filmsite.org/casa.html) in New York City.

1942 ~ President Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1126.html#article), beginning in December.

1968 ~ Cream (http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/c/cream-worlds-first.shtml) played their farewell concert.

1976 ~ The Band (http://theband.hiof.no/history/part_0.html) played their farewell concert.

2003 ~ Last ever flight (http://www.concordeatfilton.org.uk/history/) by Concorde.

[jseal]

8 BC ~ Death of Horace (http://www.crystalinks.com/horace.html), poet. Remembered for, among other things, “carpe diem” (seize the day).

1095 ~ Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html) at the Council of Clermont.

1895 ~ Alfred Nobel (http://nobelprize.org/nobel/alfred-nobel/) signed his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he died.

1907 ~ Birthday of L. Sprague de Camp, Science Fiction writer.

1921 ~ Birthday of Alexander Dubcèk (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/dubcek/), Czech politician.

1942 ~ Birthday of Jimi Hendrix, musician.

1946 ~ Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/india/nuke/) appealed to the U.S. and the USSR to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster".

1953 ~ Death of Eugene O'Neill, playwright.

1990 ~ John Major (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/27/newsid_2528000/2528847.stm) followed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the UK.

2001 ~ A hydrogen atmosphere was detected on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the HST, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.

[jseal]

1520 ~ Ferdinand Magellan became the first to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

1632 ~ Birthday of Jean-Baptiste Lully, Composer.

1820 ~ Birthday of Friedrich Engels (http://www.indepthinfo.com/communist-manifesto/engels.shtml), social philosopher.

1859 ~ Death of Washington Irving, writer.

1905 ~ Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith (http://www.iol.ie/~dluby/people.htm#Griffith) founded Sinn Féin with a goal of independence for all of Ireland.

1939 ~ Death of James A Naismith (http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Naismith.htm), creator of basketball.

1954 ~ Death of Enrico Fermi (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1938/fermi-bio.html), Physicist.

1969 ~ The Rolling Stones (http://www.rollingstones.com/home.php) released the classic album Let It Bleed (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling-stones,-the/118243.html).

1989 ~ Velvet Revolution - The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced it would give up its monopoly on political power.

2000 ~ The eighth tar drop fell in the University of Queensland pitch drop experiment (http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/pitchdrop/pitchdrop.shtml).

[jseal]

1643 ~ Death of Claudio Monteverdi (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/monteverdi.html), Composer.

1797 ~ Birthday of Gaetano Donizetti, Opera Composer.

1832 ~ Birthday of Louisa May Alcott (http://www.louisamayalcott.org/), Writer.

1898 ~ Birthday of C. S. Lewis (http://cslewis.drzeus.net/), Writer.

1947 ~ The UN passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1129.html#article).

1975 ~ The name "Micro-soft" (for "microcomputer software") is first used in a letter from Bill Gates (http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/default.asp) to Paul Allen (http://paul-allen.search.ipupdater.com/).

1981 ~ Natalie Wood (http://www.nataliewoodonline.com/) drowned in a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island, California.

1982 ~ The UN General Assembly passed Resolution 37/37, stating that the Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan.

1990 ~ The UN Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that nation did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.

2001 ~ Death of George Harrison, musician.

[jseal]

1667 ~ Birthday of Jonathan Swift (http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/swift.htm), Writer & Satirist.

1835 ~ Birthday of Mark Twain, Writer (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/huckfinn.htm), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/sawyer.htm), The Prince and the Pauper (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/princepauper.html), and A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/yankee.htm)).

1872 ~ First international soccer match played at Hamilton Crescent, Scotland.

1874 ~ Birthday of Sir Winston Churchill (http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1), British political leader & Writer.

1936 ~ In London, the Crystal Palace (http://www.victorianstation.com/palace.html) was destroyed in a fire. It had been built for the 1851 Great Exhibition.

1900 ~ Death of Oscar Wilde, Writer.

1954 ~ In Sylacauga, Alabama, an 8.5 pound meteorite crashed through her roof and hit Mrs. Elizabeth Hodges in her living room after bouncing off her radio. This is the only documented case of anyone being hit by a meteorite.

1993 ~ President Bill Clinton signed into law the Brady bill (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000921----000-.html), which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

1999 ~ The anti-globalization movement caught police unprepared and forced the cancellation of opening ceremonies of a WTO meeting.

2004 ~ Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings lost, having won more than $2,500,000.

[jseal]

1083 ~ Birthday of Anna Comnena (http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine5.html), Byzantine historian.

1640 ~ Portugal regained its independence from Spain.

1824 ~ U.S. presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the House of Representatives was given the task to decide the winner (http://www.answers.com/topic/u-s-presidential-election-1824), as stipulated by the Twelfth Amendment.

1835 ~ Hans Christian Andersen published his first book of fairy tales.

1918 ~ Founding of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia).

1935 ~ Birthday of Woody Allen (http://www.woodyallen.com/), Film Director & Actor &Comedian.

1955 ~ Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/1/newsid_4398000/4398912.stm) to a white man and was arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws.

1959 ~ The Antarctic Treaty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1201.html#article) signed, which set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and banned military activity.

1990 ~ English and French Channel Tunnel workers met (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/1/newsid_2516000/2516473.stm) beneath the English Channel.

1991 ~ Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.

[IowaMan]

Oh my god, that was 1990 for the tunnel in the English Channel?

[jseal]

1547 ~ Death of Hernán Cortés, Spanish explorer and conqueror.

1814 ~ Death of Marquis de Sade (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/desade.htm), Writer.

1859 ~ Militant abolitionist leader John Brown was hanged (http://www.wvculture.org/History/jnobrown.html) for his October 16th raid on Harper's Ferry.

1923 ~ Birthday of Maria Callas, Opera Singer.

1942 ~ Manhattan Project: A team led by Enrico Fermi initiate the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (http://www.atomicmuseum.com/tour/manhattanproject.cfm).

1954 ~ Senator McCarthy was censured (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1202.html#article) for conduct unbecoming to a senator.

1961 ~ Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared that he was a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba was going to adopt Communism.

1990 ~ War on Drugs: Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (http://cocaine.org/colombia/pablo-escobar.html) was shot and killed in Medellín.

1991 ~ Apple release the first version of QuickTime (http://developer.apple.com/quicktime/).

2001 ~ Enron files for Chapter 11 (http://www.enron.com/corp/pressroom/releases/2001/ene/PressRelease11-12-02-01letterhead.html) bankruptcy.

[jseal]

1815 ~ Death of John Carroll (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03381b.htm) - First Roman Catholic Archbishop in the U.S.

1857 ~ Birthday of Joseph Conrad (http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/), Writer.

1894 ~ Death of Robert Louis Stevenson, Writer.

1919 ~ Death of Pierre-Auguste Renoir (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/renoir.html), Painter.

1947 ~ ''A Streetcar Named Desire (http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/streetcar/index.html)'' by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

1967 ~ At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, Lewis Washkansky became the first human to receive a heart transplant. The transplant team was headed by Christiaan Barnard (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1470356.stm).

1984 ~ Bhopal Disaster (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1203.html#article): A leak from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killed nearly 3,000 people in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

1989 ~ U.S. President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared an end to the Cold War (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/3/newsid_4119000/4119950.stm).

1999 ~ NASA lost contact with the Mars Polar Lander just before it entered the Martian atmosphere.

1999 ~ Death of Madeline Kahn, Actress & Comedian.

[jseal]

1110 ~ The Crusaders captured Sidon (http://www.cedarland.org/crusleb.html).

1642 ~ Death of Cardinal Richelieu (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95sep/richelieu.html) , French statesman.

1674 ~ Father Jacques Marquette founded a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan which would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois.

1679 ~ Death of Thomas Hobbes, political philosopher.

1849 ~ Birthday of Crazy Horse (http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/crazyhorse.htm), American Indian leader.

1872 ~ The Mary Celeste was found by the British brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged.

1945 ~ The U.S. Senate approved United States participation in the United Nations (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1204.html#article).

1952 ~ Great Smog of 1952 (http://www.metoffice.com/education/secondary/students/smog.html): A "killer fog" descended on London. "Smog" for "smoke" and "fog" becomes a word.

1976 ~ Death of Benjamin Britten (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_2519000/2519877.stm), Composer.

1991 ~ Pan American World Airways (http://pan-am.biography.ms/) ceased operations.

[jseal]

1766 ~ James Christie held his first sale in London. He later founded Christie's (http://www.christies.com/home_page/home_page.asp), the world's oldest auction house.

1791 ~ Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (http://www.mozartproject.org/), Composer.

1839 ~ Birthday of George Armstrong Custer, American general.

1890 ~ Birthday of Fritz Lang (http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/lang/), film director.

1901 ~ Birthday of Werner Karl Heisenberg, physicist.

1901 ~ Birthday of Walt Disney (http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/), film producer.

1926 ~ Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Potemkin.html), debuted.

1933 ~ Prohibition ended (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1205.html#article): The Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified. This overturned the 18th Amendment, which had outlawed the inter-state sale of alcohol.

1945 ~ A U.S. Navy training flight, Flight 19, was lost in the Bermuda Triangle (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm).

1995 ~ The Sri Lankan armed forces took Jaffna (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_4618000/4618661.stm) from the Tamil Tigers.

[jseal]

1768 ~ First edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (http://corporate.britannica.com/company_info.html) was published.

1884 ~ The Thirteenth Amendment (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment13/) to the U. S. Constitution, banning slavery, was ratified.

1889 ~ Death of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America (http://www.civilwarhome.com/csa.htm).

1920 ~ Birthday of Dave Brubeck, jazz musician.

1929 ~ Birthday of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor.

1933 ~ James Joyce’s novel Ulysses (http://www.readbookonline.net/title/149/) was judged not obscene.

1947 ~ Everglades National Park (http://www.nps.gov/ever/) in Florida was dedicated by President Truman.

1989 ~ Marc Lépine killed 14 women (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-70-398/disasters_tragedies/montreal_massacre/) in Montreal, Quebec.

1992 ~ In Ayodhya, India, Hindus demolished the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/6/newsid_3712000/3712777.stm).

2002 ~ Death of Philip Berrigan (http://www.jonahhouse.org/danProfile.htm), civil rights activist.

[jseal]

43 BC ~ Death of Cicero (http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROME/CICERO.HTM), Roman politician and author.

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

1817 ~ Death of William Bligh (http://www.sttudy.org.uk/Bligh/bligh.htm), British naval officer.

1905 ~ Birthday of Gerard Kuiper, Astronomer.

1928 ~ Birthday of Noam Chomsky, Linguist.

1941 ~ The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1207.html#article) brought the U.S. into World War II.

1965 ~ Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_common-declaration_en.html) simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.

1970 ~ Death of Rube Goldberg (http://www.rube-goldberg.com/), cartoonist.

1972 ~ Launch of Apollo 17 (http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS17/a17.htm), the last manned lunar landing mission.

1975 ~ Indonesia invaded East Timor (http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/EastTimor_KH.html).

[jseal]

1542 ~ Birthday of Mary Queen of Scots.

1864 ~ Death of George Boole, Mathematician.

1925 ~ Birthday of Sammy Davis Jr. (http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/davis_sammy_jr_/bio.jhtml), Actor & Singer.

1939 ~ Birthday of James Galway, Irish flutist.

1978 ~ Death of Golda Meir (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/meir.html), former Prime Minister of Israel.

1980 ~ Mark Chapman murdered former Beatle John Lennon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8/newsid_2536000/2536321.stm).

1987 ~ The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8/newsid_3283000/3283817.stm) was signed.

1991 ~ Leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed an agreement ending the U.S.S.R. and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0813056.html).

1993 ~ U.S. participation in The North American Free Trade Agreement (http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/DefaultSite/index_e.aspx) (NAFTA) was signed into law by President Clinton.

1994 ~ U.S. participation in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed into law by President Clinton.

[jseal]

1608 ~ Birthday of John Milton (http://www.urich.edu/~creamer/milton/), Poet & Writer.

1793 ~ New York City's first daily newspaper, the “American Minerva”, is established by Noah Webster (http://lexrex.com/bios/nwebster.htm).

1868 ~ Birthday of Fritz Haber, German chemist, Nobel prize winner in 1918.

1937 ~ Battle of Nanjing began. The Rape of Nanjing (http://www.historywiz.com/nanjing.htm) followed.

1950 ~ Harry Gold (http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/SPY/ROSENBERG/gold_h.htm) sentenced to thirty years in jail for stealing United States nuclear weapon secrets for the Soviet Union.

1961 ~ Adolf Eichmann found guilty of war crimes in Israel.

1987 ~ First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

1992 ~ Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1209.html#article).

1996 ~ Death of Mary Leakey (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/klmno/leakey_mary.html), Archeologist & Anthropologist.

2004 ~ Canada's Supreme Court (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/samesexrights/2004scc079.wpd.txt) ruled that homosexual marriage was constitutional.

[jseal]

1815 ~ Birthday of Ada Lovelace (http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/lovelace.html), first computer programmer.

1822 ~ Birthday of César Franck, Composer & Organist.

1830 ~ Birthday of Emily Dickinson, Poet.

1896 ~ Death of Alfred Nobel (http://nobelprize.org/nobel/alfred-nobel/biographical/timeline/index.html), chemist, founder of the Nobel Prize.

1901 ~ Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize.

1941 ~ Japanese forces landed in the Philippines, captured Guam and sank the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse (http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/).

1953 ~ Dr. Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1965 ~ The Grateful Dead (http://arts.ucsc.edu/Gdead/AGDL/) played their first concert, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

1978 ~ Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1978/index.html) are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

2002 ~ The High Court of Australia hands down its judgment in the internet defamation case of Gutnick v Dow Jones (http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v8n4/nicholson84.html).

[jseal]

1725 ~ Birthday of George Mason (http://www.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/gmason/mason.htm), "Father of the Bill of Rights (http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/funddocs/billeng.htm)".

1803 ~ Birthday of Hector Berlioz, Composer.

1882 ~ Birthday of Max Born, physicist and 1954 Nobel laureate.

1918 ~ Birthday of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian author, 1970 Nobel laureate.

1931 ~ The Statute of Westminster (http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/StatuteofWestminster.html) gave legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland and Newfoundland.

1941 ~ Germany and Italy declared war on the United States (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1211.html#article).

1943 ~ King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson (http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/R/real_lives/wallis.html).

1981 ~ Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes UN Secretary-General.

1994 ~ A small bomb exploded on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, killing a Japanese businessman. The bombing was a test of explosives that would have been used in Project Bojinka (http://www.the7thfire.com/Politics%20and%20History/Bojinka.html).

1994 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/11/newsid_2801000/2801807.stm).

[jseal]

1531 ~ Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe (http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1227), Mexico City.

1911 ~ The capital of India moved from Calcutta to New Delhi.

1913 ~ Mona Lisa recovered (http://www.arts.ufl.edu/art/rt_room/mona/mona.html) in Florence, 2 years and 3 months after it was stolen.

1915 ~ Birthday of Frank Sinatra, Singer & Actor.

1927 ~ Birthday of Robert Noyce (http://www.pbs.org/transistor/album1/addlbios/noyce.html), one of the men credited with the invention of the integrated circuit.

1963 ~ Kenya gained its independence (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1212.html#article) from the UK. Uhuru!

1967 ~ Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones avoided a prison term (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/12/newsid_3237000/3237849.stm) for narcotics.

1996 ~ Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.

1999 ~ Death of Joseph Heller (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/heller.htm), Author.

2003 ~ Death of Keiko, the killer whale in the “Free Willy” movies.

[jseal]

December 13th

1204 ~ Death of Maimonides (http://members.aol.com/LazerA/rambam.html), Sephardi Philosopher.

1577 ~ Sir Francis Drake began his circumnavigation from Plymouth, England.

1642 ~ Abel Janszoon Tasman (http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/tasman.htm) reached New Zealand.

1784 ~ Death of Samuel Johnson (http://www.samueljohnson.com/briefbio.html), Essayist.

1903 ~ Birthday of Carlos Montoya (http://www.rykodisc.com/Catalog/CatalogArtist_01.asp?Action=Get&Artist_ID=217), Spanish-American guitarist who popularized flamenco guitar music.

1925 ~ Birthday of Dick Van Dyke (http://dick-van-dyke.fantribute.com/bio.html), Actor & Comedian.

1941 ~ Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.

1981 ~ Martial law imposed in Poland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1213.html#article) to try to control the Solidarity labor movement.

1996 ~ Kofi Annan elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

2003 ~ Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3317429.stm) near Tikrit.

[jseal]

1503 ~ Birthday of Nostradamus (http://www.crystalinks.com/nostradamus.html), Astrologer & Mathematician.

1546 ~ Birthday of Tycho Brahe, Astronomer.

1799 ~ Death of George Washington, first U.S. President.

1900 ~ Max Planck published his study of the quantum theory (http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Physics-Max-Planck.htm).

1911 ~ First expedition reached the South Pole (http://www.south-pole.com/p0000101.htm), led by Roald Amundsen.

1939 ~ USSR expelled (http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1939/391214a.html) from the League of Nations.

1946 ~ The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish the U.N. headquarters in New York City.

1962 ~ Birthday of Ginger Lynn Allen (http://www.gingerlynn.com/), Actress.

1981 ~ Israel annexed the Golan Heights (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1214.html#article).

1995 ~ The Dayton Agreement (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/14/newsid_2559000/2559699.stm) was signed in Paris to end the Yugoslav wars.

[jseal]

37 ~ Birthday of Nero (http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/nero-index.html), Roman emperor.

1791 ~ The U.S. Bill of Rights (http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=4) ratified.

1832 ~ Birthday of Gustave Eiffel, civil engineer.

1852 ~ Birthday of Antoine Henri Becquerel, physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics.

1916 ~ France defeated Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1215.html#article) in Battle of Verdun.

1958 ~ Death of Wolfgang Pauli (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1945/pauli-bio.html), Physicist.

1961 ~ An Israeli war crimes tribunal sentenced Adolph Eichmann to death.

1966 ~ Death of Walt Disney (http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/), Animator & Cartoonist.

1982 ~ Spain reopened the border with Gibraltar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/15/newsid_2559000/2559887.stm).

1994 ~ Netscape Navigator 1.0 (http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/netscape.htm) first released.

[jseal]

1689 ~ The English Bill of Rights (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/england.htm) adopted.

1770 ~ Birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven), Composer.

1775 ~ Birthday of Jane Austen (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jausten.htm), Writer.

1893 ~ World premiere of Antonin Dvorak's "New World Symphony".

1901 ~ Birthday of Margaret Mead, Anthropologist.

1917 ~ Birthday of Sir Arthur C. Clarke (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aclarke.htm), Science Fiction Writer.

1928 ~ Birthday of Philip K. Dick, Science Fiction Writer.

1944 ~ The Battle of the Bulge (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/17/newsid_3515000/3515538.stm) began.

1944 ~ A V-2 rocket hit the Rex Cinema (http://www.v2rocket.com/start/chapters/antwerp.html) in Antwerp killing 567 people.

1950 ~ President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1216.html#article) in order to fight “Communist imperialism”.

1998 ~ President Clinton ordered a sustained series of air strikes against Iraq by American and British forces in response to Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of UN weapons inspectors.

[jseal]

1830 ~ Death of Simón Bolívar (http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/bolivar.html), Latin American politician & Activist.

1843 ~ A Christmas Carol (http://www.stormfax.com/1dickens.htm), by Charles Dickens, was first published.

1903 ~ The first controlled, powered heavier-than-air flight (http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2002-000128.html) occurred when the Wright brothers took to the air, both of them twice at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1942 ~ Britain condemned the massacre of Jews (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/17/newsid_3547000/3547151.stm).

1961 ~ India seized Goa from Portugal. (http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1960s/Goa01.html)

1969 ~ The USAF, in closing Project Blue Book (http://www.bluebookarchive.org/), announced that its UFO investigations found no evidence of extraterrestrial spacecraft.

1973 ~ The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.

1982 ~ ”Tootsie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084805/)” opened in theaters.

1989 ~ Brazil held its first free election in 25 years.

2003 ~ “The Return of the King (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/)” opened in theaters worldwide.

[jseal]

1737 ~ Death of Antonio Stradivari (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/strd/hd_strd.htm), Italian violin maker.

1786 ~ Birthday of Carl Maria von Weber, Composer.

1863 ~ Birthday of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)

1865 ~ With the proclamation by Secretary of State William Seward, of the passing of the 13th Amendment, slavery was abolished in the United States.

1912 ~ Official presentation of the discovery of Piltdown Man (http://home.tiac.net/~cri_a/piltdown/piltdown.html).

1936 ~ Death of Andrija Mohorovičić (http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/seismology/people/mohorovicic.html), Croatian seismologist.

1957 ~ The first U.S. civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1218.html#article) went online.

1989 ~ The British Labour Party (http://www.labour.org.uk/home) under Neil Kinnock dropped its policy on trade union closed shops (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/18/newsid_2538000/2538439.stm).

1996 ~ "Ebonics" was declared a language or dialect by the outgoing school board of Oakland, California, whose vote was overturned by the incoming board. The Clinton administration declared "black English" a form of slang that did not belong in the classroom (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/admin/stories/riley122596.htm).

2002 ~ California Governor Grey Davis announced that the state would face a budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier. The budget issue was used to support his 2003 recall from office (http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/07/recall.main/).

[jseal]

1733 ~ Benjamin Franklin (http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html) first published Poor Richard's Almanack (http://www.sacklunch.net/poorrichard/).

1848 ~ Death of Emily Brontë, Author.

1888 ~ Birthday of Fritz Reiner, Conductor.

1906 ~ Birthday of Leonid Brezhnev (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/brezhnev/), Soviet politician.

1962 ~ Nyasaland seceded from Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

1979 ~ ”Kramer vs. Kramer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079417/)”, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, opened in theaters.

1984 ~ The UK and People's Republic of China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1219.html#article), which returned Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

1997 ~ "Titanic (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/)" the highest-grossing movie of all-time, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, opened in theaters.

1988 ~ The House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment against President Clinton (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/housevote/housevote.htm) over the Lewinsky scandal.

2003 ~ Libya announced that it would begin to destroy its weapons of mass destruction (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/19/newsid_4002000/4002441.stm).

[jseal]

1833 ~ Birthday of Samuel Mudd (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWmudd.htm), physician, convicted conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

1860 ~ South Carolina became the first state to secede (http://www.civilwarhome.com/scordinance.htm) from the US.

1901 ~ Birthday of Robert Van de Graaff (http://www.tvdg.bnl.gov/vandegraaff.html), Physicist & Inventor.

1915 ~ Last Australian troops (http://www.anzacs.org/) evacuated from Gallipoli.

1968 ~ Death of John Steinbeck, Writer.

1989 ~ American troops invaded Panama to remove dictator Manuel Noriega (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1220.html#article).

1995 ~ NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.

1996 ~ Death of Carl Sagan (http://www.planetary.org/about/founders/carl_sagan.html), Astronomer & Writer.

1999 ~ Vermont's Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections as married heterosexual couples.

1999 ~ Macau was returned to the People's Republic of China (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/7066.htm) by Portugal.

[jseal]

1118 ~ Birthday of Thomas Becket (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14676a.htm), Lord Chancellor & Archbishop of Canterbury.

1804 ~ Birthday of Benjamin Disraeli, Politician & Writer.

1898 ~ Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium (http://nobelprize.org/physics/articles/curie/).

1913 ~ The first crossword puzzle (http://www.crosswordtournament.com/more/wynne.html) was published, in the New York World.

1933 ~ Newfoundland becomes a crown colony.

1940 ~ Death of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Writer.

1945 ~ Death of George S. Patton (http://www.generalpatton.com/biography.html), U.S. General.

1958 ~ Charles de Gaulle became the first leader of the Fifth Republic (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/21/newsid_3285000/3285109.stm).

1979 ~ Apollo 8 (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo8info.html) was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

1988 ~ A terrorist bomb exploded in Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1221.html#article) killing 270, including 11 on the ground.

[jseal]

1858 ~ Birthday of Giacomo Puccini, Composer.

1864 ~ Savannah, Georgia fell to the Union (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1222.html#article) army of General Sherman.

1880 ~ Death of George Eliot (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/gelliot.htm), Writer.

1944 ~ During the Battle of the Bulge (http://www.worldwar2history.info/Bulge/), Germany demanded the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium; Brigadier Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replied: ''Nuts!''.

1989 ~ Ion Iliescu (http://romania-on-line.net/whoswho/IliescuIon.htm) assumed executive power of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.

1989 ~ Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opened (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/22/newsid_2539000/2539765.stm), ending the division of East and West Germany.

1990 ~ Lech Wałęsa sworn in as President of Poland.

2001 ~ The Afghan Northern Alliance (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/northern_alliance.htm), handed over power in Afghanistan to the government headed by President Hamid Karzai (http://www.president.gov.af/).

2001 ~ Richard Reid tried to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes.

2001 ~ Cc the cat (http://www.wowzone.com/clonecat.htm), the first cloned pet, was born.

[jseal]

1790 ~ Birthday of Jean François Champollion, Egyptologist. He deciphered the Rosetta Stone (http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html).

1823 ~ “A Visit From St. Nicholas (http://holyjoe.net/poetry/moore.htm)”, by Clement Clarke Moore, was first published.

1834 ~ Death of Thomas Malthus, Demographer and Economist.

1888 ~ Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear.

1947 ~ The transistor was first demonstrated (http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/miraclemo.html) at Bell Laboratories.

1953 ~ Death of Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader.

1956 ~ British and French forces withdrawn from Suez (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/23/newsid_3294000/3294305.stm), Egypt.

1979 ~ Soviet military occupies Kabul (http://www.afa.org/magazine/Dec2004/1204soviets.asp), Afghanistan.

1986 ~ Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1223.html#article).


Feastdays & Holidays

Fans of Seinfeld - Festivus (http://www.festivusbook.com/) (for the restofus) held.

[jseal]

1491 ~ Birthday of Ignatius of Loyola (http://www.stignatiussf.org/himself.htm), founder of the Jesuits.

1818 ~ "Silent Night (http://www.carols.org.uk/silent_night.htm)" composed by Franz Xaver Gruber.

1910 ~ Birthday of Fritz Leiber, Science Fiction writer.

1914 ~ World War I: The "Christmas truce (http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/christmastruce.htm)" begins.

1914 ~ Death of John Muir, Naturalist.

1951 ~ Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors (http://www.nauticom.net/www/planet/files/singersAmahl1.htm)", the first opera written specifically for TV, was first broadcast

1957 ~ Birthday of Hamid Karzai, first democratically elected President of Afghanistan.

1968 ~ The Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/24/newsid_4083000/4083587.stm), read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve TV broadcast.

1974 ~ Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin (http://www.ntlib.nt.gov.au/tracy/advanced/cyc_tracy.html), Australia.

1992 ~ President Bush pardoned 6 people involved in the Iran-Contra scandal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224.html#article).

[jseal]

800 ~ Coronation of Charlemagne (http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm) as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.

1066 ~ Coronation of William the Conqueror (http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon22.html) as king of England, at Westminster Abbey (http://www.westminster-abbey.org/), London.

1223 ~ Saint Francis of Assisi assembled the first Nativity scene (http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0238.html).

1642 ~ Birthday of Sir Isaac Newton (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95dec/newton.html), Physicist & Mathematician.

1821 ~ Birthday of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross.

1918 ~ Birthday of Anwar Sadat, Egyptian president.

1938 ~ Birthday of Karel Čapek (http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/notebooks/capek.html), Czech author, inventor of the word robot.

1973 ~ A programming bug routed all ARPANET traffic through the server at Harvard, causing the server to freeze - crashing the network.

1989 ~ Death of Nicolae Ceauşescu (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/25/newsid_2542000/2542623.stm), Romanian dictator (executed).

1991 ~ Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev went on TV to announce his resignation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1225.html#article) as the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day).

Feastdays & Holidays

The Nativity of Jesus (http://www.christmasarchives.com/quran.html).

[cowgirltease]

DM..It was good to see you at "you know where" Thanks for keeping in touch hun. :) Merry Christmas.

[jseal]

1610 ~ Elizabeth Bathory (http://hjem.get2net.dk/the_cellar/bathory.htm)'s crimes were uncovered.

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

1792 ~ Final trial of Louis XVI of France began.

1890 ~ Death of Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist.

1893 ~ Birthday of Mao Zedong (http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/M/MaoZ1edon.asp), Chinese Politician.

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

1948 ~ Cardinal Mindszenty arrested in Hungary.

1966 ~ The first Kwanzaa (http://www.thehistorymakers.com/timeline/index.asp?string=1966) was celebrated.

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

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

[IowaMan]

I sure do love this thread jseal and appreciate the work you put into it.

Loved that link for the 1610 tidbit today.

[jseal]

1571 ~ Birthday of Johannes Kepler (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Kepler.html), astronomer.

1822 ~ Birthday of Louis Pasteur, Scientist.

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

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

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

1932 ~ Radio City Music (http://www.radiocity.com/themusichall_history.html) Hall opened in New York City.

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

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

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

2001 ~ The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay (http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil/), Cuba.

[dicksbro]

Just filling in for a few days while jseal is away ...

December 28th

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

1836 ~ Spain recognized Mexico’s independence.

1869 ~ William F. Semple patented chewing gum.

1895 ~ The Lumiere Brothers (http://www.terrace.qld.edu.au/academic/lote/french/yr5lumi.htm) gave birth to Cinema at the Grand Cafe in Paris.

1937 ~ Death of Maurice Ravel, French composer.

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

1969 ~ Birthday of Linus Torvalds (http://www.answers.com/topic/linus-torvalds), Benevolent Dictator for Life of Linux (http://www.softpanorama.org/People/Torvalds/index.shtml).

1973 ~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn published Gulag Archipelago.

1983 ~ Death of Dennis Wilson (http://denniswilsonforever.wg-net.com/), the only Beach Boy who could surf.

2000 ~ Montgomery Ward announced it was going out of business (http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/wards-ourpage.html) after 128 years.

[dicksbro]

December 29th

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

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

1851 ~ The first Young Men's Christian Association (http://www.ymcala.org/Upload/Form/1851-1901.html) (YMCA) in the U.S. opened in Boston.

1890 ~ Defeat at the Battle of Wounded Knee (http://ga.essortment.com/woundedkneewha_rqen.htm) effectively ended American Indian resistance to European settlement of the U.S.

1916 ~ Death of Grigori Rasputin (http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/r/Rasputin.html), Russian monk.

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

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

1986 ~ Death of Harold Macmillan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/29/newsid_2547000/2547307.stm), former Prime Minister of the UK.

1989 ~ Vaclav Havel (http://www.answers.com/topic/v-clav-havel) was elected president of Czechoslovakia.

1998 ~ Khmer Rouge leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives.

[dicksbro]

December 30th

1691 ~ Death of Robert Boyle (http://archive.museophile.org/ox/univ-col/boyle-hooke.html), the first modern Chemist.

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

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

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

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

1922 ~ The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (http://www.history.com/media.do?id=tdih_dec30_broadband&action=clip) (USSR) was formed by the confederation of Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, and Transcaucasian Federation.

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

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

1981 ~ Wayne Gretzky scored his 50th goal in 39 games.

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

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

[dicksbro]

December 31st

404 ~ The last gladiatorial contest took place in Rome.

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

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

1938 ~ The first breath test for drivers, "drunkometer (http://www.edwardwillett.com/Columns/breathalyzers.htm)," was introduced.

1960 ~ The farthing coin ceased to be legal tender.

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

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

1987 ~ Robert Mugabe (http://mugabe.netfirms.com/) sworn in as Zimbabwe's president.

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

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

[dicksbro]

jseal didn't actually give me a post for today, but just in case he's not back, I'll put one out here ...

January 1st

1892 ~ the Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York formally opened.

1898 ~ New York City was consolidated into five boroughs.

1901 ~ the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed.

1953 ~ country singer Hank Williams Sr., 29, died of a drug and alcohol overdose while en route to a concert date in Canton, Ohio.

1959 ~ Fidel Castro led Cuban revolutionaries to victory over Fulgencio Batista.

1984 ~ the breakup of AT&T took place as the telecommunications giant was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.

1993 ~ Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

1994 ~ the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.

1999 ~ the euro, the new single currency of 11 European countries (later 12), officially came into existence with the start of the New Year.

[jseal]

1492 ~ Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain (http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/middle2/aftersect5.html), surrendered.

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

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

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

1904 ~ Death of James Longstreet, Confederate general.

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

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

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

1942 ~ Manila was captured by Japanese (http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Pool/1644/japaneseera.html) forces during World War II.

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