Today in history :Portugal independence, first First telephone in White House

1167 Northern Italian towns form Lombardi League
1420 Henry V of England enters Paris.
1626 Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh tyrannical gov of Jerusalem, driven out
1640 Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule
1641 Massachusetts becomes the first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery
1653 An athlete from Croydon is reported to have run 20 miles from St Albans to London in less than 90 minutes
1656 Germany promises Poland aid against Sweden
1708 Great Alliance occupies Brussels
1742 Empress Elisabeth orders expulsion of all Jews from Russia
1750 First school in America to offer manual training courses opens in Maryland
1768 The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøy in Norway.
1783 Jacques Charles and Nicolas Roberts make first untethered ascension with gas hydrogen balloon in Paris
1821 Santo Domingo (Dominican Rep) proclaims independence from Spain
1822 Dom Pedro crowned emperor of Brazil
1831 Erie Canal closes for entire month due to cold weather
1843 1st chartered mutual life insurance company opens
1852 Telegraph company opens throughout Netherlands
1864 Raid at Stoneman: Knoxville, TN to Saltville, VA
1864 Skirmish at Millen Brutal, Georgia

1878 1st White House telephone installed
1884 American Old West: Near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.
1887 Sherlock Holmes 1st appears in print: "Study in Scarlet"
1887 Sino-Portuguese treaty recognizes Portugal's control of Macao
1896 1st certified public accountants receive certificates (NY)
1900 Exiled South African President of Transvaal Paul Kruger visits Flanders and on the same day is declined a visit from the German Kaiser

1900 Portifiro Diaz is inaugurated for his 6th consecutive term as President of Mexico
1903 "The Great Train Robbery", the 1st Western film, released
1906 Cinema Omnia Pathe, world's 1st cinema, opens (Paris)
1906 Shoemaker Wilhelm Voigt (Capt of Köpenick) sentenced to 4 yrs
1909 1st Christmas Club payment made, to Carlisle Trust Co, Pa
1909 1st Israeli kibbutz founded, Deganya Alef
1913 1st drive-up gasoline station opens (Pitts)
1913 Continuous moving assembly line introduced by Ford (car every 2:38)
1913 Flag of Greece officially raised at Firka Fortress, Chania Crete symbolising the union of Crete and Greece.
1915 The US requests that Germany withdraw its military and naval attaches from the Embassy in Washington
1916 There is virtual civil war in Greece as royalists fight Venizelist, and the Allies determine on a Venizelist victory
1917 Boys Town founded by Father Edward Flanagan west of Omaha Neb
1918 Danish parliament passed an act to grant Iceland independence under Danish crown
1918 Serbian-Croatian-Slovic kingdom proclaimed in Belgrade
1918 Yugoslavia declares independence; monarchy established
1919 AA Milne's "Mr Pim Passes By" premieres in Manchester
1919 Lady Nancy Astor sworn-in as 1st female member of British Parliament
1921 1st US helium-filled dirigible makes 1st flight
1921 US Post Office establishes philatelic agency
1922 1st skywriting over US-"Hello USA"-by Capt Turner, RAF
1922 Polish state Chief Marshal Jozef Pilsudski resigns
1923 CFL Grey Cup: Queen's U beats Regina 54-0 at Toronto
1924 Calles becomes president of Mexico
1924 George & Ira Gershwin's musical "Lady Be Good" premieres in NYC
1925 Treaty of Locarno signed
1928 CFL Grey Cup: Ham Tigers beats Regina 30-0 at Hamilton
1928 Railroad museum opens in Utrecht Neth
1929 Game of Bingo invented by Edwin S Lowe
1930 NHL drops 20 minute slashing-about-the-head penalty
1931 Ottawa branch of Royal Mint begins operation as Royal Canadian Mint
1935 Austria has world's 1st Day of Postage Stamp
1936 2nd Heisman Trophy Award: Larry Kelley, Yale (E)
1936 Bell Labs tests coaxial cable for TV use
1936 EW Brundin & FF Lyon obtain patent on soilless culture of plants.
1938 School bus & train collide in Salt Lake City Utah
1939 SS-Fuhrer Himmler begins deportation of Polish Jews
1941 British cruiser Devonshire sinks German sub Python
1941 Japanese emperor Hirohito signs declaration of war
1941 Last day of first-class cricket in Australia for 4 years
1941 US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organizes
1942 Gasoline rationed in US
1942 The Beveridge Report is published by the British government unveiling plans for a post-war welfare state
1943 FDR, Churchill & Stalin agree to Operation Overlord (D-Day)
1944 Béla Bartòk's Concerto for orchestra, premieres
1944 Mail routing resumes in free South Netherlands
1944 Prokofjev's 8th Piano sonata, premieres
1945 CFL Grey Cup: Toronto beats Winnipeg 35-0 at Toronto.
1947 Don Bradman scores 185 in the 1st Cricket Test v India at the Gabba
1947 India cricket all out for 58 v Australia at the Gabba, Toshack 5-2
1948 Arabic Congress names Abdullah of Trans Jordan as King of Palestine
1948 Piet Roozenburg becomes world champion checker player
1949 WBNG TV channel 12 in Binghamton, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting
1949 WKTV TV channel 2 in Utica, NY (NBC) begins broadcasting
1951 17th Heisman Trophy Award: Dick Kazmaier, Princeton (HB)
1951 Benjamin Britten's opera "Billy Budd" premieres in London
1951 Golden Gate Bridge closes due to high winds
1952 The New York Daily News reports the first successful sexual reassignment operation
1953 Red Sox trade M McDermott & Tom Umphlett for Wash's Jackie Jensen
1953 WAIM (now WAXA) TV channel 40 in Anderson, SC (IND) 1st broadcast
1953 WCSH TV channel 6 in Portland, ME (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 Walter Alston named Dodger manager

1956 "Candide" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 73 performances
1956 Alain Mimoun wins 13th Olympics marathon (2:25:00.0)
1956 Frank Robinson (NL) & Luis Aparicio (AL) voted Rookie of the Year
1956 Indonesian VP Mohammed Hatta resigns
1956 21st Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 34-7 in Birmingham

1958 "Flower Drum Song" opens at St James Theater NYC for 602 performances
1958 Central African Rep made autonomous member of Fr Comm (National Day)
1958 Our Lady of Angels School burns, killing 92 students & 3 nuns (Chic)
1959 12 nations sign treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
1959 25th Heisman Trophy Award: Billy Cannon, LSU (HB)
1959 The 1st color photograph of Earth received from outer space
1960 Patrice Lumumba caught in the Congo
1961 The independent Republic of West Papua is proclaimed in modern-day Western New Guinea.
1962 Grey Cup halted by fog, resumed next day (Winnipeg 28, Hamilton 27)
1962 KGMB TV channel 9 in Honolulu, HI (CBS) begins broadcasting
1962 27th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 38-0 in Birmingham, their fourth straight shutout in the series
1962 7th British Empire Games and Commonwealth Games close in Perth, Australia
1963 NY Jets 1st shutout, beat KC 17-0
1963 Nagaland becomes a state of Indian union
1964 Houston Colt .45s change name to Astros
1965 Airlift of refugees from Cuba to US began
1965 South Africa's government says children of white fathers are white
1966 Georg Kiesinger elected West German chancellor
1966 Radio time signal WWV moves from Greenbelt, Md to Boulder, Colo
1967 Queen Elizabeth inaugurates 98-inch (249-cm) Isaac Newton telescope
1967 Seattle awarded one of the 2 AL expansion franchise teams

1968 "Promises Promises" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 1281 performances
1968 Burt Bacharach/Hal David's musical premieres in NYC
1968 Gonzalo Barrios, Venezuelan presidential candidate
1968 Peggy Wilson wins LPGA Hollywood Lakes Golf Open
1968 Pirate Radio Modern (259) (England) begins transmitting
1969 US government holds its 1st draft lottery since WW II
1969 LAPD Police Chief Edward Davis annouces warrants for the arrest of the Manson cult for murder
1970 Luis Echeverria Alvarez sworn in as president of Mexico
1970 NHL takes control of Pittsburgh Penguins
1970 Independent People's Republic of South Yemen renames itself as People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
1971 Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.
1972 Wings release "Hi, Hi, Hi" in UK
1972 2 people killed and 127 injured when 2 car bombs explode in the centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland
1973 Australia grants self-government to Papua New Guinea.
1973 Jan Ferraris wins LPGA-Japan Golf Classic
1973 Stan Stasiak beats Pedro Morales in Philadelphia, to become WWF champ
1973 38th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 35-0 in Birmingham
1974 Boeing 727 crashes in Upperville Virginia, 92 died
1974 Jacqueline Hansen runs female world record marathon (2:43:54.5)
1974 LA Skid Row slasher kills 1st of 8
1978 Test Cricket debut of Rodney Hogg, v England at the Gabba
1978 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1979 44th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 25-18 in Birmingham
1980 46th Heisman Trophy Award: George Rogers, South Carolina (RB)
1980 Mel Harris appears on M*A*S*H in "Cementing Relationships"
1980 US Justice Dept sues Yonkers siting racial discrimination
1981 Yugoslavian charter flight crashes into Mont San-Pietro in Corsica, 180 killed
1982 Dentist Barney B Clark gets 1st artificial heart
- 1983 Rita Lavelle, former head of EPA, convicted of perjury
- 1984 50th Heisman Trophy Award: Doug Flutie, Boston College (QB)
- 1984 France performs nuclear test
- 1984 Greg Page KOs Gerrie Coetzee in 8 for WBA heavyweight boxing title
- 1984 49th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 17-15 in Birmingham
- 1985 Noraly Beyer becomes Neth's 1st black TV newscaster
- 1985 STS 61-C vehicle moves to launch pad
- 1985 South Africa's Cosatu union centre forms
- 1985 TV mini series "Anne of Green Gables", starring Megan Follows is first shown on CBS in Canada
- 1986 Muséed'orsay opens in Paris
- 1986 Paul McCartney releases "Only Love Remains"
- 1987 Digging begins to link England & France under English Channel
- 1988 596 dead after cyclone hits Bangladesh, half a million homeless
- 1988 Chinese minister of Foreign affairs Qian Qichen visits Moscow
- 1988 NBC bids record $401M to capture rights to 1992 Barcelona Olympics
- 1988 NY Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs St Louis Blues
- 1989 "Day Without Art" - Artists demonstrate against AIDS
- 1989 East Germany drops communist monopoly from its constitution
- 1989 Mark Langston signs record $3.2 million per year Cal Angels contract
- 1990 56th Heisman Trophy Award: Ty Detmer, Brigham Young (QB)
- 1990 British & French workers meet in English Channel's tunnel (Chunnel)
- 1990 Hissène Habré of Chad flees to Cameroon
- 1990 Iraq accepts Bush's offer for talks
- 1990 Lithuania, Estonia & Latvia hold their 1st joint session.
- 1991 "Moscow Circus Cirk Valentin" closes at Gershwin NYC after 32 performances
- 1991 "Once on this Island" closes at Booth Theater NYC after 469 performances
- 1991 80th Davis Cup: France beats USA in Lyon (3-1)
- 1991 Colorado party wins Paraguay parliamentary election
- 1991 Nursultan Nazarbayev sworn in as president of Kazakhstan
- 1991 US 75th manned space mission "STS 44" Atlantis 10 lands
- 1991 Ukrainian people vote for independence
- 1992 2 C-141B Starlifters collide in Montana & crash, 13 die
- 1992 Amy Fisher sentenced 5-15 yrs for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco
- 1993 Northwest Airlink plane crashes in Minn, killing 18
- 1994 3 Seattle Seahawks injured in a car accident.
1994 Ernesto Zedillo innaugrated as president of Mexico
1994 PTL leader Jim Bakker released from jail
1994 Rober Schumanns 2nd Symphony premieres in London
1996 85th Davis Cup: France beats Sweden in Malmo (3-2)
1996 Lance Klusener takes 8-64 in debut Test Cricket to trounce India
1997 GS Warrior guard Latrell Sprewell, attacks his coach P J Carlesimo
1997 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Davenport IA on KORB 93.5 FM
1997 Westinghouse formally changes its name to CBS
1998 Exxon announces a $73.7 billion USD deal to buy Mobil, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company.
2001 Captain Bill Compton brings Trans World Airlines Flight 220, an MD-83, into St. Louis International Airport bringing to an end 76 years of TWA operations following TWA's purchase by American Airlines.
2002 91st Davis Cup: Russia beats France in Paris (3-2)
2007 16th SEC Championship Game: #5 LSU beats #14 Tennessee, 21-14
2007 3rd ACC Championship Game: #6 Virginia Tech beats #12 Boston College, 30-16
2007 12th Big 12 Championship Game: #9 Oklahoma beats #1 Missouri, 38-17
2008 The US economy has been in recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research announces today
2012 8 people are killed and 36 injured after a bus overturns in Bolivia
2012 Enrique Peña Nieto sworn in as President of Mexico
2012 Ukranian Anna Ushenina wins the Women's World Chess Championship 2012
2012 21st SEC Championship Game: #2 Alabama beats #3 Georgia, 32-28
2012 8th ACC Championship Game: #13 Florida State beats Georgia Tech, 21-15
2014 "The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies", 3rd and final Hobbit film, directed by Peter Jackson, starring Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen, premieres in London