Historical Events On This Day

    314 St Silvester I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
    876 Charles becomes king of Italy
    1504 By treaty of Lyons, French cede Naples to Ferdinand of Aragon
    1531 Kings Ferdinand of Austria/Janos Zapolyai of Hungary accept each other
    1578 Battle of Gembloers (Gembloux); Dutch and English forces overcame the Spanish
    1596 Catholic League disbanded
    1609 Wisselbank of Amsterdam established
    1627 Spanish government goes bankrupt
    1675 Cornelia/Dina Olfaarts found not guilty of witchcraft
    1679 Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera "Bellerophon" premieres in Paris
    1696 Revolt by undertakers after funeral reforms (Amsterdam)
    1747 The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
    1779 Charles Messier adds M57 (Ring Nebula in Lyra) to his catalog
    1804 British vice-admiral William Blighs fleet reaches Curacao
    1814 Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
    1817 Franz Grillparzer's "Die Ahnfrau" premieres in Vienna
    1846 After the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown unified as the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
    1849 Corn Laws abolished in Britain
    1851 Gail Borden announces invention of condensed milk
    1851 SF Orphan's Asylum, 1st in California, founded
    1854 Dutch KNMI established (Royal Meteorological Institute)
    1855 Western railroads blocked by snow
    1861 Friedrich Hebbel's "Siegfrieds Tod" premieres in Weimar
    1861 State of Louisiana takes over US Mint at New Orleans (U.S Civil War)
    1862 Astronomer Alvan Graham Clark makes first observation of Sirius B (first known white dwarf star) in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts while testing his new telescope
    1863 1st black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, mustered into US army
    1865 Congress passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (passes 121-24)
    1876 The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
    1891 The first attempt of a Portuguese republican revolution breakes out in the northern city of Porto.
    1893 "Westminster Gazette" begins publishing
    1895 Jose Martí & others leave NYC for invasion of Spanish Cuba
    1900 The final report of the USA's Philippine Commission is released, favouring territorial government for the islands with home rule in local affairs, but with US assumptions of ultimate responsibility for the government.
    1901 Boer generals Jan Smuts & De la Rey conqueror Mud river, Transvaal
    1901 Winnipeg Victorias sweep Montreal Shamrocks in 2 for Stanley Cup
    1901 Austro-Hungarian Empire: The Reichsrath, disolved on 7 September 1900 by Emperor Franz Joseph, reopens after the recent elections have defeated extremists
    1904 Bela Bartok's symphony "Kossuth" premieres
    1905 1st automobile to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach
    1905 Carroll Wright appointed 1st Commissioner of Labor, USA
    1906 Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter
    1911 Congress names SF as Panama Canal opening celebration site
    1915 1st (German) poison gas attack, against Russians
    1916 Dutch Girl Guides form
    1917 Germany notifies US that U-boats will attack neutral merchant ship
    1917 Mexican President Carranza announces a new constitution with many liberal elements; most of which his regime will not implement
    1918 A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
    1919 The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland: troops deployed against protesters for fear of a Bolshevik uprising
    1920 1st Ukrainian daily newspaper in US (NYC) begins publication

    1920 Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity incorporates at Howard University.
    1925 Premier Ahmed Zogu becomes president of Angola
    1925 18th Women's Australasian Championships: Daphne Akhurst beats Esna Boyd (1-6, 8-6, 6-4)
    1925 18th Men's Australasian Championships: James Anderson beats Gerald Patterson (11-9, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3)
    1927 Internationall allied military command in Germany disbands
    1927 NL Pres John Heydler rules Rogers Hornsby can't hold stock in the Cardinals & play for the Giants
    1928 Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company
    1929 Erich Maria Remarque publishes "Im Westen nichts Neues" in Berlin
    1930 1st US glider flight from a dirigible, Lakehurst, NJ
    1931 NHL's Quebec Bulldogs' Joe Malonescores a record 7 goals
    1931 Philip Barry's "Tomorrow & Tomorrow" premieres in NYC
    1932 US railway unions accept 10% wage reduction
    1933 French government of Daladier takes power
    1936 "Green Hornet" radio show is 1st heard on WXYZ Radio in Detroit
    1938 31st Women's Australian Championships: Dorothy Bundy Cheney beats Dorothy Stevenson (6-3, 6-2)
    1938 31st Men's Australian Championships: Don Budge beats John Bromwich (6-4, 6-2, 6-1)
    1940 40 U-boats sunk this month (111,000 ton)
    1940 C Turney & J Horwin's "My Dear Children" premieres in NYC
    1941 21 U boats sunk this month (127,000 ton)
    1941 Anti-German demonstration in Haarlem, Netherlands
    1941 British army Layforce commando units set sail
    1942 62 U-boats sunk this month (327,000 ton)
    1943 39 U-boats sunk this month (203,100 ton)
    1943 Chile breaks off relations with Germany & Japan
    1943 General Friedrich von Paul surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad
    1944 Operation-Overlord (D-Day) postponed until June
    1944 U-592 sunk off Ireland
    1944 US forces invade Kwajalein Atoll
    1945 US 4th Infantry division occupies Elcherrath
    1945 Soviet troops reach the Oder River, less that 50 miles from Berlin
    1946 Yugoslavia adopts new constitution, becomes a federal republic
    1948 J D Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish" appears in NY
    1948 Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway
    1949 1st daytime soap on TV "These Are My Children" (NBC in Chicago)
    1949 37th Women's Australian Championships: Doris Hart beats Nancye Wynne Bolton (6-3, 6-4)
    1949 37th Men's Australian Championships: Frank Sedgman beats John Bromwich (6-3, 6-2, 6-2)
    1951 39th Women's Australian Championships: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Thelma Coyne Long (6-1, 7-5)
    1951 39th Men's Australian Championships: Dick Savitt beats Ken McGregor (6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1)
    1952 Dutch Lutheran Church reunites after 1½ centuries
    1952 Harry Heilmann & Paul Waner elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
    1953 "Princess Victoria" capsized off Stanraer Scotland; 133 die
    1953 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning 1,835
    1953 NY, Cleveland, & Boston retaliate at Bill Veeck, forcing the Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues
    1955 RCA demonstrates 1st music synthesizer
    1955 43rd Women's Australian Championships: Beryl Penrose beats Thelma Coyne Long (6-4, 6-3)
    1961 Ham the chimpanzee is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2
    1961 Houston voters approve bond to finance luxury domed stadium
    1961 Kanhai completes twin tons (117 & 115) v Aust at Adelaide
    1961 NATO secretary-general Paul-Henri Spaak says he'll resign
    1961 USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights
    1962 Gen Charles P Cabell, USAF, ends term as deputy director of CIA
    1962 Samuel Gravely assumes command of destroyer escort "USS Falgout"
    1968 Bobby Simpson takes 5-59 v India in his last Test for ten years
    1968 Nauru (formerly Pleasant Island) declares independence from Australia
    1968 Record high barometric pressure (1083.8 mb, 32"), at Agata, USSR
    1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
    1969 Vice Admiral Rufus L Taylor, USN, ends term as deputy director of CIA
    1970 Grateful Dead members busted on LSD charges
    1971 Apollo 14 launched, 1st landing in lunar highlands
    1971 Jake Beckley, Joe Kelley, Harry Hooper, Rube Marquard, Chick Hafey
    1971 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
    1971 US male Figure Skating championship won by John Misha Petkevich
    1971 Dave Bancroft & George Weiss elected to baseball Hall of Fame
    1972 Aretha Franklin sings at Mahalia Jackson's funeral
    1972 Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev becomes 11th King of Nepal
    1972 Military coup ousts civilian government of Ghana
    1972 US launches HEOS A-2 for interplanetary observations (396/244,998)
    1972 British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling to House of Commons on 'Bloody Sunday', "The Army returned the fire directed at them with aimed shots and inflicted a number of casualties on those who were attacking them with firearms and with bombs"
    1977 Frenchman Francois Claustre freed, after 33 months as hostage in Chad
    1977 Joe Sewell, Amos Rusie, & Al Lopez elected to baseball Hall of Fame
    1977 4th American Music Awards: Olivia Newton-John & Elton John win
    1978 "Elvis: The Legend Lives!" opens at Palace Theater NYC for 101 performances
    1978 Israel turns 3 milt outposts in West Bank into civilian settlements
    1980 Police storm occupied Spanish embassy in Guatemala City, killing 41
    1981 "The Tide Is High" by Blondie hits #1
    1981 Gaetan Boucher skates world record 1000m (1:13.39)
    1982 10 Arabian oryx (extinct except in zoos) released in Oman
    1982 Gustafson skates world record 10 km (14:26.59)
    1982 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek
    1982 NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 16-13
    1982 US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton
    1982 32nd NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 120-118 at East Rutherford, New Jersey
    1983 In an effort to reduce driving deaths, a new law in UK requires drivers and front-seat passengers to wear seatbelts
    1984 36th NHL All-Star Game: Wales beat Campbell 7-6 at NJ
    1984 Edwin Newman retires from NBC News after 35 years with the network
    1984 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
    1985 "Harrigan 'n Hart" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 5 performances
        1987 United Steel workers union ratified a concessionary with USX Corp
        1988 Barge sinks near Anacortes, WA, spills 70,000 gallons of oil
        1988 Super Bowl XXII: Wash Redskins beat Denver Broncos, 42-10 in San Diego Super Bowl MVP: Doug Williams, Washington, QB
        1990 1st McDonalds in Russia opens in Moscow, world's biggest McDonalds
        1990 1st ever all-sports daily "National" begins publishing
        1990 Jushin "Thunder" Liger beats Naoki Sano to become New Japan IWGP champ
        1990 The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, USSR.
        1991 Denver Nuggets Michael Adams becomes shortest NBAer to get a triple-double
        1991 Robert Gibson flies record 27,040 feet altitude
        1992 MTA raised tolls on most NYC bridges from $2.50 to $3.00
        1993 "St Joan" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 49 performances
        1993 Super Bowl XXVII: Dallas Cowboys beat Buffalo Bills, 52-17 in Pasadena Super Bowl MVP: Troy Aikman, Dallas, QB
        1993 81st Men's Australian Open: Jim Courier beats Stefan Edberg (6-2, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5)
        2001 In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
        2003 The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia.
        2007 Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.
        2009 In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
        2010 52nd Grammy Awards: Use Somebody, Zac Brown Band wins
        2010 NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 41-34
        2010 26th Sundance Film Festival: "Winter's Bone", directed by Debra Granik, wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
        2013 300 people are injured in a train collision in Pretoria, South Africa
        2013 36 people are killed and 126 are injured in an explosion at Torre Ejecutiva Pemex, Mexico
        2015 Sergio Mattarella is elected President of Italy
        2015 Australia defeats South Korea in football to win the 2015 AFC Asian Cup
        2015 Pr-Football Hall of Fame inductees: Junior Seau, Jerome Bettis, Charles Haley, Will Shields, Tim Brown, and Mick Tingelhoff
        2015 103rd Women's Australian Open: Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova (6-3, 7-6)
        2016 "World's best chef" French-Swiss Benoît Violier found dead after apparent suicide weeks after being named world's best by La Liste