On This Day In History

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• 474 Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire together with his son Leo II.
• 1267 Synod of Breslau orders Jews of Silesia to wear special caps
• 1499 France & Venice sign treaty against Milan
• 1537 Pope Paul III routes Cardinal Pole to England
• 1540 The first recorded race meet in England (Roodee Fields, Chester)
• 1554 Battle at London: Sir Thomas Wyatt defeated and his rebellion against Queen Mary crushed
• 1555 Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake for heresy
• 1574 Louis of Nassau ends siege of Maastricht
• 1621 Alexander Ludovisi is elected Pope Gregory XV (-1623)
• 1667 Treaty of Andrussovo: Russia/Poland signs peace treaty
• 1674 English reconquer NY from Netherlands
• 1682 Thomas Otway's "Venice Preserved" premieres in London
• 1895 1st intercollegiate basketball game (Minn Agricult beats Hamline, 9-3)
• 1895 Volleyball invented by W G Morgan in Massachusetts
• 1900 Dwight Davis established a new tennis trophy, the Davis Cup
• 1904 Japanese land troops at Chemulpo (Inchon), near Seoul, Korea; within the next three weeks they will have advanced to the Yalu River, border of Manchuria
• 1906 Natal proclaims state of siege in Zulu uprising
• 1909 1st federal legislation prohibiting narcotics (opium)
• 1909 1st forestry school is incorporated at Kent, Ohio
• 1912 US Tennis Association amends rule taking bye away from defending champion
• 1913 -18] 10 Day Tragedy of Mexico-City; 3,000 die
• 1916 Britain's military service act enforced (conscription)
• 1916 NL votes down a proposal by Giants, Braves, & Cubs to increase club player limit from 21 to 22 (The Reds want to decrease to 20)
• 1918 US Army chaplain school organizes at Ft Monroe, Va
• 1918 Sacha Guitry's "Deburan" premieres in Paris
• 1920 International treaty recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard
• 1920 Joint Rules Com bans foreign substances & alterations to baseballs
• 1922 Italian government of Bonomi falls
• 1922 Snow on Mauna Loa, Hawaii
• 1922 Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1922 The World War Foreign Debt Commission is established by Congress to settle the problem of Allied war and postwar loands
• 1923 Soviet Aeroflot airlines forms
• 1924 Nakhichevan ASSR constituted within Azerbaijan SSR
• 1925 German Minister Stresemann proposes security treaty with France
• 1925 Haifa Technion (Israel) opens
• 1926 Teaching theory of evolution forbidden in Atlanta, Georgia schools
• 1929 USSR, Estonia, Latvia, Poland & Romania sign Litvinov's Pact, providing for renunciation of war among its signatories
• 1932 USA enters Olympic 2-man bobsled competition for 1st time
• 1932 US airship Columbia crashes during storm (Flushing, NY)
• 1933 -63°F (-53°C), Moran, Wyoming (state record)
• 1934 -14.3°F (-25.7°C), coldest day in New York City
• 1934 -51°F (-46°C), Vanderbilt, Michigan (state record)
• 1934 Balkan Entente alliance forms (Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey & Romania)
• 1935 US female Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson
• 1935 US male Figure Skating championship won by Robin Lee
• 1939 Belgian Spaak government falls
• 1943 German riots at "plutocratenzoontjes", 1,200 in Vught Camp
• 1943 Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, ends epic WWII battle on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific
• 1943 NL seeks buyer for Phillies as owner Gerry Nugent falls in arrears
• 1943 Nazis arrest Dutch sons of rich parents
• 1944 U-734/U-238 sunk off Ireland
• 1945 -Feb 10] Germany destroys Ruhrdammen
• 1945 WAAF-corporal flies along the tail of a Spitfire
• 1945 The Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Venturer sinks U-Boat 864 off the coast of Norway.
• 1946 Dutch Labor Party (Dutch Social Democratic Party) forms
• • 1951 St Louis Browns sign pitcher Satchel Paige, 45
  • 1953 "Adventures of Superman" TV series premieres in syndication
  • 1953 WNEP TV channel 16 in Scranton Wilkes-Barre, PA (ABC) 1st broadcast
  • 1953 General Walter Bedell Smith, USA, ends term as 4th director of CIA Allen Dulles, becomes acting director of CIA
  • 1954 Mario Scelba forms new government in Italy
  • 1955 Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts crematory law
  • 1955 US federations of trade unions merge into AFL/CIO
  • 1956 -5°F (-20.6°C) in Sicily
  • 1956 KHPL (now KWNB) TV channel 6 in Hayes Center, NB (ABC) 1st broadcast
  • 1956 R Lacoste follows Catroux as premier of Algeria
  • 1959 Coasters's "Charlie Brown" peaks at #2
  • 1960 AFL & NFL agree verbally to a no tampering pact
  • 1961 Joseph Ileo appointed premier of Congo
  • 1962 Jamaica signs agreement to become independent
  • 1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • 1963 1st flight of Boeing 727 jet
  • 1963 7th largest snowfall in NYC history (42.4 cm, 16.7")
  • 1964 1st appearance of Beatles on "Ed Sullivan Show" (73.7 million viewers)
  • 1964 9th Winter Olympic games close at Innsbruck, Austria
  • 1964 GI Joe character created
  • 1964 Hanumant Singh scores 105 India v England on debut at Delhi
  • 1964 NYC news anchor Jim Jenson's 1st appearance on WCBS-TV
  • 1966 Dow-Jones Index hits record 995 points
  • 1966 The Government announces construction of a nuclear reactor on the North coast of Scotland
  • 1968 Rotterdam metro opened by Princess Beatrix
  • 1969 1st flight of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet
  • 1969 KGTO TV channel 36 in Fayetteville, AR (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
  • 1971 Apollo 14 returns to Earth
  • 1971 Probably 1st gay theme TV episode - All in the Family
  • 1971 Quake in San Fernando Valley kills 64 & causes over $½B damage
  • 1971 Satchel Paige becomes 1st negro-league player elected to baseball hall of fame
  • 1971 5 men are killed near a BBC transmitter on Brougher Mountain, County Tyrone, in a landmine attack carried out by the Irish Republican Army
  • 1972 British government declares state of emergency after month-long coal miners' strike
  • 1972 William Craig, who had been Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs, launches 'Ulster Vanguard' as an umbrella movement for the right-ring of Unionism
  • 1973 Biju Patnaik of the Pragati Legislature Party elected leader of opposition in the state assembly in Orissa, India.
  • 1974 "Daddy What If" by Bobby Bare peaks at #41
  • 1974 "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" by Gordon Sinclair peaks at #24
  • 1974 US female Figure Skating championship won by Dorothy Hamill
  • 1974 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr
  • 1975 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Naples Lely Golf Classic
  • 1975 Soyuz 17 returns to Earth
  • 1976 Oscar Charleston selected to baseball's Hall of Fame
  • 1979 21st Grammy Awards: Just the Way You Are, Taste of Honey
  • 1979 ABC airs "Heroes of Rock N Roll" special
  • 1979 Beginning of James Clavell's novel "Whirlwind"
  • 1979 Nigeria amends constitution
  • 1979 UK Football club Nottingham Forest makes £1m transfer deal
  • 1979 New York City premiere of Paul Schrader's allegedly fact based "Hardcore"
  • 1986 36th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 139-132 at Dallas
  • 1986 Halley's Comet reaches 30th perihelion (closest approach to Sun)
  • 1986 Haydar Bakr al-Attas appointed president of South Yemen
  • 1986 Marvin Johnson wins record 3rd time, light heavyweight boxing title
  • 1986 Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
  • 1986 Tomb of Tutanchamon's treasurer Maya found in Egypt
  • 1986 West German team swims world record 4x200 m freestyle (7:05.17)
  • 1987 Former national security adviser Robert McFarlane attempts suicide
  • 1987 NY Stock Exch installs ladies restroom in the Exchange Luncheon Club
  • 1988 39th NHL All-Star Game: Wales beat Campbell 6-5 (OT) at St Louis
  • 1988 NH begins a NCAA record 32-game losing streak at home (ends Feb 1991)
  • 1989 Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) ends NBA free throw streak of 57 games
  • 1989 Michael Manley's Socialist Party wins Jamaica parliamentary election
  • 1990 "Bradys" return to TV for 6 episodes on CBS TV
  • 1990 Doina Melinte runs world indoor record 1.5k (4:00:27) & mile (4:17:13)
  • 1990 Galileo flies by Venus
  • 1990 Namibia's constitution ratified
  • 1990 40th Berlin International Film Festival: "Music Box" and "Larks on a String" win the Golden Bear (tie)
  • 1991 "This Is Ponderous" by 2nu peaks at #46
  • 1991 Johann Olav Koss skates world record 5k (6:41:73)
  • 1991 Terry Norris knocks down Sugar Ray Leonard twice & beats him
  • 1991 US Supreme Court agrees to hear Joseph Doherty case
  • 1991 Wally Joyner wins record $2.1 million salary arbitration
  • 1992 "2 Shakespearean Actors" closes at Cort Theater NYC after 29 performances
  • 1992 42nd NBA All-Star Game: West beats East 153-113 at Orlando
  • 1992 Fastest yodeler-22 tones/15 falsetto in 1 sec by Thomas School of Germ
  • 1992 Heike Henkel high jumps female indoor world record (2.07m)
  • 1992 Jani Sievinen swims world record 400m medley (4:07.10)
  • 1992 Shelley Hamlin wins LPGA Phar-Mor Golf Tournament at Hamlin Inverrary
  • 1993 Army of opium king Khun Sa kills 60 in NE Burma
  • 1995 "Heiress" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 340 performances
  • 1995 Irina Privalova runs female world record 50m (5.96 sec)
  • 1995 STS-63 - 2nd mission of US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program goes into space
  • 1995 45th Berlin International Film Festival: "The Bait" wins the Golden Bear
  • 1996 WYNY-FM in NYC changes calls to WKTU-FM
  • 1996 The Irish Republican Army declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire shortly followed by a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf.
  • 1997 11th American Comedy Award: Debbie Reynolds
  • 1997 47th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 132-120 at Cleveland
  • 1997 Kelly Robbins wins LPGA Diet Dr Pepper National Pro-Am
  • 1997 Mark O'Meara wins Buick golf invitational
  • 1997 Fox cartoon series "Simpsons" airs 167th episode the longest-running animated series in cartoon history
  • 1998 Failed assassination attempt on Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze
  • 1998 6th ESPY Awards: Ken Griffey Jr, Mia Hamm win
  • 2000 50th Berlin International Film Festival: "Magnolia" wins the Golden Bear
  • 2001 American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School; nine the Ehime-Maru's crew members were killed, including four high school students.
  • 2002 NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 38-30
  • 2003 52nd NBA All-Star Game: West beats East 155-145 (2 OT) at Atlanta
  • 2011 Latvia leaves deep recession with an annualised growth of 3.7% in the last quarter of 2010, it is reported today
  • 2012 62nd Berlin International Film Festival: "Caesar Must Die" wins the Golden Bear
  • 2013 5 people are killed after Cessna plane crashes on a Brussels runway
  • 2014 Australian National University scientists discover the oldest known star at 13.6 billion years old
  • 2014 Protest erupt in Sarajevo and other cities in Bosnia-Herzegovina; the unemployment rate remains at 40% (57% for youth)
  • 2014 Switzerland votes to return immigration quotas
  • 2016 Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos defeat Carolina Panthers 24–10, at Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara
  • 2016 Two German passenger trains collide near Bad Aibling, Bavaria, killing 10 and seriously injuring 18
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