1272 Edward I proclaimed King of England.
1316 Death of King John I of France (d. 1316)
1407 A solemn truce between John, Duke of Burgundy and Louis of Valois, Duke of OrlTans is agreed under the auspicies of John, Duke of Berry. OrlTans would be assassinated three days later by Burgundy.
1490 Joanot Martorell’s book Tirant lo Blanc is published for the first time.
1518 Death of Marmaduke Constable, English soldier
1529 Death of Karl von Miltitz, papal nuncio
1591 Death of Christopher Hatton, English politician (b. 1540)
1602 Birth of Otto von Guericke inventor (air pump).
1612 Death of John Harington, English writer (b. 1561)
1620 Birth of Peregrine White son of William and Susanna White, born aboard Mayflower.
1621 Birth of Avvakum, Russian priest and writer (d. 1682)
1625 Birth of Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (d. 1654)
1637 Peter Minuit and first Swedish immigrants to Delaware sail from Sweden.
1651 Death of Miko?aj Potocki, Polish soldier (b. 1595)
1660 Birth of Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (d. 1741)
1662 Death of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1614)
1695 Death of Zumbi, Brazilian runaway slave
1695 Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, was executed.
1700 At Narva, Swedish King Karl XII with about 10,000 men defeats the Russian army of 40,000.
1700 Great Northern War: Battle of Narva – King Charles XII of Sweden defeats the army of Tsar Peter the Great at Narva.
1726 Birth of Oliver Wolcott (Connecticut-Governor), signed Declaration of Independence.
1737 Death of Caroline of Ansbach, Queen of George II of Great Britain (b. 1683)
1742 Death of Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat (b. 1661)
1752 Birth of Thomas Chatterton English poet (Christabel).
1758 Death of Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer (b. 1694)
1761 Birth of Pius VIII 253rd Roman Catholic pope (1829-30).
1762 Birth of Pierre AndrT Latreille, French entomologist (d. 1833)
1764 Death of Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (b. 1690)
1765 Birth of Sir Thomas Fremantle, British naval captain and politician (d. 1819)
1778 Death of Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (b. 1726)
1780 Britain declares war on Holland.
1789 New Jersey becomes first state to ratify Bill of Rights.
1789 New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1805 The opera “Fidelio” is produced (Vienna).
1820 An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick was in part inspired by this story).
1829 Jews are expelled from Russia’s Nikolayev and Sevastopol.
1839 Birth of Christian Wilberg, German painter (d. 1882)
1841 Birth of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Liberal) 7th Canadian Prime Minister (1896-1911).
1851 Birth of Queen Margherita of Italy (d. 1926)
1858 Birth of Selma Lagerlof Sweden, novelist (Tales of a Manor-Nobel Prize 1909).
1862 Confederate army of Tennessee, organizes under General Braxton Bragg.
1864 Birth of Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer (d. 1931)
1866 Birth of Kenesaw Mountain Landis judge/first commissioner of baseball.
1866 First national convention of Grand Army of the Republic (veterans’ organization).
1866 Howard University founded (Washington, DC).
1866 Pierre Lalemont patents rotary crank bicycle.
1869 Birth of Clark Griffith Missouri, baseball player/manager (New York Yankees).
1873 Birth of Daniel Gregory Mason Brookline Massachusetts, composer (Chanticker).
1878 War starts between Britain and Afghanistan.
1884 Birth of Norman Thomas Marion Ohio, socialist (presidential candidate 1928-48).
1886 Birth of Karl von Frisch zoologist/bee expert (Nobel Prize 1973).
1888 William Bundy patents the timecard clock.
1889 Birth of Edwin Hubble; astronomer (discoverer of galaxies, red shift).
1890 Pope Leo XIII encyclical On slavery in the missions.
1891 Birth of Leon Cadore pitcher (pitched all of 26 inning game).
1894 Death of Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1829)
1894 US intervenes in Bluefields, Nicaragua.
1896 Birth of Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (d. 1977)
1900 Birth of Chester Gould cartoonist (gave Dick Tracy a job).
1901 The opera “GrisTlidis” is produced (Paris).
1902 Henri Desgrange and fellow journalist GTo Lefèvre dream up the idea of the Tour de France over lunch at the CafT de Madrid in Paris.
1903 Birth of Alexandra Danilova, Russian ballerina (d. 1997)
1907 Birth of Fran Allison LaPorte City Iowa, actress (Kukla, Fran and Ollie).
1908 Birth of Alistair Cooke in Manchester, England; actor (Masterpiece Theatre).
1909 Birth of Alan Bible (Senator-Democrat-Nevada, 1954-74).
1909 Jack Williams of Ottawa Rough Riders kicks 9 singles in a game.
1910 Birth of Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch physicist (d. 1944)
1910 Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosi, denouncing President Porfirio Dfaz, declaring himself president, and calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
1910 Revolution breaks out in Mexico, led by Francisco I Madero.
1911 Birth of Jean Shiley US, high jumper (Olympic-gold-1932).
1912 Birth of Otto von Habsburg, German head of the Austrian imperial family
1913 Birth of Judy Canova, American actress (d. 1983)
1914 Birth of Emilio Pucci Naples, fashion designer (Neiman-Marcus Award-1954).
1914 US State Department starts requiring photographs for passports.
1915 Birth of Kon Ichikawa Japan, director (Matatabi, Money Talks).
1916 Birth of Judy Canova Jacksonville Florida, comedienne/actress (Cannonball).
1917 Birth of Robert Byrd (Democrat-Senator-West Virginia) majority leader.
1917 Ukraine is declared a republic.
1917 Ukrainian Republic declared.
1917 World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins – British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.
1918 Birth of Dora Ratjen Germany, man posing as woman high jumper (Olympics-4th-1936).
1919 Birth of Evelyn Keyes actress (Adventure of Martin Eden).
1919 First municipally owned airport in US opens in Tucson, Az.
1920 Birth of Douglas Dick Charlestown West Virginia; actor (Carl-Waterfront).
1921 Birth of Phyllis Thaxter Portland Maine, actress (Nora, Fort Worth).
1923 Birth of Beryl Sprinkel in Missouri, USA; economist (Council of Economic Advisers).
1923 Garrett Morgan invents and patents the traffic signal.
1924 Birth of Benoit Mandelbrot Warsaw Poland, mathematician (proved Zipf’s law).
1925 Birth of Maya Plisetkaya; prima ballerina (Bolshoi Ballet).
1925 Death of Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom (b. 1844)
1926 Birth of Andrzej W. Schally, Polish-born endocrinologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1927 Birth of Estelle Parsons, American actress
1928 Birth of Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor
1929 Birth of Kenneth DeWitt Schermerhorn in Schenectady, New York, USA; conductor (American Ballet).
1931 Commercial teletype service begins.
1932 Birth of Richard Dawson, British actor and game show host. Played Corporal Newkirk on “Hogan’s Heroes”
1934 Birth of Valentine J Peter in Omaha, Nebraska, USA; priest (Boy’s Town 1985-).
1936 Birth of Don DeLillo, American author
1936 Death of Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish anarchist (b. 1896)
1937 Birth of Eero Muntyranta in Finland; nordic ski relay (Olympic-gold-1960).
1938 First documented anti-Semitic remarks over US radio (by Father Coughlin).
1939 Birth of Dick Smothers, American comedian – member of the Smothers Brothers duo
1940 Birth of Bob Einstein in Los Angeles, California, USA; comedian (Officer Judy, Super Dave Osborne).
1940 Hungary signs the Tripartite Pact with Germany, Japan, and Italy.
1940 World War II: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis Powers.
1941 Birth of Gary Karr in Los Angeles, California, USA; double-bassist (Oslo Philharmonic).
1942 Birth of Joseph R Biden Jr; American politician (Democrat-Senator-Delaware, Vice President 2009-).
1942 NHL abolishes regular season overtime until World War II is over.
1943 Birth of Veronica Hamel, American actress
1943 US forces land on Tarawa and Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islanda.
1943 World War II: Battle of Tarawa begins – United States Marines land on Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.
1944 Birth of Anthea Stewart in Zimbabwe; field hockey coach/player (Olympic-1980).
1945 Death of Francis William Aston, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
1945 Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
1945 The first war crimes trial opens at Nuremberg, with 22 defendants.
1946 Birth of Duane Allman; rocker (Allman Brothers – “Jessica”, “Ramblin’ Man”).
1947 At Westminster Abbey in London, England, Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten, former prince of Greece and Denmark.
1947 Birth of Joe Walsh in Wichita, Kansas, USA; guitarist/rocker (Eagles – “Take it Easy”).
1947 The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London.
1948 Birth of John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN
1949 Birth of Juha Mieto in Finland; 15km skier (Olympic-silver-1980).
1949 In Kochi, Japan, a hot meteoritic stone enters a house through a window.
1950 Death of Francesco Cilea, Italian composer (b. 1866)
1951 Birth of David Walters, Governor of Oklahoma
1952 Sl�nsk� trials – a series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.
1953 Scott Crossfield in Douglas Skyrocket, first to break Mach 2 (1300mph).
1954 Birth of Steve Dahl in California, USA; Chicago’s anti-disco DJ (WLS-FM).
1955 Bo Diddley becomes the first African American performer to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. Apparently Sullivan was infuriated when Diddley sang his self-titled song instead of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s hit, “Sixteen Tons”.
1955 RCA offers a $35,000 contract for Elvis Presley.
1956 Birth of Mark Gastineau; NFL end (New York Jets, Pro Bowl 1981-85).
1957 Birth of Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education
1957 Death of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist (d. 1875)
1959 Birth of James P. McGovern, U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
1959 United Nations adopts the declaration of children’s rights.
1960 Death of Chris Whitley, American musician (d. 2005)
1961 Birth of Dave Watson, English footballer
1962 Birth of Steve Alexander; rocker (Brother Beyond – “Can You Keep a Secret”).
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union’s agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
1962 Jasper McLevy, socialist mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, dies.
1962 US lifts blockade of Cuba.
1963 Birth of Timothy Gowers, British mathematician
1965 Birth of Mike D [Diamond]; rocker (Beastie Boys – “You Gotta Fight”).
1966 Birth of Kevin Gilbert, American musician (d. 1996)
1966 Cabaret opens at the Imperial Theatre, New York.
1966 Dallas Cowboys sack Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterbacks an NFL record 12 times.
1967 At 11 AM, Census Clock at US Department of Commerce ticks past 200 million.
1968 Vietnam War: Eleven men comprising a Long Range Patrol team from F Company, 58th Infantry, 101st Airborne are surrounded and nearly wiped out by North Vietnamese army regulars from the 4th and 5th Regiment. The seven wounded survivors are rescued after several hours by an impromptu force made of other men from their unit.
1969 In Southern West Virginia, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurs. This is the largest known historical earthquake in West Virginia.
1969 Pele scores his 1,000th soccer goal.
1969 Vietnam War: The Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
1970 Birth of Matt Blunt, Governor of Missouri
1971 Birth of Joey Galloway, American football wide receiver
1973 Death of Allan Sherman, American comedian (b. 1924)
1974 The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. This suit later leads to the break up of AT&T and its Bell System.
1974 The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T, which leads to the break up of AT&T and its Bell System.
1975 Birth of Dierks Bentley, American singer
1975 Death of Francisco Franco, Head of State of Spain (1936-1975) (b. 1892)
1975 General Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator, dies in Madrid at age 82.
1976 Birth of Dominique Dawes, American gymnast
1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes first Arab leader to address Israeli Knesset.
1977 Walter Payton (Chicago Bears) rushes for NFL-record 275 yards.
1978 Death of Vasilisk Gnedov, Russian poet (b. 1890)
1979 About 1,500 Terrorists revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgramage and take about 6000 hostages in the Kaaba. The Saudi government received help from French special forces to put down the uprising.
1980 Billy Martin named American League Manager of the Year (Oakland Athletics).
1980 Death of John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (born 1900).
1980 The Gang of Four trial begins in China.
1981 Anatoly Karpov, USSR, retains world chess championship.
1981 Birth of Kimberley Walsh; British singer (Girls Aloud).
1982 Andy Kaufman was forever voted off of Saturday Night Live by a live phone poll.
1982 University of California, Berkeley executes “The Play” in a college football game against Stanford. Completing a wacky 57-yard kickoff return that includes five laterals, Kevin Moen runs through Stanford band members who had prematurely come onto the field. His touchdown stands and California wins 25-20.
1983 Cleveland Browns shutout New England Patriots 30-0.
1983 In the U.S., an estimated 100 million people watch the controversial made-for-television movie The Day After, depicting a nuclear war and its effects on the United States.
1983 New York Giants’ Butch Woolfolk ties NFL record of 43 attempts rushing.
1984 SETI is founded.
1984 SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is founded.
1985 Bill Scott, cartoon voice (Mr Peabody, Bullwinkle), dies at age 65.
1985 New York Yankees’ Don Mattingly named American League Most Valuable Player.
1986 United Nations’s World Health Organization announces first global effort to combat AIDS.
1989 Birth of Cody Linley, American actor.
1989 In Sichuan Province, China, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurs. Four people killed, 161 injured and at least 1,000 homes destroyed.
1989 In southern Iran, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs.
1989 The number of potesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells to an estimated half-million.
1989 Velvet Revolution: The number of protestors assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
1990 UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fails to defeat Michael Heseltine’s bid for party leadership.
1990 US 68th manned space mission STS 38 (Atlantis 7) returns from space.
1992 In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building.
1992 In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over an extended period).
1993 An Avioimpex Yak 42D crashes into Mount Trojani near Ohrid, Macedonia. The aircraft was on a flight from Geneva, Switzerland to Skopje, but had been diverted to Ohrid due to poor weather conditions at the Skopje airport. All eight crew members and 115 of the 116 passengers are killed.
1993 Savings and Loan scandal: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his “dealings” with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
1994 Death of John Lucarotti, TV writer (born 1926).
1994 The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol.
1994 The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war (in 1995 localized fighting resumed).
1995 Sergei Grinkov, Soviet ice skater (Olympic Gold 1988, 1994) dies (heart attack) at age 28.
1998 A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden “a man without a sin” in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
1998 A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden “a man without a sin” in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
1998 Death of Galina Starovoitova, Russian politician (b. 1946)
1998 Galina Starovoitova, Russian legislator and democracy advocate, is assassinated in St. Petersburg, Russia.
1998 The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.
1998 The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, was launched.
1999 The People’s Republic of China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft.
2000 Death of Mike Muuss, American computer programmer (b. 1958)
2000 Intel introduces the Pentium 4 processor, at speeds of 1.4 and 1.5 GHz, with a 400 MHz system bus. It features NetBurst micro-architecture, and incorporates 42 million transistors. The processor adds 144 new Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 multimedia instructions.
2000 The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is lifted into place in one piece by the Asian Hercules II floating crane.
2001 In Washington, D.C., U.S. President George W. Bush dedicates the United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.
2003 After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.
2003 Death of Robert Addie, British actor (born 1960).
2003 Entertainer Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation.
2003 Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation.
2003 Several bombs explode in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC and the British consulate.
2004 Death of David Grierson, Canadian radio host (b. 1955
2005 Death of Sheldon Gardner, American psychologist (b. 1934)
2005 The Washington Post rebukes journalist Bob Woodward over his conduct in the US Central Intelligence Agency leak probe.
2006 Death of Robert Altman, American film director (born 1925).
2006 Iran and Syria recognize the government of Iraq, restore diplomatic relations, and call for a peace conference.
2006 Lee High School bus crash kills four students in Huntsville, Alabama.
2007 Death of Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia (born 1919).
2007 The UK’s HM Revenue and Customs admits that it has misplaced two computer discs which contain the records of child benefit claimants data, including bank details and National Insurance numbers, in the United Kingdom, leaving up to 7.25 million households susceptible to identity theft.
2008 An estimated 10-tonne object explodes in the atmosphere over Canadian provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan, landing south of Lone Rock, Saskatchewan. Within weeks, 130 stony meteorites (type H4), totalling 40 kg are recovered.
2008 Argentine Congress approves nationalizing the private pension system.
2008 Canada’s S&P/TSX composite index drops below 8,000 points for the first time in more than five years, closing at 7,724.80. The day’s drop of more than nine percent is the second-largest on record.
2008 Death of Boris Fyodorov, Russian economic reformer, at age 50.
2008 Launch party for the Altantis hotel in Dubai, 2500 people on the guest list.
2008 Oil prices drop to below US$50 a barrel, settling at US$49.62 a barrel, the lowest since May 23, 2005.
2009 CERN restarts the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland; they had shut it down on September 19, 2008.
2009 Death of Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountaineer (born 1925).
