Event of Interest
1273 Thomas Aquinas is thought to have a mystical experience in Naples, refuses to continue his work "I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me"
Thomas Aquinas
Event of Interest
1424 Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews
- 1527 Pope Clemens VII flees to Orvieto
- 1534 Quito, Ecuador, founded by Spanish
- 1631 1st predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed
- 1641 Don Francisco de Mello appointed land guardian of South Netherlands
- 1648 Pride's Purge: Thomas Pride prevents 96 presbyterians from sitting in English parliament
- 1723 Emperor Karel VI's Pragmatic Sanctie declares Constitution
- 1732 1st play in American colonies acted by professional players in New York
- 1735 First recorded appendectomy performed by Claudius Amyand at St George's Hospital in London
- 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's army retreats to Scotland
- 1756 British troops under Robert Clive occupy Fulta, India
- 1768 1st edition of "Encyclopedia Brittanica" published in Scotland
- 1787 Laurens Pieter van de Speigel is appointed Dutch pension advisor
- 1790 The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1822 Veterinary school in Utrecht opens
Event of Interest
1825 US President John Adams suggests establishment of a national observatory
John Adams
Event of Interest
1849 Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland for the 2nd and final time
Harriet Tubman
Event of Interest
1862 US President Abraham Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians
Abraham Lincoln
- 1864 Battle of Deveaux's Neck, South Carolina
- 1865 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery
- 1866 Chicago water supply tunnel 3,227 m into Lake Michigan completed
- 1873 1st international football game in US: Yale 2, Eton (England) 1 in New Haven, Connecticut
- 1875 44th Congress (1875-77) convenes
- 1876 1st crematorium in US begins operation, Washington, Pennsylvania
- 1876 City of Anaheim incorporated for 2nd time
Election of Interest
1876 US Electoral College picks Rutherford B. Hayes as President, despite Samuel J. Tilden winning more votes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Music Recording
1877 Thomas Edison records himself reciting "Mary had a little lamb"
Thomas Edison
- 1877 Washington Post publishes 1st edition
- 1882 Atmosphere of Venus detected during transit
- 1884 Aluminum capstone set atop Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.
- 1896 D T Suzuki found the awakening at Engakuji temple, in Kamakura
- 1897 London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs
- 1903 Sumatra Atjehs guerilla leader Panglima Polim surrenders
Event of Interest
1904 Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)
Theodore Roosevelt
- 1906 The British grant Transvaal self-government
- 1907 Coal mine explosions in Monongah, West Virginia kills 361
- 1912 China votes for universal human rights
- 1913 White Sox beat Giants 9-4 in exhibition game in Tokyo
- 1914 German troops over run Lodz
- 1916 German army under Gen Mackensen occupies Bucharest
- 1916 World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.
- 1917 French munition ship "Mont Blanc" explodes in Halifax, kills 1,700
- 1917 Taking advantage of the temporary relaxation of authority in Russia, Finland declares itself a republic, following the Ukraine on 20 November
Treaty of Interest
1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland
Michael Collins
Election of Interest
1921 Mackenzie King, leader of the Labor Party and architect of a liberal coalition, is voted Prime Minister of Canada
Mackenzie King
Historic Communication
1923 1st US Presidential address broadcast on radio by President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
Event of Interest
1933 Ban on James Joyce's "Ulysses" in US lifted
James Joyce
- 1938 117 Spanish knights under capt Piet Laros return to Netherlands
Treaty of Interest
1938 French/German non-attack treaty drawn (Ribbentrop-Bonnet Pact)
Joachim von Ribbentrop
- 1939 5th Heisman Trophy Award: Nile Kinnick, Iowa (HB)
- 1939 Cole Porter's musical "Du Barry was a Lady" premieres in NYC
- 1940 Gestapo arrest German resistance fighter/poster artist Helen Ernst
- 1940 Pietro Badoglio resigns as viceroy of Ethiopia
- 1941 Dutch & British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet at Singapore
- 1941 NYC Council agrees to build Idlewild (Kennedy) Airport in Queens
- 1942 Queen Wilhelmina announces Dutch Commonwealth
- 1942 RAF bombs Philips factory (150 die)
- 1944 US 95th Infantry division reaches Westwall
- 1947 The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
- 1950 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Mirabile illud
- 1952 Czech government tells Israeli ambassador that he is persona non grata
- 1953 Brown's Lou "Toe" Groza kicks 8 PATs, beating Giants 62-14
Event of Interest
1954 Simone de Beauvoir receives the Prix Goncourt prize in French literature
Simone de Beauvoir
Event of Interest
1956 Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa
Nelson Mandela
- 1957 1st US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up
- 1957 AFL-CIO votes to expel Teamsters (readmitted in October 1987)
- 1957 Indonesia begins nationalizing Dutch possessions
- 1958 US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back
- 1960 AL grants American businessman Gene Autry a franchise, LA Angels
- 1961 27th Heisman Trophy Award: Ernie Davis, Syracuse (HB) (1st African American to win)
- 1962 US abandons Skybolt ballistic missile program
- 1963 The Beatles begin a tradition of releasing a Christmas record for fans
- 1963 Test Cricket debut of Graeme Pollock at the Gabba
- 1964 "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" 1st airs on TV
- 1964 KTVR TV channel 13 in La Grande, OR (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1964 President Antonio Segni of Italy resigns
- 1965 2 trucks crashed into a crowd of dancers in Sotouboua Togo, kills 125
- 1965 Pakistan's Islamic Ideology Advisory Committee recommends that Islamic Studies be made a compulsory subject for Muslim students from primary to graduate level.
- 1966 Polio vaccination becomes obligatory in Belgium
- 1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
- 1968 Baseball dismisses Commissioner William Eckert after 3 years
- 1968 PBA National Championship won by Wayne Zahn
- 1968 WKID (WSCV) TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale, FL (IND) 1st broadcast
- 1969 "Buck White" closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 7 performances
- 1969 300,000 attend Altamont California, rock concert feature Rolling Stones
- 1969 USSR performs nuclear test
- 1970 Cleveland Cavaliers 1st NBA home victory, beating Buffalo Braves 108-106
- 1971 Lewis Franklin Powell confirmed as US Supreme Court justice
- 1971 A woman dies trying to salvage property from the Salvation Army Citadel in Belfast after bomb which started a large fire in an adjoining building
- 1973 Bahrain's constitution goes into effect
Election of Interest
1973 Gerald Ford sworn-in as first unelected Vice President, succeeds Spiro Agnew who resigned over corruption allegations
Gerald Ford
Spiro Agnew
- 1973 NL votes to move San Diego Padres to Washington, D.C. (doesn't happen)
Event of Interest
1974 George Harrison releases "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"
George Harrison
- 1975 41st Heisman Trophy Award: Archie Griffin, Ohio State (RB)
- 1975 Balcombe Street Siege: for 6 days, four Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers hold two hostages at an apartment in London, England
- 1976 War criminal Pieter Menten arrested in Zurich
- 1977 South Africa grants Bophuthatswana independence
- 1978 Spain adopts constitution
- 1980 NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 502
- 1981 Rob de Castella of Australia sets Marathon record at 2:08:18
- 1982 Droppin Well bombing: 11 British soldiers and 6 civilians are killed by an Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) time bomb at the Droppin’ Well Bar in Ballykelly, County Londonderry
- 1983 A bomb planted on a bus in Jerusalem explodes, kills 6 Israelis
- 1984 France performs nuclear test
- 1984 Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage
- 1986 52nd Heisman Trophy Award: Vinny Testaverde, Miami Fla (QB)
- 1986 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1987 3 satanist Missouri teenagers bludgeon comrade to death for "fun"
- 1987 Christa Rothenburger skates female world record 500m (39.39 sec)
- 1987 Jane Crafter and Steve Jones wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
Meeting of Interest
1988 Yasser Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden
Yasser Arafat
- 1988 Carlos Andres Perez re-elected president of Venezuela
- 1988 Merv Hughes takes 13 wickets v WI at the WACA but Australia lose
- 1988 Milwaukee Bucks win their 1,000th NBA game (2nd fastest)
- 1988 Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vester Prison, Capetown
- 1988 STS-27 Atlantis lands in California after secret mission
- 1988 Agnes Neil Williams purchases Baltimore Orioles for $70 million Eli Jacobs becomes CEO of Balt Orioles
- 1989 Mafia drug kingpin bombs security force at Bogota, kills 52
- 1989 Worst Canadian mass murder: Marc Lepine kills 14 women at U Montreal
- 1990 NHL grants conditional membership to Tampa Bay Lightning
Event of Interest
1990 Saddam Hussein announces release of all foreign hostages
Saddam Hussein
NFL Record
1992 San Francisco 49ers Jerry Rice catches NFL record 101st touchdown
Jerry Rice
Agreement of Interest
1992 San Francisco Giants sign record $43million USD pact with Pirates MLB outfielder Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Event of Interest
1995 Michael Jackson collapses while rehearsing for an HBO special
Michael Jackson
- 1996 Mashonaland defeat England in first-class tour match
Election of Interest
1998 Hugo Chávez is elected President of Venezuela
Hugo Chávez
- 1998 87th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Italy in Milan (4-1)
- 2001 The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador
- 2005 Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China
- 2006 NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars
Event of Interest
2008 American pin-up model Bettie Page (85) is hospitalized in critical condition after suffering a heart attack
Bettie Page
- 2009 98th Davis Cup: Spain beats Czech Republic in Barcelona (5-0)
Event of Interest
2009 Final Broadway performance of "A Steady Rain", starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig
Hugh Jackman
Event of Interest
2017 US President Donald Trump officially recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, announcing plans to move US embassy there
Donald Trump
- 2017 Skirball wildfire near Los Angeles closes the Interstate 405 as thousands forced to evacuate
- 2017 Andrej Babiš is sworn as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
- 2017 Britain's top Brexit negotiator David Davis admits there has been "no systematic impact assessment" on effects of Brexit
- 2017 Brazilian drug lord Rogério da Silva arrested in Rio
- 2017 "Supermassive" most distant black hole discovery announced by astronomers in journal "Nature", 13 billion light-years away, 800 x bigger than the Sun