- 1276 While taking exile in Fuzhou, southern China, from advancing Mongol invaders, remnants of the Song Dynasty court hold coronation ceremony for young prince Zhao Shi, making him Emperor Duanzong of Song
- 1381 Richard II in England meets leaders of Peasants' Revolt on Blackheath. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance
- 1565 Catharina de Medici and Duke of Alva discuss Calvinism
- 1597 At 4:30 AM Willem Barents leaves Novaya Zemlya for Netherlands
- 1615 Jacques Le Maire sail to Zuidland/Terra Australis
- 1623 1st breach-of-promise lawsuit: Rev Gerville Pooley, Virginia files against Cicely Jordan, he loses
- 1634 Russia and Poland sign Peace treaty of Polianov
- 1642 1st compulsory education law in America passed by Massachusetts
Victory in Battle
1645 Battle of Naseby, Leicestershire: "New Model Army" under Oliver Cromwell & Thomas Fairfax beat royalists forces of English King Charles I
Oliver Cromwell
Charles I
Event of Interest
1775 US Army first forms as the Continental Army to fight American Revolutionary War
Nathanael Greene
Event of Interest
1777 US Continental Congress adopts the Stars & Stripes flag, designed by Francis Hopkinson, replacing the Grand Union flag
Francis Hopkinson
Event of Interest
1789 Captain William Bligh and his loyal men cast off from HMS Bounty reach Timor, after sailing 5,800 km in a 6-metre launch
William Bligh
Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1800 Battle of Marengo (Alessandria): Bonaparte vs Austria
- 1807 Emperor Napoleon I's French Grande Armee defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Prussia (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending War of the Fourth Coalition
- 1821 Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end
Event of Interest
1822 Charles Babbage proposes a "difference engine" in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society entitled "Note on the application of machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables"
Charles Babbage
- 1834 Hardhat diving suit patented by Leonard Norcross, Dixfield, Maine
- 1834 Sandpaper patented by Isaac Fischer Jr, Springfield, Vermont
- 1839 First Henley Regatta held (it became the Henley Royal Regatta in 1851)
- 1841 1st Canadian parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario
- 1846 Belgian Liberal Party forms
- 1846 California (Bear Flag) Republic proclaimed in Sonoma, declaring independence from Mexico
Historic Invention
1847 Robert Bunsen invents the Bunsen burner
Robert Bunsen
- 1850 Third great fire of early San Francisco, starts in a bakery chimney
Event of Interest
1861 Harpers Ferry evacuated by rebels in face of General George McClellan's advance
George McClellan
- 1863 Battle of 2nd Winchester, Virginia
- 1864 US Union warship USS Kearsarge appears off Cherbourg
- 1870 All-pro Cincinnati Red Stockings suffer 1st loss in 130 games
- 1872 Trade unions are legalised in Canada.
- 1876 1st player to hit for cycle (George Hall, Philadelphia Athletics)
- 1876 California Street Cable Car Railroad Co gets its franchise
- 1880 14th Belmont: L Hughes aboard Grenada wins in 2:47
- 1881 Player piano patented by John McTammany Jr (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
- 1898 France signs Niger Convention
- 1900 The Reichstag approves a second law that allows the expansion of the German navy
- 1900 Having been annexed to the USA on 12 August 1898, Hawaii is constituted as an organised territory
- 1904 Dutch troops occupy Kuto Reh, Sumatra, killing all inhabitants
- 1904 At the battle of Telissu, the Japanese rout the Russians and inflict heavy casualties
- 1906 Pogrom against Jews in Bialystok, Polish Russia
- 1907 Government of Transvaal sends home 50,000 Chinese day workers
- 1907 Norway adopts female suffrage for middle class women only in parliamentary elections
- 1908 Fourth German Navy Bill is passed authorising the financing of the building of another four major warships
Event of Interest
1913 The South African Government pass the Immigration Act, which restricts the entry and free movement of Asians; it leads to widespread agitation and rioting by resident Indians, led by Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
- 1913 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia CC: Defending champion Mary Browne beats Dorothy Green 6-2, 7-5
Presidential Convention
1916 Democratic Convention convenes in St Louis; Woodrow Wilson campaigns on the slogan "he kept out of the war"
Woodrow Wilson
- 1916 Representatives of eight Allied nations hold an economic conference in Paris at which they discuss ways to cripple their enemies economic power during and after the war
- 1917 1st German air attack on England, 100+ killed in East London
- 1917 General Pershing and his HQ staff arrived in Paris during WW I
- 1919 1st nonstop air crossing of Atlantic (Alcock & Brown) leaves Newfoundland
- 1922 Charles Hoffner wins PGA golf tournament
Event of Interest
1922 US President Warren G. Harding is 1st US President to use radio, dedicates the Francis Scott Key memorial in Baltimore
Warren G. Harding
- 1923 Recording of 1st country music hit (Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane)
- 1924 Test Cricket debuts of Herbert Sutcliffe & Maurice Tate v South Africa
- 1924 WOKO-AM radio begins transmitting from Albany NY
- 1926 French Championships Men's Tennis: Henri Cochet wins 1st of 4 home titles; beats fellow Frenchman René Lacoste 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
- 1926 French Women's Tennis Championships: Suzanne Lenglen beats Mary Kendall Browne 6-1, 6-0
Presidential Convention
1928 Republican National Convention, meeting in Kansas City, nominates Herbert Hoover for President
Herbert Hoover
Event of Interest
1931 Reinhard Heydrich's first meeting with Heinrich Himmler
Reinhard Heydrich
Heinrich Himmler
- 1932 German government of von Papen forms
Event of Interest
1933 MLB's Lou Gehrig and Joe McCarthy thrown out of game, McCarthy suspended 3 games but Gehrig isn't, so he continues his streak at 1,249 games
Lou Gehrig
Event of Interest
1934 Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet in Vienna
Adolf Hitler
Donald Bradman
- 1938 Chlorophyll patented by Benjamin Grushkin
- 1938 Dorothy Lathrop wins 1st Caldecott Medal (kid books author)
- 1940 German forces enter Paris during WWII
- 1940 Auschwitz concentration camp opens in Nazi controlled Poland with Polish POWs (approx. 3 million would die within its walls)
- 1940 German U-47 sinks airship Balmoral
Event of Interest
1941 Ground broken for Boeing Plant II (ex-AFLC Plant 13) in Wichita, Kansas
William Boeing
Event of Interest
1942 Anne Frank begins her diary
Anne Frank
Event of Interest
1944 General Charles de Gaulle lands at Courselles France
Charles de Gaulle
- 1946 Canadian Library Association established
Music Recording
1946 Nat King Cole records "The Christmas Song" for the first time
Nat King Cole
- 1948 Klemens Gottwald becomes president of Czechoslovakia
- 1949 WROC TV channel 8 in Rochester, NY (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1951 "Courtin' Time" opens at National Theater NYC for 37 performances
- 1951 1st commercial computer, UNIVAC 1, enters service at Census Bureau
- 1952 US Open Men's Golf, Northwood GC: Julius Boros wins 1st of 3 majors by 4 shots from Ed Oliver
- 1952 Boston Brave Warren Spahn strikes out 18 Cubs in 15 innings
- 1952 General strike in Tunisia
- 1952 Jim Peters runs world record marathon (2:20:42.2)
- 1952 Keel laid for 1st nuclear powered sub USS Nautilus (4th to be named Nautilus)
- 1952 Braves Warren Spahn ties NL record of Jim Whitney with 18 strikeouts against the Cubs in 15-inning, 3-1 loss
Event of Interest
1953 Eisenhower condemns McCarthy's book burning proposal
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Event of Interest
1953 Elvis Presley graduates from L. C. Humes High School in Memphis, Tennessee
Elvis Presley
- 1953 Military coup by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in Colombia
- 1953 Yanks sweep Indians 6-2, 3-0 before 74,708 win streak at 18 straight
- 1954 President Eisenhower signs order adding words "under God" to the Pledge
- 1955 Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty
- 1956 "New Faces of 1956" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 221 performances
- 1957 42.0 cm rain falls on East St Louis, Illinois (state record)
- 1957 Edouard Carpentier beats Lou Thesz to become NWA wrestling champion
US Golf Open
1958 US Open Men's Golf, Southern Hills CC: Native Oklahoman Tommy Bolt wins his only major championship, 4 strokes ahead of 22-year old South African Gary Player
Gary Player
- 1958 British parachutists lands on Cyprus
- 1959 US Open Men's Golf, Winged Foot GC: Billy Casper wins first of his 2 Open titles, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Bob Rosburg
- 1961 106°F, hottest temperature in San Francisco
- 1962 Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler, murders Anna Slesers, his first victim
- 1962 The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris - later becoming the European Space Agency
- 1963 NY Met Duke Snider hits his 400th HR
- 1963 Valery Bykovsky in Vostok 5 orbits earth 81 times in 5 days
- 1965 Beatles release album "Beatles VI"
- 1965 Cincinnati Red Jim Maloney no-hits NY Mets but loses in 11, 1-0
Historic Publication
1965 John Lennon's second book "A Spaniard in the Works" is published
John Lennon
Television Premiere
1967 "Steve Allen Show" premieres on CBS-TV
Steve Allen
- 1967 USSR launches Kosmos 166 for observation of Sun from Earth orbit
Event of Interest
1967 California Governor Ronald Reagan signs the Therapeutic Abortion Act, legalizing abortions in the state under certain circumstances, the second state after Colorado to do so
Ronald Reagan
TV Show Appearance
1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on David Frost's British TV Show
Yoko Ono
John Lennon
Event of Interest
1969 Oakland As' Reggie Jackson gets 10 RBIs to beat Red Sox 21-7
Reggie Jackson
- 1972 Tropical storm (later hurricane) Agnes forms over Yucatán Peninsula
- 1972 Members of the NI Social Democratic and Labour Party hold a meeting with representatives of the Irish Republican Army in Derry; the IRA representatives outline their conditions for talks with the British Government
- 1973 46th National Spelling Bee: Barrie Trinkle wins spelling vouchsafe
Event of Interest
1973 US President Richard Nixon administration imposes 60-day economy-wide price freeze, superseding Special Rule No. 1 for oil companies
Richard Nixon
Baseball Record
1974 Angels' Nolan Ryan strikes out 19 Red Sox in 12 innings
Nolan Ryan
French Open Women's Tennis
1975 French Open Women's Tennis: Chris Evert beats Martina Navratilova 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 for her 2nd of 7 French singles titles
Chris Evert
Martina Navratilova
- 1976 "Gong Show" premieres on TV (syndication)
- 1976 12th Mayor's Trophy Game Yanks beat Mets 8-4
- 1976 French Open Men's Tennis: Adriano Panatta of Italy beats American Harold Solomon 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 for his lone Grand Slam singles title
- 1978 Down 9-7 in 10th with 2 outs, Yanks Paul Blair hits a 3 run HR
- 1978 Sierra Leone adopts constitution
- 1979 Canada all out for 45 runs in Cricket World Cup v England, in 40.3 overs
- 1979 NY Giants Willie McCovey 513th HR is an NL lefty record
- 1979 Rock group "Little Feat" disbands
Event of Interest
1980 Theme From NY, NY by Frank Sinatra hits #32
Frank Sinatra
LPGA Championship
1981 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: Donna Caponi Young sinks 15 foot birdie putt on 18th to beat Jerilyn Britz and Pat Meyers by 1 stroke
Donna Caponi
- 1981 No Nukes concert at Hollywood Bowl
Argentine Soldiers Surrender in the Falklands
1982 Argentina surrenders to Great Britain, ending the 74-day Falklands Islands conflict
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- 1983 5 killed in a fire at a Ramada Inn in Fort Worth, Tx
- 1984 Southern Baptist convention decide on no women clergy members
- 1985 "Michael Nesmith In Television Parts" premieres on NBC-TV
- 1985 Earl Weaver comes out of retirement to manage Baltimore Orioles
- 1985 Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists hijacked TWA Flight 847
- 1987 41st NBA Championship: LA Lakers beat Boston Celtics, 4 games to 2
- 1987 4th full-duration test firing of redesigned SRB motor
- 1987 Senior Tournament Players Championship Men's Golf, Sawgrass CC: South African Gary Player wins by 1 stroke from Bruce Crampton and Chi-Chi Rodriguez
- 1988 Woman sues Chuck Berry for $5,000,000, alleges he hit her
- 1988 "Guy" debut album by Guy is released
- 1989 Groundbreaking begins in Minnesota on world's largest mall
- 1989 Nolan Ryan becomes 2nd pitcher to defeat all 26 teams
- 1989 Ronald Reagan is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (honorary knighthood)
- 1989 Singer-songwriter Carol King gets a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame
- 1989 Zsa Zsa Gabor arrested for slapping Beverly Hills motorcycle patrolman
- 1990 44th NBA Championship: Det Pistons beat Por Trailblazers, 4 games to 1
- 1990 Date of the events in the movie Mr Destiny
- 1990 NL announces plans to expand from 12 to 14 teams for 1993 season
- 1990 Supreme Court rules police check for drunk drivers constitutional
Film Release
1991 "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" opens directed by Kevin Reynolds and starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman
Kevin Costner
Morgan Freeman
Golf Tournament
1992 Senior Players Championship Men's Golf, TPC of Michigan: Dave Stockton wins first of 3 Champions Tour major titles by 1 stroke from J.C. Snead and lee Trevino
Dave Stockton
- 1992 46th NBA Championship: Chicago Bulls beat Port Trailblazers, 4 games to 2
- 1992 Mona Van Duyn is named 1st female US poet laureate
- 1992 Ozzie Smith breaks Roy McMillan's NL mark by taking part in his 1,305th career double play
- 1993 Japanese space probe Sakigake passes Earth
- 1993 Tansu Ciller appointed 1st female premier of Turkey
Event of Interest
1993 Ruth Bader Ginsburg is nominated to the United States Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Bill Clinton
- 1994 Stanley Cup Final, Madison Square Garden: New York Rangers beat Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 for a 4-3 series victory; Rangers end their record 54-year Championship drought
Event of Interest
1995 49th NBA Championship: Houston Rockets sweep Orlando Magic in 4 games
Hakeem Olajuwon
- 1995 Giants infielder Mike Benjamin goes 6-for-7 in 13-inning 4-3 win
Film Release
1996 "Cable Guy" starring Jim Carrey is released
Jim Carrey
Music Awards
2000 34th Country Weekly Presents the TNN Music Awards: George Strait & Faith Hill wins
Faith Hill
Event of Interest
2000 Greg Maddux makes his 387th putout, breaking Jack Morris' career record
Greg Maddux
- 2001 China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan form the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Film Release
2002 "The Bourne Identity" directed by Doug Liman and starring Matt Damon is released in the US
Matt Damon
- 2005 Asafa Powell of Jamaica sets a new Men's 100 meters world record of 9.77 at the Athens Olympic Stadium
- 2007 61st NBA Championship: San Antonio Spurs beat Cleveland Cavaliers, 4 games to 0
- 2009 63rd NBA Championship: Los Angeles Lakers beat Orlando Magic, 4 games to 1
- 2009 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, Bulle Rock GC: 22 year old Tour rookie Anna Nordqvist of Sweden wins her only major title by 4 strokes ahead of runner-up Lindsey Wright
- 2012 An explosion at an Indian steel plant kills 11 people and severely injures 16
- 2012 The world's first stem-cell assisted vein transplant is undertaken by Swedish doctors on a 10 year old girl
Election of Interest
2013 Hassan Rouhani is elected President of Iran
Hassan Rouhani
- 2013 Massive flooding occurs in northern India killing up to 10,000 people
Event of Interest
2013 The US government charges NSA leaker Edward Snowden with violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property
Edward Snowden
