Victory in Battle
878 Battle of Edington: Alfred the Great and his West Saxon army defeat Viking army of Guthrum the Old [earliest possible date]
Historic Event
1541 King Henry VIII orders a bible in English be placed in every church in England
- 1542 Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, then capital of Portuguese India
- 1598 Archduke Albrecht & Isabella become rulers of the Southern Netherlands
- 1604 Leon VII Spanish poet's first poem is published: La Cocina
- 1626 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape
- 1642 Ville Marie (Montreal) forms
- 1644 Johan Mauritius resigns as governor of Brazil
- 1672 Brandenburg monarch Frederik Willem signs treaty with Netherlands
- 1733 First international boxing match: Local fighter Bob Whittaker beats “The Venetian Gondolier”, Tito di Carni at James Figg's academy amphitheatre in Marylebone, London
- 1753 French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle
- 1757 Battle of Prague: Frederick II of Prussia's forces defeat Austrian army
- 1787 1st African American Masonic Lodge (African # 459) forms Prince Hall, Boston
Historic Event
1794 Haiti, under Toussaint Louverture, revolts against France
- 1804 Suriname sold to Great Britain (until Feb 1816)
Historic Publication
1835 James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald (price 1 cent)
Historic Event
1837 US blacksmith John Deere creates the first steel plough in Grand Detour, Illinois
Penny Black
1840 World's first adhesive postage stamp, the "Penny Black", is first used in Great Britain
- 1844 Johan Thorbecke argues general right to vote
- 1848 Otto Tank ends slavery in Suriname colony
- 1851 Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine"
- 1851 Linus Yale Jr. patents the Yale cylinder lock
- 1851 New slave regulations go into effect in Suriname
- 1851 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce starts
- 1853 1st major US rail disaster kills 46 (Norwalk, Connecticut)
Historic Event
1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi's Mille sets sail from Genoa to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Battle of Interest
1864 Battle of Wilderness, fought in Virginia, Confederate General James Longstreet seriously injured (Overland Campaign), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
Historic Event
1864 US Civil War: Union Army General Sherman begins advance to Atlanta, Georgia, during the Atlanta Campaign
- 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration
Historic Event
1882 Epping Forest, England, dedicated by Queen Victoria
- 1882 Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed and killed during the Phoenix Park Murders in Dublin
- 1891 Conductors on London General Omnibus Company go on strike
- 1895 21st Kentucky Derby: James "Soup" Perkins aboard Halma wins last KD run over a distance of 1.5 miles (2.4km)
- 1896 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins first Derby held at the current distance of 1.25 miles (2.0km)
- 1896 Samuel Pierpont Langley flies his unpiloted Number 5 aircraft using a catapult launch from a boat on the Potomac River, USA. The aircraft travels almost 3/4 of a mile - ten times further than any previous heavier-than-air flying machine.
- 1902 British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon; 739 die
- 1902 Zulu assault at Holkrantz, South Africa
- 1903 Chicago White Sox commit 11 errors against Detroit Tigers but win 10-9 at South Side Park. Chicago
- 1904 American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting
- 1906 "Temporary" permit to erect overhead wires on Market Street, San Francisco allows United Railroads to run electric streetcars
Historic Event
1906 Tsar Nicolas II of Russia claims right to legislate by decree and restricts the power of the Duma (Russian Parliament)
Nine Kings in One Room
1910 George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII
- 1915 German U-20 sinks Centurion SE of Ireland
- 1915 The Allies on Cape Helles launch three attacks to enlarge their beachheads; after terrible losses, they advance about three miles
- 1916 Belgian troops march into Kigali, German East Africa
- 1917 St Louis Browns pitcher Bob Groom no-hits Chicago White Sox, 3-0 at Sportsman's Park, St. Louis
- 1919 Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; German East Africa is assigned to Britain and France, German South West Africa to South Africa
- 1921 Teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League merge to form the American Soccer League (ASL); collapses 1933
- 1929 AL announces it will discontinue MVP award
- 1929 New York to San Francisco footrace begins
- 1933 59th Kentucky Derby: Don Meade aboard Brokers Tip wins in 2:06.8
- 1933 Italy & USSR sign trade agreement
- 1934 Red Sox score 12 runs in 4th inning including record 4 consecutive triples hit by Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell, & B Walters
- 1935 KTM-AM in Los Angeles California changes call letters to KEHE (now KABC)
- 1935 Pulitzer prize awarded to Audrey Wurdemann (Bright Ambush)
The Age of Zeppelins
1937 German airship Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 on board and 1 on the ground
Historic Event
1940 Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck for "The Grapes of Wrath"
Historic Event
1941 Joseph Stalin becomes Premier of the Soviet Union, replacing his foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov
- 1942 Corregidor & Philippines surrender to Japanese Armies
- 1943 British 1st army opens assault on Tunis
- 1944 70th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 2:04.2
- 1944 KJR-AM in Seattle Washington swaps calls with KOMO
- 1945 General Johannes Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands
- 1945 World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (first was on December 11, 1941).
- 1946 Pulitzer prize awarded to Arthur M Schlesinger (Age of Jackson)"
Music Premiere
1948 Revival of Jerome Kerns and Clifford Grey's rags-to-riches musical "Sally" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 36 performances
- 1950 "Great to Be Alive" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 52 performances
- 1950 76th Kentucky Derby: William Boland on Middleground wins in 2:01.6
- 1951 Pitts Pirate Cliff Chambers no-hits Boston Brave, 3-0
- 1953 MLB St. Louis Browns Alva "Bobo" Holloman, in his first start game as starting pitcher, no-hits visiting Philadelphia A's, 6-0
Sports History
1954 English athlete Roger Bannister becomes first to run a sub-4 minute mile, recording 3:59:4 at Iffley Road Track, Oxford
Historic Event
1957 Italian government of Antonio Segni resigns
- 1957 Last broadcast of "I Love Lucy" on CBS-TV
Historic Event
1957 Pulitzer prize awarded to John F. Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)
Election of Interest
1957 Rajendra Prasad re-elected President of India for a second term in a landslide
Historic Event
1960 US President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960
- 1961 87th Kentucky Derby: John Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 2:04
- 1961 Omer Vanaudenhove chosen chairman of Belgium Liberal Party
- 1962 1st nuclear warhead fired from Polaris submarine (Ethan Allen)
- 1962 Antonio Segni elected President of Italy
- 1962 Pathet Lao breaks cease fire and conquer Nam Tha Laos
- 1962 US performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
- 1963 Pulitzer prize awarded to Barbara Tuchman (Guns of August)
- 1964 Joe Orton's play "Entertaining Mr Sloan" premieres in London
- 1965 Bill Lawry (210) & Bob Simpson (201) complete record opening stand of 382 in Australia's 1st innings, drawn 4th Test v West Indies in Bridgetown
- 1966 Canadian Minister of Finance announces a $20 Centennial gold coin
- 1966 Most runs scored in 11th inning (9) Phils score 5 to beat Pirates 8-7
- 1966 Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors Murders in England
Music History
1966 The Rolling Stones release "Paint it Black" in the US
- 1967 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College, Pennsylvania
- 1967 93rd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Ussery on Proud Clarion wins in 2:00.6
- 1967 Maureen Wilton runs female world record marathon (3:15:22)
- 1967 Zakir Husain elected 1st Muslim President of India
Album Release
1968 Columbia Records releases "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison", the first live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, recorded in January 1968
- 1968 Giants reliever Lindy McDaniel sets NL record of 225th consecutive errorless game (108 chances consecutively since June 16, 1964)
- 1968 Spain closes border to Gibraltar except to Spaniards
- 1968 Street battle between students & troops in Paris, 1,000 injured
Historic Event
1969 Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark announces an amnesty for all offences associated with demonstrations since 5 October 1968, resulting in the release of, among others, Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting
- 1970 European Cup Final, San Siro, Milan: Feyenoord beats Celtic, 2-1; first time title won by a Dutch club
Historic Event
1970 Irish Prime Minister Jack Lynch sacks two ministers in the Irish government over allegations of illegal arms importation
- 1970 Yuchiro Miura of Japan skis down Mt Everest
- 1972 98th Kentucky Derby: Ron Turcotte aboard Riva Ridge wins in 2:01.8
- 1972 Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara for attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order
- 1973 1st WHA championship, New England Whalers beat Win Jets, 4 games to 1
- 1974 American composer Roger Sessions receives special Pulitzer Prize for his life's work in music
- 1974 Bundy victim Roberta Parks disappears from OSU, Corvallis, Ore
- 1974 Oakland A's pitcher Paul Lindblad makes an errant throw in 1st inning of 6-3 loss to Baltimore, ending his record streak of 385 consecutive errorless games
- 1974 Smallest attendance at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium (4,149)
- 1974 Stolen "Guitar Player" painting by Jan Vermeer found in London
Historic Event
1974 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns amidst controversy over his aide Günter Guillaume's ties with the Stasi (East German secret service)
- 1975 3 people die in tornado that strikes Omaha, Nebraska
- 1975 Bundy victim Lynette Culver disappears from Pocatello, Idaho
- 1975 Early warnings provided by REACT (ham radio operators) means only
- 1976 An earthquake strikes Friuli in Northern Italy, causes 989 deaths and the destruction of entire villages
- 1977 "Beatles at Hollywood Bowl" released in UK
- 1978 104th Kentucky Derby: Steve Cauthen wins aboard Affirmed - first and only Derby victory and 1st-leg of Triple Crown
- 1978 South Africa military goes into Angola
- 1979 Fred Markham set a bicycle speed record of 818 kph over 200 m
- 1979 Louis LaRusso II's "Knockout" premieres in NYC
- 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1981 "Inacent Black" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 14 performances
- 1981 US expels Libyan diplomats
- 1982 NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Vancouver Canucks beat Chicago Black Hawks, 4 games to 1
Sports History
1982 Seattle Mariners Gaylord Perry becomes 15th pitcher to win 300 games
Sports History
1984 Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr hits for cycle
- 1984 Jose Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election
- 1985 17th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-B): Challenger 7 lands at Edwards AFB
Album Release
1985 Columbia Records releases "Rhythm & Romance", the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash; produced by husband Rodney Crowell, the album was her first to feature her songwriting on a majority of the tracks
- 1986 Donald E Pelotte becomes 1st native American bishop
- 1986 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Historic Event
1987 American televangelist Jim Bakker and Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God after revelations of an alleged rape of a church secretary
- 1987 Gary Hart denies affair with model Donna Rice
Sports History
1987 Mario Andretti sets one-lap speed record at Indy at 218.204 MPH
- 1987 Niroslav Milhailovic begins 54 hours of telling jokes
- 1987 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1988 Doughnutgate incident: NJ Devils' coach Jim Schoenfeld tells referee Don Koharski to 'eat another doughnut you fat pig!,' he is suspended
- 1988 Graeme Hick scores 405 for Worcs v Somerset 35 fours 11 sixes
- 1989 115th Kentucky Derby: Pat Valenzuela on Sunday Silence wins in 2:05
- 1989 34th Eurovision Song Contest: Riva for Yugoslavia wins singing "Rock Me" in Lausanne
Historic Event
1990 Former president P. W. Botha quits South Africa's ruling National Party
Film & TV History
1990 Tom Cruise is ticketed for careless operation of a vehicle in South Carolina
- 1991 Phillie Lenny Dykstra slams his sports car into 2 trees
- 1991 Seppo Raty of Finland sets javelin record to 301' 9"
- 1991 Space Shuttle STS 39 (Discovery 12) lands
- 1992 NY Met Anthony Young begins losing streak of at least 26 games
- 1992 Werder Bremen of Germany win 32nd European Cup winner's Cup against AS Monaco of France 2-0 in Lisbon
- 1993 STS-55 (Columbia) lands
Latest Wonder of the World
1994 Channel tunnel linking England & France officially opens
- 1994 Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on The Tonight Show
Boxing Title Fight
1994 Lennox Lewis TKOs Phil Jackson in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
Election of Interest
1994 Nelson Mandela and the ANC, finally confirmed winners in South Africa's first post apartheid election
- 1994 US House of Representatives passes the Federal Assault Weapons Ban
- 1995 121st Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens on Thunder Gulch wins in 2:01.2
- 1995 Classic Sports Network begins on cable TV
- 1996 Guatemala's leftist guerrillas sign key accord with government of President Alvaro Arzu aimed at ending 35 years of civil war
- 1996 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Hartford, Connecticut on WCCC 106.9 FM
- 1996 The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
Hall of Fame
1997 12th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Bee Gees; Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills & Nash; The Jackson Five; Joni Mitchell; Parliament-Funkadelic; The (Young) Rascals; Mahalia Jackson; Bill Monroe; and Syd Nathan
- 1997 NHL Hartford Whalers become Carolina Hurricanes
- 1997 Rick Pitino becomes coach of Boston Celtics
- 1997 The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history
- 1997 US Army Staff Sgt Delmar Simpson gets 25-year sentence in military prison for 18 counts of rape, and other offenses (part of the Aberdeen Scandal)
Baseball Record
1998 Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his 5th career start.
Sports History
2000 126th Kentucky Derby: Kent Desormeaux aboard Fusaichi Pegasus wins in 2:01.12
Historic Event
2001 During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque
- 2002 "The Good Stuff" single released by Kenny Chesney (Billboard Song of the Year 2002)
- 2002 Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is shot and killed by an animal rights activist
Television Finale
2004 TV sitcom "Friends" airs season finale in 10th and final season in US (52.5 million viewers)
- 2006 132nd Kentucky Derby: Edgar Prado aboard Barbaro wins in front of 157,532 fans
Film Premiere
2007 "Shrek the Third" directed by Chris Miller and Raman Hui with voices by Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy premieres in Westwood Ca.
Election of Interest
2012 François Hollande elected 24th President of France
- 2012 Greek parliamentary election results in 60% support for parties opposed to austerity measures
