- 1380 King Charles VI of France crowned at age 12
Historic Expedition
1524 Francisco Pizarro begins his 1st great expedition, near Colombia
Historic Event
1550 Pope Julius III proclaims new seat on Council of Trente
Historic Event
1666 Samuel Pepys reports on 1st blood transfusion (between dogs)
- 1675 Pope Clemens X declares Gorcumse martyrs divine
- 1680 Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680 (Kirch's Comet/Newton's Comet)
- 1698 Spanish king Carlos appoints grandson prince Jozef Ferdinand as heir
- 1732 First professional librarian in north America, Louis Timothee, hired in Philadelphia
- 1755 Henry Fox appointed British 'Secretary of State for the Southern Department'
- 1775 -15] Floods ravage Dutch coast provinces
- 1792 Captain George Vancouver is first Englishman to enter San Francisco Bay
- 1832 First streetcar (horse-drawn) (John Mason) debuts in NYC; fare 12 cents rode on 4th Avenue between Prince and 14th Streets
Historic Event
1834 William Thomson enters Glasgow University at 10 yrs 4 months
Historic Publication
1851 "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville first published by Harper and Brothers in the US
Historic Invention
1856 American Gail Borden is issued a patent for technology related to his invention of condensed milk
Historic Event
1863 Nathan Bedford Forrest is assigned to command of West Tennessee
- 1863 Skirmish at Danville, Mississippi
- 1874 Dion Boucicault's stage drama "The Shaughraun" opens at Wallack's Theatre, NYC
Assassination
1881 Charles J. Guiteau put on trial for the assassination of US President Garfield
- 1881 Leon Gambetta forms French government
Historic Publication
1883 "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson is first published as a book by Cassell & Co.
Historic Event
1889 New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) begins her attempt to surpass fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg by traveling around the world in under 80 days. She succeeds, finishing the trip in 72 days, 6 hours
Theater Premiere
1893 Gerhart Hauptmann's play "Hanneles Himmelfahrt" premieres in Berlin, Germany
Historic Event
1906 US President Theodore Roosevelt visits Panama
Meeting of Interest
1907 The Third Duma (Parliament) meets in Russia; following Tsar Nicholas II's limiting of the franchise, a conservative majority holds sway and suppresses the radical elements
Historic Event
1908 Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light
Historic Event
1915 Tomáš Masaryk demands independence for Czechoslovakia
- 1922 German Reichs Chancellor Joseph Wirth's term ends
- 1923 Kentaro Suzuki completes his ascent of Mount Iizuna.
- 1925 Sidney Howard's stage drama "They Knew What They Wanted", closes at the Klaw Theatre, NYC; after 414 performances and a Pulitzer Prize win
- 1927 World's largest gas tank in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, explodes; 28 die
- 1931 Ottawa Mint Act is proclaimed in Britain
- 1935 Nazis deprive German Jews of their citizenship
Cricket History
1936 More than 21,000 watch Don Bradman score 192 for South Australia v Victoria in a drawn Sheffield Shield match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
- 1938 Dutch DC3 crashes at Schiphol, 6 die
- 1939 Oil refinery fire kills 500 & destroys Lagunillas, Venezuela
- 1940 During WW II, German planes destroy most of Coventry, England
- 1941 British aircraft carrier Ark Royal sank in Mediterranean, having been torpedoed by a German submarine the day before
- 1941 Governr-General Wouters of Dutch Antilles refuses Jews refuge
- 1942 -Nov 15th) Japanese/US sea battle at Savo-Island in Guadalcanal
- 1942 Last Vichy-French troops in Algeria surrender
- 1943 Chic Bear Sid Luckman passes for 7 touchdowns vs NY Giants (56-7)
- 1943 J Postma, C Schalker, D Goulooze arrested for leading illegal CPN
- 1945 H Lindsay and R Crouse's "State of the Union" premieres in NYC
- 1945 Java: Sutan Sjahrir appointed as forming government
- 1946 Dutch Dakota flight to Schiphol crashes, kills 11
- 1952 First regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express
- 1952 Greek General Alexander Papagos wins elections
- 1953 WCIA TV channel 3 in Champaign, IL (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1954 Egyptian President Naguib resigns, state of emergency declared
- 1956 Hungarian revolt put down by Soviet invasion
Sports History
1957 Milwaukee Brave Hank Aaron wins NL MVP
- 1957 The Apalachin Meeting outside Binghamton, New York is raided by law enforcement, and many high level Mafia figures are arrested
- 1959 "Girls against the Boys" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 16 performances
- 1959 Kilauea's most spectacular eruption (in Hawaii)
- 1960 2 passenger trains collided at high-speed killing 110 (Czech)
- 1960 Belgium threatens to leave UN due to criticism on its policy on Congo
Judge With a Passion For Civil Rights
1960 New Orleans elementary schools begin desegregation under an order from U.S. Circuit Judge J. Skelly Wright, the McDonogh Three join McDonogh 19 Elementary School and Ruby Bridges joins William Frantz Elementary School. They are met with death threats and racial slurs while the schools faced immediate boycotts.
#1 in the Charts
1960 Ray Charles' single "Georgia On My Mind" reaches #1
- 1964 "Fade Out-Fade In" closes at Mark Hellinger NYC after 199 performances
- 1964 "Folies Bergere" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 191 performances
NHL Record
1964 Detroit Red Wings Gordie Howe sets NHL record 627th career goal
Musical Finale
1964 Lionel Bart's musical "Oliver!", based on Charles Dickens' 1838 novel "Oliver Twist", and featuring Clive Revill, Danny Sewell, and Davy Jones, closes at Imperial Theater, NYC, after 774 performances and 3 Tony Award wins
- 1965 George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) at 152 W 54th NYC, demolished
- 1965 KCST TV channel 39 in San Diego, CA (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1965 Marian Grudeff and Raymond Jessel's musical "Baker Street", loosely based on Sherlock Holmes' tales, closes at the Martin Beck Theater, NYC, after 313 performances
- 1965 US government sends 90,000 soldiers to Vietnam
Boxing Title Fight
1966 Muhammad Ali TKOs Cleveland Williams in 3 for heavyweight title
- 1967 Orchestre de Paris, France's 1st full-time salaried orchestra, debuts, conducted by its founder Charles Münch
- 1967 The Congress of Colombia in commemoration of the 150 years of the death of Policarpa Salavarrieta, declares this day as "Day of the Colombian Woman"
- 1968 "National Turn in Your Draft Card Day" features draft card burning
- 1968 First European lung transplant
- 1968 U.S. premiere of film version of Morris L. West's best seller "The Shoes of the Fisherman"
- 1968 Yale University announces it is going co-educational
- 1969 2nd Vietnam Moratorium Day in US
- 1969 Apollo 12 (Conrad/Gordon/Bean) launched for 2nd manned Moon landing
- 1970 Marshall U football team wiped out in DC-9 air crash at Kenova, West Virginia, killing 75
- 1971 Enthronment of Pope Shenouda III as Pope of Alexandria
- 1972 Dow Jones closes above 1,000 for 1st time (1003.16)
- 1973 "Good Evening" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 438 performances
- 1973 Canada begins production of Olympic coins
Sports History
1973 Jim Palmer is named AL Cy Young winner
Film Premiere
1976 "Network", directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch and William Holden, premieres in Los Angeles and New York City (Finch - Academy Awards Best Actor 1977)
- 1976 Cleveland Browns' Jerry Sherk sets club record with 4 sacks
Historic Event
1976 Dutch war criminal Pieter Menten captured one day after fleeing
Historic Event
1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat repeats willingness to visit Israel to Walter Cronkite
- 1979 California's Don Baylor, wins AL MVP
- 1980 Guinee-Bissau Premier Vieira fires President Luis Cabral
- 1980 Kimberley Santos, 19 of Guam, crowned 30th Miss World
- 1980 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1981 "Raise!" 11th studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1982)
- 1981 2nd NASA Space Shuttle Mission: Columbia 2 returns to Earth
Sports History
1981 In the first world championship fight between 2 Puerto Ricans in boxing history, WBC Super Welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez beats Carlos Santos in a 15-round unanimous decision at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
- 1981 Old Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park repaired and working again
- 1981 Pakistan all out 62 v Australia at WACA, Lillee 5-18
- 1981 Paul 'Bear' Bryant ties Amos Alonzo Stagg with 314 football wins
Historic Event
1982 Polish Solidarity chairman Lech Wałęsa freed
- 1983 First cruise missile placed at Greenham Common, England
- 1984 Astronauts aboard "Discovery" pluck a 2nd satellite from orbit
- 1984 NASA launches NATO-3D
- 1984 Zamboanga City mayor Cesar Climaco, a prominent critic of the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, is assassinated in his home city.
- 1985 Brewers release 39-year-old pitcher Rollie Fingers
- 1985 Holmfriour Karlsdottir of Iceland, 22, crowned 35th Miss World
- 1985 Volcano Nevado del Ruiz Colombia erupts, 1000s killed
- 1986 Doubleday Publishing sells NY Mets to Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon
- 1986 FCC issues Notice Of Apparent Liability to WYSP Philadelphia
- 1986 SEC imposes a record $100 million penalty against Ivan Boesky
- 1987 "La Cage aux Folles" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 1761 performances
- 1987 Sam's Town National Bowling Pro-Am won by Debbie Bennett
- 1988 Sitcom "Murphy Brown" starring Candice Bergen premieres on CBS
- 1989 Padres reliever Mark Davis wins NL Cy Young Award
- 1990 Doug Drabek (22-6) wins NL Cy Young Award
- 1990 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1990 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Sports History
1990 James Worthy is arrested in Houston and charged with two counts of solicitation of prostitution
Historic Event
1990 Michael Heseltine contests Margaret Thatcher's leadership of the British Conservative Party
- 1990 Philippines hit by typhoon, 110 die
Lockerbie Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
1991 American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials for the downing of Pan Am Flight 103
Historic Event
1991 Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after thirteen years of exile
Television Premiere
1991 Michael Jackson's "Black or White" music video with groundbreaking morphing effects premieres simultaneously in 27 countries on MTV, Fox TV and BBC's Top of the Pops
- 1991 Pittsburgh Steelers guard Terry Long loses his steroids appeal and is suspended without pay by NFL for 4 weeks
- 1993 "Kentucky Cycle" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 34 performances
- 1993 "Twilight of the Golds" closes at Booth Theater NYC after 29 performances
NYC Women's Marathon
1993 23rd NYC Women's Marathon won by Uta Pippig in 2:26:24
- 1993 24th NYC Marathon won by Andres Espinosa in 2:10:04
Sports History
1993 43rd NASCAR Sprint Cup: Dale Earnhardt wins
- 1993 Puerto Rico votes against becoming the 51st US state
Latest Wonder of the World
1994 1st public trains run through the Channel Tunnel linking England and France under the English Channel
- 1994 Space shuttle STS-66 (Atlantis 13), lands
- 1996 Revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical "Chicago" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater, NYC
- 1996 Texas Ranger Juan Gonzalez wins AL MVP
- 1997 Colo Rockie Larry Walker wins NL MVP
- 1997 Disney's "Lion King" sets Broadway record of $2,700,000 daily sale
- 2001 OPEC announces that it intends to cut its crude oil output quotas by 1.5 million barrels per day effective, but only if non-OPEC producers cut their output by 500,000 barrels per day as well
- 2001 War in Afghanistan: Afghan Northern Alliance fighters takeover the capital Kabul
- 2002 Argentina defaults on an $805 million World Bank payment.
Film Release
2002 Film "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is released, based on the 2nd book of the series by J. K. Rowling
9/11 Attack on NY's World Trade Towers
2002 The United States House of Representatives votes not to create an independent commission to investigate the September 11 attacks
American Music Awards
2004 32nd American Music Awards: Sheryl Crow, Usher & Kenny Chesney win
Film Premiere
2006 "Casino Royale", 21st James Bond film premieres in London, starring Daniel Craig for the 1st time and Eva Green, premieres in London
- 2007 the last direct-current distribution by Con Edison was shut down.
Appointment of Interest
2008 Elizabeth Warren is appointed to chair a Congressional Oversight Panel for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act
- 2008 Eurozone officially slips into recession for the first time since its creation in 1999, pushed down by recessions in Germany and Italy
- 2008 Hong Kong becomes the second Asian economy to tip into recession, its exports hit by weakening global demand
- 2008 Italy plunges into recession, its first since the start of 2005, after GDP contracts a steeper-than-expected 0.5% in the third quarter
- 2009 The National Statistical Service of Greece states that the country has been in recession since the beginning of the year
Film Premiere
2010 Disney's 3-D computer-animated musical adventure film "Tangled" premieres at El Capitan Theatre, loosely based on the German fairy tale "Rapunzel" by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Sports History
2010 German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit to claim his first F1 World Drivers Championship by 4 points from Fernando Alonso; Red Bull's first Constructors title
Film Release
2012 "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2", based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, directed by Bill Condon, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, is released
- 2012 A series of protests against austerity measures occur across Europe including Spain, Portugal, and Greece
- 2012 CFBDSIR 2149-0403 is discovered, the closest rogue planet to earth (100 light-years away)
Historic Event
2013 Boston gangster Whitey Bulger is sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus five years for his crimes
- 2016 7.8 earthquake cuts off town of Kaikoura, New Zealand, raising sea bed by 4m, and killing 2 people
Film & TV History
2016 US talk show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" hosted by Tucker Carlson premieres on Fox
Robert Mugabe Ousted
2017 Zimbabwe Army seizes key sites in capital Harare following tensions over Robert Mugabe's dismissal of vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa
- 2018 Archaeologists announce discovery of ancient Greek city of Tenea near Corinth, supposedly founded by captives from Trojan War
- 2018 Astronomers announce discovery of Super-Earth planet (3.2x bigger than Earth) orbiting red dwarf Barnard's star, 6 light years away
- 2018 Attempt to move 720,000 Rohingya back to Myanmar from Bangladesh refugee camps amid international criticism. They refuse to go.
- 2018 Edward Hopper's painting "Chop Suey" sells $92 million, a record for the artist at auction in New York
Historic Event
2018 Jewellery that belonged to French Queen Marie Antoinette is auctioned off in Geneva, after not being seen for 200 years
- 2018 Large impact crater, 31 km wide, from iron meteorite identified under Hiawatha Glacier in Greenland
- 2018 New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom wins NL Cy Young Award; his 10 wins fewest ever by a Cy Young winner in a non-strike-shortened season; MLB-leading 1.70 ERA; 29 consecutive start streak longest in MLB history
Historic Event
2018 UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet approves draft plan for country's exit from the European Union (Brexit)
- 2020 Record global daily total of 660,905 COVID-19 cases declared to the WHO, with total known infections over 54 million
- 2021 Attack on a military police outpost near a gold mine in Inata, northern Burkina Faso, kills at least 53, prompting three days of national mourning [1]
- 2022 Australian town of Eugowra experiences extreme flash flooding, with 2 deaths and 150 air-lifted to safety amid one-in-5,000-year flood event [1]
- 2022 Earliest evidence of fire being used to cook by humans found in study of fish remains 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in northern Israel [1]
- 2022 Grammy Award winner Roberta Flack reveals she is suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and is no longer able to sing
Meeting of Interest
2022 US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in person for the first time as national leaders at a G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia [1]
