- 676 Donus begins his reign as Catholic Pope replacing Pope Adeodatus II
- 1327 King Alfonso IV of Aragon crowned
- 1355 English invasion army under King Edward lands at Calais
- 1418 Utrecht conquers Ijsselstein
- 1642 Second Battle of Breitenfeld, aka First Battle of Leipzig; victory for the Swedish army under Field Marshal Lennart Torstenson over Holy Roman Empire army under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
- 1648 12,000 Jews massacred by Chmielnicki hordes in Narol Podlia
- 1675 A combined attack by the Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies attacks the Great Swamp Fort, owned by the Narragansetts during King Philip's War
- 1698 Scottish settlers make landfall in Panama, establishing the ill-fated 'Darien Venture' colony
- 1712 Suriname government gives French hijacker Jacques Cassard, ƒ682,800
- 1722 Willem KH Friso (11) appointed viceroy of Gelderland
- 1749 English Ohio Trade Company forms first trading post
- 1772 Boston: anti-English Committee of Correspondence forms
Event of Interest
1783 General George Washington, later 1st US President, bids farewell to his army after the American Revolutionary War
George Washington
- 1813 Treaty of Fulda signed in Germany after Battle of Leipzig
Event of Interest
1824 Popular presidential vote 1st recorded; Andrew Jackson beats John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
John Quincy Adams
Election of Interest
1852 Franklin Pierce elected as President of US
Franklin Pierce
- 1854 Cobblestone paving of Washington St between Dupont and Kearny starts
Murder of Interest
1859 Abolitionist John Brown found guilty of murder, conspiring slaves to revolt and treason against Virginia and sentenced to hang
John Brown
- 1861 American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.
- 1867 Women's fashion magazine "Harper's Bazaar" is 1st published
- 1868 Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally
- 1875 Verney Cameroon reaches Benguela in Angola, from Africa's east coast, 1st European to cross equatorial Africa
- 1879 In a 6-day footrace a Mr Weston loses to a horse, 900 to 885 km
Election of Interest
1880 James A. Garfield (R) elected 20th US President
James Garfield
- 1881 Dutch New-Malthusiaanse Union forms
- 1889 North Dakota becomes 39th & South Dakota becomes 40th state in the United States
- 1892 French poet Paul Verlaine visits Netherlands
- 1895 29th Belmont: Fred Taral aboard Belmar wins in 2:11½
- 1898 French government of Dupuy forms
- 1898 Theodor Herzl arrives in Jerusalem
The First Official Cheerleader
1898 Cheerleading starts at the University of Minnesota with Johnny Campbell leading the crowd in cheering on the football team
More >>
Event of Interest
1907 US banker J. P. Morgan locks over 40 bankers in his library to force them to find ways to avert New York banking crisis
J. P. Morgan
- 1913 St Louis Browns mgr George Stovall is 1st to jump to Federal League
- 1914 Great Britain annexes Cyprus
- 1914 V Herbert & H Blossoms "Only Girl" premieres in NYC
- 1914 Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire
- 1914 Great Britain declares the entire North Sea a military area: neutral ships will transit it at their own risk
- 1915 First US election by proportional representation, Ashtabula, Ohio
- 1916 Ft Vaux, Verdun, reconquered by France
- 1917 In WWI the 1st US soldiers are killed in combat: James Gresham, Thomas Enright and Merle Hay
Event of Interest
1917 Balfour Declaration proclaims support for a Jewish state in Palestine
Arthur Balfour
- 1917 Lansing-Ishii Agreement; US recognizes Japan's privileges in China
Election of Interest
1920 Warren G. Harding is elected President of the United States, defeating Democrat candidate James M. Cox
Warren G. Harding
- 1921 Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie" premieres in NYC
- 1922 Allies deliberate over German mark
- 1923 Bloody street fights in Aachen led to establishment of the ill-fated Rhenish Republic
- 1923 Stresemann's SPD-ministers in Germany, step down
- 1924 Sunday Express publishes first British crossword puzzle
- 1928 Dmitri Shostakovitch's 1st Symphony, L Stokovski premieres in Philadelphia
Event of Interest
1930 Coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen as Haile Selassie I, 225th Emperor of Ethopian Solmonic Dynasty
Haile Selassie
- 1936 At 3pm the BBC begins the world's first regular high-definition TV broadcast service from specially constructed studios at Alexandra Palace, North London
- 1936 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is established
- 1937 AL batting champ Charlie Gehringer wins MVP
- 1938 Babe Ruth applies for job of St Louis Browns' manager
- 1938 Jimmie Foxx wins his 3rd AL MVP
- 1942 11th day of battle at El Alamein: British assault on Tel el Aqqaqir
- 1943 Jewish ghetto of Riga Latvia is destroyed
- 1944 Auschwitz begins gassing inmates
- 1944 Canadian troops occupy Knokke
- 1944 US 28th Infantry division opens assault on Schmidt Hurtgenwald
- 1947 7th Ryder Cup: US wins 11-1 at Portland Golf Club (Portland, Oregon, US)
Event of Interest
1947 Howard Hughes flies "Spruce Goose", a huge wooden airplane for the first and last time
Howard Hughes
Election of Interest
1948 US President Harry Truman is re-elected in an upset victory over Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey
Harry Truman
Thomas E. Dewey
- 1948 WJZ TV channel 13 in Baltimore, MD (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1949 Netherland recognizes Indonesia as a sovereign state
- 1949 NL scheme for national distribution of textiles, meat and cheese disbands
- 1950 "Barrier" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 4 performances
- 1950 Phillies reliever Jim Konstanty wins NL MVP
- 1950 The Clover Dairy Company test-market the first concentrated milk (Sealtest) in the U.S. in Wilmington, Delaware
- 1953 Pakistan becomes islamic republic
- 1954 Charles Diggs Jr is elected Michigan's 1st black congressman to the House of Representatives
- 1954 Strom Thurmond is the 1st senator elected by write-in vote (South Carolina)
Event of Interest
1954 BBC radio comedy "Hancock's Half Hour" debuts starring Tony Hancock and Sid James, written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
Tony Hancock
- 1955 Clarton-Schwerdt & Schaffer discover polio virus
Event of Interest
1955 David Ben-Gurion forms Israeli government
David Ben-Gurion
- 1956 Hungary appeals for UN assistance against Soviet invasion
- 1956 Israel captures Gaza and Sheham
- 1957 1st titanium mill opened, Toronto, Ohio
- 1957 The Levelland UFO Case in Levelland, Texas, generates national publicity, remains one of the most impressive UFO cases in American history
- 1959 "Girls against the Boys" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 16 performances
- 1959 Charles Van Doren confesses that TV quiz show "21" was fixed
- 1959 The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway
- 1960 Dmitri Sjostakovitch's 8th String quartet premieres in Leningrad
- 1960 George Weiss, at 66, resigns as GM of NY Yankees
Historic Publication
1960 Penguin Books cleared of obscenity for publishing DH Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover"
D. H. Lawrence
Event of Interest
1960 Roger Maris nips Mickey Mantle as AL MVP, 225-222
Roger Maris
Mickey Mantle
Coup d'état
1963 Ngô Đình Diệm, the President of South Vietnam, is overthrown and assassinated in a coup by the South Vietnamese Army
Ngô Đình Diệm
- 1964 CBS purchases 80% of Yanks for $11,200,000, later buys remaining 20%
- 1966 KHSD TV channel 11 in Lead, SD (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1966 The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the US
- 1968 "Her First Roman" closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 17 performances
- 1968 A banned march in Derry, North Ireland, by members of the Derry Citizen's Action Committee (DCAC) is joined by thousands; due to the number of people taking part, the Royal Ulster Constabulary is unable to prevent it
- 1969 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA River Plantation Women's Golf Open
- 1969 NFL record of 12 passing touchdowns, New Orleans Billy Kilmer and St L Charlie Johnson pass for 6 touchdowns each
- 1970 Cleveland Cavaliers lose by biggest margin-54 pts (Philadelphia 141-87)
- 1971 "Great Harp" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 7 performances
- 1971 Orioles Pat Dobson no-hits Yomiuri Giants, 2-0
- 1972 Construction begins on Kingdome, Seattle
- 1972 Phillies' Steve Carlton wins unanimous NL Cy Young Award
- 1972 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1972 Government of the Republic of Ireland introduce a bill to remove the special position of the Catholic Church from the Irish Constitution
Event of Interest
1973 "Barbra Streisand ...and Other Musical Instruments" airs on CBS TV
Barbra Streisand
- 1973 OLADE (Latin American Energy Organization) forms
Event of Interest
1974 Braves trade Hank Aaron to Milwaukee Brewers for OF Dave May
Hank Aaron
- 1974 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1974 78 die when the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after a club official barred the doors after the fire started.
- 1975 Ed Giacomin as a Red Wing returns to Mad Sq Garden beats Rangers 6-4
- 1975 Summit in Houston opens - Rockets beat Milwaukee Bucks, 104-89
Election of Interest
1976 Democrat candidate Jimmy Carter is elected President of the United States, defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
- 1977 Phillies' Steve Carlton wins 2nd Cy Young Award
- 1977 Microbiologist Carl R. Woese and scientists from the University of Illinois announce the identification of methanogens, a form of microbial life (Archaea) dating back some 3.5 billion years
- 1978 Crew of Soyuz 29 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 31
- 1978 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1978 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1978 Arnold Shapiro's TV documentary "Scared Straight", narrated by Peter Falk as a controversial and questionable deterrent to juvenile delinquency, debuts on Los Angeles' KTLA-TV
- 1979 Peter Shaffer's musical "Amadeus" premieres in London
- 1979 Studio 54's owners are arrested for tax evasion
- 1982 Fire in Salung tunnel, Afghanistan, 1,000+ Russians die
- 1982 Nayoko Yoshikawa wins LPGA Pioneer Cup Golf Tournament
Event of Interest
1983 US President Ronald Reagan signs bill establishing Dr Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
Martin Luther King Jr.
Ronald Reagan
- 1983 Abp Hickey conducts papal investigation of Abp Hunthausen, Seattle
Music Single
1983 "Thriller" single released worldwide by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
- 1984 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1984 Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962
- 1985 Horse Racing Breeders' Cup Champs: Cozzene, Life's Magic, Pebbles, Precisionist, Proud Truth, Tasso, Twilight Ridge at Aqueduct
- 1986 16th NYC Women's Marathon won by Grete Waitz in 2:28:06
- 1986 17th NYC Marathon won by Gianni Poli in 2:11:06
- 1986 Ayako Okamoto wins Nichirei Ladies Cup US-Japan Team Golf Championship
- 1987 Entertainer Lola Falona is diagnosed with multiple schlerosis
Event of Interest
1987 George Harrison releases "Cloud 9" & McCartney releases "All the Best"
George Harrison
Event of Interest
1988 Mexican radio station erronously reports Mike Tyson dies in car crash
Mike Tyson
- 1988 Walt Weiss wins AL rookie of year (3rd straight for Oakland A's)
- 1988 The Morris worm, first internet-distributed computer worm to gain mainstream media attention launched from MIT, strikes Pentagon, SDI research lab & 6 universities
- 1989 "Meet Me in St Louis" opens at Gershwin Theater NYC for 253 performances
Event of Interest
1989 "Blackadder Goes Forth" final episode "Goodbyeee" airs starring Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
Rowan Atkinson
- 1990 1st NBA game at Target Center, Minn Timberwolves beat Mavericks 98-85
- 1991 Jermaine Jackson releases "Word to the Badd!!" anti Michael song
- 1991 Nevada makes biggest comeback in NCAA football history, overcoming a 35-pt deficit in the 3rd quarter & rallying to beat Weber State 55-49
- 1991 Horse Racing Breeders' Cup Champs: Arazi, Black Tie Affair, Dance Smartly, Miss Alleged, Opening Verse, Pleasant Stage, Sheikh Albadou
- 1991 Bartholomew I becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1991 2nd Rugby World Cup: Australia beats England 12-6 in London
- 1992 First test flight of Airbus A330
- 1993 First commemorative bricks are laid at Bob Feller Memorial
Event of Interest
1993 Actor Roger Moore (James Bond) has his enlarged prostate removed
Roger Moore
Election of Interest
1993 Rudy Giuliani wins the New York mayoral election, becomes 1st Republican mayor since 1965
Rudy Giuliani
- 1994 Benzine explosion in Dronka Egypt, 400+ killed
- 1995 "Busker Alley" premieres at St James Theatre, NY
- 1995 "Sacrilege" opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 21 performances
- 1995 Spanish Broadcasting System buys NY radio station WPAT-FM for $83.5M
- 1996 "Hughie" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC
- 1997 "Barrymore" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 240 performances
- 1997 27th NYC Women Marathon won by Franziska Rochat-Moser of Switzerland 2:28:43
- 1997 28th NYC Marathon won by John Kagwe of Kenya in 2:08:12
- 1997 Typhoon Linda kills at least 208 in southern Vietnam
- 1997 USA beats Japan 23-13 at LPGA Nichirei International
- 2000 The first crew arrives at the International Space Station.
Hall of Fame
2003 Grant Fuhr is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Grant Fuhr
Election of Interest
2004 George W. Bush is re-elected as President of the United States, defeating Democrat candidate John Kerry
George W. Bush
John Kerry
Event of Interest
2008 59th Formula One WDC: Lewis Hamilton wins by one point
Lewis Hamilton
Event of Interest
2013 Gabriel Medina, Brazilian professional surfer, wins the 2013 ASP World Junior Title at 19
Gabriel Medina
Event of Interest
2017 Jerome Powell nominated by US President Trump to be next Chair of the Federal Reserve
Donald Trump