- 1024 Duke Conrad II chosen as German king and crowned at Mainz Cathedral
- 1141 -9] Battle of Samarkand: Yelutashi defeats Islams
- 1156 Henry II Jasormigott leaves Bavaria
- 1264 The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Boleslaus the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland.
- 1276 John XXI [ Peter Juliani] elected Pope, only Portuguese Pope
- 1303 Anagni: French King Philip IV captures Pope Boniface VIII
- 1331 Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia
- 1380 Battle on Kulikovo: Moscow's great monarch Dimitri defeats the Mongols beginning the decline of the Tatars
- 1449 Battle of Tumu Fortress - Mongolians capture the Chinese emperor
The Statue of David
1504 Michelangelo's statue of David is unveiled in Florence
Learn More >>
- 1514 Battle of Orsha: Polish/Lithuania army defeat the Russian army
Historic Expedition
1522 Spanish navigator Juan de Elcano returns to Spain, completing 1st circumnavigation of the globe (expedition began under Ferdinand Magellan)
Ferdinand Magellan
- 1536 Earl of Nassau disbands siege of Peronne
- 1545 English Earl of Hertford leads retaliatory mission against Scotland
- 1553 City of Lichfield, England, founded
- 1563 Maximilian chosen king of Hungary
- 1565 1st permanent European settlement in the US founded at St. Augustine, Florida
- 1565 Turkish siege of Malta broken by Maltese & Knights of St John
- 1628 Dutch privateer Piet Heyn captures Spanish silver fleet in the Bay of Matanzas, Cuba
- 1664 Dutch surrender colony of New Netherlands (including New York) to 300 English soldiers
- 1689 China & Russia signs Treaty of Nertsjinsk (Nierchul)
- 1713 Pope Clemens XI publishes decree "Unigenitus" against Jansenism
- 1727 A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children.
- 1755 Battle of Lake George in the Province of New York: British army beats French
- 1756 French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition.
- 1760 French army surrenders Montreal to General Jeffrey Amherst
- 1771 Mission San Gabriel Archangel forms in California
- 1796 Battle of Bassano-French beat Austrians
- 1831 William IV is crowned King of Great Britain.
- 1847 US under Gen Scott defeat Mexicans at Battle of Molino del Rey
- 1855 French forces successfully assault the Malakoff Line during the Crimean War
- 1855 British and French troops capture Sevastopol from the Russians, effectively ending the Crimean War
Event of Interest
1858 Abraham Lincoln supposedly says in a speech "You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time"
Abraham Lincoln
- 1860 Loss of paddle steamer "Lady Elgin" on Lake Michigan approximately 300 people drowned
- 1863 -10] Federal troops reconquer the Cumperland Gap, Tennessee
- 1863 Battle of Sabine Pass TX: 47 Texas volunteers repel Federal forces
- 1863 Battle of Telford's Depot TN
- 1868 New York Athletic Club forms
- 1870 Netherlands and Britain sign "Koelietraktaat" an agreement to allow Indian contract workers from Calcutta to work in sugar plantations in Suriname
- 1883 NY Giants score 13 runs in an inning against Phillies
- 1883 Northern Pacific RR's last spike driven at Independence Creek, Mont
- 1888 In England the first six Football League matches ever are played.
- 1892 1st appearance of "Pledge of Allegiance" (Youth's Companion)
- 1899 British government sends an additional 10,000 troops to Natal, South Africa
- 1900 6,000 killed when a hurricane & tidal wave strikes Galveston, Texas
- 1905 Pittsburgh Pirates strand NL record 18 men on base & lose to Reds 8-3
- 1907 Pope Pius X publishes encyclical Pasceni dominici gregis (anti-modernism)
- 1914 HMS (formerly RMS) Oceanic, sister ship of RMS Titanic, sinks off Scotland
- 1914 Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during WW1
- 1915 Association of Negro Life & History founded
- 1915 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: William Johnston beats Maurice McLoughlin 1-6, 6-0, 7-5, 10-8 in first US event held at West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, New York
Event of Interest
1916 US President Woodrow Wilson signs the Emergency Revenue Act, doubling the rate of income tax and adding inheritance and munitions profits tax
Woodrow Wilson
- 1920 US Air Mail service begins (NYC to San Francisco)
- 1921 1st Miss America crowned in Atlantic City - Margaret Gorman (16) of Washington, D.C.
- 1923 Honda Point Disaster: nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost.
- 1924 Alexandra Kollontai of Russia becomes 1st woman ambassador
- 1926 League of Nations Assembly votex unanimously to admit Germany
- 1930 1st appearance of comic strip "Blondie"
- 1930 NYC public schools begin teaching Hebrew
- 1930 Richard Drew creates Scotch tape
Event of Interest
1933 Second Spanish government of Manuel Azaña forms
Manuel Azaña
- 1934 Luxury passenger ship Morro Castle bound for NJ catches fire, 133 die
- 1935 Willy de Supervise swims runs world record 200 m freestyle (2:25.2)
- 1936 Princess Juliana of The Netherlands & German prince Bernard Lippe-Biesterfeld become engaged
- 1937 Pan Arab conference about Palestine opens
- 1937 Yankees trailing 6-1 in 9th, score 8 to beat Boston 9-6
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 1939 Gen Von Reichenau's panzer division reaches suburbs of Warsaw
- 1939 Indians Bob Feller, 20, is youngest pitcher to win 20 games
- 1939 Yanks beat Red Sox 4-1 in 7, game called because of lightning
- 1941 Blockade of Leningrad (St Petersburg) by Germany begins
- 1941 Entire Jewish community of Meretsch, Lithuania, is exterminated
- 1943 Italy surrenders to Allies in WWII
Event of Interest
1943 Lieutenant-General Omar Bradley flies to Carthago/Algiers from Sicily
Omar Bradley
- 1943 NY Giants' pitcher Ace Adams sets record by working in his 62nd game
- 1944 1st V-2 rockets land in London & Antwerp
- 1944 Russians march into Bulgaria; Bulgaria declares war on Germany
- 1945 US invades Japanese-held Korea
- 1946 Bill Kennedy of Rocky Mount (CPL) strikes out minors record 456
- 1946 Bulgaria ends monarchy
- 1946 SF 49ers play 1st AAFC game, lose to NY Yankees 21-7
- 1946 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Jack Kramer beats fellow American Tom Brown Jr. 9-7, 6-3, 6-0 for his first of 2 straight US singles crowns
- 1946 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: In an all-American final Pauline Betz Addie beats Patricia Canning Todd 11-9, 6-3 for her 4th and last US singles title
- 1948 British De Havilland DH108-fighter flies faster than sound
- 1951 Japan signs peace treaty with 48 countries in San Francisco
- 1951 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Sempiternus Rex
Historic Publication
1952 Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Old Man & the Sea" published
Ernest Hemingway
- 1952 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Australian Frank Sedgman wins his second straight US title; beats American Gardnar Mulloy 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; last amateur major before turning pro in 1953
- 1952 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Defending champion Maureen Connolly beats fellow American Doris Hart 6-3, 7-5
- 1953 "Carnival in Flanders" opens at New Century Theater NY for 6 performances
- 1953 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Fulgeno corona
Event of Interest
1954 With a 3-2 count, Phillies Richie Ashburn fouls next 14, then walks
Richie Ashburn
- 1954 Alan Freed leaves Cleveland to NYC for WINS radio
- 1954 SE Asia Treaty Org (SEATO) forms to stop communist spread in SE Asia
- 1955 Earliest clinching of an NL pennant (Brooklyn Dodgers)
- 1956 Harry Belafonte's album "Calypso" goes #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks
- 1957 Jackie Wilson, releases his 1st solo single "Reet Petite"
- 1957 Pope Pius XII encyclical On motion pictures, radio, TV
- 1957 Juan Manuel Fangio confirms his F1 World Drivers Championship, finishing 2nd in the season ending Italian GP at Monza; takes record 5th title by 15 points from Stirling Moss
US Men's Tennis Open
1957 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: In an all-Australian final Mal Anderson wins his only Grand Slam event; beats Ashley Cooper 10-8, 7-5, 6-4
Ashley Cooper
- 1957 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Althea Gibson beats Louise Brough Clapp 6-3, 6-2 for the first of her 2 home singles crowns
- 1958 Oman turns over Gwadur (on Baluchistan coast) to Pakistan
- 1958 Paul Anka opens Asian tour in Tokyo
- 1959 The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is established.
- 1960 German Democratic Republic limits access to East-Berlin for West Berliners
Film Release
1960 Nationwide release (US) of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh
- 1960 American sprinter Wilma Rudolph wins her third gold medal of the Rome Olympics anchoring the US 4 x 100m relay team; earlier won 100/200m double
- 1960 US 4 x 400m relay team of Jack Yerman, Earl Young, Glenn Davis & Otis Davis run a world record 3:02.2 to win the gold medal at the Rome Olympics
- 1960 German 4 x 100m relay team equal world record 39.5 to win the gold medal at the Rome Olympics; Bernd Cullmann, Armin Hary, Walter Mahlendorf & Martin Lauer
- 1962 Chinese troops exceed Mac-Mahon-line (Tibet-India boundary)
- 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1962 Last run of the famous Pines Express over the Somerset and Dorset Railway line (UK) fittingly using the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, 9F locomotive 92220 'Evening Star'
- 1963 Algerian population accepts constitution
- 1963 Braves Warren Spahn ties Christy Mathewson with 13 20-win seasons
- 1963 Ines Cuervo de Priete, 34, gives birth to quintuplets, all boys
- 1963 Scottish Lotus driver Jim Clark wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza to clinch his first F1 World Drivers Championship; Clark's 5th GP win of the season
- 1963 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Rafael Osuna of Mexico beats Frank Froehling 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 for his lone major singles title
US Open Women's Tennis
1963 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Maria Bueno of Brazil wins second of 4 US singles crowns; beats defending champion Margaret Smith of Australia 7-5, 6-4
Maria Bueno
Television Premiere
1966 "Star Trek" premieres on NBC-TV
George Takei
- 1966 "That Girl" starring Marlo Thomas premieres on ABC-TV
Event of Interest
1966 The Severn Bridge is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II
Film Premier
1968 "Funny Girl" biopic film based on life of Fanny Brice premieres, directed by William Wyler, starring Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif
Barbra Streisand
US Men's Tennis Open
1968 US Open Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Arthur Ashe wins first Open era US title; beats Dutchman Tom Okker 14-12, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Arthur Ashe
US Open Women's Tennis
1969 US Open Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Australian Margaret Court wins her third US singles title & 16th Grand Slam singles event; beats Nancy Richey 6-2, 6-2
Nancy Richey
- 1970 Black September hijackings begin, three airliners hijacked and blown up by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- 1971 John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts opens in Washington, D.C.
- 1972 Chic Cub Ferguson Jenkins wins his 20th game for 6th straight year
- 1972 Jim Ryan (US) & Billy Fordjour (Ghana) collide & fall in qualifying competitions for 1,500m finals, ending Ryan's chances for gold
- 1972 Mykola Avilov representing the Soviet Union scores a world record 8454 points to win the decathlon gold medal at the Munich Olympics; beats team mate Leonid Lytvynenko by 419 points
- 1972 East German Annelie Ehrhardt with a world record 12.59 takes the 100m hurdles gold medal at the Munich Olympics; beats Romanian Valeria Bufanu by just 0.25
- 1973 Billy Martin named manager of the Texas Rangers
Baseball Record
1973 Hank Aaron sets record of most HRs in 1 league (709)
Hank Aaron
- 1973 Rebecca Ann King (Colo), 23, crowned 46th Miss America 1974
- 1973 "Star Trek - Animated Series" premieres on TV
- 1973 US Open Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Margaret Court wins her 24th and final Grand Slam singles title; beats fellow Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley 7-6, 5-7, 6-2
- 1974 England's Ian Thompson wins European Championship marathon in 2:13:18.8 in Rome, Italy
Event of Interest
1974 US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon of all federal crimes
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
US Men's Tennis Open
1974 US Open Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Jimmy Connors wins his first of 5 US singles titles; outclasses veteran Australian Ken Rosewall 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 in last event played on grass
Jimmy Connors
Ken Rosewall
Event of Interest
1974 Evil Knievel attempts to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho but fails, escaping with minor injuries
Evel Knievel
- 1975 Boston begins court-ordered bussing of public schools
- 1975 Guinee-Bissau declares independence from Portugal
- 1976 Fons Rademakers' film "Max Havelaar" premieres in Amsterdam
- 1977 Interpol sends a resolution concerning video piracy
- 1977 Jimmy McCulloch quits Wings
- 1978 2nd game of Boston Massacre; Yanks beat Red Sox 13-2
Ayatollah Khomeini
US Open Women's Tennis
1979 US Open Women's Tennis: Tracy Austin becomes youngest US champion (16 years, 9 months); beats Chris Evert 6-4, 6-3
Chris Evert
- 1980 Bowie Kuhn suspends Ferguson Jenkins indefinitely due to drug arrest
- 1981 British TV comedy "Only Fools and Horses created by John Sullivan, starring David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Lennard Pearce premieres on BBC One
- 1982 Dutch social democratic party wins elections, fascist enters Dutch parliament
- 1983 NASA launches RCA-6
- 1984 Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 41G mission
US Open Women's Tennis
1984 US Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova retains her title; beats Chris Evert-Lloyd 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Martina Navratilova
Chris Evert
US Men's Tennis Open
1985 US Open Men's Tennis: Czech star Ivan Lendl wins his first US title; beats NYC home town favourite John McEnroe 7-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ivan Lendl
John McEnroe
- 1986 Westinghouse sells background music company Muzak to the Fields Company of Chicago
Event of Interest
1986 "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is first broadcast nationally
Oprah Winfrey
Baseball Record
1989 George Brett gets his 2,500th hit
George Brett
US Open Women's Tennis
1990 US Open Women's Tennis: Gabriela Sabatini becomes only Argentine woman to win a Grand Slam singles event; beats Steffi Graf 6-2, 7-6
Steffi Graf
- 1991 Buffalo Bill Jim Kelly passes for 6 touchdowns vs Pitts (52-34)
- 1991 Macedonia votes for independence from Yugoslavia
- 1991 US Open Men's Tennis: Stefan Edberg of Sweden wins his first US title; beats American Jim Courier 6-2, 6-4, 6-0
- 1992 Danny Tartabull has 9 RBIs as Yanks beat Orioles 16-4
- 1992 Howard Stern Radio Show begins broadcasting in Dallas (KGEL-FM 97.1)
- 1993 Baseball's proposed switch to a three-division format OKed in AL
- 1993 Wang Junxia creates a women's world record 10,000m (29:31.78) at the Chinese National Games
- 1993 Houston's Darryl Kile throws 3rd no-hitter of season in Astros' 7-1 win over NY Mets
Video Music Awards
1994 11th MTV Video Music Awards: Aerosmith wins with newlyweds Michael Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley opening the show
Michael Jackson
Lisa Marie Presley
- 1994 "Philadelphia, Here I Come" opens at Criterion NYC for 52 performances
- 1994 Last US, British & French troops leave West Berlin
- 1994 Man shoots another man on IRT #4 train at Grand Central Station
- 1994 USAir Boeing 737 crashes at Pitts Airport, killing all 132 on board
- 1995 Cleveland Indians clinch 1st AL Central Division title
- 1996 "7 Guitars" closes at Walter Kerr Theater NYC
- 1996 48th Emmy Awards: ER, Dennis Franz & Kathy Baker win
- 1996 Sri Lanka defeat Australia to win Singer World Series at Colombo
US Men's Tennis Open
1996 US Open Men's Tennis: Pete Sampras retains his title; beats fellow American Michael Chang 6-1, 6-4, 7-6
Pete Sampras
Michael Chang
- 1999 US Attorney General Janet Reno names former Senator John Danforth to head an independent investigation of the 1993 fire at the Branch Davidian church near Waco, Texas in response to revelations in the film "Waco The Rules of Engagement"
Film Premier
1999 "American Beauty", directed by Sam Mendes and starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, and Thora Birch, premieres in Los Angeles (Best Picture 2000)
