Today's Historical Events - On This Day
First Council of Nicaea
325 First Council of Nicaea ends with adoption of the Nicene Creed establishing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity
- 357 Battle of Strasbourg: Roman Caesar Julian defeats the Alamanni tribal confederation led by King Chnodomar, who is captured and taken to Rome in chains
450 Roman Senate elects Marcian Eastern Roman Emperor, succeeding Theodosius II who died without issue
- 1212 Children's crusade under Nicolas (10) reaches Genoa
- 1248 Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Archbishop of Utrecht Otto III
- 1330 Antipope Nicholas V, having obtained assurance of pardon, presents a confession of his sins to Pope John XXII, at Avignon, who absolved him
- 1425 Countess Jacoba of Bavaria escapes from jail
- 1499 Battle at Sapienza: Turkish fleet beats Venetians
- 1515 Conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar founds Havana in modern day Cuba, on the southern coast of the island. Moved to its current location in 1519.
- 1537 The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, is formed
- 1540 Explorer Hernando de Alarcon travels up Colorado River
- 1566 Iconoclastic fury begins in Dutch province Utrecht
- 1580 Battle of Alcantara, Spain defeats Portugal
Galileo's 1st Telescope
1609 Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, including the Doge (ruler) of Venice, Leonardo Donato
- 1628 Assault on sultan of Mantarams of Batavia
- 1648 Siege of Deal Castle ends in the surrender of Royalist supporters to Parliamentarians during the Second English Civil War [1]
- 1654 Battle of Arras: Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, failed to take Arras and withdrew to Cambrai.
- 1689 Battle at Charleroi: Spanish & English armies chase French
- 1689 Montreal taken by Iroquois
Peter the Great Returns
1698 Tsar Peter the Great returns to Moscow after trip through Western Europe
- 1718 Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana and found New Orleans
Cook's First Voyage
1768 Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, bound for the Pacific Ocean on his first voyage aboard the Endeavour
- 1795 Curaçao slaves opponents returns to St Christopher
- 1804 Alicia Thornton becomes the first female jockey in England, riding at Knavesmire in Yorkshire
- 1814 British forces destroy Library of Congress, containing 3,000 books (War of 1812)
- 1825 Uruguay declares independence from Brazil (National Day)
- 1829 President Jackson makes an offer to buy Texas, but Mexican government refuses
- 1830 Belgium revolts against Netherlands and begins the Belgian Revolution
- 1860 Tubular Victoria Bridge across the St Lawrence River at Montreal is officially opened by the Prince of Wales - an engineering wonder of the day [1]
- 1862 US Secretary of War authorizes Gen Rufus Saxton to arm 5,000 slaves
- 1864 Battle of Petersburg: Battle of Ream's Station
- 1864 Combination rail & ferry service available from San Francisco to Alameda
1875 Captain Matthew Webb makes the first observed and unassisted swim across the English Channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes
- 1886 1st international polo meet (US vs England)
David Beatty Promoted
1892 British naval officer David Beatty is promoted to lieutenant
- 1894 -26] Balinese troops assault Dutch army, 97 killed
- 1894 Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet
- 1898 700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are slaughtered by the Turks in Heraklion, Greece.
Jeffries TKOs Munroe
1904 Champion James J. Jeffries scores a 2nd round TKO win over Jack Munroe in San Francisco; Jeffries retires after his 7th heavyweight boxing title defense
- 1908 Allen Winter wins US 1st $50,000 trotting race
- 1908 National Association of Colored Nurses forms in New York City; Martha Minerva Franklin of Connecticut is elected president
- 1910 Yellow Cab is founded.
- 1912 1st time an aircraft recovers from a spin
- 1912 Different nationalities battle with each other in Macedonia
- 1912 The Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party, is founded.
- 1914 -26] Belgian offensive at Antwerp
- 1914 German troops in occupied Belgium begin the 6 week "Sack of Louvain," destroying historical buildings and killing hundreds of civilians
- 1914 German troops march into France and push French army to the Sedan
- 1914 German Zeppelins bomb Antwerp, Belgium, 10 die
- 1916 US Department of Interior forms National Park Service
- 1919 1st scheduled passenger service by airplane (Paris-London)
- 1920 American swimmer Norman Ross wins his first of 3 gold medals at the Antwerp Olympics in dominating men's 1,500m freestyle; also wins 400m freestyle and 4 x 200m freestyle relay
1st US Female Olympic Champion
1920 Ethelda Bleibtrey leads an American medal sweep of the Antwerp Olympics women's 100m freestyle with a world record 1:13.6; first US female Olympic champion
- 1920 Russia suffers a final decisive defeat in the Battle of Warsaw against Poland
- 1920 Swedish divers sweep the medals in the men's plain high diving event at the Antwerp Olympics; Arvid Wallman wins gold ahead of teammates Nils Skoglund & John Jansson
- 1921 The first skirmishes of the Battle of Blair Mountain, a civil uprising in Logan County, West Virginia
- 1921 US signs peace treaty with Germany
- 1921 Yankee pitcher Harry Harper hits 3 batters in an inning tying record
- 1922 Cubs beat Phillies 26-23 in highest scoring major-league game
- 1924 International maritime treaty drawn
Johnson's 2nd No-hitter
1924 MLB Washington Senator Walter Johnson 2nd no-hitter beats Browns, 2-0 in 7 inn
- 1925 Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters organizes (Harlem NY)
- 1925 Last Belgian troops vacate Duisburg
- 1926 Pavlos Koundouris becomes president of Greece
- 1928 Tri-City Rugby Football Union forms consisting of Moose Jaw, Regina & Winnipeg
1929 Graf Zeppelin passes over San Francisco for Los Angeles after trans-Pacific voyage
Earhart's Record Flight
1932 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental non-stop flight, the first by a woman, landing in Newark, New Jersey
- 1936 3 Braves hit twice in an inning getting 2 hits each
- 1936 Odourless cornstarch is patented in the US by Ralph W. Kerr
- 1937 Japanese fleet blockades Chinese coast
- 1940 First British night bombing of Germany (Berlin)
- 1940 Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia incorporated into Soviet Union
- 1941 British & Soviet troops attack pro-German Iran
- 1941 German troops conquer Nowgorod, Leningrad
- 1942 SS begins transporting Jews of Maastricht
- 1943 10th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 27, Washington 7 (48,471)
Mountbatten Takes Charge
1943 Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten appointed Supreme Allied Commander in South East Asia
- 1943 German occupiers impose 72-hour work week
- 1943 Red Army under Gen Vatutin recaptures Achtyrka
- 1943 US forces overrun New Georgia in Solomon Islands during WW II
- 1944 France 2nd Tank division under General Leclerc reaches Notre Dame in Paris
1944 German commander Dietrich von Choltitz surrenders Paris to the Free French forces of Philippe Leclerc, disobeying Adolf Hitler's orders to destroy the city. President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic Charles de Gaulle gives a famous speech at the Hôtel de Ville.
- 1944 US Army XII Corps reaches Troyes, France
- 1945 Jewish immigrants are permitted to leave Mauritius for Palestine
- 1947 Marion Carl in D-558-I sets world aircraft speed record of 1,047 kph
Bradman's Last Crack at Lords
1948 Bradman scores 150 in 212 minutes in his last innings at Lord's
- 1950 US President Harry Truman orders army to take control of railroad to avert a strike
- 1951 Cleveland Indians win 16th straight home game
- 1952 Detroit Tiger Virgil Trucks 2nd no-hitter of yr, beats Yankees, 1-0
- 1952 Puerto Rico becomes a US commonwealth
- 1954 Ivan Filin wins Berne marathon (2:25:26.6) (260m)
- 1955 16th Venice Film Festival: "Ordet" directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer wins Golden Lion
- 1955 Last Soviet forces leave Austria
- 1957 Prince Suvanna Phuma forms government in LAOS, with Pathet Lao
1958 Momofuku Ando markets the first package of precooked instant noodles (Chikin Ramen)
- 1960 AFL begins placing players names on back of their jerseys
- 1960 XVII Summer Olympic Games open at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy
- 1961 Brazilian president Janio Quadros, resigns
- 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1963 Paul McCartney is fined 31 pounds & given a 1 yr suspended license for speeding
- 1964 Singapore limits imports from Netherlands due to Indonesian aggression
- 1967 Minn Twin Dean Chance 2nd no-hitter of month beats Cleveland, 2-1
- 1967 Paraguay accepts its constitution
Beatles Study Transcendental Meditation
1967 The Beatles go to Bangor, Wales to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
- 1967 Train crash at Beesd, Netherlands: 2 die
1968 Arthur Ashe becomes 1st African American to win the US singles championship
Baseball History
1968 NY Yankee outfielder Rocky Colavito pitches second 2/3 innings and beats Tigers 6-5; he played right field in second game and homered
- 1969 Det Lions beat Boston Patriots 22-9 in Montreal (NFL expo)
Elton John's 1st US Concert
1970 Elton John makes his 1st US appearance at the Troubador in West Hollywood, Los Angeles,
SDLP Makes Brutality Allegations
1971 Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party Gerry Fitt presents a number of allegations of brutality by the security forces in Northern Ireland to representatives of the United Nations
- 1973 Butch Trucks, drummer of the Allman Brothers, breaks a leg in a car crash
- 1973 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1973 Zambia adopts constitution
- 1974 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1974 LA Aztecs defeat Miami Toros to win NASL cup
- 1976 Harm Wiersma becomes world checker champion
- 1976 Yanks beat Twins 5-4 in 19 innings
1977 Canadian NHL player Tim Horton posthumously inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame
- 1978 MLB baseball umpires stage a 1 day strike
- 1979 California Angels trounce Toronto Blue Jays, 24-2
- 1979 Somali adopts constitution
- 1980 MLB Texas Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins arrested for possession of drugs
- 1981 Jeff Schwartz, sets solo record for trampoline bouncing (266:09)
1981 Voyager 2's closest approach to Saturn (63,000 miles/100,000 km) [1]
- 1983 Triple A baseball's Louisville Redbirds breaks 1 million fan mark
- 1983 US & USSR sign $10 billion grain pact
- 1984 French airship capsizes
- 1984 USSR performs underground nuclear test
Baseball History
1985 Met Dwight Gooden becomes youngest pitcher to win 20 games (20y 9m 9d)
- 1985 STS 51-I scrubbed at T -9m because of an onboard computer problem
Graceland
1986 Warner Bros. Records releases Paul Simon's seventh solo album "Graceland", a blend of pop, African, zydeco, and rock music; wins Grammy for album of the year, 1987 and sells over 16 million copies
- 1987 Dow Jones industrial stock avg reaches record 2722.42
- 1987 Madonna sings in Rotterdam
- 1988 Challenger Center opens its classroom doors in Houston
- 1988 Iran & Iraq begin talks to end their 8 year war
- 1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-214
- 1988 Serious fire destroys historic center of Lisbon
- 1989 After 12-year, 4-billion-mile journey, Voyager 2 flies over cloudtops of Neptune & its moon Triton, sending back photographs of swamps
- 1989 Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary
- 1990 Li Hui Rong of China sets triple jump woman's record (47'8½")
1990 UN Security Council authorizes military action against Iraq for invading Kuwait
- 1991 43rd Emmy Awards: "LA Law", "Cheers", Kirstie Alley & Patricia Wettig win
- 1991 91st US Golf Amateur Championship won by Mitch Voges
Lewis Breaks 100m Record
1991 Carl Lewis runs 100m in a world record 9.86 seconds
- 1991 Cubs Doug Dascenzo commits his 1st career error after 242 games
- 1991 Krizstina Egerszegi swims world record 200m backstroke (2:06.62)
Linux is Born
1991 Linux is born when Linus Torvalds sends an email announcing his project to create a new computer operating system
- 1991 Norway & Denmark recognize independence of former USSR Baltic republics
- 1991 Wanda Panfil wins 3rd female world champion marathon (2:29:53)
- 1991 White-Russia declares its independence
Symonds Record Innings
1995 Gloucestershire cricketer Andrew Symonds scores 254 vs Glamorgan, including a then first-class record of 16 sixes
- 1995 Indians' Jose Mesa fails in save attempt after 38th consecutive saves
- 1996 96th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Tiger Woods
- 1997 Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, is convicted of a shoot-to-kill Berlin Wall policy.
Word Gets Around
1997 Welsh rock band Stereophonics release their debut studio album "Word Gets Around"
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
1998 "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" debut album by Lauryn Hill is released (5 Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, Billboard Album of the Year 1998)
- 2001 Singer Aaliyah and 8 others killed in an air crash in the Bahamas
- 2003 The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the Dogrib First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called Behchoko).
- 2004 Cuba beats Australia 6-2 to win the baseball gold medal at the Athens Olympics; Japan takes bronze; US did not qualify
- 2004 Emanuel Rego & Ricardo Santos win Brazil's first gold medal in men's beach volleyball with a 21–16, 21–15 victory over Spanish pair Javier Bosma & Pablo Herrera
- 2004 Gal Fridman becomes Israel's first Olympic gold medallist when he wins the men's Mistral One Design windsurfing event at the Athens Games
- 2004 Greek athlete Fani Chalkia comes out of retirement to compete in her home Olympics in Athens; wins 400m hurdles gold medal in 52.82
- 2004 Olga Kuzenkova of Russia throws an Olympic record 75.02m to edge the field and win the women's hammer throw gold medal at the Athens Games
Pavlo Lazarenko Sentenced
2006 Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko is sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for money laundering, wire fraud, and extortion
- 2006 Hyperion, the world's tallest living tree, a Redwood standing 115.55 m (379.1 ft), discovered by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in Redwood National and State Parks, California
- 2007 1st Women's Snow Polo World Championship takes place in Bariloche, Argentina
- 2010 Panic caused by escaped crocodile being smuggled aboard domestic Filair flight leads to crash of Let L-410 Turbolet passenger aircraft near Bandundu Airport, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing all but one of the 21 passengers and crew
- 2012 330 people are killed as a result of conflict in the Syrian civil war
- 2012 39 people are killed and 80 are injured after a gas leak in North Venezuelan refinery
- 2012 85,000 people are displaced by severe floods in Myanmar
- 2012 Voyager 1 spacecraft, becomes the 1st spacecraft to enter interstellar space (launched in 1977)
- 2013 4 people are killed and 25 are injured after a train derails in Tabasco, Mexico
- 2013 41 people are killed in a wave of bomb attacks across Iraq
- 2017 Category 4 Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas northeast of Corpus Christi with 130 m.p.h. winds
- 2017 Indian spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is convicted of raping two of his followers in Panchkula
Trump Pardons Joe Arpaio
2017 President Donald Trump grants presidential pardon to Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of contempt of court for racial profiling
- 2017 Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong jailed for 5 years for corruption in South Korea
- 2018 Afghan Islamic State leader Abu Saad Erhabi and 10 others killed in an air strike in province of Nangarhar, Afghanistan
- 2019 Double Dave, a rare two-headed timber rattlesnake found in Pine Barrens forest, New Jersey
- 2019 NASA investigates possibly the 1st crime in space over astronaut Anne McClain illegally accessing bank a/c from space
Tour Championship
2019 Tour Championship, Men's Golf, East Lake GC: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland wins by 4 strokes from Xander Schauffele; biggest winner's prize in golf, US$15m
- 2020 Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito no-hits the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago
- 2020 England's James Anderson becomes first fast bowler to reach 600 wickets in Test cricket; Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali caught at first slip on 5th day of 3rd Test at Southampton
2020 WHO announces that Africa has eradicated polio (defined as four years since last case)
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