Strange Days

[jseal]

216 B.C. ~ Hannibal destroyed the double Consular Roman army of Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Publius Terentius Varro in the Battle of Cannae (http://www.unrv.com/empire/battle-of-cannae.php).

1776 ~ Delegates to the Continental Congress began to sign the Declaration of Independence (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/).

1876 ~ Death of James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok (http://www.doncollier.com/historic10.htm), Gunfighter.

1921 ~ Death of Enrico Caruso (http://www.gmmy.com/tenors/caruso/), Italian Tenor.

1922 ~ Death of Alexander Graham Bell (http://www.alexandergrahambell.org/), Inventor.

1932 ~ Birthday of Peter O'Toole, Actor. (Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter).

1939 ~ Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program.

1943 ~ PT-109 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0709_020710_kennedyPT109.html), commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy rammed and sunk.

1976 ~ Death of Fritz Lang, Film Director.(Metropolis, M, Frau im Mond)

1990 ~ Iraq invaded Kuwait (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/2/newsid_2526000/2526937.stm), leading to the Gulf War.

[jseal]

1900 ~ Birthday of John T. Scopes, defendant in the “Monkey Trial (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm)”.

1904 ~ Birthday of Clifford D. Simak (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/clifford-d-simak/), Science Fiction Author.

1924 ~ Death of Joseph Conrad (http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/), Author. (Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim)

1924 ~ Birthday of Leon Uris, American Writer. (Exodus, QB VII)

1943 ~ Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private (http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Patton_George.html) at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice.

1948 ~ Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist, publicly accused former State Department official Alger Hiss of having been part of a Communist underground (http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/hiss-chambers-nyt.html).

1958 ~ The USS Nautilus (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0803.html#article) traveled beneath the Arctic ice cap.

1972 ~ U.S. Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

1977 ~ Death of Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus.

2003 ~ The U.S. Anglican Church approved the appointment of an openly homosexual bishop (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/3/newsid_3909000/3909559.stm).

[osuche]

1704 ~ An Anglo-Dutch force seized the rock of Gibraltar (http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/).

1782 ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (http://www.mozartproject.org/) married to Constanze Weber (http://themozartcafe.homestead.com/Constanze.html).

1792 ~ Birthday of Percy Shelley, Poet.

1840 ~ Birthday of Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Sexologist.

1875 ~ Death of Hans Christian Andersen (http://hca.gilead.org.il/), Writer.

1901 ~ Birthday of Louis Armstrong (http://www.satchmo.net/), Jazz Musician.

1914 ~ The UK declared war on Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0804.html#article).

1964 ~ The bodies of three missing civil rights workers were found (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/4/newsid_2962000/2962638.stm) buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.

1977 ~ President Carter signed legislation creating the U.S. Department of Energy.

1983 ~ New York Yankee Dave Winfield (http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/WeirdWorld/Durham_Bulls/37862) accidentally killed a seagull during a baseball game and was charged by police for his "act of cruelty to animals".

[jseal]

1885 ~ The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty (http://www.nps.gov/archive/stli/mainmenu.htm) was laid.

1895 ~ Death of Friedrich Engels, Socialist Philosopher.

1930 ~ Birthday of Neil Armstrong (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/neilabio.html), Astronaut.

1962 ~ Death of Marilyn Monroe (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/5/newsid_2657000/2657289.stm), Actress.

1963 ~ The U.S., UK, and U.S.S.R. signed a nuclear test ban treaty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0805.html#article).

1966 ~ The album ''Revolver'' by the Beatles was released.

1973 ~ Arab gunmen opened fire and threw grenades (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/5/newsid_4533000/4533763.stm) into a passenger lounge at Athens airport.

1981 ~ The federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone on strike.

1984 ~ Death of Richard Burton (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000009/bio), Actor.

2000 ~ Death of Sir Alec Guinness (http://siralecguinness.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml), Actor.

[jseal]

1809 ~ Birthday of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet (http://poetry.eserver.org/light-brigade.html).

1881 ~ Birthday of Alexander Fleming (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1945/fleming-bio.html), awarded he Nobel Prize in Medicine 1945.

1911 ~ Birthday of Lucille Ball (http://www.time.com/time/time100/artists/profile/lucy.html), Actress, Comedienne.

1943 ~ Birthday of Jon Postel, creator of DNS (http://www.brainbliss.com/cat02/art05.html).

1945 ~ A nuclear bomb codenamed Little Boy was dropped on the city of Hiroshima (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0806.html#article).

1961 ~ Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/6/newsid_2944000/2944638.stm) spent a day in orbit.

1965 ~ U.S. release of the Beatles’ album "Help!".

1990 ~ The UN Security Council ordered a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

1991 ~ Tim Berners-Lee released his idea for the "World Wide Web (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5242252.stm)".

1991 ~ Death of Harry Reasoner, Reporter.

[jseal]

1560 ~ Birthday of Elizabeth Bathory (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_131.html), serial killer.

1867 ~ Birthday of Mata Hari (http://www.crimelibrary.com/spies/mata_hari/) (Margaretha Zelle), spy.

1942 ~ Birthday of Garrison Keillor (http://www.mindspring.com/~celestia/keillor/), radio host.

1947 ~ Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft "Kon-Tiki (http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/kontiki.htm)", arrived at the Tuamotu Islands after a 101 day 4,300 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean, proving that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.

1957 ~ Death of Oliver Hardy, Comedian & Actor.

1960 ~ Côte d'Ivoire becomes independent.

1964 ~ U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0807.html#article), giving President Johnson broad powers to deal with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

1974 ~ French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.

1998 ~ Bombing of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/7/newsid_3131000/3131709.stm) that killed 224 people and injured over 4,500.

2004 ~ Death of Red Adair (http://www.redadair.com/bio.html), American oil well firefighter.

[Oldfart]

Red Adair? What did Ginger Rogers say?

[jseal]

1844 ~ Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons following the killing of Joseph Smith.

1879 ~ Birthday of Emiliano Zapata, Mexican Revolutionary.

1902 ~ Birthday of P.A.M. Dirac (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/dirac-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

1937 ~ Birthday of Dustin Hoffman (http://www.answers.com/topic/dustin-hoffman), Actor (The Graduate, Tootsie, Kramer vs. Kramer).

1945 ~ The U.S. ratified the United Nations Charter.

1963 ~ Britain's ''Great Train Robbery (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/8/newsid_2714000/2714055.stm)'' took place when thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.

1966 ~ The Beatles' released “Revolver (http://www.beatles.com/hub/tracklisting.php?img=Rev&menuItem=the%20music&order=chrono)”

1974 ~ U.S. President Nixon announced his resignation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0808.html#article) effective August 9.

1988 ~ U.N. Secretary-General Cuellar announced a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/iraniraq.htm).

1996 ~ Death of Frank A Whittle (http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/fwhittle.html), inventor of the Jet engine.

[jseal]

1173 ~ Construction of the (Leaning) Tower of Pisa (http://torre.duomo.pisa.it/index_eng.html) began. It took two centuries to complete.

1483 ~ Opening of the Sistine Chapel (http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Main.html).

1896 ~ Birthday of Jean Piaget, Child Psychologist.

1936 ~ Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay.

1945 ~ A nuclear bomb codenamed Fat Man was dropped on the city of Nagasaki (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0809.html#article).

1969 ~ Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murdered five people (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/9/newsid_2998000/2998214.stm) including Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring and, Abigail Folger.

1975 ~ Death of Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer.

1986 ~ Final live performance of Queen (http://www.queenonline.com/).

1986 ~ The Headington Shark (http://www.headington.org.uk/history/misc/shark.htm) was erected in Oxford.

1995 ~ Death of Jerry Garcia (http://hake.com/gordon/garcia.html), guitarist: Grateful Dead.

[Oldfart]

Piaget was flavour of the month when I was at Teachers College in the early 70s.

[jseal]

1519 ~ Ferdinand Magellan's 5 ships set sail from Seville (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1519magellan.html) to circumnavigate the globe.

1675 ~ Foundation stone set of the Royal Observatory (http://www.nmm.ac.uk/astronomy/links.html), Greenwich.

1846 ~ The Smithsonian Institution (http://www.si.edu/) was chartered following a $500,000 donation by scientist Joseph Smithson.

1885 ~ America's first commercially operated electric streetcar began operation in Baltimore.

1896 ~ Death of Otto Lilienthal, Aviation Pioneer.

1945 ~ Death of Robert Goddard, Rocket Scientist.

1988 ~ Something that hit too, too close to home (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/10/newsid_2528000/2528665.stm)!

1990 ~ The Magellan space probe (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/magellan.htm) arrived at Venus.

1995 ~ Norma McCorvey (http://www.leaderu.com/common/roev.html), '”Jane Roe” in the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which legalized abortion, announced she had joined the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

2003 ~ The highest temperature ever recorded in England (http://www.metoffice.com/corporate/pressoffice/2006/pr20060717.html), 38.5°C, recorded in Kent, UK.

[jseal]

3114 B.C. ~ Beginning of our current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar (http://www.sungwh.freeserve.co.uk/sapienti/maya/maya.htm).

480 B.C. ~ Persians under Xerxes defeated Spartans under King Leonidas in the Battle of Thermopylae. The Spartans fight to the last man.

The Battle of Thermopylae has served as an example to officers and soldiers alike of what courage and self-sacrifice could achieve. It is still remembered, almost 2,500 years later, as a classic example of virtue. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6BDHGa4CEY)

1253 ~ Death of Saint Clare of Assisi, Patron Saint of television (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_of_Assisi).

1905 ~ Birthday of Erwin Chargaff (http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/news/journal/journal-o/fall-2003/dna.html), biochemist.

1919 ~ Death of Andrew Carnegie (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/), Industrialist & Philanthropist.

1929 ~ Babe Ruth became the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs.

1943 ~ Birthday of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general & President.

1950 ~ Birthday of Steve Wozniak (http://www.woz.org/), Computer Pioneer.

1984 ~ U.S. President Reagan joked during a voice test for a paid political radio address that he had ''signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes. (http://www.yaf.com/Reagan.shtml)''

2003 ~ NATO took over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe.

[jseal]

1851 ~ Isaac Singer was granted a patent for his sewing machine.

1859 ~ Birthday of Katherine Lee Bates, Poet (America the Beautiful (http://www.brownielocks.com/americathebeautifulWAVE.html) [arranged & performed by Ray Charles]).

1887 ~ Birthday of Erwin Schrödinger (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/schrodinger-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

1927 ~ Birthday of Mstislav Rostropovich, Cellist.

1928 ~ Death of Leos Janacek, Czech Composer.

1953 ~ The Soviet Union detonated its first hydrogen bomb (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/Sovatmtest.html).

1960 ~ The first communications satellite, “Echo I (http://roland.lerc.nasa.gov/~dglover/sat/echo.html)”, was launched.

1964 ~ Death of Ian Fleming (http://www.klast.net/bond/flem_bio.html), Novelist.

1981 ~ The IBM PC (http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa031599.htm) was introduced.

2002 ~ Russian submarine Kursk (http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/kursk.htm) sank in the Barents Sea.

[Oldfart]

Have they found Schrodinger's cat yet?

[jseal]

Have they found Schrodinger's cat yet?

Yep! This time it was alive! :D

[Oldfart]

18 lives that cat, or was that 9?

[jseal]

1521 ~ Tenochtitlán, present day Mexico City, fell to conquistador Hernán Cortés (http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/cortez.htm).

1860 ~ Birthday of Annie Oakley (http://www.lkwdpl.org/WIHOHIO/oakl-ann.htm), Sharpshooter.

1899 ~ Birthday of Alfred Hitchcock (http://hitchcock.tv/), Director.

1942 ~ Walt Disney's animated cartoon Bambi premiered.

1946 ~ Death of H. G. Wells (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jwells.htm), Writer.

1948 ~ Birthday of Kathleen Battle, Opera Singer.

1961 ~ The Berlin Wall (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0813.html#article) began to be built.

1966 ~ Beginning of China’s Cultural Revolution (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/13/newsid_4537000/4537605.stm).

1997 ~ The popular, controversial animated series "South Park (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/)" debuted.

2003 ~ Libya agreed to set up a $2.7 billion fund for families of 270 people killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing.

[jseal]

1862 ~ Birthday of Ernest Thayer, Poet (Casey at the Bat (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case.shtml)).

1880 ~ After 632 years, Cologne Cathedral was completed (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/cologne-cathedral.htm).

1945 ~ Japan surrendered (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0814.html#article), ending World War II.

1947 ~ Pakistan & India gained independence from Britain (http://soc.enotes.com/india-pakistan-article) at midnight, Pakistan commemorating the event on August 14 and India on August 15.

1951 ~ Death of William Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate.

1971 ~ Rod Stewart released "Maggie May (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rod+stewart/maggie+may_20117602.html)".

1980 ~ Workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, in a job action that resulted in the creation of the Solidarity labor movement (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/14/newsid_2802000/2802553.stm).

1988 ~ Death of Enzo Ferrari, Automobile Designer.

1994 ~ Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, was captured.

2003 ~ A blackout hit the northeastern U.S. and part of Canada (http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012504); 50 million people lost power.

[jseal]

778 ~ The Battle of Roncevaux Pass (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/roland-ohag.html), in which Roland was killed.

1769 ~ Birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/napoleon.html), general and politician.

1877 ~ Thomas Edison made the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

1890 ~ Birthday of Jacques Ibert, French Composer.

1945 ~ The Allies proclaimed V-J Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/15/newsid_3581000/3581971.stm), one day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

1947 ~ India and Pakistan became independent (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0815.html#article) from British rule.

1948 ~ Republic of Korea (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/korea.html) established south of 38th Parallel.

1951 ~ Death of Artur Schnabel, Pianist.

1967 ~ Death of René Magritte, Surrealist painter (http://www.magritte.com/5_1.cfm?img=04).

1969 ~ First day of Woodstock (http://www.geocities.com/Beatlefreak1/) Music and Art Festival.

I was able to talk my cousin out of going to this. She had called me a month or so earlier and said she could get a couple of tickets if we wanted to go. It was inconvenient to get to, and when I said so, she agreed, and so….

[jseal]

1858 ~ President Buchanan inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable (http://atlantic-cable.com/) by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria.

1888 ~ Birthday of Lawrence of Arabia (http://telawrence.info/telawrenceinfo/index.htm).

1899 ~ Death of Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, chemist.

1930 ~ First color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, was made by Ub Iwerks.

1948 ~ Death of Babe Ruth (http://www.baberuth.com/flash/about/biograph.html), baseball player.

1960 ~ Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

1962 ~ The Beatles fired Pete Best (http://www.petebest.com/) and replaced him with Ringo Starr (http://www.ringostarr.com/).

1977 ~ Death of Elvis Presley (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0816.html#article), Singer, Actor.

2000 ~ Delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominated Vice President Al Gore for president.

2003 ~ Death of Idi Amin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/16/newsid_3921000/3921361.stm), Ugandan dictator.

[Oldfart]

Elvis is dead?

Now who's going to serve burgers at the 7-11?

[jseal]

Schrödinger’s Cat?

[Oldfart]

Schrodinger's Elvis?

He can then probably serve only half the burgers he did before.

[jseal]

1601 ~ Birthday of Pierre de Fermat (http://www.simonsingh.net/Pierre_de_Fermat.html), Mathematician.

1786 ~ Birthday of Davy Crockett (http://www.infoporium.com/heritage/crockbio.shtml), Frontiersman, Soldier.

1943 ~ The US Army Air Force had its wrist slapped smartly with the loss of 147 B-17's shot down or damaged beyond repair during the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission

1882 ~ Birthday of Samuel Goldwyn, Hollywood producer.

1911 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Botvinnik (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/botvinnik/botvinnik.htm), World Chess Champion.

1962 ~ East German border guards shot and mortally wounded 18-year-old Peter Fechter (http://www.videofact.com/cold_war/berlin/berlin10e_1.html), who had attempted to cross over the Berlin Wall into the western sector.

1970 ~ Venera 7 was launched (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1970-060A). It became the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet, Venus.

1980 ~ Azaria Chamberlain disappeared, leading to a famous wrongful conviction (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/1988/64.html) when her parents were found guilty of murder.

1992 ~ Woody Allen admitted being "romantically involved" with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his longtime companion, actress Mia Farrow.

1998 ~ President Clinton admitted having an affair (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/17/newsid_4537000/4537597.stm) with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

[jseal]

1227 ~ Death of Genghis Khan (http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/vexhibit/genghis/intro.htm), Mongol leader.

1587 ~ Birthday of Virginia Dare (http://www.outerbanks.com/manteo/history/vadare.htm); the first English child born in the Americas.

1750 ~ Birthday of Antonio Salieri (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/salieri.html), Composer.

1774 ~ Birthday of Meriwether Lewis, Explorer.

1877 ~ Asaph Hall discovered Phobos, the moon of Pluto.

1920 ~ The 19th Amendment to US constitution was ratified (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment19/), guaranteeing women's right to vote.

1958 ~ Vladimir Nabokov (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/books/1999/nabokov/)'s controversial novel Lolita was published in the U.S.

1963 ~ James Meredith became the first black to graduate from the University of Mississippi (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0818.html#article).

1969 ~ Jimi Hendrix played the unofficial last day of Woodstock (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/18/newsid_2760000/2760911.stm).

1991 ~ Downfall of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was put under house arrest while he was vacationing in the Crimea.

[jseal]

1871 ~ Birthday of Orville Wright, Aviator.

1902 ~ Birthday of Ogden Nash, Poet.

1921 ~ Birthday of Gene Roddenberry (http://www.pathcom.com/~boby/gene.htm), creator of Star Trek

1934 ~ The creation of the position Führer approved in a German plebiscite (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0819.html#article).

1942 ~ About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/19/newsid_3560000/3560309.stm), France, suffering about 50 percent casualties.

1960 ~ A tribunal in Moscow convicted American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage (http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2000/5/2000_5_36.shtml).

1977 ~ Death of Groucho Marx, Comedian & Actor.

1981 ~ Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi sent two Sukoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two U.S. F-14 Tomcats over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets shot down the Libyan fighters (http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1386573).

1994 ~ Death of Linus Pauling (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1962/pauling-bio.html), Scientist & Peace Activist.

He was a physical chemist, among the most influential chemists of the twentieth century, and one of the most important scientists of all time. He was one of the first quantum chemists, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 for his work describing the nature of chemical bonds. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his campaign against above-ground nuclear testing, becoming one of only two people to receive the Nobel Prize in more than one field, the other being Marie Curie.

2003 ~ A suicide truck bomb struck U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing 22, including the top U.N. envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello (http://www.unhchr.ch/html/hchr/cv.htm).

[jseal]

1882 ~ Piotr Tchaikovsky's “1812 Overture (http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/tchaikov/1812.html)” debuted in Moscow.

1890 ~ Birthday of H. P. Lovecraft (http://www.hplovecraft.com/), Horror Writer.

1923 ~ Birthday of Jim Reeves, country and western singer.

1940 ~ UK PM Winston Churchill paid tribute to the RAF, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. (http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=388#so_much_owed)”

1941 ~ Birthday of Slobodan Milosevic (http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/milosevic.html), former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

1968 ~ Warsaw Pact troops and tanks invaded Czechoslovakia (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0820.html#top) to end the Prague Spring of political liberalization.

1991 ~ Downfall of the Soviet Union: Estonia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

1998 ~ The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec could not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval (http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1998/1998rcs2-217/1998rcs2-217.html).

1998 ~ The U.S. launched cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

2001 ~ Death of Sir Fred Hoyle (http://www.cf.ac.uk/maths/wickramasinghe/hoyle.html), Astronomer, Science Fiction Writer.

[jseal]

1858 ~ The first of seven debates (http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/debates.htm) between U.S. Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas was held.

1872 ~ Birthday of Aubrey Beardsley, Illustrator (http://www.artpassions.net/cgi-bin/show_image.pl?../galleries/beardsleye/examherald_e.jpg).

1904 ~ Birthday of Count Basie (http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_basie_count.htm), Bandleader.

1923 ~ Birthday of Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister of Israel.

1936 ~ Birthday of Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Hall of Famer.

1940 ~ Death of Leon Trotsky (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/index.htm), exiled Russian revolutionary.

1959 ~ Hawaii was admitted as the 50th U.S. state (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0821.html#article).

1983 ~ Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was murdered (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/21/newsid_2534000/2534945.stm) moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport.

1986 ~ Suffocating gas erupted from volcanic Lake Nyos (http://www.mala.bc.ca/~earles/nyos-feb01.htm) in Cameroon, killing more than 1,700.

1991 ~ A hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

[jseal]

1485 ~ The Battle of Bosworth Field (http://www.pomian.demon.co.uk/bosworth.htm) ended the Wars of the Roses.

1770 ~ James Cook 's expedition arrived on the east coast of Australia.

1775 ~ King George III declared the American colonies to be in open rebellion.

1862 ~ Birthday of Claude Debussy, Composer.

1893 ~ Birthday of Dorothy Parker (http://www.dorothyparker.com/), Writer & Wit .

1902 ~ Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to ride in an automobile (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0822.html#article).

1920 ~ Birthday of Ray Bradbury (http://www.raybradbury.com/), science fiction author and fantasy author (Fahrenheit 451).

1962 ~ The Savannah (http://www.atomicinsights.com/jul95/failure.html), the world's first nuclear-powered ship, completed its maiden voyage.

1978 ~ Death of Jomo Kenyatta (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/22/newsid_2500000/2500553.stm), Kenya's founding father.

2001 ~ For the Geeks among us, a sad day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_room_coffee_pot). The Trojan room coffee pot is switched off for the last time.

[Oldfart]

Jomo had much to answer for. Google "MauMau".

[jseal]

1305 ~ Execution of William Wallace (http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-vision_reflections/wallace_2774.jsp).

1754 ~ Birthday of King Louis XVI of France.

1829 ~ Birthday of Moritz Cantor (http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Cantor_Moritz.html), Mathematician & Historian.

1833 ~ Slavery was abolished (http://www.anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/huk-1833act.htm) in the English colonies.

1912 ~ Birthday of Gene Kelly (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/kelly_g_homepage.html), Dancer & Actor.

1927 ~ Italian-born anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti were executed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0823.html#article) in Boston.

1951 ~ Birthday of Queen Noor (http://www.noor.gov.jo/index.htm) of Jordan.

1962 ~ First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite.

1990 ~ Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/23/newsid_2512000/2512289.stm).

1990 ~ West Germany and East Germany announced that they would unite.

[jseal]

79 ~ Mount Vesuvius erupted (http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html). The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried in volcanic ash.

1456 ~ The printing of the Gutenberg Bible (http://www.ideafinder.com/features/everwonder/won-printbook.htm) was completed.

1880 ~ Birthday of Joshua Lionel Cowen (http://www.lionel.com/), inventor of the toy electric train.

1929 ~ Birthday of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader.

1932 ~ Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop.

1951 ~ Birthday of Orson Scott Card, novelist.

1960 ~ Birthday of Cal Ripken, Jr. (http://www.ripkenbaseball.com/), baseball player.

1993 ~ Michael Jackson was accused of child abuse (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/24/newsid_2512000/2512077.stm).

1992 ~ Hurricane Andrew (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0824.html#article) hit South Florida.

2006 ~ "Planet" was redefined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) such that Pluto is no longer considered a planet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto#IAU_decision_and_the_.22Great_Pluto_War.22).

[jseal]

1609 ~ Galileo demonstrated his first telescope (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.html) to the Venetian Senate.

1835 ~ The New York Sun printed The Great Moon Hoax (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/moonhoax.html).

1867 ~ Death of Michael Faraday, Scientist.

1875 ~ Matthew Webb became the first man to swim the English Channel (http://www.trivia-library.com/a/first-man-to-swim-the-english-channel-capt-matthew-webb-part-1.htm).

1894 ~ Shibasaburo Kitasato discovered the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and published his findings in The Lancet.

1900 ~ Birthday of Sir Hans Adolf Krebs (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1953/krebs-bio.html), Scientist. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1953.

1900 ~ Death of Friedrich Nietzsche (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/), Philosopher.

1918 ~ Birthday of Leonard Bernstein, Conductor & Composer.

1944 ~ Paris was liberated by Allied forces (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0825.html#article) after four years of Nazi occupation.

1982 ~ Voyager 2 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_2535000/2535545.stm) spacecraft flew by Neptune.

[jseal]

55 B.C. ~ Julius Caesar invaded Britain.

1071 ~ The Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire at Manzikert (http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/markham.htm).

1498 ~ Michelangelo commissioned to carve the Pieta (http://www.christusrex.org/www1/citta/B1-Pieta.html).

1839 ~ The ship Amistad (http://www.amistadamerica.org/) was captured off Long Island.

1847 ~ Liberia was proclaimed an independent republic.

1910 ~ Birthday of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Blessed.

1920 ~ The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment19/), guaranteeing women the right to vote, was declared in effect (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0826.html#article).

1961 ~ The International Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto (http://www.hhof.com/html/gi20300.shtml).

1968 ~ The Beatles' 'Hey Jude (http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1172.html)" was released as a single in the U.S.

1975 ~ Death of Haile Selassie (http://www.imperialethiopia.org/selassie.htm), Emperor of Ethiopia.

[jseal]

1776 ~ British forces under General William Howe defeated the Americans under General George Washington in the Battle of Long Island (http://www.britishbattles.com/long-island.htm).

1813 ~ Napoleon defeated the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.

1828 ~ Krakatoa erupted (http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Krakatau.html); approximately 36,000 people on the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra drowned.

1896 ~ Anglo-Zanzibar War (http://www.neatorama.com/2007/02/21/the-worlds-shortest-and-longest-wars/). With a duration of only 45 minutes, it holds the record of being the shortest war in recorded history.

1908 ~ Birthday of Lyndon B. Johnson (http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/biographys.hom/lbj_bio.asp), 36th U.S. president.

1928 ~ Kellogg-Briand Pact (http://www.bartleby.com/65/ke/KelloggB.html), outlawing war, signed by sixty nations.

1939 ~ First jet aircraft flight; a Heinkel He 178, piloted by Erich Warsitz.

1945 ~ American troops began landing in Japan following the surrender of the Japanese government in World War II.

1962 ~ The Mariner 2 space probe launched (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0827.html#article) to Venus.

1979 ~ An IRA bomb killed Lord Mountbatten (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/27/newsid_2511000/2511545.stm) and 3 others on holiday.

[jseal]

430 ~ Death of Augustine of Hippo (http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/jod/augustine/), Philosopher, Theologian.

1749 ~ Birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Philosopher, Scientist.

1828 ~ Birthday of Leo Tolstoy (http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/), Author. His “The Law of Love and the Law of Violence” influenced Martin Luther King, Jr.

1845 ~ First issue of Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com/) magazine published.

1850 ~ Richard Wagner's opera “Lohengrin” premiered, from which comes the Bridal Chorus, traditionally played at Western weddings, and commonly known as "Here Comes the Bride (http://www.trivia-library.com/b/story-and-origins-of-famous-songs-here-comes-the-bride.htm)".

1897 ~ Birthday of Charles Boyer (http://www.themave.com/Boyer/), Actor.

1963 ~ During a civil rights rally in at the Lincoln Memorial (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0828.html#article) in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm)” speech.

Do yourself a favor; take a quarter of an hour out of your busy day and listen to it. This was the real deal.

1972 ~ During the Olympic Games of Munich, Mark Spitz won his first of seven gold medals (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mm-spitz.html) in swimming events.

1990 ~ Iraq declared Kuwait to be a province of Iraq.

1996 ~ Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales were divorced.

[jseal]

1261 ~ Urban IV became Pope, the last man to do so without first being a Cardinal.

1632 ~ Birthday of John Locke (http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Locke.htm), Philosopher.

1885 ~ Gottlieb Daimler (http://www.autonews.com/files/euroauto/inductees/daimler.htm) patented the world's first motorcycle.

1896 ~ Chop suey was invented (http://www.snopes.com/food/origins/chopsuey.asp) in New York City.

1949 ~ The Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon (http://www.sonicbomb.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=50) at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

1952 ~ Premiere of John Cage's 4'33" (http://interglacial.com/~sburke/stuff/cage_433.html) in Woodstock, New York.

1957 ~ Sen. Strom Thurmond, D-S.C., ended the longest filibuster in Senate history after talking for 24 hours, 18 minutes against a civil rights bill.

1966 ~ The Beatles performed their last concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

1991 ~ The Downfall of the Soviet Union: The Supreme Soviet suspended all activities of the Soviet Communist Party (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0829.html#article).

2005 ~ Hurricane Katrina made landfall (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/29/newsid_4947000/4947378.stm) along the Louisiana coast, overwhelming the levees protecting New Orleans and causing massive flooding.

[jseal]

1797 ~ Birthday of Mary Shelley, Author (Frankenstein (http://www.sangfroid.com/frank/)).

1862 ~ Union forces were defeated by the Confederates at the Second Battle of Bull Run (http://www.civilwarhome.com/2manassa.htm) in Manassas, Va..

1871 ~ Birthday of Ernest Rutherford (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1908/rutherford-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908.

1918 ~ Birthday of Baseball hall-of-famer Ted Williams (http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/willite01.shtml).

1935 ~ Birthday of John Phillips, American singer (The Mamas and the Papas).

1940 ~ Death of J.J. Thomson (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1906/thomson-bio.html), English physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics 1906. Prof. Thomson identified the electron as a subatomic particle, the first one to be discovered. In one of the greatest ironies of modern physics his son, G.P. Thomson (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1937/thomson-bio.html) later received the prize for proving that the electron was also, in fact, a wave (http://www.qmw.ac.uk/~zgap118/).

1963 ~ Hotline between U.S. and Soviet leaders (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0830.html#article) went into operation.

1987 ~ Thurgood Marshall (http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/marshall.htm) confirmed as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1999 ~ East Timorese voted for independence in a referendum.

2003 ~ Death of Charles Bronson, Actor.

[jseal]

1834 ~ Birthday of Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (La Gioconda - It contains "The Dance of the Hours").

1879 ~ Birthday of Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel (http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/almas_life.html). This woman knew how to live!

1888 ~ Mary Ann Nichols murdered. She was perhaps the first of Jack the Ripper (http://www.jack-the-ripper-walk.co.uk/jack_the_ripper_history.htm)'s victims.

1918 ~ Birthday of Alan Jay Lerner, American composer ( Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady (http://www.foxhome.com/myfairlady/index_frames.html)).

1935 ~ Birthday of Frank Robinson (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-frankrobinson-storygallery,0,6870416.storygallery?coll=bal_sports_baseball_xpromo), Baseball Player, Manager.

1945 ~ Birthday of Itzhak Perlman, Violinist.

1945 ~ Birthday of Van Morrison, Irish musician (“Brown-Eyed Girl", "Moondance" and "Domino").

1962 ~ Trinidad and Tobago (http://www.visittnt.com/) became independent.

1980 ~ Solidarity labor union formed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4194204.stm) in Poland.

1997 ~ Death of Diana, Princess of Wales (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0831.html#article), in a car crash in Paris.

[Oldfart]

Alma lived.

[jseal]

1653 ~ Birthday of Johann Pachelbel, Composer. Remember the theme music of “Ordinary People”? That’s “Pachelbel's Canon (http://www.helander.se/stefan/pachelbel/files/canonstr.mid)” (which is not really a Canon).

1715 ~ King Louis XIV (http://www.louis-xiv.de/index.php?t=start&a=start) of France ("L'État, c'est moi") died after a reign of 72 years — the longest of any major European monarch.

1875 ~ Birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs (http://www.tarzan.org/official_biography_part1.html), Writer, creator of Tarzan.

1905 ~ Alberta and Saskatchewan (http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution/constitution14_e.html#newprov) joined the Canadian confederation.

1914 ~ The last Passenger Pigeon died (http://www.eco-action.org/dt/pigeon.html) in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo.

1939 ~ Germany attacked Poland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0901.html#article), beginning World War II.

1972 ~ Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky (http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/7072$wix.htm) to become the world chess champion.

1983 ~ Korean Air Flight KAL-007 was shot down (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/1/newsid_2493000/2493469.stm) by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft entered Soviet airspace.

1985 ~ A joint American-French expedition located the wreck of the RMS Titanic (http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/titanic/technology/technology.html).

2004 ~ The Beslan school hostage crisis began.

[jseal]

31 B.C. ~ Battle of Actium (http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~murray/actium/brochure.html): Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra. This date is often used for the beginning of the Roman Empire.

1666 ~ The Great Fire of London (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/londonfire.htm) started in Pudding Lane at the house of Thomas Farrinor near London Bridge. Samuel Pepys, a neighbor, was woken by the fire at around 1 AM. The fire burned for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral, but only 16 people are known to have died.

1752 ~ The UK adopted the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.

1898 ~ The Battle of Omdurman (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/empire/episodes/episode_68.shtml): British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeated Sudanese tribesmen led by Khalifa Abdullah al-Taashi, establishing British dominance in the Sudan.

1901 ~ Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, “Speak softly and carry a big stick (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/329050.html)”.

1924 ~ Birthday of Daniel arap Moi (http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/moi/profile.htm), former president of Kenya.

1945 ~ The official surrender of Japan was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0902.html#article) from a delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, bringing World War II to an end.

1964 ~ Death of Alvin York (http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/sgtayork.htm), Hero. He was the most decorated American soldier of World War I.

1969 ~ Death of Ho Chi Minh (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VNhochiminh.htm), Vietmamese Revolutionary, President & Prime Minister.

1973 ~ Death of J. R. R. Tolkien (http://www.tolkiensociety.org/), British writer.

[jseal]

301 ~ San Marino (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5387.htm), the world's oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus.

1658 ~ Death of Oliver Cromwell (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/cromwell_01.shtml), Lord Protector of England.

1875 ~ Birthday of Ferdinand Porsche (http://www.autohistory.org/feature_6.html), German automotive engineer.

1893 ~ Death of James Harrison (http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/089.html#366), Australian pioneer of mechanical refrigeration.

1939 ~ World War II: France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3/newsid_3493000/3493279.stm).

1954 ~ The last new episode of The Lone Ranger (http://www.radiohof.org/adventuredrama/loneranger.html) was aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years.

1962 ~ Death of e. e. cummings (http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/eecummings/), poet.

1976 ~ The Viking 2 spacecraft landed on Mars (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0903.html#article) and took the first close-up, color photos of the planet's surface.

1995 ~ eBay founded.

2004 ~ More than 200 people die at the end of a three-day siege at a school in Beslan, Russia came to a bloody end (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3/newsid_4652000/4652213.stm).

[Oldfart]

You're trying to trick us.

eBay, according to the absolutely trustable wiki, was founded 1995.

You're messing with my head, young fella.

[Doomsday]

1875 : Ferdinand Porsche, father of the Porsche brand, is born
1937 : Orson Welles produces Les Miserables
1914 : Pope Benedict XV named to papacy

[jseal]

476 ~ Romulus Augustus (http://www.roman-empire.net/collapse/romulus.html), the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed.

1781 ~ Los Angeles was founded (http://www.californiahistory.net/4_PAGES/pueblos_nuestra.htm) as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula (the City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula).

1824 ~ Birthday of Anton Bruckner (http://www.bruckner.org/), Composer.

1888 ~ George Eastman (http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/kodakHistory/eastmanTheMan.shtml) registered the trademark Kodak.

1891 ~ Birthday of Fritz Todt, developer of the German autobahn, the archtype for the limited access highway.

1907 ~ Death of Edvard Grieg (http://www.mnc.net/norway/EHG.htm), Norwegian Composer.

1957 ~ The Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution in Great Britain came to the conclusion that outlawing homosexuality impinged upon civil liberties (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/4/newsid_3007000/3007686.stm).

1965 ~ Death of Albert Schweitzer (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1952/schweitzer-bio.html), Physician, J.S. Bach interpreter, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1952.

1972 ~ Mark Spitz won his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

1995 ~ Death of William Kunstler, Attorney.

[jseal]

1698 ~ Russia's Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.

1735 ~ Birthday of Johann Christian Bach (http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/bachjc.html), Composer, son of Johann Sebastian Bach.

1793 ~ The French National Convention voted to implement terror measures to enforce the principles (http://britannia.com/history/euro/1/2_2.html) of the French Revolution.

1847 ~ Birthday of Jesse James (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/james/1.html), outlaw.

1857 ~ Birthday of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (http://www.spaceline.org/history/21.html), Visionary & Pioneer of Astronautics.

1882 ~ The first Labor Day parade in the U.S. was held in New York City.

1950 ~ Birthday of Cathy Guisewite, Cartoonist (http://www.gocomics.com/cathy/).

1957 ~ “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac was published.

1972 ~ A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attacked Israeli athletes (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0905.html#article) at the Munich Olympic Games.

1997 ~ Death of Mother Teresa (http://www.ewtn.com/motherteresa/), Inspiration.

[jseal]

1620 ~ The Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower (http://www.plymouthdata.info/Pilgrim%20Fathers.htm) from Plymouth, England, to settle in North America.

1766 ~ Birthday of John Dalton (http://dl.clackamas.cc.or.us/ch104-04/dalton's.htm), British chemist and physicist. He was one of the earlier proponents of the atomic theory.

1847 ~ Henry Thoreau (http://www.transcendentalists.com/1thorea.html) left Walden Pond (http://www.walden.org/Map_WW.htm) and moved in with Ralph Waldo Emerson (http://www.transcendentalists.com/1emerson.html) and his family in Concord, Massachusetts.

1928 ~ Birthday of Robert Pirsig, Author (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

1941 ~ The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jew" inscribed, was extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.

1965 ~ India invaded West Pakistan. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/6/newsid_3632000/3632092.stm)

1986 ~ In Istanbul, two Arab terrorists from Abu Nidal's terror organization killed 22 and wounded six inside the Neve Shalom (http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/special/jewish/neve_shalom.html) synagogue during Sabbath services.

1995 ~ Cal Ripken Jr. (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=121222) broke Lou Gehrig's record of playing 2,131 consecutive baseball games.

1996 ~ Eddie Murray (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=119579) became the 15th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Oriole Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

2005 ~ The California Legislature became the first legislative body in the U.S. to approve same-sex marriages.

[jseal]

1776 ~ World's first submarine attack (http://www.submarine-history.com/NOVAone.htm). American submersible craft Turtle attempted to attach a bomb to the hull of the British flagship Eagle in New York Harbor.

1908 ~ Birthday of Dr. Michael DeBakey, Heart Surgeon and inventor of the MASH.

1912 ~ Birthday of David Packard (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/execteam/bios/packard.html), Electrical Engineer.

1940 ~ The Blitz (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0907.html#article) – Under orders from Adolf Hitler, the Luftwaffe began to bomb London. This was the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.

1977 ~ The U.S. agreed to transfer control of the Panama Canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.

1986 ~ Desmond Tutu (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html) becomes the first black to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

1992 ~ Ciskei soldiers kill 24 at political rally (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/7/newsid_2502000/2502607.stm).

1994 ~ Death of James Clavell, Author (Shogun) & Screenwriter (To Sir, with Love (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062376/); The Great Escape (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057115/)).

1997 ~ Death of Mobutu Sese Seko (http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/07/mobutu.wrap/), dictator of Zaire.

1998 ~ Google Inc. was founded. (http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/history.html#1998)

[jseal]

828 ~ Birthday of Ali al-Hadi (http://home.swipnet.se/islam/imams/10th_imam/al-hadi.htm), Shia Imam.

1636 ~ Harvard College founded as the first college in the Americas.

1841 ~ Birthday of Antonin Dvorak, Composer.

1886 ~ Birthday of Siegfried Sassoon (http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/sassoon.htm), Poet (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8103/Sassoon1.html).

1925 ~ Birthday of Peter Sellers (http://www.petersellers.com/), Actor (A Shot in the Dark, Dr. Strangelove, The Pink Panther, etc.).

1930 ~ 3M began marketing Scotch transparent tape.

1941 ~ Siege of Leningrad (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/leningrad.htm) began.

1944 ~ London was hit by a V2 rocket (http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=71652) for the first time.

1949 ~ Death of Richard Strauss, Composer.

1966 ~ The first episode of the science fiction television series “Star Trek (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68672.html)” aired.

1974 ~ President Ford granted an unconditional pardon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0908.html#article) to former President Nixon.

[jseal]

1585 ~ Birthday of Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95sep/richelieu.html), French statesman.

1776 ~ The Continental Congress officially named their new country the United States.

1824 ~ Birthday of Anton Bruckner, Austrian Composer.

1828 ~ Birthday of Leo Tolstoy (http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/), Russian novelist (Anna Karenina, War and Peace).

1839 ~ John Herschel took the first glass plate photograph (http://www.iphf.org/inductees/SFWHerschel.htm).

1941 ~ Birthday of Otis Redding, Soul Singer.

1945 ~ Admiral Grace Hopper discovered the first computer bug (http://www.waterholes.com/~dennette/1996/hopper/bug.htm).

1976 ~ Death of Mao Zedong (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0909.html#article), chief architect of the Chinese Communist Revolution.

1987 ~ Extradition to Belgium of twenty-five English football fans (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/9/newsid_2503000/2503885.stm) involved in the Heysel stadium disaster.

2001 ~ The leader of the Northern Alliance, Ahmed Shah Massoud, was assassinated (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0110/junger.html) in Afghanistan.

[jseal]

1846 ~ Elias Howe of Spencer, Mass., received a patent for the sewing machine.

1939 ~ World War II: The submarine HMS Oxley was sunk by mistake by the submarine HMS Trition off the coast of Norway and became the first loss of the Royal Navy.

1942 ~ Birthday of Stephen Jay Gould (http://www.stephenjaygould.org/), American paleontologist.

1943 ~ World War II: German forces began their occupation of Rome.

1945 ~ Vidkun Quisling (http://www.bartleby.com/65/qu/Quisling.html) sentenced to death for collaboration with Nazi Germany.

1960 ~ Birthday of Colin Firth (http://www.firth.com/), Actor (Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually).

1971 ~ Death of Nikita Khrushchev (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSkhrushchev.htm), Premier of the Soviet Union.

1977 ~ Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of murder, became the last person to be executed by the guillotine (http://www.metaphor.dk/guillotine/Pages/Guillot.html) in France.

1990 ~ The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro (http://www.answers.com/topic/basilica-of-our-lady-of-peace-of-yamoussoukro), the largest church in Africa and perhaps the world, consecrated by Pope John Paul II.

2000 ~ British paratroopers rescued (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/10/newsid_2504000/2504535.stm) six held hostage by the "West Side Boys".

[jseal]

1297 ~ William Wallace led a Scottish army to defeat the English in the Battle of Stirling Bridge (http://www.scotclans.com/history/1297_stirling.html).

1711 ~ Birthday of William Boyce (http://www.geocities.com/vienna/strasse/4475/boyce.html), Composer.

1914 ~ In one of the earlier military engagements of WWI (http://www.answers.com/topic/new-britain-1), Australian forces defeat Germans in New Britain.

1922 ~ British Mandate of Palestine began.

1948 ~ Death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah ( http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/India97/pakistan/nation.builder/index.html), first Governor-General of Pakistan.

1973 ~ A military coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/11/newsid_3199000/3199155.stm) toppled elected Marxist President Salvador Allende.

1987 ~ CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, angry over being preempted for a tennis match, marched off the set, leaving affiliates with six minutes of an empty news desk.

1997 ~ Scotland voted to re-establish its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England and the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

2001 ~ The September 11 terrorist attacks (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0911.html#article) destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, part of The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and crashed a passenger airliner in Pennsylvania. In total, almost 3,000 were killed (http://www.september11victims.com/september11victims/victims_list.htm).

2002 ~ Death of Johnny Unitas (http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=219), Football Hall of Famer.

[jseal]

490 B.C. ~ The Athenians defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

1683 ~ The Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Battle of Vienna.

1814 ~ War of 1812: An American detachment halted the British land advance to Baltimore in the Battle of North Point (http://www.societyofthewarof1812.org/inMaryland/BattleOfNorthPoint/).

1880 ~ Birthday of H.L. Mencken (http://www.io.com/gibbonsb/mencken.html), Journalist, Author.

1913 ~ Birthday of Jesse Owens (http://www.jesseowens.com/), American track and field athlete.

1940 ~ Cave paintings discovered in Lascaux (http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/), France.

1959 ~ First episode of Bonanza (http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Bonanza+). First regularly-scheduled TV program presented in color.

1977 ~ Death of Steve Biko (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0912.html#article), South African anti-apartheid activist.

2003 ~ The U.N. Security Council lifted sanctions against Libya after Libya agreed to accept responsibility and make payment of US $2.7 billion to the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

2003 ~ Death of Johnny Cash (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/12/newsid_3595000/3595300.stm), Country Music Great.

[jseal]

1321 ~ Death of Dante Alighieri (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dante/), writer (The Divine Comedy)

1819 ~ Birthday of Clara Schumann (http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/1945/WSB/clara.html), Pianist, Composer.

1857 ~ Birthday of Milton S. Hershey (http://www.hersheys.com/discover/milton/milton.asp), chocolate entrepreneur and founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company.

1874 ~ Birthday of Arnold Schoenberg, Composer.

1948 ~ Margaret Chase Smith (http://www.mcslibrary.org/) was elected senator, and became the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

1971 ~ Frank Robinson (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=121311) became the 11th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

1977 ~ Death of Leopold Stokowski, Conductor.

1993 ~ Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shake hands on a peace deal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0913.html#article).

1999 ~ A bomb exploded in Moscow, killing some 119 people.

2006 ~ Kimveer Gill kills one student and wounds 19 others (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/09/14/gunman-shooting.html) at Dawson College in Montreal.

[Oldfart]

Dante's dead?

[jseal]

1737 ~ Birthday of Michael Haydn (http://www.haydn.dk/mh_biog.php), Austrian composer.

1752 ~ The British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar (http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa041301c.htm), skipping eleven days (September 2 was followed directly by September 14 that year).

1760 ~ Birthday of Luigi Cherubini, Composer.

1814 ~ Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner (http://www.gofish.com/userVideoPlayer.gfp?gfid=30-1040249).

1927 ~ Death of Isadora Duncan (http://www.isadoraduncan.org/about_isadora.html), Dancer.

1948 ~ Ground was broken in New York City for the United Nations' world headquarters.

1959 ~ The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashed onto the Moon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0914.html#article), becoming the first man-made object to reach it.

1982 ~ Death of Princess Grace of Monaco (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/14/newsid_2516000/2516601.stm).

1994 ~ The Major League Baseball season was canceled (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Major_League_Baseball_strike) because of a players’ strike.

2005 ~ A federal judge in San Francisco ruled the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional.

[jseal]

1254 ~ Birthday of Marco Polo (http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml), Italian explorer.

1789 ~ Birthday of James Fenimore Cooper (http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/), American novelist.

1928 ~ Alexander Fleming (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1945/fleming-bio.html) noticed a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.

1935 ~ The Nuremberg Laws deprived German Jews of their citizenship and made the swastika the official symbol of Nazi Germany.

1950 ~ The U.N. staged its fist offensive operation in the Korean War; an amphibious assault at Inchon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/15/newsid_3633000/3633301.stm).

1963 ~ The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0915.html#article) kills four children in Birmingham, Alabama.

1975 ~ Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia.

1977 ~ Death of Maria Callas (http://www.serendipity.li/callas.html), Opera Diva.

1981 ~ The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Sandra Day O'Connor (http://www.oyez.org/justices/sandra_day_oconnor/) to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1982 ~ The first issue of USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/) was published.

[jseal]

1810 ~ Fr. Miguel Hidalgo proclaimed Mexico's independence from Spain.

1736 ~ Death of Gabriel Fahrenheit (http://www.bookrags.com/biography/gabriel-daniel-fahrenheit/), German Physicist.

1795 ~ British captured Capetown South Africa.

1940 ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act (http://www.sss.gov/backgr.htm).

1956 ~ Play-Doh (http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/playdoh.htm) was first introduced.

1959 ~ French President De Gaulle recognized Algerian right of self determination.

1968 ~ Candidate Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh-in (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/rowanandmar/rowanandmar.htm).

1974 ~ U.S. President Ford announced a conditional amnesty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0916.html#article) program for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders.

1987 ~ The Montreal Protocol (http://www.afeas.org/montreal_protocol.html) was signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

1996 ~ The Howard Stern Radio Show (http://www.howardstern.com/) premiered.

[jseal]

1394 ~ King Charles VI of France ordered all Jews expelled from France.

1640 ~ Boston, Massachusetts was incorporated.

1787 ~ The text of the U.S. Constitution (http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/usconst.html) was completed in Philadelphia.

1862 ~ Union forces repelled a Confederate invasion of Maryland in the Civil War Battle of Antietam (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0917.html#article).

1908 ~ Death of Lt. Thomas Selfridge, first to die in an airplane crash (http://history1900s.about.com/od/1900s/a/firstcrash.htm).

1929 ~ Birthday of Sir Stirling Moss (http://www.stirlingmoss.com/), Formula One racer.

1939 ~ The Soviet Union joined Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland.

1970 ~ Civil war (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/17/newsid_4575000/4575159.stm) broke out in Jordan.

1972 ~ "M.A.S.H. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068098/)" premiered on CBS.

1978 ~ The Camp David Accords (http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/campdavid/accords.phtml) were signed by Israeli and Egyptian representatives.

[Oldfart]

Thomas Selfridge, an unfortunate trendsetter.

[jseal]

1709 ~ Birthday of Samuel Johnson, Essayist & Critic.

1759 ~ The British capture Quebec (http://www.philaprintshop.com/frchintx.html) City.

1819 ~ Birthday of Leon Foucault, Physicist.

1927 ~ Columbia Broadcasting System (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/columbiabroa/columbiabroa.htm) went on the air.

1947 ~ The U.S. Air Force became an independent service (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0918.html#article).

1961 ~ Death of Dag Hammarskjöld (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1961/hammarskjold-bio.html), Secretary General of the UN.

1970 ~ Death of Jimi Hendrix (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/18/newsid_3528000/3528692.stm), Rock Musician.

1971 ~ Birthday of Lance Armstrong (http://www.lancearmstrong.com/), Cyclist Extraordinaire.

1975 ~ Patty Hearst was arrested after a year on the FBI Most Wanted List.

1998 ~ ICANN (http://www.icann.org/) was formed.

[jseal]

1737 ~ Birthday of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/carroll.htm), Declaration of Independence Signer, Senator.

1796 ~ George Washington made his farewell address (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/washing.htm).

1900 ~ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (http://www.bolivia.freehosting.net/Butch.htm) robbed the First National Bank of $32,640.

1934 ~ Bruno Hauptmann was arrested for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Junior.

1935 ~ Death of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (http://www.informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html), rocket scientist, physicist.

1941 ~ Birthday of Mama Cass Elliott, musician.

1945 ~ Lord Haw Haw (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/entertainers/radio/lord-haw-haw/) (William Joyce) sentenced to death in London.

1955 ~ Juan Peron was deposed in Argentina.

1989 ~ A terrorist bomb exploded in a UTA DC-10 (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/france/10/20/gadhafi.plane/index.html) above Niger killing 171.

1991 ~ Ötzi the Iceman (http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/otzi.htm) ws discovered by German tourists.

[jseal]

1519 ~ Ferdinand Magellan set out from Spain (http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/WestEurope/Magellan.html) on a voyage to find a western passage to the Spice Islands in Indonesia.

1908 ~ Death of Pablo de Sarasate, Violinist.

1934 ~ Birthday of Sophia Loren (http://www.sophialoren.com/home.htm), Italian actress.

1948 ~ Birthday of George R. R. Martin, Science Fiction Writer.

1970 ~ The Soviet probe Luna 16 collected moon soil samples (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1970-072A) for return to earth.

1973 ~ Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0920.html#article) in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a $100,000 winner-take-all “Battle of the Sexes“ tennis match.

1984 ~ A suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/20/newsid_2525000/2525197.stm) annex in north Beirut, killing 20 people.

2000 ~ After playing 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Jr took a day off.

2004 ~ CBS News apologized for a "mistake in judgment (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/politics/main644546.shtml)" in its story questioning President George W. Bush's National Guard service, saying it could not vouch for the authenticity of documents featured in the report.

2005 ~ Death of Simon Wiesenthal (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/20/obit.wiesenthal/), Nazi hunter.

[jseal]

1756 ~ Birthday of John MacAdam (http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/macadam_john.htm), road builder.

1780 ~ Benedict Arnold (http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/arnold.html) gave the British the plans to West Point.

1866 ~ Birthday of H. G. Wells, science fiction author.

1874 ~ Birthday of Gustav Holst, Composer.

1896 ~ British force under Horatio Kitchener (http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/kitchener_h/kitchener_h.html) took Dongola in the Sudan.

1897 ~ The Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus (http://beebo.org/smackerels/yes-virginia.html) letter was published in the New York Sun.

1937 ~ J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit (http://www.mi.uib.no/~respl/tolkien/).

1947 ~ Birthday of Stephen King, Author.

1964 ~ Malta (http://www.visitmalta.com/en/timeline/chronologie/time_line.html) became independent from the UK

2003 ~ The Galileo mission was terminated (http://www.nasa.gov/news/mission/galileo_dies.html) by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere.

[scotzoidman]

1756 ~ Birthday of John MacAdam (http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/macadam_john.htm), road builder.
Also a member of the Lennon/MacAdam songwriting team that gave us "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"
;)

[jseal]

"Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" (Lennon-McAdams)

Good One! :)

[jseal]

1784 ~ Russia established a colony at Kodiak, Alaska (http://www.city.kodiak.ak.us/).

1791 ~ Birthday of Michael Faraday, Scientist.

1828 ~ Death of Shaka Zulu (http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/shaka.html), Zulu leader.

1862 ~ President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0922.html#article).

1869 ~ Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold (http://www.rwagner.net/opere/e-t-rheingold.html) opened in Munich.

1964 ~ ”Fiddler on the Roof”, the first musical to surpass 3,000 performances, opened at the Imperial Theatre.

1975 ~ Sara Jane Moore’s assassination attempt (http://www.geocities.com/proprioter/y_moore.html) on U.S. President Gerald Ford was foiled by Oliver Sipple (http://www.randomhouse.com/features/americancentury/imperialpres.html).

1980 ~ Iraq invaded Iran (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/22/newsid_4242000/4242336.stm).

1999 ~ Death of George C. Scott (http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9909/23/scott.obit.02/), Actor.

2001 ~ Death of Isaac Stern, Violinist.

[jseal]

63 B.C. ~ Birthday of Caesar Augustus (http://www.roman-emperors.org/auggie.htm), 1st Roman Emperor.

1642 ~ First commencement at Harvard College.

1806 ~ Discovery of Neptune (http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Neptune_and_Pluto.html) by French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier.

1884 ~ Herman Hollerith (http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hollerith/) applied for a patent on his mechanical adding machine.

1920 ~ Birthday of Mickey Rooney, actor.

1930 ~ Birthday of Ray Charles (http://www.raycharles.com/), U.S. R&B and jazz musician, singer.

1932 ~ The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd were renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (http://www.arab.net/saudi/).

1949 ~ Birthday of Bruce Springsteen, Singer & Songwriter.

1952 ~ Richard Nixon made his “Checkers speech (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0923.html#article)".

1972 ~ Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/philippines/philippines.html) introduced a dictatorial government.

[jseal]

622 ~ Muhammad (http://www.muhammad.net/) completed his hegira from Mecca to Medina.

1664 ~ The Netherlands surrendered New Amsterdam (http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/kingston/colonization.htm) to England.

1755 ~ Birthday of John Marshall, the fourth and longest-serving Chief Justice of the American Supreme Court.

1890 ~ As a pre-condition to Utah being admitted to the U.S., the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons (http://www.lds.org/site_main_menu/frameset-global.html)) officially renounced polygamy.

1896 ~ Birthday of F Scott Fitzgerald, Novelist (This Side of Paradise (http://www.online-literature.com/fitzgerald/sideparadise/), The Great Gatsby (http://www.online-literature.com/fitzgerald/greatgatsby/),…)

1976 ~ The Rhodesian Government agreed to introduce black majority rule to the country within two years.

1988 ~ Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson beat Carl Lewis in the 100 Meters sprint (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/24/newsid_2529000/2529005.stm) at the Seoul Olympics. Mr. Johnson was later disqualified for using performance enhancing drugs.

1991 ~ Death of Dr. Seuss (http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm), Writer.

1996 ~ President Clinton signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0924.html#article) at the United Nations.

[jseal]

1066 ~ Battle of Stamford Bridge, which marked the end of the Viking era.

1683 ~ Birthday of Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer.

1890 ~ Yosemite National Park (http://www.yosemitepark.com/) established.

1897 ~ Birthday of William Faulkner, American writer, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html).

1932 ~ Birthday of Glenn Gould, Pianist.

1950 ~ UN forces recaptured Seoul (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/25/newsid_4606000/4606807.stm), the South Korean capital.

1957 ~ U.S. Army paratroopers ended the Little Rock school crisis (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0925.html#article).

1981 ~ Sandra Day O'Connor (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96mar/oconnor.html) was sworn in as the 102nd Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the first woman to hold the office.

1983 ~ Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov averted World War III (http://www.brightstarsound.com/world_hero/article.html) by refusing to accept - despite the (erroneous) alert given by the Soviet early warning system - that the U.S. had launched missiles against the USSR.

1996 ~ The last of the Magdalen Asylums (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Magdalen_Asylum) was closed.

[jseal]

1687 ~ The Parthenon in Athens (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=Perseus:image:1987.09.0276) is partially destroyed after an explosion caused by the bombing from the Venetian forces besieging the Ottoman Turks.

1820 ~ Death of Daniel Boone (http://www.wintektx.com/freeman/d_boone.htm), American icon.

1888 ~ Birthday of T. S. Eliot, Poet.

1898 ~ Birthday of George Gershwin (http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/gershwin.html), Composer.

1944 ~ Allied troops began a retreat from Arnhem (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/26/newsid_3523000/3523972.stm).

1945 ~ Death of Béla Bartók, Composer.

1948 ~ Birthday of Olivia Newton-John, Singer.

1957 ~ ”West Side Story (http://www.westsidestory.com/news.php)” opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre.

1960 ~ Kennedy and Nixon met in the first nationally televised debate between presidential candidates (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0926.html#article).

1983 ~ Australia II won the “America’s Cup (http://www.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/boatdestiny/index.php?idIndex=0&idContent=1851)”.

[Oldfart]

Just out of interest, the word "fucking" was in the libretto for "West Side Story" in the opening "Jets" song/dance. You know the one, "When you're a Jet...".

I wonder if this was in the Broadway production. I suspect so.

50 years ago, I was four.

[jseal]

^^^ Wild! I never knew that! Pretty risky stuff back then.

TY :)

[jseal]

1389 ~ Birthday of Cosimo de Medici, Florentine ruler.

1540 ~ The Jesuit Order (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14081a.htm) received its charter from Pope Paul III.

1722 ~ Birthday of Samuel Adams (http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/adams_s.htm), Patriot & Brewer.

1917 ~ Death of Edgar Degas (http://www.expo-degas.com/), Impressionist painter.

1918 ~ Birthday of Sir Martin Ryle, English physicist and astronomer.

1921 ~ Death of Engelbert Humperdinck, Composer.

1964 ~ The Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0927.html#article) in assassinating President Kennedy.

1968 ~ The Musical "Hair (http://www.hairthemusical.com/en00305journal.html)" opened in London.

1996 ~ The Taliban drove the government of Afghani President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of the capital Kabul. They then dragged former leader Mohammad Najibullah out of the U.N. compound and hanged him from a traffic light pole (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/27/newsid_2539000/2539973.stm).

2001 ~ An armed man went on a shooting rampage in Zug, Switzerland (http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/27/switzerland.shooting/index.html), killing 14 people before taking his own life.

[jseal]

1066 ~ William the Conqueror invaded England, landing at Pevensey, Sussex (http://www.essentialnormanconquest.com/timeline/timeline_28_sep.htm).

1915 ~ Birthday of Ethel Rosenberg, Spy (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040806.html).

1924 ~ The first round-the-world flight (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0928.html#article) completed. It took 175 days.

1925 ~ Birthday of Seymour Cray, Computer Scientist.

1939 ~ Germany and the Soviet Union agreed on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II.

1953 ~ Death of Edwin Hubble (http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_bio_001.htm), Astronomer.

1976 ~ Stevie Wonder released Songs in the Key of Life (http://steviewonder.free.fr/html/album22.html).

1995 ~ Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord to transfer much of the West Bank to the control of its Arab residents (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/newsid_4187000/4187582.stm).

1988 ~ Death of Charles Addams, Cartoonist, creator of The Adams Family (http://www.addamsfamily.com/).

2000 ~ Death of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada.

[Oldfart]

Charles Addams was a strange man.

[jseal]

1547 ~ Birthday of Miguel de Cervantes (http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/biography/new_english_cerv_bio.html), Author (Don Quixote (http://quixote.mse.jhu.edu/)).

1714 ~ George, Elector of Hanover (http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon53.html), arrived in Greenwich to assume the British throne as King George I. (Thanks dm383!)

1758 ~ Birthday of Horatio Nelson, English icon.

1901 ~ Birthday of Enrico Fermi (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1938/fermi-bio.html), Italian physicist. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

1957 ~ The New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds.

1960 ~ Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a meeting of the UN (http://halldor2.wordpress.com/2006/09/21/429/) General Assembly.

1962 ~ Alouette 1 (http://www.spaceref.ca/news/viewpr.html?pid=9361), the first Canadian satellite was launched.

1978 ~ Death of Pope John Paul (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/29/newsid_2542000/2542375.stm), who reigned just 33 days.

2004 ~ The asteroid 4179 Toutatis (http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/4179_Toutatis/toutatis.html) passed within 964,000 miles of Earth.

2004 ~ The Montreal Expos played their last game at Olympic Stadium.

[jseal]

1791 ~ Mozart's opera “The Magic Flute (http://www.magicflutefilm.com/#main)” premiered in Vienna, Austria.

1882 ~ Birthday of Hans Geiger (http://www.nndb.com/people/123/000099823/), German physicist & co-inventor of the Geiger counter.

1913 ~ Death of Rudolf Diesel (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1435.htm), German inventor.

1924 ~ Birthday of Truman Capote (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/capote_t.html), Author (In Cold Blood (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061809/)).

1938 ~ British, French, German and Italian leaders agreed that Nazi Germany would be allowed to annex Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0930.html#article).

1954 ~ The submarine USS Nautilus (http://www.ussnautilus.org/history.html) was commissioned as the first nuclear reactor powered vessel.

1955 ~ Death of James Dean (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/30/newsid_3722000/3722463.stm), American actor.

1960 ~ The last episode of The Howdy Doody Show aired.

1991 ~ President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti was forced from office.

1999 ~ Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred at a uranium reprocessing facility in Tokai-mura, northeast of Tokyo.

[jseal]

1903 ~ The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Americans 7-3 in the first World Series game (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsmenu.shtml).

1905 ~ The Julliard School of Music (http://www.juilliard.edu/about/history.html) was founded in New York City.

1939 ~ British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during a radio broadcast described the Soviet Union as ''a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma''.

1943 ~ The International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremburg sentenced 12 Nazi leaders to death.

1949 ~ The People's Republic of China was formed with Mao Zedong (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/) as its head.

1961 ~ The New York Yankees' Roger Maris hit his 61st home run (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1001.html#article) of the season.

1968 ~ The cult horror movie "Night of the Living Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/)" had its world premiere in Pittsburgh.

1971 ~ Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/parkLanding?id=MKLandingPage). Eventually it would become the largest, man-made, tourist attraction in the world.

1986 ~ Former President Jimmy Carter's presidential library and museum were dedicated in Atlanta.

2001 ~ The Supreme Court suspended former President Bill Clinton (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/567504/posts) from practicing before the high court.

[jseal]

1187 ~ Saladin captured Jerusalem (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/saladin.htm) after 88 years of Crusader rule.

1800 ~ Birthday of Nat Turner (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html), leader of an American slave uprising.

1836 ~ Charles Darwin returned to England (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/darwin.htm) after a 5-year journey aboard the HMS Beagle collecting data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.

1852 ~ Birthday of William Ramsay, Scottish chemist.

1869 ~ Birthday of Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (http://www.mkgandhi.org/), Indian political leader.

1890 ~ Birthday of Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor.

1935 ~ Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

1967 ~ Thurgood Marshall sworn in (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1002.html#article) as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court.

1985 ~ Death of Rock Hudson (http://www.cmgworldwide.com/stars/hudson/about/biography.htm), Actor.

1993 ~ Hardline Communists riot in Moscow (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/2/newsid_2486000/2486383.stm).

[jseal]

1873 ~ Birthday of Emily Post (http://www.emilypost.com/about/timeline.htm), etiquette advisor.

1900 ~ Birthday of Thomas Wolfe, American novelist.

1916 ~ Birthday of James Herriot (http://www.jamesherriot.org/life.php), veterinarian, author.

1922 ~ Rebecca L. Felton (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Speeches_Felton.htm), D-Ga., became the first woman to be seated in the U.S. Senate. She was appointed to serve out the remaining term of Sen. Thomas E. Watson.

1925 ~ Birthday of Gore Vidal (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/vidal_g.html), author.

1967 ~ Death of Woody Guthrie, folk musician.

1973 ~ Frank Robinson (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=121311) was named major league baseball's first black manager as he was put in charge of the Cleveland Indians.

1990 ~ The re-unification of Germany. East Germany ceased to exist (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1003.html#article).

1995 ~ A jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of murder (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_2486000/2486673.stm) in the 1994 slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman.

1997 ~ Attorney General Janet Reno said she had found no evidence that President Bill Clinton broke the law with White House coffees and overnight stays for big contributors.

[jseal]

1880 ~ Birthday of Damon Runyon, Writer.

1903 ~ Birthday of John Vincent Atanasoff (http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/do_Atanasoff.html), inventor of the digital electronic computer.

1924 ~ Birthday of Charlton Heston, Actor.

1941 ~ Birthday of Anne Rice (http://www.annerice.com/), Author.

1943 ~ Birthday of H. Rap Brown (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/13/national/main503687.shtml), civil rights activist & murderer.

1957 ~ Launch of Sputnik I (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1004.html#article), the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

1983 ~ The first Hooters (http://www.hooters.com/company/about_hooters/) restaurant opens in Clearwater, Florida.

1993 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered the army to begin storming the Russian parliament building.

2002 ~ John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/terrorists/john-walker-lindh/)”, received a 20-year sentence.

2004 ~ The SpaceShipOne rocket plane (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/10/04/spaceshipone.attempt.cnn/) broke through Earth's atmosphere for the second time in five days to capture a $10 million prize.

[jseal]

1713 ~ Birthday of Denis Diderot, philosopher.

1813 ~ Death of Tecumseh (http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=373), American Indian leader.

1882 ~ Birthday of Robert Goddard, rocket scientist.

1902 ~ Birthday of Ray Kroc (http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/kroc.html), founder of McDonald's Corporation.

1936 ~ Birthday of Václav Havel, playwright, president of the Czech Republic.

1947 ~ President Harry Truman gave the first televised White House address (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1005.html#article).

1994 ~ Forty eight members of a Swiss cult die in a mass suicide (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9407EEDB123DF935A35753C1A962958260).

1969 ~ “Monty Python's Flying Circus (http://www.pythonline.com/)” made its debut on BBC Television.

1972 ~ Montreal, Quebec: British Trade Commissioner James Cross was kidnapped (http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/readings/october.htm) by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

2000 ~ Mass demonstrations in Belgrade (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/5/newsid_2493000/2493021.stm) led to the resignation of Slobodan Milosevic.

[jseal]

1600 ~ Jacopo Peri's “Euridice (http://www.naxos.com/NewDesign/fintro.files/bintro.files/operas/Euridice(Jacopo_Peri).htm)”, the earliest surviving opera, premiered in Florence.

1846 ~ Birthday of George Westinghouse (http://www.georgewestinghouse.com/life.html), Engineer & Inventor.

1887 ~ Birthday of Le Corbusier, Swiss architect.

1892 ~ Death of Alfred Tennyson, British poet laureate.

1914 ~ Birthday of Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer, leader of the “Kon-Tiki (http://www.kon-tiki.no/Expeditions/)” expedition.

1927 ~ Opening of “The Jazz Singer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018037/)”, the first talking movie.

1948 ~ Birthday of Gerry Adams, Irish politician.

1973 ~ Egyptian troops cross the Suez Canal, starting the Yom Kippur War (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/6/newsid_2514000/2514317.stm).

1981 ~ Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1006.html#article).

1995 ~ The first extrasolar planet (http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/extrasolar/) was discovered orbiting 51 Pegasi, in the constellation of Pegasus.

[jseal]

1571 ~ The Ottoman Empire was defeated at the battle of Lepanto (http://www.nafpaktos.com/battle_of_lepanto.htm).

1849 ~ Death of Edgar Allan Poe (http://www.eapoe.org/), American writer.

1885 ~ Birthday of Niels Bohr (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1922/bohr-bio.html), Physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1922.

1900 ~ Birthday of Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official and leader of the SS.

1908 ~ Crete revolts against the Ottoman Empire and aligns with Greece.

1931 ~ Birthday of Desmond Tutu (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html), South African archbishop and anti-apartheid activist, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

1955 ~ Birthday of Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist.

1985 ~ The “Achille Lauro (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1007.html#article)” was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.

2001 ~ The U.S. began its air offensive against al-Qaeda (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/7/newsid_2519000/2519353.stm) and the Taleban in Afghanistan.

2003 ~ California governor Gray Davis was recalled (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/18/MN253560.DTL) from office and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[IowaMan]

1984 ~ The Chicago Cubs lose Game 5 of the National League Championship Series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_National_League_Championship_Series) to end their first post-season trip since the 1945 World Series. That afternoon is sometimes referred to as "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," by Cubs fans.

[jseal]

1871 ~ The Great Chicago Fire (http://www.chicagohs.org/fire/intro/gcf-index.html) destroyed about 17,450 buildings, killed about 250 people and left another 90,000 homeless.

1895 ~ Birthday of Juan Perón, former president of Argentina.

1920 ~ Birthday of Frank Herbert (http://www.dunenovels.com/bios/frank.html), Science Fiction writer.

1949 ~ Birthday of Sigourney Weaver, Actress.

1952 ~ The UK suffered its worst peacetime rail accident (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/8/newsid_3075000/3075197.stm).

1961 ~ In London, the Post Office Tower opened (http://www.lightstraw.co.uk/ate/main/postofficetower/).

1982 ~ Solidarity, and all other labor organizations in Poland, were banned (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1008.html#article).

1992 ~ Death of Willy Brandt, German politician.

2003 ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/8/newsid_3659000/3659108.stm) of California.

2004 ~ Martha Stewart went to jail (http://www.courttv.com/trials/stewart/).

[Oldfart]

Poor Martha.

[jseal]

1804 ~ Hobart, Tasmania, was founded.

1835 ~ Birthday of Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer.

1859 ~ Birthday of Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer.

1940 ~ Birthday of John Lennon (http://www.john-lennon.com/), Musician & Songwriter.

1942 ~ The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act (http://www.statusquo.org/aru_constitution/index.html) formalized Australian autonomy.

1948 ~ Birthday of Jackson Browne (http://www.jrp-graphics.com/jb/jbbio.html) (Doctor My Eyes, The Pretender, Running On Empty).

1961 ~ Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Tiz6INF7I)" reached #1.

1967 ~ Guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1009.html#article) in Bolivia.

1970 ~ The Khmer Republic (http://www.answers.com/topic/cambodian-civil-war) was proclaimed in Cambodia.

1974 ~ Death of Oskar Schindler (http://www.oskarschindler.com/), businessman.

[jseal]

1813 ~ Birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer.

1845 ~ In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy (http://www.usna.edu///homepage.php)) opened with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.

1875 ~ Death of Aleksey Tolstoy, Novelist & Poet.

1966 ~ Simon and Garfunkel released the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

1970 ~ A crisis hit Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier Pierre Laporte became the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group (http://www.uni.ca/sep_origins.html).

1973 ~ Vice President Spiro T. Agnew pleaded no contest (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1010.html#article) to one count of federal income tax evasion and resigned.

1975 ~ Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor remarried (http://hubpages.com/hub/Elizabeth_Taylor__Pics_and_Movies).

1980 ~ UK PM Margaret Thatcher gave a defiant speech at the Tory party conference "… I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning! (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm)"

1985 ~ U.S. Navy F-14s intercepted the plane carrying the “Achille Lauro” cruise ship hijackers (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-14-combat.htm) and forced it to land at a NATO base in Sicily where they were arrested.

1985 ~ Death of Yul Brynner (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000989/bio), Actor and Orson Welles (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000080/bio), Director & Actor.

[Oldfart]

jseal

I thought we had it straight that Yul Brynner was really Orson Welles.

[jseal]

1809 ~ Death of Meriwether Lewis, explorer.

1844 ~ Birthday of Henry Heinz (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/4547/heinz.html), food manufacturer.

1896 ~ Death of Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer.

1899 ~ In South Africa, a war between the UK and the Boers (http://www.anglo-boer.co.za/) of the Transvaal and Orange Free State began.

1958 ~ Pioneer 1 (http://www.astronautix.com/craft/pioer012.htm) was launched; it failed to go as far as planned, fell back to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere.

1961 ~ Death of Chico Marx (http://www.clown-ministry.com/index_1.php?/site/articles/chico_marx_biography_marx_brothers_i_give_up_why_a_duck/), comedian.

1962 ~ Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council (http://vatican2.org/).

1968 ~ Launch of Apollo 7 (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1011.html#article), the first manned Apollo mission.

1976 ~ China's "Gang of Four (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/11/newsid_4712000/4712306.stm)" was arrested.

2002 ~ The U.S. Senate joined the House in approving the use of America's military might against Iraq.

[jseal]

1492 ~ Christopher Columbus's first expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean. But where? (http://www.columbusnavigation.com/cclandfl.shtml)

1864 ~ Death of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, author of the Dred Scott (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2932.html) decision.

1870 ~ Death of Gen. Robert E. Lee (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1012.html#article), Leader.

1872 ~ Birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer.

1968 ~ Summer Olympics open in Mexico City.

1977 ~ Four Palestinians hijacked a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia and demanded release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.

1984 ~ UK PM Margaret Thatcher narrowly escaped (http://republican-news.org/archive/2000/August31/31brig.html) an IRA bomb attack.

1986 ~ Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev failed to agree on Star Wars (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_3732000/3732902.stm) at a disarmament summit in Reykjavik.

2000 ~ Terrorists attacked the USS Cole (http://www.pianoladynancy.com/recovery_usscole.htm) in the Yemeni port of Aden.

2002 ~ A terrorist bomb at a Bali nightclub killed 202 people (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/13/1034222664046.html), mainly Australians.

[Oldfart]

I was working at Darwin Airport when this happened and watched the Hercs and the medevac bizjets come through. Our hospital was swamped (along with Perth) .

It was a shitty time.

[jseal]

54 ~ Death of Claudius (http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudius.htm), Roman Emperor.

1307 ~ All Knights Templar (http://www.templarhistory.com/who.html) in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of the French king, to be later tortured into admitting heresy.

1812 ~ Death of Sir Isaac Brock (http://www.warof1812.ca/brock.htm), British general (killed in the Battle of Queenston Heights).

1925 ~ Birthday of Margaret Thatcher (http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp), UK PM.

1943 ~ Italy changes alliances from the Axis to the Allies (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1013.html#article).

1954 ~ Birthday of Mordechai Vanunu (http://www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk/), Israeli nuclear technician.

1969 ~ Birthday of Nancy Kerrigan, American figure skater.

1982 ~ Birthday of Ian Thorpe, Australian swimmer.

1988 ~ The UK government lost the Spycatcher (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/13/newsid_2532000/2532583.stm) battle

1992 ~ The UK government announced plans to close one third of the coal mines (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1992-10-19/Debate-1.html).

[jseal]

1894 ~ Birthday of E. E. Cummings, American poet.

1940 ~ Birthday of Cliff Richard ( http://www.cliffrichard.org/), British rock singer.

1944 ~ Given the choice between a public treason trial and a certain death by firing squad or suicide with honor, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/rommel.htm) chose the latter.

1947 ~ Chuck Yeager flew a Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound (http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/bellX1.html), the first man to do so in level flight.

1962 ~ Cuban Missile Crisis began (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/): A U-2 flight over Cuba took photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed.

1964 ~ Civil Rights movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1014.html#article) became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1977 ~ Death of Bing Crosby, Actor & Singer.

1990 ~ Death of Leonard Bernstein ( http://leonardbernstein.com/about.php), Composer & Conductor.

1991 ~ Aung San Suu Kyi was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1994 ~ PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shared the Nobel Peace Prize (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/14/newsid_3694000/3694744.stm).

[jseal]

70 BC ~ Birthday of Virgil (http://www.online-literature.com/virgil/), Roman poet.

1844 ~ Birthday of Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher.

1908 ~ Birthday of John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist.

1917 ~ Mata Hari was executed (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/matahari.htm) by firing squad for spying for Germany.

1964 ~ Death of Cole Porter, Composer.

1964 ~ Nikita Khrushchev “retired” (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1015.html#article) as head of USSR.

1990 ~ Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1990/press.html) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1991 ~ The Senate confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A23641-2002Jul30&notFound=true) to the Supreme Court.

1993 ~ Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/) were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

2003 ~ China launched its first manned spacecraft (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/newsid_3699000/3699842.stm) into orbit, becoming the third country to do so.

[jseal]

1758 ~ Birthday of Noah Webster, American lexicographer.

1793 ~ Death of Marie Antoinette (http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2antoinettem.htm) – guillotined.

1854 ~ Birthday of Oscar Wilde (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/wilde/wildeov.html), Irish writer.

1859 ~ In one of the developments towards the American Civil War, John Brown (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html) led a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

1916 ~ Planned Parenthood ( http://www.plannedparenthood.org/) founded by Margaret Sanger.

1925 ~ Birthday of Angela Lansbury, actress.

1964 ~ China detonated its first nuclear weapon. (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1016.html#article)

1970 ~ Anwar Sadat (http://www.arab.net/egypt/et_sadat.htm) was elected President of Egypt.

1978 ~ Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/16/newsid_3170000/3170452.stm). He was the first non Italian to be elevated to the position since 1522.

1981 ~ Death of Moshe Dayan, Israeli general.

[jseal]

1777 ~ British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y.

1888 ~ Thomas Edison filed a patent for the Optical Phonograph.

1915 ~ Birthday of Arthur Miller (http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/), Playwright.

1931 ~ Al Capone convicted (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1017.html#article) of income tax evasion.

1956 ~ Queen Elizabeth opened the first commercial nuclear power station (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_3147000/3147145.stm), at Calder Hall.

1972 ~ Birthday of Eminem, rap music performer.

1973 ~ Arab oil-producing nations announced they would cut back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974 (http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2002/arab.html).

1977 ~ West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945802,00.html) on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers.

1979 ~ Mother Teresa of India (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on behalf of the destitute in Calcutta.

1989 ~ Loma Prieta earthquake (http://www.vibrationdata.com/earthquakes/lomaprieta.htm) hit the San Francisco Bay Area.

[jseal]

1851 ~ Moby-Dick (http://www.melville.org/hmmoby.htm), a novel by Herman Melville, was first published as The Whale.

1871 ~ Death of Charles Babbage (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Babbage.html), mathematician and inventor of computing machines.

1919 ~ Birthday of Pierre Trudeau (http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/trudeau-pierre.html), fifteenth PM of Canada.

1926 ~ Birthday of Chuck Berry (http://www.chuckberry.com/index.php), Musician.

1935 ~ Birthday of Peter Boyle, American actor.

1939 ~ Birthday of Lee Harvey Oswald, Assassin.

1954 ~ The Regency Division of Industrial Development Engineering Associates announced the first Transistor radio.

1962 ~ Dr. Watson of the United States, and Drs. Crick and Wilkins of the UK (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/), were named winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.

1989 ~ Erich Honecker was forced to step down (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/18/newsid_2450000/2450783.stm) as leader of East Germany after 18 years in power.

2006 ~ Death of Anna Russell (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2421794.html), English music satirist.

[jseal]

1745 ~ Death of Jonathan Swift (http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/), Author.

1781 ~ Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown (http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_yorktown1781.html), effectively ending the American War of Independence.

1812 ~ French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte began a retreat from Moscow.

1931 ~ Birthday of John Le Carré (http://www.johnlecarre.com/profile.html), Author.

1943 ~ Streptomycin was isolated (http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0846951.html); the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis.

1950 ~ Death of Edna St. Vincent Millay (http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Edna_St_Vincent_Millay/edna_st_vincent_millay_contents.htm), Poet.

1954 ~ Metal fatigue was identified as the cause of Comet crashes (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/19/newsid_3112000/3112466.stm).

1969 ~ U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew referred to anti-Vietnam War protesters “an effete corps of impudent snobs.”

1987 ~ The DJI fell by 22% (Black Monday (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1019.html#article)).

2005 ~ The trial of Saddam Hussein began.

[jseal]

1632 ~ Birthday of Sir Christopher Wren (http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=169345dwprEOVViTRLd8xXbHBDHGbzge), Architect.

1740 ~ Maria Theresa (http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/mariatheres.html) took the throne of Austria.

1803 ~ The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase (http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/louisiana/).

1882 ~ Birthday of Bela Lugosi, Actor.

1893 ~ Birthday of Jomo Kenyatta, President of Kenya.

1931 ~ Birthday of Mickey Mantle, athlete.

1983 ~ Grenada's Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/20/newsid_3720000/3720608.stm), was assassinated.

1973 ~ In the “Saturday Night Massacre (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1020.html#article)”, President Nixon abolished the office of special Watergate prosecutor, accepted the resignation of the Attorney General, and fired Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus.

1973 ~ The Sydney Opera House (http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Sydney_Opera.html) opened.

1984 ~ Death of Paul Dirac (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/dirac-bio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

[jseal]

1772 ~ Birthday of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (http://incompetech.com/authors/coleridge/), Poet (http://etext.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mariner.html).

1805 ~ A British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar (http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/battle-of-trafalgar.html) off the coast of Spain.

1805 ~ Death of Horatio Nelson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mort_nelson.jpg), 1st Viscount Nelson.

1833 ~ Birthday of Alfred Nobel (http://nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/index.html), Swedish inventor and benefactor of the Nobel Prize.

1854 ~ Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.

1879 ~ Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1021.html#article).

1917 ~ Birthday of Dizzy Gillespie (http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/dizzygillespie.html), Jazz Musician.

1929 ~ Birthday of Ursula K. Le Guin, Science Fiction Author.

1944 ~ The first kamikaze attack (http://experts.about.com/e/h/hm/HMAS_Australia_(1927).htm): HMAS Australia was hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg bomb.

1983 ~ The meter was defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.

[jseal]

741 ~ Death of Charles Martel, leader of the Franks.

1746 ~ Princeton University in New Jersey received its charter.

1836 ~ Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas (http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/index.html).

1844 ~ Birthday of Sarah Bernhardt (http://www.sarahbernhardt.com/bio.html), Actress.

1906 ~ Death of Paul Cezanne, Painter (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/sl/cezanne.cherries.jpg).

1920 ~ Birthday of Timothy Leary (http://deoxy.org/leary.htm), writer, psychedelic drug advocate.

1943 ~ Birthday of Catherine Deneuve, Actress.

1943 ~ The RAF air raid on Kassel (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=9mmpmke4ht9ms?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Bombing+of+Kassel+in+World+War+II&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1&sbid=lc05a&linktext=Bombing%20of%20Kassel%20in%20World%20War%20II), a city of 236,000 people, killed 10,000, and left 150,000 homeless.

1962 ~ US President Kennedy announced that American spy planes had discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1022.html#article), and that he had ordered a naval "quarantine" of the island nation.

1990 ~ The region around the Aral Sea assessed as the world’s worst ecological disaster (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/22/newsid_3756000/3756134.stm).

[jseal]

4004 BC ~ The start of the universe, according to the Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Ussher-Lightfoot_Calendar).

1892 ~ Birthday of Gummo Marx, actor, comedian (Marx Brothers (http://www.marx-brothers.org/)).

1935 ~ Birthday of Chi Chi Rodriguez, golf champion.

1940 ~ Birthday of Pelé (http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/pele01.html), soccer player Extraordinaire.

1942 ~ In Egypt, British forces begin a major offensive against Axis forces by initiating the Second Battle of El Alamein (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWelalamein.htm).

1956 ~ Hungarians took to the streets in to demand an end to Soviet rule. Thousands died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/23/newsid_3140000/3140400.stm).

1958 ~ Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced a new set of comic strip characters "The Smurfs (http://www.smurf.com/)".

1983 ~ U.S. & French barracks in Beirut hit by truck bombs (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1023.html#article), killing 241 U.S. servicemen and 58 French.

1993 ~ Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter became the second player to end a World Series with a home run - three-run shot that gave Toronto an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6.

1998 ~ Death of Dr. Barnett Slepian, physician.

[jseal]

1632 ~ Birthday of Anton van Leeuwenhoek (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/leeuwenhoek.html), the “Father of Microbiology".

1799 ~ Death of Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Composer.

1929 ~ Death of George Cadbury (http://www.birminghamuk.com/georgecadbury.htm), Chocolate Manufacturer & Philanthropist.

1929 ~ "Black Thursday (http://mutualfunds.about.com/cs/history/a/black_thursday.htm)" crash of the New York Stock Exchange.

1945 ~ Founding of the United Nations (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1024.html#article) Organisation.

1947 ~ The expression “Cold War (http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide20/part05c.html)” was first used by Bernard Baruch to the U.S. Senate War Investigation Committee.

1948 ~ Death of Franz Lehár, Composer.

1992 ~ In the first real "World" Series (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1992), the Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-US team to win the World Series.

2002 ~ John Muhammad and Lee Malvo were arrested in connection with the Washington D.C. area sniper attacks.

2003 ~ The Concorde completed its last commercial flight (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/24/newsid_3701000/3701490.stm).

[jseal]

1400 ~ Death of Geoffrey Chaucer ( http://geoffreychaucer.org/), Poet.

1825 ~ Birthday of Johann Strauss II, Composer.

1838 ~ Birthday of Georges Bizet, Composer.

1854 ~ Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War. You can listen and follow along (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/tennyson.shtml) to Lord Tennyson as he reads his poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3944699.stm)”.

1881 ~ Birthday of Pablo Picasso (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/P/picasso.html), Painter & Sculptor.

1924 ~ First appearance of "Little Orphan Annie (http://www.liss.olm.net/loahp/)”.

1936 ~ Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini created the Rome-Berlin Axis (http://www.p38lessonplan.com/axis.htm).

1971 ~ The UN General Assembly (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1025.html#article) seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China.

1983 ~ U.S. troops invade Grenada (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/25/newsid_3207000/3207509.stm).

1993 ~ Death of Vincent Price, Actor.

[jseal]

1685 ~ Birthday of Domenico Scarlatti, Composer.

1881 ~ The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (http://clantongang.com/oldwest/gunfight.html) took place at Tombstone, Arizona.

1905 ~ Norway became independent from Sweden.

1918 ~ Erich von Ludendorff was dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilhelm_kaiser_ii.shtml) of Germany for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.

1947 ~ The Maharaja of Kashmir (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051026/j&k.htm) agreed to allow his kingdom to join India.

1965 ~ The Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE (http://www.honours.gov.uk/)s).

1972 ~ Death of Igor Sikorsky (http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/), helicopter pioneer.

1994 ~ Announcement of Andrew Wiles’ correct proof of Fermat's Last Theorem (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/proof/wiles.html).

1994 ~ Israel and Jordan made peace (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/26/newsid_3764000/3764162.stm).

2001 ~ The USA Patriot Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HR03162:%5D) passed into law.

[jseal]

1466 ~ Birthday of Erasmus of Rotterdam (www.studyworld.com/desiderius_erasmus.htm), Dutch writer and philosopher.

1728 ~ Birthday of James Cook, British Captain and explorer.

1787 ~ The first of the Federalist Papers (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html), a series of essays calling for ratification of the U.S. Constitution, was published.

1811 ~ Birthday of Isaac Singer (http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyrensse/bio206.htm), inventor of the sewing machine.

1904 ~ New York’s first rapid transit subway (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1027.html#article) opened.

1914 ~ Birthday of Dylan Thomas, British poet and writer. If you’ve never heard Richard Burton read Under Milk Wood (http://www.undermilkwood.net/prose_umw1.html), you have a treat in store for you!

1932 ~ Birthday of Sylvia Plath (http://www.sylviaplath.de/), American poet.

1991 ~ Turkmenistan (http://www.soros.org/initiatives/turkmenistan) achieved independence from the Soviet Union.

2002 ~ Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected President of Brazil.

2005 ~ Riots begin in Paris after the deaths of two Muslim teenagers.

[jseal]

1485 ~ Le Morte D'Arthur (http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/m/malory/thomas/m25m/) was published.

1492 ~ Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba (http://www.athenapub.com/coluvoy1.htm).

1726 ~ Gulliver's Travels (http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/index.html) published.

1886 ~ The Statue of Liberty was dedicated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1028.html#article).

1903 ~ Birthday of Evelyn Waugh (http://books.guardian.co.uk/authors/author/0,,-137,00.html), Novelist.

1914 ~ Birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95oct/jesalk.html), developer of the first effective polio vaccine.

1926 ~ Birthday of Bowie Kuhn, 5th commissioner of Major League Baseball.

1955 ~ Birthday of Bill Gates, co-founder and Chairman of Microsoft.

1962 ~ Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the U.S. that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/28/newsid_2621000/2621915.stm).

1980 ~ Ronald Reagan asked voters during a debate with Jimmy Carter in Cleveland ''are you better off than you were four years ago?''.

[IowaMan]

I listened to Richard Burton reading "Under Milk Wood" yesterday and you were absolutely correct jseal, that indeed was a treat. :thumb:

[jseal]

IowaMan,

The man had a wonderful voice. If I can ever find a link to it, I'll try to get his reading of "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" posted.

[jseal]

1911 ~ Death of Joseph Pulitzer (http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Biographies/MainBiographies/P/pultzer/pulitzerbio.htm), newspaper publisher and journalist.

1923 ~ The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (http://www.theottomans.org/english/history/index.asp).

1929 ~ New York Stock Exchange stock prices collapsed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1029.html#article) amid panic selling.

1947 ~ Birthday of Richard Dreyfuss (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000377/), American actor.

1948 ~ Birthday of Kate Jackson, American actress.

1957 ~ Death of Louis B. Mayer, film producer. The second “M” in “MGM”.

1969 ~ The first computer-to-computer link (http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/) was established on ARPANET.

1975 ~ General Franco’s dictatorship (http://www.spanish-talk.co.uk/about-spain/general-franco/) of Spain came to an end.

1982 ~ Lindy Chamberlain was found guilty (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/29/newsid_2467000/2467665.stm) of the murder of her nine-week-old daughter.

2004 ~ Osama bin Laden, in a videotaped statement, directly admitted for the first time that he'd ordered the Sept. 11 attacks.

[jseal]

1831 ~ Nat Turner was arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in U.S. history (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html).

1839 ~ Birthday of Alfred Sisley (http://www.abcgallery.com/S/sisley/sisley.html), one of the creators of French Impressionism.

1885 ~ Birthday of Ezra Pound (http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/161), Poet.

1922 ~ Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy.

1938 ~ Orson Welles’ broadcast of “The War of the Worlds (http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/sf_radio/wow.html)” caused a panic.

1939 ~ Birthday of Grace Slick, singer with Jefferson Airplane.

1961 ~ The Soviet Union detonated the 58 megaton hydrogen bomb "Tsar Bomba (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/30/newsid_3666000/3666785.stm)".

1974 ~ Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1030.html#article) to regain the World Heavyweight Boxing championship.

1995 ~ Quebec separatists lost a referendum (http://www.uni.ca/dialoguecanada/trent_guide.html) for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (vote was 50.6% to 49.4%

2005 ~ The reconsecration of the Dresden Frauenkirche, which was destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II.

[jseal]

1517 ~ Protestant Reformation got under way: Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. For a unique insight to this happening, click here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3944549.stm).

1795 ~ Birthday of John Keats (http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/songoftheindianmaid.html), Poet.

1892 ~ Arthur Conan Doyle published "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Arthur_Conan_Doyle/The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes/)".

1926 ~ Death of Harry Houdini, Magician.

1930 ~ Birthday of Michael Collins, the 3rd astronaut of Apollo 11.

1829 ~ Birthday of Alexander Alekhine (http://www.chessclub.demon.co.uk/culture/worldchampions/alekhine/alekhine.htm), the fourth World Chess Champion.

1956 ~ Suez Crisis: The UK and France began bombing Egypt (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/suez.htm) to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

1984 ~ Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1031.html#article) by two Sikh security guards (riots soon broke out in New Delhi and nearly 2,000 innocent Sikhs were killed).

1987 ~ Death of Joseph Campbell (http://www.jcf.org/about_jc.php), Author and expert on mythology.

[Oldfart]

Joe Campbell was one of those who Isaac Asimov attributed with his success.

[jseal]

^^ Very cool! ^^ I was unaware of that. TY :)

[jseal]

1512 ~ The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html), painted by Michelangelo, was exhibited to the public for the first time.

1604 ~ At Whitehall Palace in London, the William Shakespeare tragedy Othello was presented for the first time (http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/othello/).

1755 ~ Lisbon, Portugal was destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between sixty and ninety thousand people.

1923 ~ Birthday of Gordon R. Dickson, Science Fiction author.

1935 ~ Birthday of Gary Player (http://www.garyplayer.com/legendBiography.asp?cid=1), South African golfer.

1952 ~ The U.S. successfully detonated the first hydrogen bomb (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1101.html#article), codenamed Mike, at Eniwetok island in the Bikini atoll.

1963 ~ The Arecibo Observatory (http://www.naic.edu/) in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opened.

1972 ~ Death of Ezra Pound (http://www.lit.kobe-u.ac.jp/~hishika/pound.htm), Poet.

1993 ~ The Maastricht Treaty (http://www.eurotreaties.com/maastrichtext.html) took effect, formally establishing the European Union.

1999 ~ Death of Walter Payton, American athlete.

[jseal]

1739 ~ Birthday of Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Composer.

1755 ~ Birthday of Marie Antoinette (http://www.batguano.com/VigeeMAgallery.html), Queen of France.

1815 ~ Birthday of George Boole (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Boole.html), Mathematician & Philosopher.

1930 ~ Haile Selassie (http://www.royalty.nu/Africa/Ethiopia/Selassie.html) was crowned emperor of Ethiopia.

1936 ~ The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/history/1901-1939.shtml) was established.

1950 ~ Death of George Bernard Shaw, Playwright.

1976 ~ Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1102.html#article).

1964 ~ In a family coup, King Saud of Saudi Arabia was deposed, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal.

1983 ~ President Reagan signed a bill establishing a federal holiday in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode05/usc_sec_05_00006103----000-.html)

1988 ~ The Morris worm (http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/morris-worm.html) was launched from MIT.

[jseal]

1801 ~ Birthday of Vincenzo Bellini, Italian opera composer.

1838 ~ The Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/), the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper was founded.

1903 ~ Panama proclaimed itself independent from Colombia.

1918 ~ Poland declared its independence from Russia.

1936 ~ Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1103.html#article) in a landslide over Republican Alfred M. ''Alf'' Landon.

1954 ~ Death of Henri Matisse (http://images.google.com/images?q=Henri+Matisse&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape:en-US&sa=N&tab=ii&oi=imagest), French artist.

1957 ~ Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter space - a dog named Laika (http://www.space.com/news/laika_anniversary_991103.html).

1964 ~ Incumbent President Lyndon Johnson defeated challenger Barry Goldwater (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/3/newsid_3641000/3641464.stm) with over 60 percent of the popular vote.

1986 ~ Iran-Contra Affair (http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/) : The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reported that the United States had been selling weapons to Iran in secret in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

1992 ~ U.S. presidential election: Challenger Bill Clinton defeated incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush & independent candidate Ross Perot.

1993 ~ Death of Leon Theremin (http://www.thereminvox.com/story/495/), Russian inventor.

[jseal]

1847 ~ Death of Felix Mendelssohn, German composer.

1869 ~ The first issue of scientific journal Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html) was published.

1900 ~ Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Freud/Dreams/) was published.

1922 ~ British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men found the entrance to King Tutankhamen (http://www.emuseum.gov.eg/collection_tut.html)'s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

1924 ~ Death of Gabriel Fauré, French composer.

1948 ~ T.S. Eliot (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1948/eliot-bio.html) won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1956 ~ Soviet troops invaded Hungary (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_2739000/2739039.stm) to crush the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23. Thousands were killed, more were wounded, and nearly a quarter million left the country.

1979 ~ Students storm the US embassy in Tehran (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1104.html#article) and took 90 hostages.

1980 ~ Ronald Reagan won the White House, defeating President Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.

1995 ~ The Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated (http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/rabin/funeral/wrap/index.html) at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

[jseal]

1605 ~ A plot to blow up the English Houses of Parliament (http://www.gunpowder-plot.org/) was foiled when Guy Fawkes was discovered in a cellar below the building.

1872 ~ Suffragist Susan B. Anthony voted for the first time (http://www.susanbanthonyhouse.org/biography.html). She was fined $100 for the privilege.

1892 ~ Birthday of J. B. S. Haldane, Geneticist.

1911 ~ Birthday of Roy Rogers (http://www.royrogers.com/), American actor.

1930 ~ Sinclair Lewis (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1930/lewis-autobio.html) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1942 ~ The Second Battle of El Alamein (http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.a.paterson/battles1942.htm#Alamein) was won by the British in El Alamein, Egypt.

1977 ~ Death of Guy Lombardo, Conductor.

1979 ~ Ayatollah Khomeini (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/religion/ayatollah-khomeni/) declares the USA to be "the great Satan".

1989 ~ Death of Vladimir Horowitz, Pianist.

1999 ~ Federal Judge Thomas Jackson declared Microsoft Corp. a monopoly (http://usvms.gpo.gov/ms-conclusions.html), saying the software giant's aggressive actions were ''stifling innovation'' and hurting consumers.

[Oldfart]

Remember, remember the fifth of November.

[jseal]

Oldfart,

It s interesting to note that Mr. Fawkes would, if judged by contemporary standards, be judged a terrorist, perhaps even a jihadist. Way back in the 20th century, many ... most ... in the West assumed religion was becoming marginal to public life. Throughout the world zealotry again seems all too relevant to public policy.

[Oldfart]

jseal,

It was largely about British oppression of the Irish, the aftermath of the failed Jacobite rebellion.

The perspective of the terrorist/freedom fighter blurs.

Had the American revolution failed or the War of 1812 won by the Brits, the American revolutionaries would have been treated like Fawkes.

[jseal]

Oldfart,

Well, perhaps, but history records that Fawkes converted to Catholicism around the age of 16. He enlisted in the army of Archduke Albert of Austria in the Netherlands and fought with the armies of Catholic Spain against the Protestant United Provinces.
So we have a religious convert who traveled to a foreign country where he learned how to use explosives, and returned to his home country where he joined a plot to blow up a civilian target.

These seem to me to be interesting similarities between this 16th century Catholic and some 21st century Muslims.

[jseal]

1789 ~ Pope Pius VI appointed Father John Carroll as the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03381b.htm).

1854 ~ Birthday of John Philip Sousa (http://www.dws.org/sousa/about.htm), composer of the official march of the U.S., The Stars and Stripes Forever (http://www.dws.org/sousa/ra/dws-ssf1.ram) (requires RealPlayer (http://www.real.com/player/index.html?))

1861 ~ Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America.

1861 ~ Birthday of James Naismith, inventor of basketball.

1869 ~ Rutgers University (http://ruweb.rutgers.edu/about-the-university.shtml) defeats Princeton University (http://www.princeton.edu/main/), 6-4, in the first official intercollegiate American football game (http://www.answers.com/topic/football).

1893 ~ Death of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Tchaikovsky.html), Composer.

1913 ~ Mahatma Gandhi (http://www.mkgandhi.org/) was arrested while leading a march of Indian miners in South Africa.

1962 ~ The UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies (http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2007/issue3/0307p07.html) and called for all member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation.

1999 ~ Australians voted to keep the British queen as their head of state (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/6/newsid_2514000/2514833.stm).

2000 ~ Death of L. Sprague De Camp, Science Fiction writer.

[Oldfart]

jseal,

A freedom fighter has to learn his fighting skills somewhere, lest he become a martyr on the first attempt.

We vilify the human bombs the Islamists are using, but praise the dutch kids who walked into bars filled with Gemans with grenades in their pockets.

How we see things is a function of our culture. There are no absolutes.

Our republic.

Yes, our options in 1999 were ill defined, and it's easier to get rid of the Brit queen later than to change a mode of Government that has become entrenched.


PF, I don't want to know why the Germans had grenades in their pockets.

[jseal]

Oldfart,

In re the musings of a frustrated republican, be careful what you ask for - sometimes you get it. :)

If, by the Dutch kids, you are referring to the WWII resistance movement, I would suggest that their political motivation can be clearly distinguished from the religious ones displayed by the Gunpowder Plotters and Muslim Jihadists.

[jseal]

1665 ~ The London Gazette (http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/home.aspx?geotype=London), the oldest surviving English language journal, was first published.

1867 ~ Birthday of Marie Curie, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1903 (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html), and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911 (http://nobelprize.org/chemistry/laureates/1911/).

1886 ~ Birthday of Aron Nimzowitsch (http://home19.inet.tele.dk/kastanie/), chess grandmaster.

1913 ~ Birthday of Albert Camus (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1957/camus-bio.html), writer, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1957.

1917 ~ Bolshevik leaders Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky lead revolutionaries (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1107.html#article) in overthrowing the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky.

1922 ~ Birthday of Al Hirt, Musician.

1926 ~ Birthday of Dame Joan Sutherland, Opera singer.

1934 ~ Premiere of Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" at Baltimore, Maryland.

1940 ~ The middle section of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed (http://www.ketchum.org/tacomacollapse.html) in a windstorm.

1989 ~ Protests force the resignation (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/7/newsid_2539000/2539301.stm) of East Germany’s Communist government.

[Oldfart]

" I would suggest that their political motivation can be clearly distinguished from the religious ones displayed by the Gunpowder Plotters and Muslim Jihadists."

We need to spend some talk time at PAGAN08.

"Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" is one of the most passionate and beautiful pieces of modern music.

[jseal]

Oldfart,

I am certain that any conversations we may have at PAGAN08 will be rewarding.

[Oldfart]

Indeed.

[dicksbro]

Seems hard to believe that it's been 18 years since protests forced the resignation of East Germany’s Communist government.

[jseal]

dicksbro,

Yes sir, it is! Amazing times, were they not?

[jseal]

1674 ~ Death of John Milton, English poet.

1847 ~ Birthday of Bram Stoker (http://www.geocities.com/psmcalduff/), Irish novelist.

1884 ~ Birthday of Hermann Rorschach (http://www.crystalinks.com/rorschach.html), psychiatrist.

1895 ~ Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays.

1942 ~ World War II: Operation Torch (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWtorch.htm) – U.S. and UK forces landed in French North Africa.

1950 ~ The first dog fight between jet aircraft (http://cnnews.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/fighter-planes-mig-15/).

1986 ~ Death of Vyacheslav Molotov (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSmolotov.htm), Soviet politician.

1987 ~ An IRA bomb killed 11 people (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/8/newsid_2515000/2515113.stm) during a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.

2002 ~ Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 (http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/682/26/PDF/N0268226.pdf?OpenElement) – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Iraq, requiring Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences". (requires Adobe Acrobat)

2006 ~ The U.S. Democratic Party took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

[jseal]

1888 ~ Jack the Ripper killed Mary Jane Kelly (http://www.casebook.org/victims/), his last known victim.

1922 ~ Birthday of Imre Lakatos, Hungarian philosopher.

1934 ~ Birthday of Carl Sagan (http://www.planetary.org/about/founders/carl_sagan.html), American Astronomer & Writer.

1936 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Tal (http://www.chessbase.com/columns/column.asp?pid=134), World Chess Champion.

1938 ~ Nazi Germany's first large-scale act of physical anti-Jewish violence, Kristallnacht (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/knacht.htm), began.

1953 ~ Death of Dylan Thomas (http://www.dylanthomas.com/), Welsh poet.

1965 ~ Several U.S. states and parts of Canada were hit by blackouts (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1109.html#article).

1970 ~ Death of Charles de Gaulle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/9/newsid_4275000/4275206.stm), French general and politician.

1995 ~ Garry Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov to become the world chess champion.

1998 ~ Capital punishment abolished in the United Kingdom.

[jseal]

1483 ~ Birthday of Martin Luther (http://www.educ.msu.edu/homepages/laurence/reformation/Luther/Luther.htm), a leader of the Protestant Reformation.

1775 ~ The Continental Congress passed a resolution creating the Continental Marines, later renamed the United States Marine Corps (http://www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp).

1871 ~ Henry Morton Stanley (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stanley_sir_henry_morton.shtml) located missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/livingstone_david.shtml) in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika saying "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

1919 ~ Birthday of Mikhail Kalashnikov, Soviet inventor, AK-47.

1925 ~ Birthday of Richard Burton (http://www.richardburton.com/life.htm), Actor.

1938 ~ Death of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of Turkey.

1951 ~ Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service began in the United States.

1975 ~ The SS Edmund Fitzgerald (http://www.ssefo.com/) sank during a storm on Lake Superior. Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a song about the tragedy.

1982 ~ The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1110.html#article) in Washington D.C. opened to public.

1995 ~ Execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/10/newsid_2539000/2539561.stm), writer and human rights activist.

[jseal]

1880 ~ Australian bushranger and bank robber Ned Kelly was hung in Melbourne (http://www.ripefruit.com/melbourne/sights/old_melbourne_gaol.htm).

1885 ~ Birthday of George Patton (http://www.generalpatton.com/biography.html), American general.

1904 ~ Birthday of Alger Hiss (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhiss.htm), Spy.

1918 ~ The end of World War I (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1111.html#article): Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies.

1922 ~ Birthday of Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist.

1938 ~ Death of Mary Mallon, aka "Typhoid Mary", carrier of the typhoid disease.

1965 ~ Rhodesia proclaimed its independence (http://www.rhodesia.nl/mztosm.html) from Britain.

1992 ~ The Church of England (http://www.cofe.anglican.org/) voted to allow women to become priests (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/11/newsid_2518000/2518183.stm).

2000 ~ A cable car full of skiers and snowboarders (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/11/newsid_4418000/4418498.stm), many of them children, caught fire in Austria, killing 155 people.

2004 ~ Death of Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority.

[jseal]

1035 ~ Death of King Canute.

1833 ~ Birthday of Alexander Borodin, Russian composer.

1840 ~ Birthday of Auguste Rodin, French sculptor.

1942 ~ The Battle of Guadalcanal began (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1112.html#article).

1944 ~ The German battleship Tirpitz was sunk (http://www.kbismarck.com/tirpitz.html) off the coast of Norway.

1954 ~ Ellis Island closed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/12/newsid_3963000/3963251.stm).

1955 ~ Hovercraft patented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blhovercraft.htm).

1970 ~ The famous exploding whale incident (http://www.perp.com/whale/video.html).

1990 ~ Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web (http://www.w3.org/Proposal.html).

2001 ~ Taliban forces abandoned Kabul ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/northern_alliance.htm) troops.

[jseal]

1850 ~ Birthday of Robert Louis Stevenson, Novelist.

1868 ~ Death of Gioacchino Rossini, Composer.

1940 ~ The animated film Fantasia (http://www.filmsite.org/fant.html) was released.

1955 ~ Birthday of Whoopi Goldberg, American actress.

1956 ~ U.S. Supreme Court declared Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1113.html#article).

1971 ~ Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet (http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Sort=Target&Target=Mars&MCode=Mariner_09).

1985 ~ A mudslide triggered by the Nevado del Ruiz volcano buried the city of Armero, Colombia (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/13/newsid_2539000/2539731.stm), killing some 23,000 people.

1990 ~ Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first known World Wide Web page (http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/FAQ.html#Examples).

1998 ~ President Bill Clinton agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/pjones.htm), ending the four-year legal battle over her sexual harassment lawsuit that spurred impeachment proceedings against him. Clinton did not admit guilt or apologize.

2002 ~ Saddam Hussein's government agreed to the return of international weapons inspectors to Iraq (http://history.searchbeat.com/iraq-disarmament.htm).

[jseal]

1719 ~ Birthday of Leopold Mozart (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/lmozart.html), Austrian musician, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (http://www.mozartproject.org/).

1832 ~ Death of Charles Carroll of Carrollton ( http://www.colonialhall.com/carroll/carroll.php), Declaration of Independence signer.

1851 ~ Herman Melville's novel “Moby-Dick (http://www.melville.org/hmmoby.htm)” was first published in the U.S.

1900 ~ Birthday of Aaron Copland, Composer.

1922 ~ The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/)) began radio service in the UK.

1948 ~ Birthday of Charles, Prince of Wales.

1954 ~ Birthday of Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State.

1972 ~ The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 1,000 mark (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1114.html#article) yesterday for the first time.

1991 ~ Indictments handed down against two Libyan intelligence officials (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/14/newsid_2518000/2518895.stm) in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.

2001 ~ Northern Alliance fighters (http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,,592758,00.html) entered Kabul.

[jseal]

1787 ~ Death of Christoph Willibald Gluck (http://www.karadar.com/Dictionary/gluck.html), Composer.

1887 ~ Birthday of Georgia O'Keeffe (http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/background/index.html), Painter.

1920 ~ First assembly of the League of Nations (http://www.indiana.edu/~league/index.htm) was held in Geneva.

1940 ~ The Luftwaffe destroyed most of the English city of Coventry (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_3522000/3522785.stm) during World War II.

1942 ~ Birthday of Daniel Barenboim (http://www.danielbarenboim.com/), Pianist & Conductor.

1960 ~ The Polaris missile became operational (http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-27.html) on the USS George Washington (SSBN-598).

1969 ~ The Soviet submarine K-19 collided with the American submarine USS Gato.

1971 ~ Intel released the first commercial single-chip microprocessor (http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa092998.htm), the 4004.

1978 ~ Death of Margaret Mead, American anthropologist.

1998 ~ Death of Stokely Carmichael, American Black Power activist.

[jseal]

1885 ~ Louis Riel (http://www.shsb.mb.ca/Riel/indexenglish.htm), Canadian rebel leader and "Father of Manitoba", executed for high treason.

1895 ~ Birthday of Paul Hindemith, Composer.

1920 ~ Qantas (http://www.qantas.com.au/info/about/company/index) was registered under the name of “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited”.

1922 ~ Birthday of Gene Amdahl, computer scientist (http://coverclock.blogspot.com/2006/10/gene-amdahl-and-albert-einstein.html).

1933 ~ The U.S. and the USSR (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1116.html#article) established diplomatic relations.

1959 ~ The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music)" opened on Broadway.

1960 ~ Death of Clark Gable, Actor.

1965 ~ The Soviet Union launched the Venera 3 (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1965-092A) space probe toward Venus, the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.

1979 ~ Sir Anthony Blunt (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/16/newsid_3907000/3907233.stm), a former security service officer, identified as the fourth man in the "Philby affair (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SSphilby.htm)".

2006 ~ Death of Milton Friedman, American economist.

[jseal]

1871 ~ The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.

1887 ~ Birthday of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-leaders/ww2/montgomery.htm).

1917 ~ Death of Auguste Rodin, Sculptor.

1929 ~ Death of Herman Hollerith (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blhollerith.htm), Statistician.

1959 ~ Death of Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian Composer.

1970 ~ In one of the greatest successes of the Soviet lunar exploration program (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunarussr.html), The USSR landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990109.html).

1970 ~ Douglas Engelbart received a patent for the first computer mouse (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_computer_mouse_patent.htm).

1997 ~ An Islamic extremist group killed 60 tourists (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/17/newsid_2519000/2519581.stm) at Luxor, Egypt.

2003 ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California (http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/3333/).

2003 ~ John Allen Muhammad convicted (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec03/sniper_11-17.html) of one of the Washington-area sniper killings.

[jseal]

1786 ~ Birthday of Carl Maria von Weber, Composer.

1836 ~ Birthday of Sir William S. Gilbert (http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/html/gilbert.html), Dramatist.

1916 ~ World War I (http://www.firstworldwar.com/): First Battle of the Somme, (http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm) which started on July 1, ended in stalemate – Approx. 1,120,000 casualties, 310,000 killed or missing.

1928 ~ Release of Steamboat Willie (http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon_information/3820-Steamboat_Willie.html), the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, featuring the Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

1945 ~ Operation Paperclip (http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/Paperclip.html): The first of more than 700 German scientists arrived in the U.S. to help the development of rocket technology.

1976 ~ Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1118.html#article) after the dictatorship of General Franco.

1978 ~ Jonestown, Guyana mass suicide (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_2540000/2540209.stm): 914 die, including 276 children.

2002 ~ UN weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

2003 ~ The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/11/18/sjc_gay_marriage_legal_in_mass/).

2004 ~ Fox hunting outlawed in England and Wales..

[jseal]

1493 ~ Christopher Columbus became the first European to go ashore on what would become Puerto Rico.

1805 ~ Birthday of Ferdinand de Lesseps (http://www.canalmuseum.com/stories/history_of_panama_003.htm), Suez Canal engineer.

1828 ~ Death of Franz Schubert, Austrian Composer.

1863 ~ U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/gadrft.html) at the military cemetery dedication ceremony (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1119.html#article) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

1884 ~ Birthday of José Raúl Capablanca (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/capablanca/capablanca.htm), Cuban Chess Grand Master.

1917 ~ Birthday of Indira Gandhi (http://www.indiragandhi.com/), Prime Minister of India.

1941 ~ World War II: The Royal Australian Navy cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran sank each other (http://www.hmassydney.com.au/) off the coast of Western Australia.

1969 ~ The second Apollo mission, Apollo 12 (http://www.astronomytoday.com/exploration/apollo.html), landed on the Moon – in “the Ocean of Storms”.

1977 ~ Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/19/newsid_2520000/2520467.stm) and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.

1998 ~ Lewinsky scandal: The U.S. House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings against President Clinton.

[jseal]

1889 ~ Birthday of Edwin Hubble, Astronomer.

1908 ~ Birthday of Alistair Cooke, Journalist.

1910 ~ Death of Leo Tolstoy, Novelist.

1924 ~ Birthday of Benoît Mandelbrot (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Mandelbrot.html), Mathematician.

1945 ~ Nuremberg Trials (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1120.html#article) began: Trials of 20 German Nazi leaders charged with war crimes during World War II started at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.

1947 ~ The Princess Elizabeth (http://www.britainexpress.com/royals/queen.htm) married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (http://www.britainexpress.com/royals/philip.htm) at Westminster Abbey in London.

1995 ~ Diana, Princess of Wales, admitted to adultery (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/20/newsid_4341000/4341436.stm) during a television interview.

1998 ~ The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html), was launched.

1998 ~ A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declared accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin (http://mideastnews.com/laden20.htm)" in regards to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

2003 ~ Michael Jackson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y7ZuMJJtq4) was arrested charges of child molestation.

[jseal]

1695 ~ Death of Henry Purcell, Composer.

1787 ~ Birthday of Samuel Cunard, Shipping Magnate.

1898 ~ Birthday of René Magritte (http://www.magritte.com/), Belgian painter.

1953 ~ Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announced that the skull of the "Piltdown Man (http://home.tiac.net/~cri_a/piltdown/piltdown.html)" was a hoax.

1964 ~ Verrazano Narrows Bridge (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1121.html#article) opened.

1969 ~ The first ARPANET link was established.

1979 ~ The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/21/newsid_4187000/4187184.stm) was attacked by a mob and razed.

1980 ~ Lake Peigneur drained (http://members.tripod.com/~earthdude1/texaco/texaco.html) into an underlying salt deposit.

1985 ~ U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard was arrested (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_pollard.html) for giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison.

1995 ~ Toy Story (http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/ts/) was released as the first feature-length film created using only computer-generated imagery.

[jseal]

1718 ~ English pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard was killed (http://www.piratesinfo.com/biography/biography.php?article_id=39) in battle off the coast of Virginia.

1890 ~ Birthday of Charles de Gaulle, General, President of France.

1900 ~ Death of Arthur S. Sullivan, Composer.

1913 ~ Birthday of Benjamin Britten, Composer.

1963 ~ Death of C. S. Lewis (http://cslewis.drzeus.net/bio/), Author.

1963 ~ Death of Aldous Huxley, Author. (Brave New World (http://www.huxley.net/))

1963 ~ President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1122.html#article).

1968 ~ The Beatles released The White Album (http://www.beatletracks.com/btwhite.html).

1977 ~ British Airways began London to New York City supersonic Concorde service (http://www.concordesst.com/).

1990 ~ UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm).

[jseal]

1860 ~ Birthday of Billy the Kid (http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/), Outlaw.

1869 ~ The "Cutty Sark (http://www.cuttysark.org.uk/index.cfm)" was launched. It is the last example of a Clipper ship.

1887 ~ Birthday of Boris Karloff, Actor.

1888 ~ Birthday of Harpo Marx, Comedian.

1936 ~ The first edition of Life (http://www.life.com/Life/lifephotos.html)was published.

1943 ~ U.S. Marines seized control of the Tarawa and Makin atolls (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1123.html#article) from the Japanese.

1955 ~ Death of Shemp Howard, actor, comedian (The Three Stooges (http://www.threestooges.com/))

1963 ~ The first episode of the science fiction TV series "Doctor Who (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056751/)" aired on the BBC.

2002 ~ Sectarian violence force the Miss World contest to move to London from Nigeria (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/23/newsid_3226000/3226740.stm).

2004 ~ Dan Rather announced he would step down as principal anchorman of "The CBS Evening News".

[jseal]

1642 ~ Abel Tasman (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/tasman.html) became the first European to discover the island of Tasmania.

1853 ~ Birthday of Bat Masterson, Gunslinger, Policeman, Sports Reporter.

1859 ~ British naturalist Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1228)", a book which argues that organisms gradually evolve through natural selection.

1868 ~ Birthday of Scott Joplin (http://www.scottjoplin.org/biography.htm), Musician.

1941 ~ Birthday of Pete Best, original drummer of The Beatles.

1947 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve citations of contempt of Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10 (http://www.answers.com/topic/hollywood-ten) after they refused to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

1963 ~ Death of Lee Harvey Oswald (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1124.html#article), assassination suspect.

1991 ~ Death of Freddie Mercury (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/24/newsid_2546000/2546945.stm), musician (Queen).

1993 ~ Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were convicted of the murder of 2-year-old James Bulger.

1998 ~ America Online announced it would acquire Netscape Communications (http://news.com.com/2100-1023-218360.html?legacy=cnet).

[jseal]

1844 ~ Birthday of Karl Benz (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbenz.htm), Engineer.

1867 ~ Alfred Nobel patented dynamite.

1913 ~ Birthday of Lewis Thomas, Physician & Essayist.

1926 ~ Birthday of Poul Anderson (http://www.catch22.com/SF/ARB/SFA/Anderson,Poul.php3), Science Fiction writer.

1940 ~ Woody Woodpecker first appeared in the film "Knock Knock (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146967/)"

1968 ~ Death of Upton Sinclair, Journalist, Politician, Writer.

1973 ~ Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_2546000/2546297.stm) in a bloodless military coup.

1974 ~ Death of U Thant (http://www.un.org/Overview/SG/sg3bio.html), Burmese UN Secretary-General.

1986 ~ The Iran-Contra affair (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1125.html#article) became public knowledge.

1999 ~ Six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez was rescued (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/elian/etc/eliancron.html) by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida.

[jseal]

1862 ~ Lewis Carroll sent the handwritten manuscript of “Alice's Adventures Underground” to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.

1894 ~ Birthday of Norbert Wiener (http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_wiener.htm), mathematician, founder of cybernetics.

1922 ~ Birthday of Charles M. Schulz, Cartoonist.

1939 ~ Birthday of Tina Turner, the Queen of Rock & Roll.

1942 ~ The film Casablanca (http://www.filmsite.org/casa.html) premiered in New York City.

1942 ~ President Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1126.html#article), beginning in December.

1968 ~ Cream (http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/c/cream-worlds-first.shtml) played their farewell concert.

1976 ~ The Band (http://theband.hiof.no/history/part_0.html) played their farewell concert.

1983 ~ £25m in gold was stolen (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/26/newsid_2529000/2529235.stm) from a warehouse near Heathrow airport.

2003 ~ Last ever flight (http://www.concordeatfilton.org.uk/history/) by Concorde.

[jseal]

8 BC ~ Death of Horace (http://www.crystalinks.com/horace.html), poet. Remembered for, among other things, “carpe diem” (seize the day).

1095 ~ Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html) at the Council of Clermont.

1895 ~ Alfred Nobel (http://nobelprize.org/nobel/alfred-nobel/) signed his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he died.

1907 ~ Birthday of L. Sprague de Camp, Science Fiction writer.

1921 ~ Birthday of Alexander Dubcèk (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/dubcek/), Czech politician.

1942 ~ Birthday of Jimi Hendrix, musician.

1946 ~ Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/india/nuke/) appealed to the U.S. and the USSR to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster".

1953 ~ Death of Eugene O'Neill, playwright.

1973 ~ The U.S. Senate confirmed President-to-be Gerald Ford (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1127.html#article) as vice president, succeeding Spiro Agnew, who'd resigned.

1990 ~ John Major (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/27/newsid_2528000/2528847.stm) followed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the UK.

[jseal]

1520 ~ Ferdinand Magellan became the first to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

1632 ~ Birthday of Jean-Baptiste Lully, Composer.

1820 ~ Birthday of Friedrich Engels (http://www.indepthinfo.com/communist-manifesto/engels.shtml), social philosopher.

1859 ~ Death of Washington Irving, writer.

1939 ~ Death of James A Naismith (http://www.naismithmuseum.com/naismith_drjamesnaismith/main_drjamesnaismith.htm), creator of basketball.

1943 ~ President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1128.html#article).

1954 ~ Death of Enrico Fermi (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1938/fermi-bio.html), Physicist.

1969 ~ The Rolling Stones (http://www.rollingstones.com/home.php) released the classic album Let It Bleed (http://album.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/let+it+bleed_20009171.html).

1994 ~ Norway voted to reject membership (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/28/newsid_4208000/4208314.stm) in the European Union for the second time.

2000 ~ The eighth tar drop fell in the University of Queensland pitch drop experiment (http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/pitchdrop/pitchdrop.shtml).

[jseal]

1643 ~ Death of Claudio Monteverdi (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/monteverdi.html), Composer.

1797 ~ Birthday of Gaetano Donizetti, Opera Composer.

1832 ~ Birthday of Louisa May Alcott (http://www.louisamayalcott.org/), Writer.

1898 ~ Birthday of C. S. Lewis (http://cslewis.drzeus.net/), Writer.

1947 ~ The UN passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1129.html#article).

1975 ~ The name "Micro-soft" (for "microcomputer software") is first used in a letter from Bill Gates to Paul Allen.

1981 ~ Natalie Wood (http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/books/02/17/books.natalie.wood.ap/index.html) drowned in a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island, California.

1982 ~ The UN General Assembly passed Resolution 37/37, stating that the Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan.

1990 ~ The UN Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 678 (http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0678.htm), authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that nation did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.

2001 ~ Death of George Harrison (http://www.georgeharrison.com/), musician.

[jseal]

1667 ~ Birthday of Jonathan Swift (http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/swift.htm), Writer & Satirist.

1835 ~ Birthday of Mark Twain, Writer (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/huckfinn.htm), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/sawyer.htm), The Prince and the Pauper (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/princepauper.html), and A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court (http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/yankee.htm)).

1872 ~ First international soccer match played at Hamilton Crescent, Scotland.

1874 ~ Birthday of Sir Winston Churchill (http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1), British political leader & Writer.

1936 ~ In London, the Crystal Palace (http://www.victorianstation.com/palace.html) was destroyed in a fire. It had been built for the 1851 Great Exhibition.

1900 ~ Death of Oscar Wilde (http://www.cmgworldwide.com/historic/wilde/), Writer.

1954 ~ In Sylacauga, Alabama, an 8.5 pound meteorite crashed through her roof and hit Mrs. Elizabeth Hodges in her living room after bouncing off her radio. This is the only documented case of anyone being hit by a meteorite.

1994 ~ the burning Achille Lauro abandoned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/30/newsid_2525000/2525643.stm) off east Africa.

1995 ~ President Clinton became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Northern Ireland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1130.html#article).

1999 ~ The anti-globalization movement caught police unprepared and forced the cancellation of opening ceremonies of a WTO meeting.

[jseal]

1083 ~ Birthday of Anna Comnena (http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine5.html), Byzantine historian.

1640 ~ Portugal regained its independence from Spain.

1824 ~ U.S. presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the House of Representatives was given the task to decide the winner (http://www.answers.com/topic/u-s-presidential-election-1824), as stipulated by the Twelfth Amendment.

1835 ~ Hans Christian Andersen published his first book of fairy tales.

1919 ~ Lady Astor became the first woman to serve as a Member of Parliament (http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/this_day_in_history/this_day_November_28.php) in the British House of Commons.

1935 ~ Birthday of Woody Allen (http://www.woodyallen.com/), Film Director & Actor &Comedian.

1955 ~ Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/1/newsid_4398000/4398912.stm) to a white man and was arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws.

1959 ~ The Antarctic Treaty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1201.html#article) signed, which set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and banned military activity.

1990 ~ English and French Channel Tunnel workers met (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/1/newsid_2516000/2516473.stm) beneath the English Channel.

1991 ~ Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.

[jseal]

1547 ~ Death of Hernán Cortés, Spanish explorer and conqueror.

1814 ~ Death of Marquis de Sade (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/desade.htm), Writer.

1859 ~ Militant abolitionist leader John Brown was hanged (http://www.wvculture.org/History/jnobrown.html) for his October 16th raid on Harper's Ferry.

1923 ~ Birthday of Maria Callas, Opera Singer.

1942 ~ Manhattan Project: A team led by Enrico Fermi initiate the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (http://www.atomicmuseum.com/tour/manhattanproject.cfm).

1954 ~ Senator McCarthy was censured (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1202.html#article) for conduct unbecoming to a senator.

1961 ~ Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared that he was a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba was going to adopt Communism.

1990 ~ War on Drugs: Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (http://cocaine.org/colombia/pablo-escobar.html) was shot and killed in Medellín.

1991 ~ Apple release the first version of QuickTime (http://developer.apple.com/quicktime/).

2001 ~ Enron filed for Chapter 11 (http://www.enron.com/corp/pressroom/releases/2001/ene/PressRelease11-12-02-01letterhead.html) bankruptcy.

[jseal]

1815 ~ Death of John Carroll (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03381b.htm) - First Roman Catholic Archbishop in the U.S.

1857 ~ Birthday of Joseph Conrad (http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/), Writer.

1894 ~ Death of Robert Louis Stevenson, Writer.

1919 ~ Death of Pierre-Auguste Renoir (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/renoir.html), Painter.

1947 ~ ''A Streetcar Named Desire (http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/streetcar/index.html)'' by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

1967 ~ At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, Lewis Washkansky became the first human to receive a heart transplant. The transplant team was headed by Christiaan Barnard (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bmbarn.html).

1971 ~ India invaded East Pakistan (http://www.vidyasoft.com/interest/war/war71.html) starting a full scale war.

1984 ~ Bhopal Disaster (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1203.html#article): A leak from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killed nearly 3,000 people in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

1999 ~ NASA lost contact with the Mars Polar Lander just before it entered the Martian atmosphere.

1999 ~ Death of Madeline Kahn, Actress & Comedian.

[jseal]

1110 ~ The Crusaders captured Sidon.

1642 ~ Death of Cardinal Richelieu, French statesman.

1674 ~ Father Jacques Marquette founded a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan which would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois.

1679 ~ Death of Thomas Hobbes (http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/hobbes.html), political philosopher.

1849 ~ Birthday of Crazy Horse (http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/crazyhorse.htm), American Indian leader.

1872 ~ The Mary Celeste (http://www.fortogden.com/maryceleste.html) was found by the British brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged.

1945 ~ The U.S. Senate approved United States participation in the United Nations (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1204.html#article).

1976 ~ Death of Benjamin Britten (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_2519000/2519877.stm), Composer.

1980 ~ Led Zeppelin (http://www.led-zeppelin.com/) announced its breakup.

1991 ~ Pan American World Airways (http://pan-am.biography.ms/) ceased operations.

[jseal]

1791 ~ Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (http://www.mozartproject.org/), Composer.

1839 ~ Birthday of George Armstrong Custer, American general.

1847 ~ Jefferson Davis was elected to the U.S. Senate.

1890 ~ Birthday of Fritz Lang (http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/lang/filmography.html), film director.

1901 ~ Birthday of Werner Heisenberg (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1932.

1901 ~ Birthday of Walt Disney (http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/), film producer.

1926 ~ Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Potemkin.html), debuted.

1933 ~ Prohibition ended (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1205.html#article): The Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified. This overturned the 18th Amendment, which had outlawed the inter-state sale of alcohol.

1969 ~ Life Magazine reported the My Lai Massacre.

1995 ~ The Sri Lankan armed forces took Jaffna (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_4618000/4618661.stm) from the Tamil Tigers.

[IowaMan]

1933 ~ Prohibition ended (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1205.html#article): The Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified. This overturned the 18th Amendment, which had outlawed the inter-state sale of alcohol.
I'll drink to that one! :cheers:

[jseal]

^^ :thumbs: ^^

[jseal]

1768 ~ First edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (http://corporate.britannica.com/company_info.html) was published.

1884 ~ The Thirteenth Amendment (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment13/) to the U. S. Constitution, banning slavery, was ratified.

1889 ~ Death of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America (http://www.civilwarhome.com/csa.htm).

1917 ~ A munitions explosion (http://www.halifaxexplosion.org/intro.html) kills more than 1,900 people and destroys part of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

1920 ~ Birthday of Dave Brubeck, jazz musician.

1929 ~ Birthday of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor.

1947 ~ Everglades National Park (http://www.nps.gov/ever/) in Florida was dedicated by President Truman.

1989 ~ Marc Lépine killed 14 women (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-70-398/disasters_tragedies/montreal_massacre/) in Montreal, Quebec.

1992 ~ In Ayodhya, India, Hindus demolished the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/6/newsid_3712000/3712777.stm).

2002 ~ Death of Philip Berrigan (http://www.jonahhouse.org/danProfile.htm), civil rights activist.

[jseal]

43 BC ~ Death of Cicero (http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROME/CICERO.HTM), Roman politician and author.

1787 ~ Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1817 ~ Death of William Bligh, British naval officer.

1905 ~ Birthday of Gerard Kuiper (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/people/today/kuiper.html&edu=high), Astronomer.

1928 ~ Birthday of Noam Chomsky (http://www.chomsky.info/), Linguist.

1941 ~ The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1207.html#article) brought the U.S. into World War II.

1965 ~ Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_common-declaration_en.html) simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.

1970 ~ Death of Rube Goldberg, cartoonist.

1972 ~ Launch of Apollo 17 (http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS17/a17.htm), the last manned lunar landing mission.

1975 ~ Indonesia invaded East Timor (http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/EastTimor_KH.html).

[jseal]

1542 ~ Birthday of Mary, Queen of Scots (http://englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/maryqos.html).

1864 ~ Death of George Boole, Mathematician.

1925 ~ Birthday of Sammy Davis Jr., Actor & Singer.

1939 ~ Birthday of James Galway, Irish flutist.

1941 ~ The U.S. entered World War II when Congress declared war against Japan (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1208.html#article).

1978 ~ Death of Golda Meir (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/meir.html), former Prime Minister of Israel.

1980 ~ Mark Chapman murdered former Beatle John Lennon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8/newsid_2536000/2536321.stm).

1991 ~ Leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed an agreement ending the U.S.S.R. and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0813056.html).

1993 ~ U.S. participation in The North American Free Trade Agreement (http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/DefaultSite/index_e.aspx) (NAFTA) was signed into law by President Clinton.

1994 ~ U.S. participation in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed into law by President Clinton.

[jseal]

1608 ~ Birthday of John Milton (http://www.urich.edu/~creamer/milton/), Poet & Writer.

1868 ~ Birthday of Fritz Haber, German chemist, Nobel prize winner in 1918.

1906 ~ Birthday of Grace Murray Hopper (http://gracehopper.org/2008/about/about-grace-hopper/), American computer pioneer.

1937 ~ Battle of Nanjing began. The Rape of Nanjing (http://www.historywiz.com/nanjing.htm) followed.

1961 ~ Adolf Eichmann found guilty of war crimes in Israel.

1987 ~ First Intifada (http://www.intifada.com/palestine.html) began in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

1990 ~ Lech Wałęsa became the first directly elected president of Poland.

1992 ~ Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1209.html#article).

1996 ~ Death of Mary Leakey (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/klmno/leakey_mary.html), Archeologist & Anthropologist.

2004 ~ Canada's Supreme Court (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/samesexrights/2004scc079.wpd.txt) ruled that homosexual marriage was constitutional.

[jseal]

1815 ~ Birthday of Ada Lovelace (http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/lovelace.html), first computer programmer.

1822 ~ Birthday of César Franck, Composer & Organist.

1830 ~ Birthday of Emily Dickinson, Poet.

1896 ~ Death of Alfred Nobel (http://nobelprize.org/nobel/alfred-nobel/biographical/timeline/index.html), chemist, founder of the Nobel Prize.

1941 ~ Japanese forces landed in the Philippines, captured Guam and sank the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse (http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/).

1948 ~ the U.N. General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1210.html#article).

1953 ~ Dr. Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1965 ~ The Grateful Dead (http://arts.ucsc.edu/Gdead/AGDL/) played their first concert, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

1978 ~ Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1978/index.html) were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

2002 ~ The High Court of Australia handed down its judgment in the internet defamation case of Gutnick v Dow Jones (http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v8n4/nicholson84.html).

[jseal]

1725 ~ Birthday of George Mason (http://www.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/gmason/mason.htm), "Father of the Bill of Rights (http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/rightsof/)".

1803 ~ Birthday of Hector Berlioz, Composer.

1882 ~ Birthday of Max Born, physicist and 1954 Nobel laureate.

1918 ~ Birthday of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian author, 1970 Nobel laureate.

1931 ~ The Statute of Westminster (http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/StatuteofWestminster.html) gave legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland and Newfoundland.

1941 ~ Germany and Italy declared war on the United States (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1211.html#article).

1943 ~ King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson (http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/R/real_lives/wallis.html).

1994 ~ A small bomb exploded on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, killing a Japanese businessman. The bombing was a test of explosives that would have been used in Project Bojinka (http://www.the7thfire.com/Politics%20and%20History/Bojinka.html).

1994 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered Russian troops into Chechnya (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/11/newsid_2801000/2801807.stm).

1997 ~ The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (http://unfccc.int/not_assigned/b/items/1417.php) was made available for signature.

[jseal]

1531 ~ Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe (http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1227), Mexico City.

1911 ~ The capital of India moved from Calcutta to New Delhi.

1915 ~ Birthday of Frank Sinatra (http://www.franksinatra.com/), Singer & Actor.

1927 ~ Birthday of Robert Noyce (http://www.pbs.org/transistor/album1/addlbios/noyce.html), one of the men credited with the invention of the integrated circuit.

1963 ~ Kenya gained its independence (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1212.html#article) from the UK. Uhuru!

1967 ~ Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones avoided a prison term (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/12/newsid_3237000/3237849.stm) for narcotics.

1979 ~ Rhodesia changed its name to Zimbabwe.

1999 ~ Death of Joseph Heller (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/heller.htm), Author.

2000 ~ The U.S.Supreme Court released its decision in Bush v. Gore (http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2000/2000_00_949/).

2003 ~ Death of Keiko, the killer whale in the “Free Willy” movies.

[jseal]

1204 ~ Death of Maimonides (http://members.aol.com/LazerA/rambam.html), Sephardi Philosopher.

1577 ~ Sir Francis Drake began his circumnavigation from Plymouth, England.

1642 ~ Abel Janszoon Tasman (http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/tasman.htm) reached New Zealand.

1784 ~ Death of Samuel Johnson (http://www.samueljohnson.com/briefbio.html), Essayist.

1818 ~ Birthday of Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady.

1925 ~ Birthday of Dick Van Dyke (http://dick-van-dyke.fantribute.com/bio.html), Actor & Comedian.

1939 ~ The Admiral Graf Spee engaged Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles in the Battle of the River Plate (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_river_plate.htm).

1981 ~ Martial law imposed in Poland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1213.html#article) to try to control the Solidarity labor movement.

1996 ~ Kofi Annan elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

2003 ~ Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3317429.stm) near Tikrit.

[jseal]

1503 ~ Birthday of Nostradamus, Astrologer & Mathematician.

1546 ~ Birthday of Tycho Brahe (http://www.nada.kth.se/~fred/tycho/index.html), Astronomer.

1900 ~ Max Planck published his study of the quantum theory (http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Physics-Max-Planck.htm).

1911 ~ First expedition reached the South Pole (http://www.south-pole.com/p0000101.htm), led by Roald Amundsen.

1939 ~ USSR expelled (http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1939/391214a.html) from the League of Nations.

1946 ~ The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish the U.N. headquarters in New York City.

1962 ~ Birthday of Ginger Lynn Allen (http://www.gingerlynn.com/), Actress.

1981 ~ Israel annexed the Golan Heights (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1214.html#article).

1985 ~ Death of Roger Maris, NYY Home Run King.

1995 ~ The Dayton Agreement (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/14/newsid_2559000/2559699.stm) was signed in Paris to end the Yugoslav wars.

[jseal]

37 ~ Birthday of Nero (http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/nero-index.html), Roman emperor.

1791 ~ The U.S. Bill of Rights (http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=4) ratified.

1852 ~ Birthday of Antoine Henri Becquerel, physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics.

1890 ~ Death of Sitting Bull (http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sittingbull.htm), leader of Lakota tribe.

1916 ~ France defeated Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1215.html#article) in Battle of Verdun.

1958 ~ Death of Wolfgang Pauli (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1945/pauli-bio.html), Physicist.

1961 ~ An Israeli war crimes tribunal sentenced Adolph Eichmann to death.

1966 ~ Death of Walt Disney, Animator & Cartoonist.

1982 ~ Spain reopened the border with Gibraltar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/15/newsid_2559000/2559887.stm).

1994 ~ Netscape Navigator 1.0 (http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/netscape.htm) first released.

[jseal]

1778 ~ Birthday of Sir Humphry Davy, English chemist & physicist.

1830 ~ Death of Simón Bolívar (http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/bolivar.html), Latin American politician & Activist.

1843 ~ A Christmas Carol (http://www.stormfax.com/1dickens.htm), by Charles Dickens, was first published.

1903 ~ The first controlled, powered heavier-than-air flight (http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2002-000128.html) occurred when the Wright brothers took to the air, both of them twice at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1944 ~ The “Battle of the Bulge” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/17/newsid_3515000/3515538.stm) began.

1961 ~ India seized Goa from Portugal. (http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1960s/Goa01.html)

1969 ~ The USAF, in closing Project Blue Book (http://www.bluebookarchive.org/), announced that its UFO investigations found no evidence of extraterrestrial spacecraft.

1973 ~ The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.

1982 ~ ”Tootsie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084805/)” opened in theaters.

1989 ~ Brazil held its first free election in 25 years.

[jseal]

1737 ~ Death of Antonio Stradivari (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/strd/hd_strd.htm), Italian violin maker.

1786 ~ Birthday of Carl Maria von Weber, Composer.

1892 ~ Premier or Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker".

1912 ~ Official presentation of the discovery of Piltdown Man (http://home.tiac.net/~cri_a/piltdown/piltdown.html).

1913 ~ Birthday of Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.

1936 ~ Death of Andrija Mohorovičić (http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/seismology/people/mohorovicic.html), Croatian seismologist.

1957 ~ The first U.S. civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1218.html#article) went online.

1989 ~ The British Labour Party (http://www.labour.org.uk/home) under Neil Kinnock dropped its policy on trade union closed shops (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/18/newsid_2538000/2538439.stm).

1996 ~ "Ebonics" was declared a language or dialect by the outgoing school board of Oakland, California, whose vote was overturned by the incoming board. The Clinton administration declared "black English" a form of slang that did not belong in the classroom (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/admin/stories/riley122596.htm).

2002 ~ California Governor Grey Davis announced that the state would face a budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier. The budget issue was used to support his 2003 recall from office (http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/07/recall.main/).

[jseal]

1733 ~ Benjamin Franklin first published Poor Richard's Almanack.

1848 ~ Death of Emily Brontë (http://www.classicreader.com/author.php/aut.13/), Author.

1888 ~ Birthday of Fritz Reiner, Conductor.

1906 ~ Birthday of Leonid Brezhnev (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/brezhnev/), Soviet politician.

1963 ~ Zanzibar received its independence from the UK.

1979 ~ ”Kramer vs. Kramer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079417/)”, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, opened in theaters.

1984 ~ The UK and People's Republic of China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1219.html#article), which returned Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

1997 ~ "Titanic (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/)" the highest-grossing movie of all-time, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, opened in theaters.

1988 ~ The House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment against President Clinton (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/housevote/housevote.htm) over the Lewinsky scandal.

2003 ~ Libya announced that it would begin to destroy its weapons of mass destruction (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/19/newsid_4002000/4002441.stm).

[jseal]

1833 ~ Birthday of Samuel Mudd (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWmudd.htm), physician, convicted conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

1860 ~ South Carolina became the first state to secede (http://www.civilwarhome.com/scordinance.htm) from the US.

1901 ~ Birthday of Robert Van de Graaff (http://www.tvdg.bnl.gov/vandegraaff.html), Physicist & Inventor.

1968 ~ Death of John Steinbeck (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-bio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1962.

1989 ~ American troops invaded Panama to remove dictator Manuel Noriega (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1220.html#article).

1991 ~ Paul Keating became the 24th Prime Minister of Australia.

1995 ~ IFOR (Implementation Force), a NATO-led multinational force, began peacekeeping in Bosnia. The task of IFOR was transfered to SFOR (http://www.nato.int/sfor/index.htm) (Stabilisation Force) on 21-DEC-96, and transfered to EUFOR on 02-DEC-05.

1996 ~ Death of Carl Sagan (http://www.planetary.org/about/founders/carl_sagan.html), Astronomer & Writer.

1999 ~ Vermont's Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections as married heterosexual couples.

1999 ~ Macau was returned to the People's Republic of China (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/7066.htm) by Portugal.

[jseal]

1118 ~ Birthday of Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor & Archbishop of Canterbury.

1804 ~ Birthday of Benjamin Disraeli, Politician & Writer.

1898 ~ Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium (http://nobelprize.org/physics/articles/curie/).

1913 ~ The first crossword puzzle (http://www.crosswordtournament.com/more/wynne.html) was published, in the New York World.

1940 ~ Death of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Writer.

1942 ~ Birthday of Hu Jintao (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/zhuanti/Zhuanti_403.html), Chinese president.

1945 ~ Death of George S. Patton (http://www.generalpatton.com/biography.html), U.S. General.

1958 ~ Charles de Gaulle became the first leader of the Fifth Republic (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/21/newsid_3285000/3285109.stm).

1979 ~ Apollo 8 (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo8info.html) was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

1988 ~ A terrorist bomb exploded in Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1221.html#article) killing 270, including 11 on the ground.

[jseal]

1858 ~ Birthday of Giacomo Puccini, Composer.

1864 ~ Savannah, Georgia fell to the Union (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1222.html#article) army of General Sherman.

1880 ~ Death of George Eliot, Writer.

1942 ~ Adolf Hitler signed the order to develop the V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2 (http://www.v2rocket.com/index.html))rocket as a weapon.

1989 ~ Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opened (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/22/newsid_2539000/2539765.stm), ending the division of East and West Germany.

1990 ~ Lech Wałęsa sworn in as President of Poland.

1997 ~ Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the village of Acteal were massacred by paramilitary forces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acteal_massacre).

2001 ~ The Afghan Northern Alliance (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/northern_alliance.htm), handed over power in Afghanistan to the government headed by President Hamid Karzai.

2001 ~ Richard Reid (http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/31/reid.transcript/) tried to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes.

2001 ~ Cc the cat (http://www.wowzone.com/clonecat.htm), the first cloned pet, was born.

[jseal]

1790 ~ Birthday of Jean François Champollion, Egyptologist. He deciphered the Rosetta Stone (http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html).

1823 ~ “A Visit From St. Nicholas (http://holyjoe.net/poetry/moore.htm)”, by Clement Clarke Moore, was first published.

1834 ~ Death of Thomas Malthus, Demographer and Economist.

1888 ~ Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear.

1947 ~ The transistor was first demonstrated (http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/miraclemo.html) at Bell Laboratories.

1953 ~ Death of Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader.

1956 ~ British and French forces withdrawn from Suez (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/23/newsid_3294000/3294305.stm), Egypt.

1979 ~ Soviet military occupies Kabul (http://www.afa.org/magazine/Dec2004/1204soviets.asp), Afghanistan.

1986 ~ Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1223.html#article).


Feastdays & Holidays

Fans of Seinfeld - Festivus (http://www.festivusbook.com/) (for the restofus) held.

[jseal]

1491 ~ Birthday of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.

1818 ~ "Silent Night (http://www.carols.org.uk/silent_night.htm)" composed by Franz Xaver Gruber.

1910 ~ Birthday of Fritz Leiber, Science Fiction writer.

1914 ~ World War I: The "Christmas truce (http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/christmastruce.htm)" begins.

1914 ~ Death of John Muir (http://www.johnmuir.org/), Naturalist.

1951 ~ Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors (http://www.nauticom.net/www/planet/files/singersAmahl1.htm)", the first opera written specifically for TV, was first broadcast

1957 ~ Birthday of Hamid Karzai, first democratically elected President of Afghanistan.

1968 ~ The Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/24/newsid_4083000/4083587.stm), read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve TV broadcast.

1974 ~ Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin (http://www.ntlib.nt.gov.au/tracy/advanced/cyc_tracy.html), Australia.

1992 ~ President Bush pardoned 6 people involved in the Iran-Contra scandal (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224.html#article).

[jseal]

800 ~ Coronation of Charlemagne (http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm) as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.

1066 ~ Coronation of William the Conqueror (http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon22.html) as king of England, at Westminster Abbey (http://www.westminster-abbey.org/), London.

1223 ~ Saint Francis of Assisi assembled the first Nativity scene (http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0238.html).

1821 ~ Birthday of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross.

1868 ~ President Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.

1918 ~ Birthday of Anwar Sadat, Egyptian president, awarded Nobel Peace Prize (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1978/index.html) 1978.

1938 ~ Birthday of Karel Čapek (http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/notebooks/capek.html), Czech author, inventor of the word robot.

1977 ~ Deathof Charlie Chaplin (http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/infos), Entertainer.

1989 ~ Death of Nicolae Ceauşescu (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/25/newsid_2542000/2542623.stm), Romanian dictator (executed).

1991 ~ Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev went on TV to announce his resignation (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1225.html#article) as the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day).

Feastdays & Holidays

The Nativity of Jesus (http://www.christmasarchives.com/quran.html).

[jseal]

1610 ~ Elizabeth Bathory (http://hjem.get2net.dk/the_cellar/bathory.htm)'s crimes were uncovered.

1791 ~ Birthday of Charles Babbage, Mathematician and designer of computing machines.

1792 ~ Final trial of Louis XVI of France began.

1890 ~ Death of Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist.

1893 ~ Birthday of Mao Zedong (http://www.china.org.cn/english/Life/52253.htm), Chinese Politician.

1941 ~ Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1226.html#article).

1948 ~ Cardinal Mindszenty arrested in Hungary.

1966 ~ The first Kwanzaa (http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/origins1.shtml) was celebrated.

1991 ~ Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolved the USSR (http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/art/photography/index.htm).

2004 ~ A tsunami triggered by an earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/26/newsid_4631000/4631713.stm) left more than 216,000 people dead or missing, mostly in southern Asia.

Feastdays & Holidays

Boxing Day (http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/boxingday.asp).

[jseal]

1571 ~ Birthday of Johannes Kepler, astronomer.

1822 ~ Birthday of Louis Pasteur (http://php.pasteur.net/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=14), Scientist.

1831 ~ Charles Darwin (http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96feb/darwin.html) embarked on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle.

1871 ~ The world's first cat show was held at the Crystal Palace in London.

1904 ~ James Barrie's play Peter Pan (http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/quickstep/1103/barrie_james.htm) premiered in London.

1932 ~ Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.

1945 ~ The World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/) was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.

1945 ~ Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted Indonesia (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/id.html) sovereignty.

1985 ~ Naturalist Dian Fossey (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/fghij/fossey_dian.html) was found murdered in Rwanda.

2001 ~ The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay (http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil/), Cuba.

[jseal]

1065 ~ Westminster Abbey (http://www.castles-abbeys.co.uk/Westminster-Abbey.html) consecrated.

1836 ~ Spain recognized Mexico’s independence.

1869 ~ William F. Semple patented chewing gum.

1895 ~ The Lumiere Brothers (http://www.terrace.qld.edu.au/academic/lote/french/yr5lumi.htm) gave birth to Cinema at the Grand Cafe in Paris.

1937 ~ Death of Maurice Ravel (http://www.maurice-ravel.net/), French composer.

1951 ~ The Peak District (http://www.cressbrook.co.uk/visits/) became the UK’s first National Park.

1969 ~ Birthday of Linus Torvalds (http://www.answers.com/topic/linus-torvalds), Benevolent Dictator for Life of Linux (http://www.softpanorama.org/People/Torvalds/index.shtml).

1973 ~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn published Gulag Archipelago.

1983 ~ Death of Dennis Wilson (http://denniswilsonforever.wg-net.com/), the only Beach Boy who could surf.

2000 ~ Montgomery Ward announced it was going out of business (http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/wards-ourpage.html) after 128 years.

[jseal]

1170 ~ Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/becket.htm) by knights acting under the orders of Henry II.

1845 ~ Texas became the 28th state of the United States.

1851 ~ The first Young Men's Christian Association (http://www.ymcala.org/Upload/Form/1851-1901.html) (YMCA) in the U.S. opened in Boston.

1890 ~ Defeat at the Battle of Wounded Knee (http://ga.essortment.com/woundedkneewha_rqen.htm) effectively ended American Indian resistance to European settlement of the U.S.

1916 ~ Death of Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk.

1937 ~ The Constitution of Ireland, changing the Irish Free State into Eire (http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=322&HistoryID=aa31), went into effect.

1940 ~ The Luftwaffe began dropping incendiary bombs on London (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1229.html#article).

1975 ~ The UK's Sex Discrimination Act (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/29/newsid_2547000/2547249.stm) went into effect.

1989 ~ Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia.

1998 ~ Khmer Rouge (http://www.yale.edu/cgp/kr.html) leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives.

[jseal]

1691 ~ Death of Robert Boyle (http://archive.museophile.org/ox/univ-col/boyle-hooke.html), the first modern Chemist.

1853 ~ The U.S. bought some 45,000 sq miles of land from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase.

1879 ~ The Pirates of Penzance (http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pirates/html/index.html) was first performed.

1911 ~ Sun Yat-sen (http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/sunyat.html) was elected the first president of the Republic of China.

1922 ~ The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (http://www.history.com/media.do?id=tdih_dec30_broadband&action=clip) (USSR) was formed by the confederation of Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, and Transcaucasian Federation.

1924 ~ Edwin Hubble (http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_bio_001.htm) announced the existence of other galaxies.

1937 ~ Birthday of Gordon Banks, the best Goalkeeper ever.

1981 ~ Wayne Gretzky scored his 50th goal in 39 games.

1993 ~ Israel and the Vatican (http://philologos.org/bpr/files/Vatican/vs002a.htm) established diplomatic relations.

2006 ~ Saddam Hussein hanged (http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2006/12/31/he-is-already-history/) for crimes committed during his brutal reign.

[jseal]

404 ~ The last gladiatorial contest took place in Rome.

1879 ~ Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of an electric incandescent lamp.

1880 ~ Birthday of George Marshall (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1953/index.html), U.S. Secretary of State, recipient of 1953 Nobel Peace Prize.

1943 ~ Birthday of John Denver, Singer & Songwriter.

1960 ~ The farthing coin (http://www.treasurerealm.com/coinpapers/england/farthing.html) ceased to be legal tender.

1964 ~ One of my boyhood heroes, Donald Campbell set the world water speed record (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/31/newsid_3243000/3243010.stm), the only man to set both the world land and water speed records in the same year.

1980 ~ Death of Marshall McLuhan (http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html), Canadian writer.

1987 ~ Robert Mugabe (http://mugabe.netfirms.com/) sworn in as Zimbabwe's president.

1995 ~ The last new Calvin and Hobbes (http://calvinethobbes.free.fr/english/c_der.html) cartoon strip was published.

1999 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/31/newsid_4102000/4102107.stm). Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was designated acting president.

[jseal]

45 BC ~ Julian calendar (http://www.geocities.com/calendopaedia/julian.htm) went into effect.

1752 ~ Birthday of Betsy Ross, American seamstress.

1801 ~ Discovery of 1 Ceres (http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/asteroids_and_comets/ceres.html), first known asteroid.

1879 ~ Birthday of E. M. Forster (http://musicandmeaning.com/forster/), English novelist.

1892 ~ Ellis Island (http://www.nps.gov/elis/) began accepting immigrants to the U.S.

1895 ~ Birthday of J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director.

1901 ~ Establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia (Federation).

1983 ~ The ARPANET (http://www.dei.isep.ipp.pt/docs/arpa.html) officially changed to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.

1985 ~ The Internet's Domain Name System (http://www.dns.net/dnsrd/docs/whatis.html) created.

2002 ~ Euro banknotes and coins (http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/the_euro/the_euro6474_en.htm) became legal tender.

[jseal]

1727 ~ Birthday of James Wolfe (http://www.militaryheritage.com/wolfe.htm), British general in French and Indian War.

1808 ~ The U.S. Congress banned the importation of slaves.

1872 ~ Brigham Young (http://unicomm.byu.edu/about/brigham.aspx) was arrested for bigamy (25 wives).

1882 ~ John D. Rockefeller united his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h957.html).

1904 ~ Death of James Longstreet (http://www.civilwarhome.com/longbio.htm), Confederate general.

1905 ~ The Russian fleet surrender at Port Arthur, China brought the Russo-Japanese War to a close (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0102.html#article).

1920 ~ Birthday of Isaac Asimov (http://www.asimovonline.com/), Russian-born American science fiction author.

1929 ~ Canada and the United States agreed on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls.

1994 ~ Death of Dixy Lee Ray, governor of Washington State & chaired the Atomic Energy Commission.

1996 ~ U.S. peacekeepers arrive in Bosnia (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/2/newsid_2547000/2547285.stm).

[jseal]

106 BC ~ Birthday of Cicero (http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/cicero.htm), Roman Statesman & Philosopher.

1521 ~ Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther (http://www.pbs.org/empires/martinluther/).

1777 ~ General George Washington defeats General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1290.html).

1861 ~ Delaware voted to not secede from the United States.

1892 ~ Birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien (http://www.tolkiensociety.org/index.html), South African-born Writer & Philologist.

1945 ~ Birthday of Stephen Stills, American Singer, Songwriter, & Guitarist.

1956 ~ Birthday of Mel Gibson (http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Gibson,_Mel/Biography/), Australian Actor & Director.

1979 ~ Death of Conrad Hilton, American hotelier.

1959 ~ Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0103.html#article).

1993 ~ Presidents George Bush and Boris Yeltsin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/3/newsid_4114000/4114673.stm) signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow. (START).

[jseal]

1643 ~ Birthday of Isaac Newton (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.html), Scientist & Philosopher.

1785 ~ Birthday of Jakob Grimm, German philologist, elder half of the Grimm Brothers (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html).

1948 ~ Burma gained its independence from the UK.

1958 ~ Sputnik 1 burned up on reentry into Earth's atmosphere (launched 4 October, 1957).

1960 ~ Death of Albert Camus, French Philosopher & Writer.

1961 ~ Death of Erwin Schrödinger (http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1933/schrodinger-bio.html), Austrian Physicist, awarderd the Nobel Prize in Physics 1933.

1965 ~ Death of T.S. Eliot (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1948/eliot-bio.html), awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1948.

1965 ~ In his State of the Union address, President Johnson outlined his ''Great Society'' goals (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0104.html#article).

1967 ~ Donald Campbell died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/4/newsid_2728000/2728987.stm) while trying to break the water speed record.

2004 ~ The first of two NASA Mars Rovers, Spirit, landed successfully on Mars (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040104a.html).

[jseal]

1781 ~ British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold (http://www.benedictarnold.org/) burned Richmond, Virginia.

1914 ~ Ford Motor Company (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0105.html#article) announced a $10,000,000 employee give away, and the eight-hour workday.

1929 ~ Birthday of Walter Mondale, American Politician

1933 ~ Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge (http://goldengatebridge.org/research/dates.php) began in San Francisco Bay.

1952 ~ PM Churchill began his last visit to the U.S. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/5/newsid_3304000/3304505.stm)

1968 ~ The "Prague Spring" began in Czechoslovakia when Alexander Dubček (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDdubcek.htm) came to power.

1972 ~ President Nixon funded the Space Shuttle (http://www.spaceline.org/rocketsum/shuttle-program.html) program development .

1997 ~ Withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya.

2003 ~ Death of Roy Jenkins, British Politician.

2005 ~ Eris (http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/), the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, was discovered using images taken in 2003.

[Oldfart]

Is the horoscope being recalculated for Eris?

[jseal]

1412 ~ Birthday of Joan of Arc (http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_short_biography.html), Saint & French Patriot.

1822 ~ Birthday of Heinrich Schliemann, Archaeologist.

1838 ~ Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph, in Morristown, NJ.

1838 ~ Birthday of Max Bruch, German composer.

1884 ~ Death of Gregor Mendel (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10180b.htm), the father of genetics.

1918 ~ Death of Georg Cantor, German mathematician.

1942 ~ The Pan American Airways “Pacific Clipper (http://www.flyingclippers.com/panam.html)” returned to New York after making the first round-the-world trip by a commercial airplane.

1946 ~ William Joyce (http://www.heretical.com/British/joyce.html) (Lord Haw-Haw) hanged for treason.

1994 ~ Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/6/newsid_4095000/4095661.stm) at Cobo Arena in Detroit. Four men, including the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, were later sentenced to prison.

2005 ~ The first World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace (http://www.imamsrabbis.org/en/index/home).


Feastdays & Holidays

Latin Christianity - Epiphany (http://www.cresourcei.org/cyepiph.html).

[jseal]

Is the horoscope being recalculated for Eris?
Would it cahnge the results? :)

[jseal]

1610 ~ The astronomer Galileo Galilei sighted the four moons of Jupiter which are now known as the “Galilean moons (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/galdisc.htm)”.

1899 ~ Birthday of Francis Poulenc, French composer.

1916 ~ Birthday of Paul Keres (http://www.vm.ee/est/kat_29/3921.html), Estonian chess player.

1922 ~ Birthday of Jean-Pierre Rampal (http://www.nfaonline.org/resMuseum7.asp), French flutist.

1943 ~ Death of Nikola Tesla (http://www.teslasociety.com/biography.htm), Inventor & Electrical Engineer.

1953 ~ President Truman, in his State of the Union address, announced that the U.S. had developed a hydrogen bomb (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Library/Teller.html).

1979 ~ Vietnamese forces captured Phnom Penh (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0107.html#article), the Cambodian capital, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government.

1980 ~ The Carter Administration authorized giving a $1.5 billion loan to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

1990 ~ The Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed to the public.

1999 ~ President Clinton's impeachment trial began (http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/e-gov/e-politicalarchive-Clintonimpeach.htm) in the Senate. (He was later acquitted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.)

[jseal]

1642 ~ Death of Galileo Galilei (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Galileo.html), Astronomer.

1735 ~ Birthday of John Carroll, first Roman Catholic Archbishop in the U.S.

1918 ~ President Wilson announced his "Fourteen Points (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0108.html#article)" for the aftermath of World War I.

1925 ~ Birthday of Gerald Durrell (http://www.durrellwildlife.org/index.cfm?a=7), Naturalist & Writer.

1926 ~ Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud (http://www.toursaudiarabia.com/ibn-saud.html) became the King of Saudi Arabia.

1942 ~ Birthday of Stephen Hawking (http://www.hawking.org.uk/about/aindex.html), English theoretical physicist.

1958 ~ Bobby Fischer (http://www.chess-poster.com/great_players/fischer.htm) won the U.S. Chess Championship.

1994 ~ Valeri Polyakov began his record setting 437 days in space.

1996 ~ Death of Francois Mitterrand, French president.

1999 ~ Cosmologists announced that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing (http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000108/bob10.asp).

[jseal]

1793 ~ Jean-Pierre Blanchard became the first person to fly in a balloon in the U.S.

1839 ~ The Daguerreotype photography (http://www.daguerre.org/home.php) process publicly demonstrated.

1861 ~ The "Star of the West" was fired upon as it attempted to deliver supplies to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. This was the "Casus belli" of the American Civil War.

1861 ~ Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union.

1903 ~ Hallam Tennyson (http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/governors-general.htm), son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, became the second Governor-General of Australia.

1913 ~ Birthday of Richard Nixon (http://www.nixonfoundation.org/), U.S. President.

1941 ~ Birthday of Joan Baez (http://www.joanbaez.com/), Singer & Activist.

1951 ~ United Nations headquarters (http://www.inetours.com/New_York/Pages/United_Nations.html) officially opened.

1968 ~ The Surveyor 7 space probe (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0109.html#article) made a soft landing on the moon,.

2005 ~ Mahmoud Abbas won (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/9/newsid_4514000/4514342.stm) the election for a successor to Yasser Arafat.

[jseal]

1776 ~ Thomas Paine published Common Sense (http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/).

1862 ~ Death of Samuel Colt, Inventor.

1927 ~ The film Metropolis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NarN046dDOQ) by Fritz Lang premiered.

1929 ~ Tintin (http://www.tintinologist.org/), a comic book character created by Hergé, made his debut.

1945 ~ Birthday of Rod Stewart, English Rocker.

1946 ~ The first General Assembly of the United Nations (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0110.html#article) convened in London.

1949 ~ Birthday of Linda Lovelace (http://web.archive.org/web/20060205122958/completelindalovelace.com/html/intro.html), Pornographic Actress.

1951 ~ Death of Sinclair Lewis, Author.

1994 ~ Lorena Bobbitt went on trial (http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/sexual_assault/severed_penis/) for cutting off the penis of her husband John.

2003 ~ North Korea withdrew from a global treaty barring it from making nuclear weapons.


Feastdays & Holidays

Islamic New Year (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/shows/iran/map2.html)

[Oldfart]

In the spirit of Strange Days, http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~yeli23/Flash/Fire.html

[jseal]

Pretty cool. Thank you!

[Oldfart]

Sad how much of that is living memory for many of us. I saw sputnik1 as a small child.

[jseal]

1693 ~ Eruption of Mt. Etna (http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/current_volcs/etna/).

1787 ~ William Herschel discovered the first two moons of Uranus, Titania & Oberon (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm).

1801 ~ Death of Domenico Cimarosa, Italian Composer.

1843 ~ Death of Francis Scott Key, Lawyer.

1935 ~ Amelia Earhart (http://www.ameliaearhart.com/home.php) began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0111.html#article).

1938 ~ Birthday of Arthur Scargill (http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/yourview21_scargill_fantasy.htm), Union Leader.

1962 ~ An avalanche in Peru (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/11/newsid_3306000/3306665.stm) killed some 4,000 people.

1964 ~ U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry (http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/history/bioterry.htm) issued the first government report saying smoking may be hazardous to one's health.

1973 ~ American League baseball teams voted to adopt the designated-hitter rule on a trial basis.

1980 ~ Nigel Short (http://www.chessgames.com/player/nigel_short.html) became the youngest chess player, at 14 years old, to be awarded the degree of International Master.

[jseal]

1665 ~ Death of Pierre de Fermat, Mathematician.

1893 ~ Birthday of Hermann Göring (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWgoring.htm), Nazi official.

1915 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives defeated (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0112.html#article) a proposal to give women the right to vote.

1969 ~ On a day that will be long remembered in infamy, Joe Namath and the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III, and became the first team from the American Football League to win American Football's championship.

1976 ~ Death of Agatha Christie (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/christie.htm), Mystery Writer.

1991 ~ U.S. Congress authorized the use of military force (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/12/newsid_4534000/4534588.stm) to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.

1992 ~ In the film ”2001: A Space Odyssey”, the computer HAL 9000 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/quotes) was activated on this date.

2003 ~ Death of Maurice Gibb (http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/12/bee.gee/index.html), Bee Gee.

2003 ~ Death of Leopoldo Galtieri (http://www.guardian.co.uk/argentina/story/0,,873601,00.html), Dictator of Argentina.

2006 ~ A stampede broke out during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, killing 363 people.

[jseal]

1599 ~ Death of Edmund Spenser (http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenser/main.htm), Poet (The Faerie Queene (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/fqintro.html)).

1929 ~ Death of Wyatt Earp.

1941 ~ Death of James Joyce, Writer.

1942 ~ The United States began Japanese American internment (http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/anthropology74/index.htm).

1948 ~ Death of James Joyce, Irish novelist (Dubliners, Ulysses, Finnegans Wake).

1966 ~ Robert Weaver (http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/Ampres/essays/lbjohnson/cabinet/601?PHPSESSID=93e9f646ffab76297a45ed2d721f9893) became the first black Cabinet member as he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Johnson.

1978 ~ Death of Hubert H. Humphrey (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=h000953), U.S. Vice President & Minnesota Senator.

1990 ~ Douglas Wilder took office as the first elected African American governor (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0113.html#article).

1992 ~ Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves (http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~soh/cw-links.htm) for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

1993 ~ American, British and French (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/13/newsid_2554000/2554275.stm) fighter jets bomb Iraq.

[jseal]

83 BC ~ Birthday of Marcus Antonius (Marc Anthony), Roman politician.

1784 ~ The Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/wharton/parisrat.htm), formally ending the American War of Independence.

1857 ~ Birthday of Albert Schweitzer (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1952/schweitzer-bio.html), Christian Missionary & winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 1952.

1898 ~ Death of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Dodgson.html) - who wrote ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' under the pen name Lewis Carroll, Writer & Mathematician.

1943 ~ President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill opened a wartime conference in Casablanca (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0114.html#article).

1954 ~ Baseball player Joe Dimaggio and actress Marilyn Monroe were married at San Francisco City Hall.

1957 ~ Death of Humphrey Bogart (http://www.humphreybogart.com/), Actor.

1978 ~ Death of Kurt Gödel (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Godel.html), Mathematician.

1993 ~ Whitewater prosecutors questioned first lady Hillary Clinton at the White House about the gathering of FBI background files on past Republican political appointees.

2005 ~ The Huygens probe (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm) landed on Saturn's moon Titan.

[jseal]

1892 ~ James Naismith published the rules for basketball.

1908 ~ Birthday of Edward Teller (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0910-03.htm), Physicist.

1918 ~ Birth of Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt.

1929 ~ Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html), Civil Rights leader, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1964.

1951 ~ The "Bitch of Buchenwald (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/ikoch.html)", Ilse Koch, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

1953 ~ East German authorities began a purge of senior Jewish officials (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/15/newsid_4094000/4094899.stm).

1967 ~ The first Super Bowl (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0115.html#article) was played.

1973 ~ President Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.

1983 ~ Death of Meyer Lansky (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/lansky/index_1.html), mobster.

1996 ~ Death of Minnesota Fats (http://billiards.about.com/od/halloffamegreats/p/09_04_13fats.htm), American Billiards player.

[Oldfart]

A particular mix of the great and the ghastly.

[jseal]

1605 ~ The first edition of “Don Quixote (http://www.online-literature.com/cervantes/don_quixote/)” by Miguel de Cervantes was published in Madrid.

1794 ~ Death of Edward Gibbon, Historian.

1909 ~ Ernest Shackleton's expedition (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/surviving/quest.html) found the magnetic South Pole.

1920 ~ Prohibition began in the U.S. (http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm) as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution took effect.

1923 ~ Birthday of Dian Fossey, American zoologist.

1970 ~ Muammar al-Qaddafi (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/16/newsid_3359000/3359461.stm) was proclaimed premier of Libya.

1977 ~ The Marx Brothers were inducted into the Motion Picture Hall of Fame (http://www.filmfame.com/).

1979 ~ The Shah of Iran went into exile in Egypt.

1991 ~ The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0116.html#article).

2003 ~ The Space Shuttle Columbia took off on its final mission, STS-107 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVoHb_aqw_o).

[jseal]

1893 ~ Hawaii's monarchy was overthrown when Queen Liliuokalani was forced to abdicate (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0117.html#article).

1899 ~ Birthday of Nevil Shute (http://www.nevilshute.org/index.php), Author.

1929 ~ Popeye the Sailor Man (http://www.math.pitt.edu/~bard/bardware/popeye/popeye.html) first appeared in the "Thimble Theatre" comic strip.

1942 ~ Birthday of Muhammad Ali (http://www.ali.com/), the world's greatest heavyweight Boxer.

1964 ~ Death of T.H. White, author.

1977 ~ Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was executed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/17/newsid_2530000/2530413.stm) at Utah State Prison in the first U.S. execution in a decade.

1994 ~ A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Southern California at least 61 people were killed with $20 billion worth of damage.

1995 ~ A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the city of Kobe, Japan; more than 6,000 people were killed.

1997 ~ Death of Clyde Tombaugh (http://www.klx.com/clyde/), discoverer of the planet Pluto.

2001 ~ Faced with an electricity crisis, California used rolling blackouts to cut off power (http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdoc.cfm?index=3062) to hundreds of thousands of people.

[jseal]

1535 ~ Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro (http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/pizarro/pizarro_flat.html).

1779 ~ Birthday of Peter Roget (http://www.connected-earth.com/Galleries/Pioneersandpersonalities/R/Roget/), Lexicographer.

1882 ~ Birthday of A. A. Milne (http://www.just-pooh.com/milne.html), Author.

1892 ~ Birthday of Oliver Hardy (http://members.aol.com/GoodTurn1/olhardy.htm), Comedian & Actor.

1936 ~ Death of Rudyard Kipling, Writer & Poet

1944 ~ The New York Met hosted its first jazz concert.Among the performers were Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, and Artie Shaw.

1944 ~ Birthday of Paul Keating (http://www.keating.org.au/), twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia.

1967 ~ The “Boston Strangler” was convicted in Cambridge, Mass., of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses.

1990 ~ Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/tours/scandal/barry.htm).

1991 ~ Iraq attacked Tel Aviv and Haifa (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/18/newsid_4588000/4588486.stm) with Scud missiles.

[jseal]

1807 ~ Birthday of Robert E. Lee (http://www.robertelee.org/), General, Army of Northern Virginia, CSA.

1809 ~ Birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (http://www.eapoe.org/), Poet & short story Author.

1839 ~ Birthday of Paul Cézanne (http://www.expo-cezanne.com/index.cfm), Painter.

1853 ~ Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premiered.

1937 ~ Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0119.html#article) by flying from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in just under 7 ½ hours.

1943 ~ Birthday of Janis Joplin, Blues/Rock Singer.

1966 ~ Indira Gandhi (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/19/newsid_3745000/3745625.stm) was elected prime minister of India.

1977 ~ President Gerald Ford pardoned Tokyo Rose.

1983 ~ The Apple Lisa (http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/reach/435/lisa.htm), the first commercial personal computer to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, was announced..

1983 ~ Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie (http://www.archives.gov/iwg/research-papers/barbie-irr-file.html) was arrested in Bolivia.

[jseal]

1907 ~ Death of Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian Chemist and inventor of the Periodic table.

1920 ~ Birthday of Federico Fellini (http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/fellini.html), Italian film director.

1930 ~ Birthday of Buzz Aldrin, Astronaut.

1942 ~ Nazi officials arrived at a ''final solution (http://www.ghwk.de/engl/kopfengl.htm)'' to Europe's Jewry, during a conference at Lake Wannsee in Berlin.

1961 ~ John F. Kennedy sworn in (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/20/newsid_2506000/2506929.stm) as U.S. President.

1967 ~ The first pulsar (http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/pulsars/pulsars.html) was discovered.

1981 ~ The American hostages held by Iran (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0120.html#article) were released following Ronald Reagan’s inauguration.

1984 ~ Death of Johnny Weissmuller, Olympic swimming gold medalist & Actor (Tarzan).

1986 ~ Britain and France announced plans to build the Channel Tunnel (http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/tunnel.htm).

1993 ~ Death of Audrey Hepburn (http://www.audreyhepburn.com/), actress.

[jseal]

1793 ~ King Louis XVI of France, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine.

1924 ~ Death of Vladimir Lenin (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0121.html#article), first leader of the U.S.S.R.

1941 ~ Birthday of Plácido Domingo (http://www.placidodomingo.com/index.php?id_kunden=196), tenor Opera Singer.

1950 ~ Death of George Orwell (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/21/newsid_2669000/2669789.stm), Writer.

1950 ~ A federal jury in New York City found former State Department official Alger Hiss guilty of perjury (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Alger_Hiss).

1954 ~ The USS Nautilus (http://www.ssn571.com/), the world’s first nuclear powered submarine, was launched.

1959 ~ Death of Cecil B. DeMille, Movie Director.

1968 ~ Start of the Battle of Khe Sanh (http://www.historynet.com/magazines/vietnam/8189002.html?featured=y&c=y).

1998 ~ Pope John Paul II (http://www.zpub.com/un/pope/pope-cuba.html) began his first visit to Cuba.

2003 ~ The U.S. Census Bureau announced that Hispanics had surpassed blacks as America's largest minority group.

[Oldfart]

There is a song by an Aussie Band (a long gone icon called Cold Chisel) titled Khe Sanh. A powerful lyric about returning Oz vets from VietNam. Yes, we were there too.

[jseal]

1788 ~ Birthday of Lord Byron (http://englishhistory.net/byron/contents.html), Poet.

1840 ~ British colonists reached New Zealand.

1879 ~ Zulu troops defeated British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana (http://battlefields.kzn.org.za/battlefields/about/193.xml).

1909 ~ Birthday of U Thant, 3rd UN Secretary General.

1953 ~ "The Crucible (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_CRU.HTM)", a drama by Arthur Miller, opened on Broadway.

1970 ~ The Boeing 747 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/22/newsid_3725000/3725963.stm) went on its first regularly scheduled commercial flight, from New York to London.

1973 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court, in the Roe vs. Wade (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0122.html#article) decision, legalized abortions, using a trimester approach.

1973 ~ Death of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th U.S. President.

1984 ~ The Apple Macintosh was introduced with the famous television commercial "1984 (http://www.uriahcarpenter.info/1984.html)" (requires QuickTime and patience [but is generally considered among the better commercials in history]).

1992 ~ Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman astronaut (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=22).

[jseal]

1789 ~ Georgetown College (http://www.georgetown.edu/), founded by Archbishop John Carroll, became the first Catholic, Jesuit college in the U.S.

1832 ~ Birthday of Edouard Manet (http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg90/gg90-main1.html), Impressionist artist.

1849 ~ Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive a medical degree, from the Medical Institution of Geneva, N.Y.

1857 ~ Birthday of Andrija Mohorovičić (http://www.istrianet.org/istria/illustri/mohorovicic/), Croatian seismologist.

1862 ~ Birthday of David Hilbert, Mathematician.

1968 ~ North Korea seized the USS Pueblo (http://www.usspueblo.org/), charging it had intruded into the communist nation's territorial waters on a spying mission. The crew was held for 11 months.

1973 ~ President Nixon appeared on national television to announce "peace with honor" in Vietnam (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0123.html#article).

1989 ~ Death of Salvador Dalí, Artist.

2002 ~ Daniel Pearl (http://www.danielpearl.org/) was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan.

2004 ~ Death of Bob Keeshan (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/keeshanbob/keeshanbob.htm), TV's “Captain Kangaroo”.

[jseal]

1776 ~ Birthday of E.T.A. Hoffmann (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hoffman.htm), Poet & Composer.

1888 ~ Birthday of Ernst Heinkel, aircraft designer.

1908 ~ The first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell (http://users.aol.com/randywoo/bsahis/b-p.htm).

1927 ~ Alfred Hitchcock released his first film, “The Pleasure Garden”.

1945 ~ Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz.

1961 ~ Marilyn Monroe divorced Arthur Miller (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/24/newsid_4588000/4588212.stm).

1965 ~ Death of Winston Churchill (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0124.html#article), Englishman.

1984 ~ The Apple Macintosh went on sale (http://static.hugi.is/misc/movies/1984macintro.mov). Only 24 years ago! [requires QuickTime – worth the wait]

1993 ~ Death of Thurgood Marshall (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/96/), U.S. Supreme Court justice.

2003 ~ The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm) officially began operation.

[jseal]

1627 ~ Birthday of Robert Boyle, Chemist.

1759 ~ Birthday of Robert Burns (http://www.rabbie-burns.com/index.cfm), Poet.

1882 ~ Birthday of Virginia Woolf, Writer.

1890 ~ Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world/).

1919 ~ The League of Nations was founded.

1947 ~ Death of Al Capone (http://www.crimelibrary.com/capone/caponemain.htm), Gangster.

1971 ~ General Idi Amin becomes Ugandan President Idi Amin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/25/newsid_2506000/2506423.stm) after a coup.

1977 ~ Rene Levesque told a Wall Street audience at the Economic Club of New York that “separation is inevitable (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=25)”.

1998 ~ During his visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II (http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_pontificato_en.html#1998) called for the release of political prisoners and political reforms and also condemned American isolation of the country.

2004 ~ Opportunity landed on Mars (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/).

[jseal]

1885 ~ Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquered Khartoum.

1905 ~ The Cullinan Diamond (http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/cullinandiamonds.html) was found near Pretoria, South Africa.

1905 ~ Birthday of Maria von Trapp (http://www.myfavouritethings.homestead.com/mariastory.html), Singer.

1925 ~ Birthday of Paul Newman, Actor.

1961 ~ Birthday of Wayne Gretzky (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=26), Canadian hockey Player, Coach, Owner.

1972 ~ Death of Mahalia Jackson (http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_saa_mahaliajackson.html), Gospel Music (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4590574.stm) singer.

1988 ~ The musical "Phantom of the Opera (http://www.playbill.com/features/article/97206.html)", by Andrew Lloyd Webber opened at Broadway's Majestic Theater.

1996 ~ First lady Hillary Clinton testified before a grand jury connected to the Whitewater probe (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0852144.html).

1998 ~ U.S. President Clinton denied on television he had "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_2672000/2672291.stm).

2005 ~ Following her confirmation by the Senate, Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State.

Feastdays & Holidays

Australia~ Australia Day (http://www.australiaday.gov.au/)

[jseal]

1606 ~ The trial of Guy Fawkes and other Gunpowder Plot (http://www.gunpowder-plot.org/) conspirators began.

1756 ~ Birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (http://www.mozarteum.at/default.asp?SID=504677259184315&deflng=en), Composer.

1832 ~ Birthday of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (http://www.cs.indiana.edu/metastuff/wonder/wonderdir.html)” under the pen name Lewis Carroll.

1901 ~ Death of Giuseppe Verdi, Composer.

1945 ~ The Red Army liberated the concentration camp at Auschwitz (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/27/newsid_3520000/3520986.stm) in southern Poland.

1967 ~ More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Treaties/Treaty4.shtml).

1967 ~ Astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee were killed (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0127.html#article) in a fire during a test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft.

1977 ~ The Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests.

1997 ~ It was revealed that French museums had retained nearly 2,000 pieces of art stolen by Nazis.

1998 ~ U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton called the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy (http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/27/hillary.today/)" on the “Today Show”.

[jseal]

1521 ~ The Diet of Worms (http://www.answers.com/topic/diet-of-worms) began.

1574 ~ Death of Henry VIII (http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page19.asp), King of England.

1596 ~ Death of Sir Francis Drake, Explorer & Soldier.

1788 ~ The first penal colony was established at Botany Bay (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/convicts/), Australia.

1822 ~ Birthday of Alexander Mackenzie (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=28), Prime Minister of Canada.

1887 ~ Birthday of Artur Rubinstein, Polish Pianist.

1935 ~ Iceland became the first country to legalize abortion.

1939 ~ Death of William Butler Yeats, Writer.

1986 ~ Space Shuttle Challenger exploded (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0128.html#article) just after takeoff killing all seven astronauts onboard.

2004 ~ Lord Hutton published his report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/03/hutton_inquiry/hutton_report/html/chapter01.stm) into the death of Dr. David Kelly.

Feastdays & Holidays

Catholicism ~ Feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www.stthomasu.ca/publications/transitions/jan2002/aquinas.htm).

[jseal]

1845 ~ Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven (http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html)" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.

1856 ~ Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross (http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/vcross.htm).

1880 ~ Birthday of W.C. Fields, Actor.

1933 ~ Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWhindenburg.htm).

1936 ~ The first members of baseball's Hall of Fame (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/), including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y.

1956 ~ Death of H. L. Mencken, Journalist.

1962 ~ Death of Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist.

1963 ~ Death of Robert Frost (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0129.html#article), Poet.

1996 ~ France ended nuclear testing (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_4665000/4665676.stm).

2002 ~ In his State of the Union Address, President Bush coined the term "Axis of Evil (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html)".

[jseal]

1649 ~ King Charles I of England was beheaded.

1862 ~ The first Union ironclad warship, the USS Monitor (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/monitor/) was launched.

1933 ~ The first episode of the ''Lone Ranger'' radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.

1937 ~ Birthday of Boris Spassky (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/spassky/spassky.htm), World Chess Champion.

1948 ~ Mahatma Gandhi (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0130.html#article) was assassinated.

1968 ~ Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese soldiers launched the Tet offensive (http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/dialogue/hayward-tet.html#2r).

1969 ~ Last public performance by The Beatles.

1972 ~ Thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/30/newsid_2452000/2452145.stm)”.

1991 ~ The first major ground battle of the Gulf War (http://militaryphotos.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-29251.html) was fought at the frontier port of Al Khafji in Saudi Arabia.

2003 ~ Richard Reid (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,203478,00.html), the "Shoe bomber" jailed for life.

[jseal]

1606 ~ Guy Fawkes (http://www.britannia.com/history/g-fawkes.html) was executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot.

1797 ~ Birthday of Franz Schubert, Composer.

1865 ~ The U.S. House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0131.html#article).

1919 ~ Birthday of Jackie Robinson, Baseball Player & Barrier Breaker.

1929 ~ The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/index.htm).

1950 ~ President Harry S. Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb (http://www.nvr.org/pres_content.php?pro=pres&sec=timeline&subsec=3).

1956 ~ Death of A. A. Milne, Author (Winnie the Pooh).

1958 ~ James Van Allen discovered the Van Allen radiation belt (http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/FAQs2.html#q16).

1990 ~ George Cohon (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jan&day=31) opened McDonald's Corp. first Moscow restaurant in Pushkin Square.

1996 ~ An explosives-filled truck rammed into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/31/newsid_4083000/4083095.stm), Sri Lanka killing 91 and injuring 1,400.

[jseal]

1851 ~ Death of Mary Shelley, English Author (Frankenstein).

1896 ~ Puccini’s opera La Bohème (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/bohem/tlaboheme.html) premiered in Turin.

1920 ~ The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=01) was established.

1929 ~ Frenchman Charles Rigoulet became the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181 kg) in the "clean and jerk" method.

1960 ~ Four black college students began a sit-in protest against racial segregation at a lunch counter (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0201.html#article) in Greensboro, N.C., where they'd been refused service.

1979 ~ Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran.

1979 ~ Patty Hearst (http://www.answers.com/topic/patty-hearst), whose prison sentence for bank robbery had been commuted by President Jimmy Carter, left a federal prison near San Francisco.

2003 ~ Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1/newsid_3416000/3416589.stm) upon reentry killing all seven astronauts.

2004 ~ Hundreds of people were killed and injured in a stampede (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/01/12/hajj.stampede/index.html) duringthe Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

2004 ~ Super Bowl XXXVIII: One team defeated the other team, 32-29. During the half-time show Janet Jackson's right breast was bared (http://www.staticusers.net/janet-jackson-superbowl-breast/janet-jackson-superbowl-photo-stills.shtml).

[jseal]

1709 ~ Alexander Selkirk (http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_18c/defoe/selkirk.html) was rescued from a desert island, inspiring the book “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe.

1870 ~ The Cardiff Giant (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Cardiff_Giant/) - supposedly the petrified remains of a human discovered in Cardiff, N.Y. - was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum.

1875 ~ Birthday of Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist.

1887 ~ In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day was observed.

1905 ~ Birthday of Ayn Rand (http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ayn_rand_aynrand_biography), Writer, Philosopher.

1943 ~ The German 6th Army surrendered at Stalingrad (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0202.html#article).

1969 ~ Death of Boris Karloff, English actor.

1970 ~ Death of Bertrand Russell (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1950/russell-bio.html), Mathematician & Philosopher.

1990 ~ At the opening of Parliament in Cape Town, President FW de Klerk announced the dismantling of apartheid (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/2/newsid_2524000/2524997.stm) in South Africa..

Feastdays & Holidays

U.S. & Canada – Groundhog Day (http://www.stormfax.com/ghogday.htm)

[jseal]

1809 ~ Birthday of Felix Mendelssohn, Composer.

1870 ~ The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html) was ratified.

1874 ~ Birthday of Gertrude Stein (http://ellensplace.net/gstein1.html), Writer.

1894 ~ Birthday of Norman Rockwell, Illustrator.

1907 ~ Birthday of James Michener, American author.

1917 ~ The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0203.html#article) after Germany announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

1947 ~ You want winter weather? You want COLD? Snag, Yukon recorded a temperature of -62.8°C, the lowest official temperature ever measured in Canada (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007500).

1947 ~ Birthday of Melanie Safka (http://www.melaniesmusic.com/index.html), Singer.

1959 ~ Rock 'n' Roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash. Don McLean immortalized the tragedy in “American Pie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHkT2YfqHE4)”.

1966 ~ The Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled landing on the Moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/3/newsid_4063000/4063471.stm).

[jseal]

1789 ~ George Washington was unanimously elected by the Electoral College to be the first President of the United States.

1861 ~ In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America (http://www.worldstatesmen.org/US_govt_CSA.html) was formed by delegates from six break-away United States.

1902 ~ Birthday of Charles Lindbergh (http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/), U.S. aviator.

1906 ~ Birthday of Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer.

1913 ~ Birthday of Rosa Parks, U.S. civil rights activist.

1928 ~ Death of Hendrik Lorentz (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1902/lorentz-bio.html), Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate.

1974 ~ The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0204.html#article) in Berkeley, California.

1987 ~ Death of Liberace, "Mr. Showmanship (http://www.liberace.org/liberace_biography/)".

1997 ~ O. J. Simpson was found to be civilly liable (http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/04/simpson.verdict1/index.html) for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

1998 ~ A magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit northeast Afghanistan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/4/newsid_2534000/2534279.stm), killing an estimated 5,000 people.

[jseal]

1878 ~ Birthday of André-Gustave Citroën (http://www.autonews.com/files/euroauto/inductees/citroen.htm), automobile pioneer.

1897 ~ The Indiana House of Representatives passed a measure redefining the area of a circle and the value of π (http://pi.ytmnd.com/). The bill died in the state Senate.

1917 ~ The U.S. Congress passed, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, a law severely curtailing the immigration of Asians.

1919 ~ Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith created United Artists (http://www.answers.com/topic/united-artists).

1924 ~ The Royal Greenwich Observatory (http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server.php?show=conWebDoc.13496&navId=005000002) began to broadcast hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".

1934 ~ Birthday of Hank Aaron, Athlete.

1937 ~ President Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0205.html#article); critics charged Roosevelt was attempting to "pack" the court.

1958 ~ A hydrogen bomb was lost by the U.S. Air Force (http://www.tybeetyme.com/tb/index.htm) off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.

1962 ~ French President Charles De Gaulle called for Algerian independence.

1982 ~ Laker Airways collapsed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/5/newsid_2535000/2535297.stm) owing £270 million to banks and other creditors.

[jseal]

1840 ~ Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, founding document of New Zealand.

1895 ~ Birthday of Babe Ruth (http://www.baberuth.com/flash/about/biograph.html), Athlete.

1913 ~ Birthday of Mary Leakey (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0006E1CC-7860-1C76-9B81809EC588EF21), Anthropologist.

1922 ~ Birthday of Patrick Macnee, British actor (John Steed in 'The Avengers').

1952 ~ The UK’s King George VI died (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0206.html#article); he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.

1959 ~ Jack Kilby (http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/jackbuilt.shtml) of Texas Instruments filed the first patent for an integrated circuit.

1971 ~ Alan Shepard became the first man to hit a golf ball on the Moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/6/newsid_4093000/4093061.stm).

1983 ~ Former Gestapo commandant Klaus Barbie extradited to France (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/6/newsid_4149000/4149443.stm) from Bolivia to stand trial for war crimes.

1993 ~ Death of Arthur Ashe (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/features/1997/arthurashe/biography.html), Athlete.

2004 ~ An explosion in a Moscow subway car during rush hour killed 41 people in a terrorist attack blamed on Chechen separatists.

[jseal]

1812 ~ Birthday of Charles Dickens, Novelist.

1834 ~ Birthday of Dmitri Mendeleev, chemist and inventor of the Periodic table of the chemical elements.

1883 ~ Birthday of Eubie Blake (http://www.eubieblake.org/), Musician, Composer.

1885 ~ Birthday of Sinclair Lewis (http://www.english.ilstu.edu/separry/sinclairlewis/), Author.

1905 ~ The Great Baltimore Fire (http://www.mdch.org/fire/) destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.

1964 ~ The Beatles arrived in New York (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/7/newsid_4185000/4185201.stm) for their first American tour, touching off rock 'n' roll's “British invasion”.

1971 ~ Women became entitled to vote in Switzerland.

1984 ~ Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0207.html#article).

1990 ~ The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) agreed to let other political parties compete for control of the country, thereby giving up its monopoly on power.

1992 ~ The European Union (http://europa.eu.int/abc/treaties/index_en.htm) was formed.

[jseal]

1587 ~ Mary, Queen of Scots was executed.

1828 ~ Birthday of Jules Verne, Author.

1855 ~ The Devil's Footprints (http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/fortean/devils_foot.html) mysteriously appeared in southern Devon.

1910 ~ The Boy Scouts of America (http://www.scouting.org/media/anniversary/history.html) was incorporated by William D. Boyce.

1925 ~ Birthday of Jack Lemmon, Actor.

1932 ~ Birthday of John Williams (http://www.johnwilliams.org/reference/biography.html), Composer & Conductor.

1952 ~ Princess Elizabeth proclaimed herself Queen (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/8/newsid_2536000/2536619.stm).

1957 ~ Death of John von Neumann (http://www.nas.edu/history/members/neumann.html), Mathematician.

1993 ~ General Motors sued NBC, alleging that the program "Dateline NBC" had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html). NBC settled the lawsuit the following day.

1996 ~ President Clinton signed the Communications Decency Act (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0208.html#article) at the Library of Congress.

[jseal]

1825 ~ After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams President (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ja6.html).

1861 ~ The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America elected Jefferson Davis president and Alexander H. Stephens vice president.[/URL].

1881 ~ Death of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Author.

1900 ~ Davis Cup competition established.

1906 ~ Death of Paul Laurence Dunbar (http://www.dunbarsite.org/), Poet.

1910 ~ Birthday of Jacques Monod (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1965/monod-bio.html), biochemist, winner of 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

1943 ~ American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0209.html#article).

1950 ~ Senator Joseph McCarthy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/9/newsid_3703000/3703305.stm) charged that the U.S. State Department was infested with Communists.

1971 ~ Satchel Paige (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_negro_leagues_profile.jsp?player=paige_satchel) became the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1984 ~ Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/andropov/) died at age 69, less than 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev.

[jseal]

1837 ~ Death of Aleksandr Pushkin, Russian Poet & Novelist.

1840 ~ Queen Victoria (http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page118.asp) of the United Kingdom married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Albert_of_Saxe_Coburg_Gotha.html).

1890 ~ Birthday of Boris Pasternak (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1958/pasternak-bio.html), Poet, winner of the 1958 Nobel Prize in literature.

1898 ~ Birthday of Bertolt Brecht, Author.

1927 ~ Birthday of Leontyne Price (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Price-Leontyn.htm), Soprano.

1933 ~ The first singing telegram was introduced by the Postal Telegram Co. in New York. Sic transit gloria mundi (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4674782.stm).

1962 ~ Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0210.html#article).

1996 ~ Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov (http://www.uschess.org/results/tnmt/96kdb/) for the first time. :(

2005 ~ Death of Arthur Miller (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/miller_a.html), playwright .

2007 ~ Sen. Barack Obama announced his bid for president.

[jseal]

1650 ~ Death of René Descartes (http://www.iep.utm.edu/d/descarte.htm), Philosopher.

1898 ~ Birthday of Leó Szilárd, Physicist & Peace Activist.

1938 ~ BBC Television produced the first science fiction television program, an adaptation of the Karel Capek play R.U.R. (http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/RUR-Capek-1920.htm) (This play coined the term 'robot.')

1941 ~ Birthday of Sergio Mendes, Brazilian musician (Brazil '66 (http://www.brasil66.com/)).

1945 ~ President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0211.html#article).

1961 ~ The trial of Adolf Eichmann (http://www.remember.org/eichmann/) began in Jerusalem.

1978 ~ China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.

1979 ~ Followers of Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, after the religious leader returned to his home after his exile.

1986 ~ Death of Frank Herbert (http://www.dunenovels.com/bios/frank.html), Science Fiction author.

1990 ~ South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/11/newsid_2539000/2539947.stm).

[jseal]

1804 ~ Death of Immanuel Kant (http://www.friesian.com/kant.htm), German Philosopher.

1809 ~ Birthday of Charles Darwin (http://www.aboutdarwin.com/), Naturalist.

1893 ~ Birthday of Omar Bradley, General.

1924 ~ George Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWH2OdC9WI8&feature=related)'' premiered in New York City.

1938 ~ Anschluss: German troops enter Austria (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-austria.htm).

1942 ~ Birthday of Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel.

1994 ~ Edvard Munch's "The Scream" was stolen (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/12/newsid_3591000/3591994.stm) from a museum in Norway.

1999 ~ The U.S. Senate voted to acquit President Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

2000 ~ Death of Charles M. Schulz (http://www.animationusa.com/resources/aboutschulz.html), creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip.

2002 ~ The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic (http://www.c-span.org/milosevic/) began in The Hague.

[IowaMan]

I'm too lazy to actually look it up but according to The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, on this date in 1983 Michael Jackson's Thriller album was released.

[jseal]

1883 ~ Death of Richard Wagner (http://www.trell.org/wagner/), Composer.

1923 ~ Birthday of Chuck Yeager, pilot of first supersonic flight.

1935 ~ A jury found Bruno Hauptmann guilty (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0213.html#article) of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.

1945 ~ The RAF & USAAF created a firestorm in Dresden (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWdresden.htm), Germany which killed tens of thousands of civilians.

1960 ~ France tested its first nuclear weapon. (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/France/FranceOrigin.html)

1974 ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in literature, was exiled from the Soviet Union.

1988 ~ Winter Olympic Games opened in Calgary (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=13), Alberta.

1991 ~ Hundreds of Iraqi civilians were killed when a pair of laser-guided bombs destroyed an underground facility in Baghdad (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_2541000/2541107.stm) identified by U.S. officials as a military installation, but which Iraqi officials said was a bomb shelter.

1997 ~ Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope (http://www.cosmiclight.com/imagegalleries/hst.htm) performed by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

2002 ~ Death of Waylon Jennings, American musician.

[jseal]

1766 ~ Birthday of Thomas Malthus (http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/malthus/malthus.0.html), Economist.

1779 ~ James Cook was killed by the natives of the Sandwich Islands.

1895 ~ First performance of Oscar Wilde's last play "The Importance of Being Earnest (http://www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Wilde/earnest/)”.

1929 ~ The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0214.html#article) took place in a Chicago garage.

1945 ~ U.S. President Roosevelt met with King Ibn Saud (http://www.islc.net/~billychaplin/test/pic11.jpg) of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially starting the US-Saudi diplomatic relationship (http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/articles/2005/ioi/050213-roosevelt-uss-quincy.html).

1966 ~ Australian currency was decimalized.

1989 ~ The first of the 24 Global Positioning System satellites was placed into orbit.

1989 ~ Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/14/newsid_2541000/2541149.stm), author of ''The Satanic Verses,'' a novel Khomeini condemned as blasphemous.

2003 ~ Death of Dolly the sheep (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/dolly/index.asp), the world's first cloned mammal.

Feastdays & Holidays

Catholicism ~ Feast day of Saint Valentine (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/valentinesdayhistory.html).

[jseal]

1820 ~ Birthday of Susan B. Anthony (http://susanbanthonyhouse.org/biography.shtml), Activist & Suffragist.

1874 ~ Birthday of Sir Ernest Shackleton, British polar explorer.

1898 ~ The USS Maine exploded and sank (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0215.html#article) in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260.

1954 ~ Birthday of Matt Groening (http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2001/01/30/groening/), Satirist.

1965 ~ Death of Nat “King” Cole, Singer.

1965 ~ A new red and white maple leaf design was adopted as the flag of Canada (http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=15) replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.

1988 ~ Death of Richard Feynman (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1965/feynman-bio.html), Physicist.

1995 ~ Kevin Mitnick was arrested by the FBI and charged with breaking into some of the more "secure" U.S. computer systems.

1989 ~ The Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/15/newsid_4160000/4160827.stm) after more than nine years of military intervention.

2005 ~ YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) was launched.

[jseal]

1923 ~ Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0216.html#article).

1935 ~ Birthday of Sonny Bono, Singer & Congressman.

1937 ~ Wallace Carothers (http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa980325.htm) received a patent for nylon.

1942 ~ Birthday of Kim Jong Il (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/dictators/kim-jong-il/), North Korean leader.

1959 ~ Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/16/newsid_2544000/2544431.stm) after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

1978 ~ The first computer bulletin board system, CBBS, was created in Chicago, Illinois.

1985 ~ Hezbollah (http://www.merip.org/mero/mero073106.html) founded.

1986 ~ The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov ran aground (http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/lermontov.htm) in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

2001 ~ Death of William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (Masters and Johnson).

2005 ~ The Kyoto Protocol (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/16/newsid_4930000/4930554.stm) came into effect.

[scotzoidman]

I've always wondered if Chinese food ever makes Kim Jong Il...

[jseal]

1653 ~ Birthday of Arcangelo Corelli, Composer.

1801 ~ An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/peopleevents/pande07.html) was resolved when Jefferson was elected President and Burr Vice President by the House of Representatives.

1844 ~ Birthday of Aaron Montgomery Ward, American department store founder.

1867 ~ The first ship passed through the Suez Canal (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SuezCana.html).

1895 ~ Swan Lake, one of the more famous ballets, with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, was first completely performed in Saint Petersburg (http://www.petersburg-russia.com/), Russia.

1909 ~ Death of Geronimo (http://id.essortment.com/whoisgeronimo_rjev.htm), Apache leader.

1962 ~ Death of Bruno Walter, Conductor.

1972 ~ President Nixon departed on his historic trip to China (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0217.html#article).

1979 ~ China invaded Vietnam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/17/newsid_2547000/2547811.stm).

1992 ~ Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=498) was sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison.

[jseal]

1546 ~ Death of Martin Luther, religious reformer.

1745 ~ Birthday of Alessandro Volta, Physicist, eponym for the unit of the electric potential.

1838 ~ Birthday of Ernst Mach, Austrian Physicist & Philosopher.

1861 ~ In Montgomery, Alabama Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0218.html#article).

1885 ~ Mark Twain's “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/huchompg.html)” was first published.

1930 ~ While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm).

1933 ~ Birthday of Yoko Ono (http://www.yoko-ono.com/bio.htm), Singer, Artist, wife of John Lennon.

1969 ~ Lulu and Maurice Gibb (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/18/newsid_2550000/2550641.stm) of the Bee Gees marry.

1967 ~ Death of J. Robert Oppenheimer (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Bios/Oppenheimer.shtml), American physicist.

2005 ~ The UK law banning fox hunting (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4275753.stm), hare coursing and other sports which kill wild mammals is enforced from this date.

[IowaMan]

1998 ~ Death of Harry Caray (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Caray), legendary baseball broadcaster.