Events1455 - Traditional date for the publication of the
Gutenberg Bible, the first
Western book printed from
movable type.
1660 -
Charles XI becomes
King of Sweden.
1778 -
American Revolution:
Baron von Steuben arrives at
Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania to help to train the
Continental Army.
1797 - French Forces launch a failed invasion of Britain. See
Last Invasion of Britain1820 -
Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the
British cabinet ministers is exposed.
1830 -
Oxford, Ohio, home of
Miami University, is incorporated.
1836 - The
Siege of the Alamo begins in
San Antonio, Texas.
1847 -
Mexican-American War:
Battle of Buena Vista - In
Mexico,
American troops defeat Mexican
General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1854 - The official
independence of the
Orange Free State is declared.
1861 -
President-elect
Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in
Washington, D.C., after an
assassination attempt in
Baltimore, Maryland.
1866 -
Lebanon Valley College is founded in
Annville, Pennsylvania.
1870 - Military control of
Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the
Union.
1874 - Major
Walter Clopton Wingfield patents a game called "
sphairistike," now more commonly called
lawn tennis.
1883 -
Alabama becomes the first
U.S. state to enact an
antitrust law.
1887 - The
French Riviera is hit by a large
earthquake, killing around 2,000.
1893 -
Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for the
diesel engine.
1898 -
Émile Zola is imprisoned in
France after writing "
J'accuse", a letter accusing the
French government of
anti-Semitism and wrongfully placing
Captain Alfred Dreyfus in jail.
1900 - In
South Africa the
Boers and
British troops fight in the Battle of Hart's Hill.
1903 -
Cuba leases
Guantanamo Bay to the
United States "in perpetuity".
1904 - For $10 million the
United States gains control of the
Panama Canal Zone.
1905 -
Chicago, Illinois attorney
Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the
Rotary Club, the world's first
service club.
1909 - The
AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in
Canada and the
British Empire.
1917 - First demonstrations in
Saint Petersburg,
Russia. The beginning of the
February Revolution.
1918 - First victory of
Red Army over the
Kaiser's German troops near
Narva and
Pskov. Since
1923 this date become the
Day of Red Army in honour of this victory.
1919 -
Benito Mussolini forms the
Fascist Party in
Italy.
1927 - The
Federal Radio Commission (later renamed the
Federal Communications Commission) begins to regulate the use of
radio frequencies.
1934 -
Léopold III becomes
King of
Belgium.
1940 -
World War II:
Soviet Union troops conquer Lasi Island.
1941 -
Plutonium was first produced and isolated by Dr.
Glenn T. Seaborg.
1944 -
forced deportation of the
Chechen and
Ingush people to
Central Asia1945 -
World War II: During the
Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of
United States Marines and a commonly forgotten US Navy Corpsman, reach the top of
Mount Suribachi on the island and are
photographed raising the American flag. The photo would later win a
Pulitzer Prize. 1945 -
World War II: The capital of the
Philippines,
Manila, is liberated by
American forces.1945 -
World War II: Capitulation of
German garrison in
Poznań, city is liberated by
Soviet and
Polish forces.1945 -
World War II: The
German town of
Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379
British bombers.
1947 -
International Organization for Standardization(ISO) is founded.
1954 - The first mass
vaccination of children against
polio begins in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1955 - First meeting of the
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (
SEATO).
1957 - The founding congress of the
Senegalese Popular Bloc is opened in
Dakar.
1958 -
Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion
Juan Manuel Fangio.
1966 - A military
coup in
Syria replaces the previous
government.
1974 - The
Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim
Patty Hearst.
1975 - In response to the
energy crisis,
daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the
United States.
1980 -
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that
Iran's
parliament would decide the fate of the
American embassy hostages.
1981 -
23-F,
Antonio Tejero attempts a
coup d'état by capturing the
Spanish Congress of Deputies.
1983 - The
Spanish Socialist government of
Felipe González and Miguel Boyer nationalizes
Rumasa, a holding of
José María Ruiz Mateos.1983 - The
United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the
dioxin-contaminated community of
Times Beach, Missouri.
1987 - A
supernova is seen in the
Large Magellanic Cloud (see
Supernova 1987a).
1991 -
Gulf War: Ground troops cross the
Saudi Arabia border and enter
Iraq, thus starting the ground-phase of the war.1991 - In
Thailand,
General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless
coup d'état, deposing
Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
1992 - The
Socialist Labour Party is founded in
Georgia.
1995 - The
Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 30.28 to close at 4,003.33, closing above 4,000 for the
first time.
1997 - A large fire occurs in the
Russian Space station,
Mir.
1998 -
Kissimmee Tornado Outbreak:
Tornadoes in central
Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.1998 -
Osama bin Laden publishes a
fatwa declaring
jihad against all
Jews and
Crusaders.
1999 -
Kurdish rebel leader
Abdullah Öcalan is charged with
treason in
Ankara,
Turkey. 1999 - An
avalanche destroys the
Austrian village of
Galtür, killing 31.
2005 -
Slovakia Summit 2005 begins, marking the first occasion when a sitting
American President visits
Slovakia;
Bush and
Putin are in attendance.2005 - Vote of the controversial
French law on colonialism, repealed start of 2006.
2006 -
Dubai Ports World agrees to postpone its plans to take over management of six U.S. ports after the proposal ignited harsh bipartisan criticism on
Capitol Hill.
2007 -
Japan launches its fourth
spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as
North Korea.2007 - A
train derails on an evening express service near
Grayrigg,
Cumbria,
United Kingdom, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.
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