565
Loch Ness monster sighting reported
1846
US annexes New Mexico
1963
CDC 6600 introduced
2003
French President Jacques Chirac confirms over 10,000 deaths during heat wave
408
Stilicho, regent, general of Roman Empire, beheaded by the Emperor
634
Death of Abu Bakr, Caliph
822
Saint Columba reported seeing monster in Loch Ness
1138
The English defeated the Scots at Cowton Moor. Banners of various saints were carried into battle which led to it being called the Battle of the Standard.
1240
Rabbi Menahem (Solomon Meiri) talmudist, author born
1280
Death of Pope Nicholas III
1305
William Wallace arrives in London, and is tried and convicted for treason
1350
John II, also known as John the Good, succeeds Philip VI as king of France.
1389
Coronation of Isabella, wife of Charles IV, King of France
1485
England's King Richard the Third was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field. This victory establishes the Tudor dynasty in England and ends the War of the Roses.
1513
James IV, King of Scots, and his army, invade England
1530
Composer Bartolomeo Spontone born
1553
Execution of John Dudley, Earl of Northumberland
1567
The Duke of Alba, sent to re-establish Spanish authority in the Netherlands, instituted the Council of Troubles at the start of his tyrannical rule. It was nicknamed the "Council of Blood."
1582
The Ruthven raid occured, in which English party in Scotland captured King James VI while he was hunting and held him captive until June 1583.
1599
The composer Luca Marenzio, whose madrigals survive to this day, died on this day. A contemporary account suggested that he returned to Rome from Poland, was rebuked by the Pope about something, he perhaps had a heart attack.
1601
French writer Georges de Scud'ry (Observations sur le Cid) born
1615
Composer Christopher Gibbons born
1642
The Civil War in England began between the supporters of Charles I (Royalists or Cavaliers) and of Parliament (Roundheads).
1647
French Inventor and Physicist Denis Papin Invented the pressure cooker and suggested the first cylinder and piston steam engine. born
1654
Jacob Barsimon, 1st Jew known to have arrived in America, lands at New Netherlands.
1670
Hiacoomes, first Indian preacher of Christianity, ordained, Massachusetts.
1681
Composer Pierre Danican Philidor born
1717
The Austrian army forces the Turkish army out of Belgrade, ending the Turkish revival in the Balkans.
1753
Composer Christian Friedrich Ruppe born
1760
Pope Leo XII, [Annibale Sermattei] (1823-29) born
1762
Ann Franklin became the first woman to hold the title of newspaper editor on this day, when she assumed those duties at The Newport Mercury in Newport, Rhode Island.
1775
England's King George the Third proclaimed the American colonies in a state of open rebellion.
1777
With the approach of General Benedict Arnold's army, British Colonel Barry St. Ledger abandons Fort Stanwix and returns to Canada.
1787
John Fitch's steamboat completes it's tests, years before Fulton builds his steamboat.
1788
The British settlement in Sierra Leone was founded to provide a home in Africa for freed slaves and homeless Africans from England.
1795
Physician and missionary Abraham Capadose born
1800
Edward B. Pusey, English biblical scholar and Tractarian spokesman. A devoted church leader all his life, Pusey worked to establish religious orders in Anglicanism, founding in 1845 the first Anglican sisterhood. born
1822
US Union general-major George Stoneman, Govenor of California 1883-87 born
1827
Josef Strauss, Austrian composer (brother of Johann, Jr.) born
1827
Composer Edouard Silas born
1831
William H. Cummings, English musicologist. In 1855 he adapted a theme from Mendelssohn's "Festgesang," which afterward became the melody of the Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." born
1836
Artist Archibald M. Willard, painted the "Spirit of '76" born
1846
The United States annexed New Mexico.
1847
Sir Alexander MacKenzie, Scottish composer, born in Edinburgh born
1849
The Portuguese governor of Macao, China, is assassinated because of his anti-Chinese policies.
1851
The schooner "America" outraced the "Aurora" off the English coast to win a trophy that became known as the "America's Cup."
1860
Paul Gottlieb Nipkow scanning principle, in which the light intensities of small portions of an image are successively analyzed and transmitted. born
1862
Claude Debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris. Debussy was not merely respected; he was controversial and influential. He died in 1918 at the age of 55.
1864
The Geneva Convention for the protection of the wounded during times of active warfare was signed, leading to the formation of the Red Cross.
1867
Charles Jenkins, inventor of the conical drinking cup and brakes for airplanes. born
1880
Cartoonist George Herriman (Krazy Kat, Krazy Kat and Ignatz, The Dingbat Family) born
1893
Movie Actor Cecil Kellaway (Withering Heights, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Harvey, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) born
1893
Writer and critic Dorothy Parker born
1901
The Cadillac Co. was founded.
1902
President Theodore Roosevelt became the first US chief executive to ride in an automobile, in Hartford, Connecticut.
1904
Deng Xiaoping, Chinese leader from 1977 to 1987 born
1906
On this day, the Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey, began to manufacture the Victrola -- or record player. The hand cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sold for $200.
1910
Korea was annexed by Japan after five years as a protectorate.
1911
Actress Edith Atwater "Love on a Rooftop" born
1911
It was announced in Paris that Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" had been stolen from the Louvre Museum the night before. (The painting turned up two years later, in Italy.)
1914
Austria-Hungary declared war on Belgium.
1917
Blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker (some sources 1920) born
1917
Tex Williams born
1920
Sci-fi author Ray Douglas Bradbury, "Fahrenheit 451," "Martian Chronicles," "The Illustrated Man" born
1920
Heart surgeon Denton Cooley He performed the first artifical heart transplant born
1922
Michael Collins, a founder of the Irish Republican Army and a key figure in Ireland's independence movement, was assassinated by political opponents. He had led the Irish delegation which signed the 1921 Anglo-Irish treaty by which Ireland was partitioned.
1923
Sonny Thompson born
1925
Actress Honor Blackman "The Avengers'" Cathy Gale, "Goldfinger's" Pussy Galore born
1926
Bob Flanigan (Four Freshmen) born
1928
Karlheinz Stockhausen. After the war Stockhausen studied with Frank Martin and Darius Milhaud. Stockhausen's music is rarely performed, but he was influential in his day, especially by his use of aleatory, the element of chance in music. born
1930
The two halves of Sydney Harbor Bridge were joined together. It was eventually opened in March 1932.
1933
Actress Sylva Koscina born
1934
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition forces during the Persian Gulf War born
1935
ABC newsman Morton Dean born
1938
Dale Hawkins (Delmar Allen Hawkins) born
1939
Fred Milano (Belmonts) born
1939
Baseball Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski born
1940
Actress Valerie Harper born
1941
Football coach Bill Parcells born
1941
German troops reached the outskirts of Leningrad, eventually surrounding the city Sept. 8 at the start of the siege, which lasted until January 1944.
1942
Singer Kathy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) born
1942
Brazil declares war on the Axis powers. She is the only South American country to send combat troops into Europe.
1944
Hitler ordered that Paris be destroyed.
1945
CBS newsman Steve Kroft born
1945
Ron Dante (Archies/Cufflinks) born
1945
TV Producer, Screen/Scriptwriter David Chase (Rockford Files) born
1945
Soviet troops land at Port Arthur and Dairen on the Kwantung Peninsula in China. After the war, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East meted out justice to Japanese war criminals at locations throughout Asia.
1947
Donna Godchaux (Grateful Dead) born
1947
Actress Cindy Williams, "Laverne & Shirley's" Shirley Feeney born
1948
Sam Neely born
1949
Swimmer, Olympic Athlete Diana Nyad. She was the first to swim Bahamas to Florida in 1979 born
1950
Rhythm and Blues Singer Teresa Davis (The Emotions) born
1954
Frank Marino (Mahogany Rush) born
1956
Elvis Presley started work on his first movie, "Love Me Tender."
1956
President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican national convention in San Francisco.
1957
Country singer Holly Dunn born
1958
Ian Mitchell (Bay City Rollers) born
1958
Rock musician Vernon Reid born
1960
Country singer Collin Raye born
1961
Rock musician Debbie Peterson (The Bangles) born
1961
Alternative Rock Performer Jay Ashton (Gene Loves Jezebel) born
1961
Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) born
1962
Rock musician Gary Lee Connor (Screaming Trees) born
1962
The Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered ship, completed her maiden voyage from Yorktown, Va., to Savannah, Georgia.
1963
Country singer Mila Mason born
1963
Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge born
1963
US table tennis player Lily Yip, born in Canton China (Olympics-92, 96) born
1963
Singer Tori Amos born
1964
Tennis player Mats Wilander born
1964
Singer - pianist Tori Amos (Boys For Pele) born
1967
Jockey Curt Bourque born
1967
Rock singer Layne Staley (Alice Chains) born
1967
President Lyndon B. Johnson welcomed the Shah of Iran to the U.S. for a two-day visit. Two months later, Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlevi was crowned King of Kings and Sun of the Aryans. One of the Shah's major proclamations provided for a general amnesty for political prisoners overflowing Iran's jails.
1968
Pope Paul VI arrived in Colombia, becoming the first pontiff ever to visit South America.
1968
800m runner Paul Ereng, born in Kenya (Olympic-gold-1988) born
1969
The world's tallest totem pole is dedicated at Kake, Alaska.
1971
Bolivian President General Juan Jose Torres Gonzalez was deposed in a coup by Colonel Hugo Banzer Suarez, who drew support from the right-wing Falange Socialista Boliviana and the army.
1972
Rhodesia was asked to withdraw from the 20th Olympic Summer Games because of its racial policies.
1972
The Republican party renominated Richard M. Nixon and Spiro T. Agnew on this day in Miami, Florida.
1973
Singer Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) born
1973
President Nixon named German-born Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State. Kissinger served in that capacity until 1977. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.
1977
TV, Movie, and Stage Actor, Sebastian Cabot dies at the age of 59. (Checkmate, Suspense, Family Affair's Mr.Giles French, Ghost Story's Winston Essex; narrator)
1978
President Jomo Kenyatta, a leading figure in Kenya's struggle for independence, died; Vice President Daniel Arap Moi was sworn in as acting president.
1979
Led Zeppelin released their final original album, "In Through The Out Door."
1984
The last Volkswagen Rabbit rolled off the assembly line in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. Over 11 million of the economical cars had been produced.
1984
The Republican national convention in Dallas nominated President Reagan and Vice President Bush for second terms in office, breaking with tradition by approving both nominations with a single roll-call vote.
1985
55 people died when fire broke out aboard a British Airtours charter jet on a runway at Manchester Airport in England.
1986
Angolan guerrilla leader said Soviet-aided government forces started using chemical warfare in its 10-year struggle for control of the nation.
1986
Kerr-McGee Corporation agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a ten-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit.
1987
The supertanker "Bridgeton" and three other re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers left Kuwait under U.S. escort and safely cleared Persian Gulf waters where the Bridgeton had hit a mine the month before.
1988
Speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Chicago, Vice President George Bush defended the Vietnam-era National Guard service of running mate Dan Quayle, saying, "He did not go to Canada, he did not burn his draft card and he damn sure didn't burn the American flag."
1989
Columbia's foreign minister discouraged any military intervention by the United States in the struggle against that country's drug barons.
1989
Nolan Ryan struck out his 5,000th batter becoming the first to reach that milestone when he fanned Oakland's Ricky Henderson
1989
Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, California. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)
1990
President Bush signed an order calling up reservists to bolster the U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf.
1990
The State Department announced it would defy President Saddam Hussein's demand to close the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait by August 24th.
1990
Scores of angry smokers blocked a street near Moscow's Red Square for hours in protest of the summer-long cigarette shortage.
1991
Yugoslav federal official admitted that a truce ordered in Croatia on August 7th had collapsed and 70 people had died in the fighting since then.
1991
Soviet President Gorbachev refused to join Russian Republic president Boris Yeltsin in holding the Communist parliament responsible for the coup.
1992
President Bush told an evangelical gathering in Dallas that the Democrats had left "three simple letters" out of their platform: "G-o-d." Democrat Bill Clinton said Bush was trying to divert attention from the economy.
1992
Neo-Nazi violence against foreigners erupted in Rostock, Germany.
1993
NASA engineers continued trying, without success, to re-establish contact with the Mars Observer, a day after losing contact.
1994
Ernesto Zedillo, candidate of the party that has ruled Mexico for 65 years, declared victory a day after presidential elections that his leading opponents charged were unfair.
1994
Jordan, overwhelmed by a flood of refugees, closed its border to arrivals from Kuwait and Iraq.
1995
Parliament elected Negaso Gidada president of the newly-named Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
1995
Congressman Mel Reynolds, D-Ill., was convicted in Chicago on charges of criminal sexual assault, sexual abuse, child pornography and obstruction of justice for having sex with a former campaign worker who was underage at the time. (Reynolds was sentenced to five years in prison.)
1996
President Clinton signed welfare legislation ending guaranteed cash payments to the poor and demanding work from recipients.
1996
The 61-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva ended in failure after India blocked an agreement on a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
1997
A federal official threw out the contentious Teamsters election because of alleged campaign fund-raising abuses, forcing union President Ron Carey into another race against James P. Hoffa.
1998
President Clinton, in his Saturday radio address, announced he had signed an executive order putting Osama bin Laden's Islamic Army and two of his main lieutenants on a list of terrorist groups.
1999
Hurricane "Bret" rumbled ashore on the Texas Gulf Coast with winds over 100 mph.
1999
Art dealer Leo Castelli died in New York at age 91.
1999
A China Airlines jet burst into flames at Hong Kong's new airport, killing three people and injuring more than 200.
2005
Brush fire gets close to animal park near San Diego
2005
'MI6 officers' named on US-based website
2005
British authorities may have detected nerve gas attack plans
2005
Earthquake reported near Rome's coast, no damage caused
2005
Dance party broken up by police in Utah, USA
2005
Irish CAO releases university offers to students
2005
Last Gaza settlement cleared, West Bank towns prepare to resist
2005
Innovator of synthesizers Robert Moog, dead at 71
2005
Young Quakers disappointed by UK visa denials
2006
New Zealand man sentenced to life in prison for murder
2006
Scottish Socialist Party to split as Sheridan launches new party
2006
Lech Walesa quits Solidarity
2006
Violence in Congo after first round election results are announced
2006
Moscow market bomb kills 10, injures 55
2006
Men charged in US and Canada over alleged plot to arm Tamil Tigers
2006
Russian mathematician declines Fields Medal
2006
Romanian oil company claims Iran has seized one of its rigs
2006
Bomb scare on China-Australia flight
2006
Russian jet with 170 aboard crashes in Ukraine
2007
RAF jets intercept Russian bomber over north Atlantic
2007
Prisons in New Zealand to introduce mobile phone jamming technology
2007
59-year-old graduate student makes Division III football team
2007
South African cricket team in Zimbabwe - 1st ODI
2007
Mayor of Oslo resigns after tax fraud scandal
2007
Sunni and Iraqi Shi'ite negotiators to meet in Finland
2007
11-year-old boy dies after being shot in Liverpool
2007
European football friendly match: England vs. Germany
2007
MLB: Rangers score 30 runs against Orioles in first game of doubleheader
2007
Off Festival takes place in Poland
2007
Hurricane Dean makes second landfall; weakens to Category 1 storm
2007
14 US soldiers dead after helicopter crash in Iraq
2007
Dwarf gets penis glued to vacuum cleaner
2008
United States and Iraq finalize agreement to have troops out of Iraq by 2011
2008
Olympic highlights: August 22, 2008
2008
Tropical Storm Fay continues through Florida
2009
Violence in Somalia's capital kills 22 people
2009
New England, Canada brace for Hurricane Bill
2009
Rumours suggest Alonso and Schumacher could move to Ferrari
2009
State of emergency declared in Greece after heavy forest fires
2009
Usain Bolt breaks 200m and 100m sprint records at championships
2010
Scientists say the moon is slowly shrinking
2010
Van Gogh painting stolen again
2010
Scottish poet Edwin Morgan dies at age 90
2010
Australian rules football: Warragul gets first win on eve of finals
2010
Seven killed in Chinese bombing
2011
Libya: Rebels edge closer to Tripoli
2012
Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi dies at 57
2012
Four people shot in parking lot of Wal-Mart store north of Austin, Texas
In the early days of Unix, a date-tagged list of historical events was used by system administrators to add some interest to the system's Message of the Day. Whenever users logged in they would be presented with the latest system notices, perhaps some mildly amusing quotes and one or two lines of historical events, based on the current date.
Today in History (UNIX calendar) uses some of the entries from the original library but is updated with current events as well. Instead of plain text, each entry is now formatted in HTML and each day may include one or more icons of historical figures or celebrities.
Other things unique to the UNIX calendar are references to dates found in fictional literature such as Lord of the Rings, perhaps undue emphasis on people and events that were part of popular culture in the 70's and technical minutiae about computers and operating systems that might not be found in other places.
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