| 543:
|
Death of St. Scholastica
|
| 1162:
|
Death of Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem
|
| 1221:
|
Death of Muhammad Ala-ed-Din, Shah of Khwarizm
|
| 1258:
|
Mongols sack Baghdad
|
| 1306:
|
Murder of the Red Comyn
|
| 1354:
|
"The Great Slaughter," A riot, in Oxford, England
|
| 1471:
|
Death of Fredrick II, the "Iron" of Brandenburg
|
| 1480:
|
The Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado occupies his Palace in Kyoto
|
| 1494:
|
Founding of Aberdeen University
|
| 1495:
|
Sir William Stanley, English lord chamberlain, executed
|
| 1519:
|
Cortez sails from Cuba for Mexico
|
| 1543:
|
Death of Johann Mayer, known as "Johann Eck"
|
| 1604:
|
King James I orders that "a translation be made of the whole Bible"
|
| 1609:
|
Sir John Suckling, English Cavalier poet, dramatist, courtier born
|
| 1623:
|
Prince Charles of England, soon to be King Charles I, and George Villers, soon to be the Duke of Buckingham, set off in disguise for Madrid
|
| 1635:
|
Letters Patent granted to a new French Academy, to write a French dictionary
|
| 1763:
|
France ceded Canada to England under the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War
|
| 1775:
|
Charles Lamb born
|
| 1814:
|
Napoleon personally directs lightning strikes against enemy columns advancing toward Paris, beginning with a victory over the Russians at Champaubert
|
| 1840:
|
Britain's Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Victoria was in love with him and decided that as queen it was her right to propose to Albert
|
| 1846:
|
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, began an exodus to the west from Illinois
|
| 1846:
|
British General Sir Hugh Gough decisively routs Tej Singh's Sikhs in the Battle of Sobraon
|
| 1863:
|
Showman P.T. Barnum staged the wedding of General Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren -- both of them midgets -- in New York City
|
| 1863:
|
The fire extinguisher was patented by Alanson Crane
|
| 1868:
|
Journalist William Allen White born
|
| 1881:
|
Jacques Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffman" premiered, four months after the composer's death
|
| 1890:
|
Boris Pasternak, Russian novelist--author of Dr. Zhivago born
|
| 1890:
|
Russian poet and novelist Boris Leonidovich Paternak was born in Moscow. His best-known work is "Doctor Zhivago.""
|
| 1893:
|
Comedian Jimmy Durante in New York City. "Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are." born
|
| 1894:
|
British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan born
|
| 1898:
|
Actress Dame Judith Anderson (The Ten Commandments, Star Trek 3, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Man Called Horse) born
|
| 1905:
|
Actor Lon Chaney, Jr. (The Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, The Mummy's Curse) born
|
| 1914:
|
Composer of movie scores Larry Adler (A Cry from the Streets, Genevieve, Great Chase) born
|
| 1915:
|
President Wilson blasts the British for using the U.S. flag on merchant ships to deceive the Germans. He also warns the Kaiser that he will hold Germany "to a strict accountability" for U.S. lives and property endangered
|
| 1919:
|
NY Yankees pitcher Allie Reynolds born
|
| 1920:
|
Author Alex Comfort born
|
| 1922:
|
Actress Neva Patterson (An Affair to Remember, The Runaways) born
|
| 1923:
|
Ink paste was manufactured for the first time by the Standard Ink Company
|
| 1925:
|
The first waterless gas storage tank was placed in service in Michigan City, Indiana
|
| 1927:
|
Opera singer Leontyne Price. born
|
| 1927:
|
"Johnny Strikes Up the Band" premiered. Krenek's opera was one of the pioneering efforts to fuse classical music with jazz. Never before had any operatic character danced the Charleston
|
| 1929:
|
Movie composer Jerry Goldsmith born
|
| 1930:
|
Actor Robert Wagner (Hart to Hart, The Mountain, The Towering Inferno, Titanic, It Takes a Thief, Pink Panther, Midway). born
|
| 1933:
|
The first singing telegram was introduced by the Postal Telegram Company in New York
|
| 1934:
|
The first imperforated, ungummed sheets of postage stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service in New York City. The stamps had to be cut out of a sheet and then you had to apply glue to get them to stick
|
| 1935:
|
The Pennsylvania Railroad began passenger service with its new "streamlined" electric locomotive. The engine was 79.5-feet long and weighed 230 tons
|
| 1937:
|
Rock musician Don Wilson (The Ventures) born
|
| 1939:
|
Singer Roberta Flack (The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Feel Like Making Love, Killing Me Softly With His Song) . born
|
| 1939:
|
Japanese occupy island of Hainan in French Indochina
|
| 1940:
|
Singer Jimmy Merchant (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) born
|
| 1941:
|
London severs diplomatic relations with Romania
|
| 1941:
|
Iceland is attacked by German planes
|
| 1942:
|
The war halts civilian car production at Ford
|
| 1942:
|
The former French liner "Normandie" capsized in New York Harbor a day after it caught fire while being refitted for the US Navy
|
| 1942:
|
The first World War II Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously to 2nd Lt. Alexander Ramsey for his heroism at the Battle of Bataan
|
| 1942:
|
RCA Victor presented Glenn Miller and his Orchestra with a "gold record" for their recording of "Chattanooga Choo Choo," which had sold more than a million copies. This was the first-ever "gold record."
|
| 1943:
|
Singer Ral Donner (You Don't Know What You've Got, She's Everything) born
|
| 1944:
|
Singer-songwriter Peter Allen born
|
| 1944:
|
Author Frances Moore Lapp born
|
| 1945:
|
B-29s hit the Tokyo area
|
| 1946:
|
Singer (Donovan Phillip Leitch) Donovan (Mellow Yellow, Sunshine Superman) born
|
| 1949:
|
Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman" opened at Broadway's Morosco Theater with Lee J. Cobb in the role of Willy Loman and Mildred Dunnock as Loman's wife, Linda
|
| 1950:
|
Olympic gold-medal swimmer Mark Spitz (U.S. Olympic 9-time gold medal winner). born
|
| 1955:
|
Actress Kathleen Beller. born
|
| 1955:
|
Golfer Greg Norman born
|
| 1955:
|
Bell Aircraft displays a fixed-wing vertical takeoff plane
|
| 1956:
|
Elvis Presley made his first recording in Nashville. "Heartbreak Hotel" was on the A-side and "I Was The One" was on the B-side
|
| 1960:
|
Country singer Lionel Cartwright born
|
| 1960:
|
Adolph Coors, the beer brewer, is kidnapped in Golden, Colorado
|
| 1961:
|
Former presidential adviser George Stephanopoulos. born
|
| 1961:
|
The Los Angeles franchise in the American Football League was transferred to San Diego. The team was known as the Los Angeles "Dodgers."
|
| 1962:
|
U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was returned to the United States in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel
|
| 1963:
|
Baseball player Lenny Dykstra born
|
| 1964:
|
82 Australian sailors died when an aircraft carrier and a destroyer collided off New South Wales, Australia
|
| 1966:
|
Protester David Miller is convicted of burning his draft card
|
| 1967:
|
Actress Laura Dern. born
|
| 1967:
|
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, went into effect
|
| 1968:
|
Peggy Fleming of the United States won the gold medal in women's figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France
|
| 1972:
|
Country singer Dude Mowrey born
|
| 1979:
|
The Metropolitan Museum announces the first major theft in 110-year history, $150,000 Greek marble head
|
| 1981:
|
8 people were killed, 198 injured, when fire broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino
|
| 1983:
|
In an attack that stunned many Israelis, a hand grenade allegedly thrown by an Israeli exploded among peace protesters in Jerusalem, killing one man
|
| 1983:
|
Leaders of U.S. independent truckers called a halt to an eleven-day strike
|
| 1984:
|
Americans and other foreigners were evacuated from Beirut following the withdrawal of U.S. Marines from Lebanon
|
| 1985:
|
A group of American supporters of South Korean opposition leader Kim Dae-jung detailed the rough treatment they'd received from authorities in Seoul, and asked President Reagan to put off a U.S.-South Korean summit
|
| 1986:
|
The head of Haiti's new interim government, Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy, pledged free elections and a new constitution following the ouster of President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier
|
| 1986:
|
The largest Mafia trial in history, with 474 defendants, opens in Palermo, Italy
|
| 1987:
|
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop told a House panel he favored network television advertisements for condoms because of the health threat posed by AIDS
|
| 1988:
|
A three-judge panel of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down the Army's ban on homosexuals, saying gays were entitled to the same protection against discrimination as racial minorities. (However, the ruling was later set aside by the full appeals court.)
|
| 1989:
|
Ron Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first black to head a major U.S. political party
|
| 1990:
|
South African President F.W. de Klerk announced that black activist Nelson Mandela would be released the next day after 27 years in captivity
|
| 1991:
|
In a broadcast on Baghdad Radio, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein praised his countrymen for withstanding attacks by allied warplanes and rockets
|
| 1991:
|
Peru's Health Ministry reported at least 51 deaths from cholera, in the early stages of an epidemic that later spread across South America and into North America
|
| 1992:
|
Boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant
|
| 1992:
|
Author Alex Haley died in Seattle at age 70
|
| 1992:
|
Bonnie Blair of the US won the women's 500-meter speedskating competition at the Albertville Olympics
|
| 1993:
|
The Clinton administration said U-S troops could be sent to enforce peace in former Yugoslavia provided warring factions there negotiated a settlement
|
| 1994:
|
The Senate approved $8.6 billion in relief for victims of the Los Angeles earthquake, the costliest disaster aid package in the nation's history. (The house approved the measure the next day, and President Clinton signed it the day after that.)
|
| 1995:
|
The House passed a GOP crime bill boosting funding for state prisons but requiring states to get tougher on violent criminals before they could receive any money
|
| 1996:
|
World chess champion Garry Kasparov lost the first game of a match in Philadelphia against an IBM computer dubbed "Deep Blue."
|
| 1996:
|
President Clinton signed a $265 billion defense bill, but said he would battle for repeal of a section forcing the discharge of service members with the AIDS virus
|
| 1996:
|
A slab of mountain side crushed a highway tunnel on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, killing 20 people
|
| 1997:
|
A civil jury heaped 25 million dollars in punitive damages on O.J. Simpson for the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, on top of $8.5 million in compensatory damages awarded earlier
|
| 1997:
|
The Army suspended its top-ranking enlisted soldier, Sergeant Major of the Army Gene McKinney, following sexual misconduct allegations
|
| 1998:
|
Dr. David Satcher was confirmed by the Senate to be surgeon general
|
| 1998:
|
Voters in Maine become the first to repeal a state gay rights law
|
| 1998:
|
Monica Lewinsky's mother, Marcia Lewis, testified before the grand jury investigating her daughter's alleged affair with President Clinton. Accompanied by her lawyer she spent two hours testifying behind closed doors to the 23-member panel
|
| 1998:
|
Speedskater Hiroyasu Shimizu won Japan's first gold medal of the Nasano Olympics, in the 500-meter event
|
| 1998:
|
The New York Times reported that Top Justice Department officials recommended Attorney General Janet Reno seek an independent prosecutor to investigate Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's role in a decision to kill an Indian casino project in Wisconsin. It was officially announced the following day. (The counsel was later appointed.)
|
| 1999:
|
A federal judge ordered American Airlines pilots to end a sickout that had grounded 2,500 flights, stranded 200,000 travelers and left businesses scrambling for cargo carriers
|
| 1999:
|
Resigned to losing their case, House prosecutors said public opinion polls had made a stronger impression on senators than any evidence that President Clinton committed high crimes and misdemeanors
|
| 2000:
|
Actor Jim Varney, best known for his comic character Ernest P. Worrell, died in White House, Tennessee, at age 50
|
| 2000:
|
The hijackers of an Afghan plane surrendered, ending a four-day standoff at Stansted airport outside London
|
| 2000:
|
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of MD-80, MD-90, DC-9 and 717 series jetliners after two Alaska Airlines planes were found to have equipment damage similar to that on Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which crashed off the California coast January 31st, killing all 88 people on board
|
| 2005:
|
Togo's new leader promises elections, but doesn't say when
|
| 2005:
|
Google releases test of mapping service
|
| 2005:
|
$158 billion missing in U.S. Medicare drug benefit cost estimate
|
| 2005:
|
Explosion in Madrid; Basque separatists blamed
|
| 2005:
|
Prince Charles to marry Camilla Parker Bowles
|
| 2005:
|
North Korea declares it has nuclear weapons; cancels talks
|
| 2005:
|
Pope to leave hospital
|
| 2005:
|
Kobe commemorates earthquake victims
|
| 2005:
|
Saudis vote in first municipal elections in the Kingdom
|
| 2005:
|
Colombian army and FARC in combat, 28 dead
|
| 2005:
|
Iranian President vows to maintain nuclear program
|
| 2006:
|
Tomb discovered in Valley of the Kings
|
| 2006:
|
Australian governments to meet for first COAG meeting of today
|
| 2006:
|
Greek government's phones tapped for a year
|
| 2006:
|
Olympic Winter Games open in Italy
|
| 2006:
|
Thai ministry orders work halted on much-delayed Ongkharak reactor
|
| 2006:
|
New Zealand Labour party spending in question
|
| 2006:
|
Poll embarassment for Blair
|
| 2006:
|
"World Can't Wait" protesters rally outside the White House
|
| 2006:
|
Irish win narrowly over Italy in RBS 6 opening match
|
| 2007:
|
Alarm sounded over US honey bee die-off
|
| 2007:
|
Recovery plan for New Orleans to be ratified
|
| 2007:
|
Drug addicts used in police training
|
| 2007:
|
Putin blasts US foreign policy
|
| 2007:
|
Belgrade hospital refuses to return baby to mother
|
| 2007:
|
Teacher arrested for using drugs in front of 4th grade class
|
| 2007:
|
U.S. Senator Obama announces presidential candidacy
|
| 2008:
|
Bush visits Tennessee, sees tornado damage
|
| 2008:
|
Barack Obama sweeps three state Democratic contests
|
| 2008:
|
Two children killed after eating poisonous cake in Iraq; nine others remain ill
|
| 2008:
|
Egypt wins Africa Cup of Nations
|
| 2008:
|
Rugby union: Wales, France, England win in second week of Six Nations
|
| 2008:
|
North Sea oil rig evacuated in security alert
|
| 2009:
|
Man in Florida, USA, arrested for using 911 to complain about fast food
|
| 2009:
|
Subject of high-profile Italian euthanasia case dies
|
| 2009:
|
'Tim Hortons' coffee shops to go 'Cold Stone'
|
| 2010:
|
Final report blames London passenger jet crash on ice
|
| 2010:
|
Google introduces Google Buzz
|
| 2010:
|
Nigerian parliament votes to make vice president acting president
|
| 2010:
|
ITV fined A$3000 for cruelty to rat on "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!"
|
| 2010:
|
American Alpine ski racer James Heuga dies at age 66
|
| 2010:
|
UK loses appeal to conceal Binyam Mohamed torture
|
| 2011:
|
Plane crash in Cork, Ireland kills six
|
| 2011:
|
City of Calgary, Canada removes fluoride from drinking water
|
| 2011:
|
South Sudan minister Milla shot, killed
|
| 2012:
|
German judge orders life sentence for nation's 'first Islamic-motivated terror attack'
|
| 2012:
|
Egypt struggles to recover tourism, investment
|
History
Icons
Comedian, singer, pianist, and Emmy Award winning actor, Jimmy Durante born in Brooklyn, New York
Monster movie legend, actor Lon Chaney, Jr born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Actor Robert Wagner born in Detroit, Michigan
Grammy Award winning musician, songwriter and singer, Roberta Flack born in Black Mountain, North Carolina
Olympic Track and Field Gold Medalist Mary Rand born in Wells, England
Nine-time Olympic Gold Medalist Mark Spitz born in Modesto, California