Today in History

On This Day In History, December 29th

1996 Guatemalan civil war comes to an end

The 36-year-long civil war fought between several leftist groups representing the indigenous people and poor and the government came to an end after Comandante Rolando Morán of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity and President Álvaro Arzú signed a peace treaty under the supervision of the UN. Morán and Arzú received the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in bringing peace to the country.

1937 Ireland established
A new constitution, established by a national referendum, changed the name of the Irish Free State to Ireland. The Irish Free State was a part of the British Commonwealth and was established in 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in 1921.

1916 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man published
The first novel of Irish writer, James Joyce, the book follows the life of Stephen Dedalus, who many believe was the author's alter ego. It first came out as a series in the literary magazine, The Egoist and was then published by American publisher B. W. Huebsch. James Joyce is best known for his book Ulysses, which is about a single day in the life of advertising agent, Leopold Bloom. In honour of the book, fans of the author celebrate an unofficial holiday, Bloomsday on June 16.

1911 Mongolian Independence
The landlocked North East Asian country declared its independence from the Qing Dynasty, after the Mongolian Revolution of 1911. The country had been under the Qing rule for about 200 years.

1890 Wounded Knee Massacre
On this day, the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry tried to disarm the members of the Lakota tribe who were camped at the Wounded Knee Creek. During their attempt, a shot was fired and the cavalry massacred over 150 members of the tribe including women and children. Many historians believe that the number of people massacred was much higher. Wounded Knee is near present-day Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the state of South Dakota.
 

Births On This Day, December 29th 🎂

1972 Jude Law
English actor, director, producer

1953 Stanley Williams
American gang leader co-founded the Crips

1923 Cheikh Anta Diop
Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist

1809 William Ewart Gladstone
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1808 Andrew Johnson
American politician, 17th President of the United States

Deaths On This Day, December 29th 🪦

2009 Akmal Shaikh
Pakistani/English businessman, drug trafficker

1986 Harold Macmillan
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1929 Wilhelm Maybach
German businessman founded Maybach

1916 Grigori Rasputin
Russian monk

1170 Thomas Becket
English archbishop
 
On This Day In History, December 30th

2011 Samoa and Tokelau skipped December 3
0
The South Pacific Ocean Islands changed their time zone and moved west of the international dateline to align their time zone with their major trading partners, Australia and New Zealand. In doing so, they skipped December 30 and moved directly from December 29 to December 31. 119 years ago, Samoa had made a similar shift, eastwards of the dateline, to synchronize its time with the United States. Today, Samoa follows West Samoa Time, which is 13 hours ahead of UTC.

2006 Saddam Hussein executed
The deposed president of Iraq was hanged after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity. Hussein was the fifth president of Iraq and came to power after a coup in 1968.

2004 Highest barometric pressure recorded

At 2 am local time, the atmospheric pressure in Tosontsengel, Mongolia rose to 846.5 hPa (adjusted for height above sea level).

1995 Lowest temperature ever recorded in the UK

Altnaharra, a small hamlet in northern Scotland, recorded a temperature of −27.2°C (-16.96 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperature had dipped this low once before in the UK - in Braemar, East Scotland on January 10, 1982

1947 Last king of Romania steps down
Michael I was forced to abdicate by the Communist Party of Romania. His first reign over the country was in 1927 as a 6-year-old, and it lasted only 3 years until 1930. He was then reinstalled in 1940.
 

Births On This Day, December 30th 🎂

1984 LeBron James
American basketball player

1975 Tiger Woods
American golfer

1946 Patti Smith
American singer-songwriter, poet

1865 Rudyard Kipling
English author, poet, and Nobel Prize laureate

1853 André Messager
French composer

Deaths On This Day, December 30th 🪦

2009 Abdurrahman Wahid
Indonesian politician, 4th President of Indonesia

2006 Saddam Hussein
Iraqi politician, 5th President of Iraq

1970 Sonny Liston
American boxer

1947 Alfred North Whitehead
English mathematician, philosopher

1896 José Rizal
Filipino polymath
 
30th December

1460 The Wars of the Roses: The defeat and death of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and claimant to the English throne, at the Battle of Wakefield.

1887 A petition, signed by more than 1 million women in Britain, was sent to Queen Victoria calling for public houses to be closed on Sundays.

1958 Castro's rebels edged closer to the capital. A vicious house-to-house battle between rebel guerrillas, led by Fidel Castro, and the Cuban army raged around the town of Santa Clara, the capital of the province of Las Villas. Iranians deported from Iraq

1986 According to new plans by the government, more than 200 canaries would be 'phased out' of Britain's mining pits. New electronic devices would replace canaries as detectors of harmful gasses, because they were said to be cheaper in the long run and more effective.

2020 The Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by the UK medicines regulator, opening up the possibility of rapidly scaling up vaccination against Covid-19. The UK ordered 100 million doses - enough to vaccinate 50 million people, with the first doses given on Monday 4th January 2021, amid rapidly rising coronavirus cases.
 
On This Day In History, December 31st

2009 Both a Blue Moon and lunar eclipse occurred on the same day

The next such event to happen on New Year's Eve will be in 2028.

1994 Date skipped in Kiribati
The Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands in Kiribati skip December 31st due to a change in their time zone from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.

1983 Coup in Nigeria
A military coup in Nigeria overthrew the civilian government of Shehu Shagari and installed Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari.

1909 Manhattan Bridge opens for traffic
The Manhattan Bridge, one of the first suspension bridges ever constructed, was opened to traffic on this day. The bridge was designed by Leon Moisseiff and crosses the East River in New York City.

1907 The first annual ball drop at Times Square

The annual tradition of dropping a ball at 11:59 pm to mark the start of the New Year was organized for the first time by Adolph Ochs, the owner of the New York Times.
 
Births On This Day, December 31st 🎂

1990 Patrick Chan
Canadian figure skater

1980 Richie McCaw
New Zealand rugby union footballer

1977 Psy
South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, producer, dancer

1941 Alex Ferguson
Scottish footballer, manager

1869 Henri Matisse
French painter

Deaths On This Day, December 31st 🪦

2015 Natalie Cole
American singer-songwriter, actress

1985 Ricky Nelson
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor

1980 Marshall McLuhan
Canadian author, theorist

1972 Roberto Clemente
Puerto Rican baseball player

1889 Ion Creangă
Romanian author, educator
 
1st January 1901
The Commonwealth of Australia is proclaimed
1934
The Island of Alcatraz is turned into a federal prison.
1937
In Great Britain, manufacturers were required to make safe glass mandatory.
If the glass cracks, it would shatter into thousands of little pieces versus the larger pieces which would cause serious damage.
1937
US workers begin to acquire credits toward old-age pension benefits. Employers and employees became subject to a tax of one percent of wages on up to $3,000 a year.
1942
The U.S. government no longer allowed the sale of civilian vehicles (i.e. cars and trucks). It was after this date that automobile manufacturers were required to make only vehicles which were to be used for war purposes.
1959
Johnny Cash plays one of his first jailhouse shows when he performs at San Quentin prison in San Rafael, California.
Among those in the audience is 21-year-old Merle Haggard, who is serving time for burglary.
1964
The British TV program, Top of the Pops aired it's first show, featuring the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and The Dave Clark Five miming to their latest releases.
1968
An El Cerrito, California band called The Golliwogs change their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.
1971
America starts the New Year off with no cigarette ads on television or radio stations.
This was one of the first steps to discourage cigarette smoking after it was learned that cigarette smoking was linked to health problems such as lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema.
2006
The highest January 1st temperature ever recorded in Sydney, Australia.
The temperature hits 45 degrees Celsius ( 113 degrees centigrade ) causing bush fires and power outages.
2014
Marijuana for recreational use went on sale starting in the state of Colorado.
Colorado became the first state to allow the sale of the drug for recreational purposes in stores and around thirty stores were expected to open. Despite the state legislation, marijuana is still an illegal drug according to federal law.
 
1st January

1651 Charles II was crowned King of Scotland at Scone, a village in Perth and Kinross. This turned out to be the last such Coronation at Scone. In July, the English army marched into Fife and then captured Perth, while the Scottish forces headed south into England, where they were defeated at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.

1660 Samuel Pepys began writing the Diary which he kept for nine years, writing in an early form of shorthand.

1772 The London Credit Exchange Company issued the first traveller’s cheques, accepted in 90 cities and guaranteed against theft.

1781 The first all-iron bridge in the world, Iron Bridge in Shropshire was opened to traffic. The bridge was built by Abraham Darby III, from a design by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard.

1919 More than 200 men, returning home after the end of World War One, died when the naval yacht HMY Iolaire hit a reef in bad weather close to Stornoway harbour and sank just yards from the Lewis coastline.

1959 Rebel army drives out Cuban dictator. The President of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista fled the country, his government in ruins, in the face of a relentless advance by the rebel army led by a 32-year-old lawyer, Fidel Castro. Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in celebration as word spread of Batista's departure for the Dominican Republic.
 
On This Day In History, January 2nd

1981 The “Yorkshire Ripper” is caught

Peter Sutcliffe confessed to murdering 13 women and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

1971 66 football fans die in the Ibrox disaster
Over 200 people were injured in the crash, which occurred at the end of an association football game between the Glasgow-based clubs, Rangers, and Celtic, at Ibrox Park.

1967 Ronald Reagan is sworn in as Governor of California
Reagan became the 40th U.S. president in 1981.

1959 Luna 1 is launched
The Soviet spacecraft was the first to reach the vicinity of the moon and orbit the sun.

1860 Urban Le Verrier announces the discovery of the planet Vulcan
Despite a thorough search, the planet was never actually sighted.
 
Births On This Day, January 2nd

1936 Roger Miller
American singer-songwriter, actor

1928 Daisaku Ikeda
Japanese spiritual leader

1920 Isaac Asimov
American chemist, author

1905 Michael Tippett
English composer

1873 Thérèse of Lisieux
French nun

Deaths On This Day, January 2nd

1995 Siad Barre
Somalian military officer, politician, 3rd President of Somalia

1989 Safdar Hashmi
Indian playwright, actor, director

1960 Fausto Coppi
Italian cyclist

1904 James Longstreet
American general, diplomat

1892 George Biddell Airy
English mathematician, astronomer
 
On This Day In History, January 3rd

1994 Millions of people from the former Apartheid Homelands gain South African citizenship

The apartheid regime had stripped the black inhabitants of the right to citizenship to ensure a white majority of the de jure population.

1993 The second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) is signed

The U.S.A. and Russia agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads by about 3,000.

1961 The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba

In April 1961, the U.S. government launched an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Cuban government by invading the country at the Bay of Pigs.

1959 Alaska becomes the 49th U.S. state
The territory had been bought from Russia in 1867 for a mere $7.2 million.

1957 The first electric watch is available
The Hamilton Electric 500 came in “modern” asymmetrical designs to reflect the revolutionary technology.
 
Births On This Day, January 3rd 🎂

1969 Michael Schumacher
German race car driver

1956 Mel Gibson
American/Australian actor, director, producer, screenwriter

1901 Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnamese politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam

1892 J. R. R. Tolkien
English philologist, author

1883 Clement Attlee
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Deaths On This Day, January 3rd 🪦

2010 Mary Daly
American philosopher, theologian

2005 Will Eisner
American illustrator

2003 Sid Gillman
American football player

1967 Jack Ruby
American murderer

1946 William Joyce
American/English politician, broadcaster
 
Jan 4th:
1864
NY Stock Exchange opens its permanent HQ's at 10-12 Broad St near Wall St in NYC
1944
Operation 'Carpetbagger' begins aerial droppings of supplies& weapons to resistance fighters in Europe
1958
mountainer&explorer, Edmund Hillary& his NZ team reach the South Pole using motor vehicles the 1st time since 1911 when Ronald Amundsen got there
1974
Pres Richard Nixon refuses to hand over tapes subpoened by Watergate Committee
1999
former pro wrestler, Jesse Ventura becomes Gov of Minnesota from 1999-2003
2016
Colombo' Germology Institute certifies the world's largest ever blue star sapphire at 1404.49 carats.It was discovered in 2015 in a Sri Lankan mine
 
On This Day In History, January 5th

2005 The solar system's largest known dwarf planet is discovered

The discovery of “Eris” ultimately led to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgrading Pluto, which has roughly the same size, to a dwarf planet.

1993 The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands
The oil tanker spilt twice as much crude oil as the Exxon Valdez in 1989.

1968 The Prague Spring begins
The period of political liberalisation in Czechoslovakia began with the election of Alexander Dubček as the country's leader.

1933 Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is one of the best-known symbols of the United States.

1895 Alfred Dreyfus is sentenced to life imprisonment
The French artillery officer was accused of treason. He was later acquitted.
 
Births On This Day, January 5th 🎂

1969 Marilyn Manson
American singer-songwriter, actor, director

1932 Umberto Eco
Italian philosopher, author

1928 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Pakistani politician, 4th President of Pakistan

1876 Konrad Adenauer
German politician, Chancellor of West Germany

1779 Stephen Decatur
American navy officer

Deaths On This Day, January 5th 🪦

2016 Pierre Boulez
French pianist, composer, conductor

1970 Max Born
German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1933 Calvin Coolidge
American politician, 30th President of the United States

1922 Ernest Shackleton
Irish explorer

1589 Catherine de Medici
Italian/French wife of Henry II of France
 
On This Day In History, January 6th

2021 The US Capitol is attacked

A mob of supporters of then-US President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol in Washington DC. They were attempting to halt the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden. Five people died in the riot, and many more were injured, including over 150 police officers.

1929 Mother Theresa arrives in India
Through her tireless work in helping the poor and ill, the Albanian religious sister later received the Nobel Peace Prize and was posthumously beatified.

1912 German scientist Alfred Wegener presents his theory of continental drift
His work laid the foundation for the theory of plate tectonics, which explains why continents move.

1907 Maria Montessori opens her first school
Montessori's revolutionary educational approach is practised at about 30,000 schools today.

1838 Samuel Morse presents the telegraph to the public

Together with Alfred Vail, the inventor relayed the message “A patient waiter is no loser” over a distance of 2 miles (3 km).
 
Births On This Day, January 6th 🎂

1946 Syd Barrett
English singer-songwriter, guitarist

1920 John Maynard Smith
English biologist

1883 Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese/American poet

1811 Charles Sumner
American politician

1412 Joan of Arc


Deaths On This Day, January 6th 🪦


1999 Michel Petrucciani
French/American pianist

1993 Dizzy Gillespie
American trumpet player, bandleader, composer

1919 Theodore Roosevelt
American politician, 26th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate

1918 Georg Cantor
German mathematician

1852 Louis Braille
French educator invented Braille
 
On This Day In History, January 7th

1989 Akihito is sworn in as Emperor of Japan

His accession to the throne followed the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito, on the same day.

1979 The Khmer Rouge government of Cambodia is overthrown

Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh that day.

1927 The first transatlantic telephone service is established
A 3-minute call between New York and London costs about USD 45, roughly $550 in today's dollars.

1785 Hot air balloon crosses the English Channel
French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard took about 2½ hours to fly from Dover (UK) to Guînes (France).

1610 Galileo Galilei discovers the Galilean Moons
The Italian astronomer spotted the four largest moons of Jupiter that day: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
 
Births On This Day, January 7th 🎂

1991 Eden Hazard
Belgian footballer

1985 Lewis Hamilton
English race car driver

1967 Nick Clegg
English politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1964 Nicolas Cage
American actor, producer, director

1943 Sadako Sasaki
Japanese victims of the Atomic bomb

Deaths On This Day, January 7th 🪦

1995 Murray Rothbard
American economist, historian

1989 Hirohito
Japanese Emperor

1951 René Guénon
French/Egyptian author

1943 Nikola Tesla
Serbian/American physicist, engineer

1536 Catherine of Aragon
 
1890
African American inventor, William Purvis receives patent for fountain pen
1934
comic strip 'Flash Gordon' created& drawn by Alex Raymond debuts
1959
U.S. gov't recognizes Fedal Castro's Cuban gov't
1990
Tower of Pisa is closed to the public after leaning too far
2015
terrorists attack offices at satricial newspaper' Charlie Hedbo' in Paris killing 12 people
 
On This Day In History, January 8th

1994 Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov begins his record spaceflight

Polyakov stayed aboard the Mir space station for a record-breaking 437 days and 18 hours.

1959 Charles de Gaulle becomes president of France

His right-wing political ideology, Gaullism, still influences French politics today.

1912 The African National Congress (ANC) is founded
The ANC, whose most famous member is Nelson Mandela, played an important role in the fight against the South African apartheid regime and it is now the country's governing political party.

1889 Computer pioneer Herman Hollerith patents his punched card calculator
His invention paved the way for modern automatic computation.

1790 George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address

The U.S. president typically uses this annual speech to outline his political agenda.
 
Births On This Day, January 8th 🎂

1967 R. Kelly
American singer-songwriter, producer, actor

1947 David Bowie
English singer-songwriter, producer, actor

1942 Stephen Hawking
English physicist, author

1935 Elvis Presley
American singer, guitarist, actor

1934 Jacques Anquetil
French cyclist

Deaths On This Day, January 8th 🪦

1996 François Mitterrand
French politician, 21st President of France

1990 Terry-Thomas
British actor

1976 Zhou Enlai
Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China

1942 Joseph Franklin Rutherford
American lawyer, religious leader

1642 Galileo Galilei
Italian astronomer, physicist
 
On This Day In History, January 9th

2005 The Second Sudanese War ends

As an outcome, Southern Sudan was granted autonomy; in 2011, South Sudan became an independent nation.

1916 The Battle of Gallipoli ends

The Gallipoli Campaign during World War I ended with the victory of the Ottoman Empire.

1861 The first shots of the American Civil War are fired

The steamer, Star of the West, was fired upon by the Confederates as it attempted to enter Charleston Harbor

1768 Philip Astley opens the world's first modern circus

The British equestrian, who is considered the father of modern circus, opened a riding school in London where he also performed tricks for an audience in the afternoons.

1431 The trial against Joan of Arc begins
She was executed on May 30, 1431, exonerated in 1456, and canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.
 
Births On This Day, January 9th 🎂

1944 Jimmy Page
English guitarist, songwriter, producer

1941 Joan Baez
American singer-songwriter, activist

1922 Ahmed Sékou Touré
Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea

1913 Richard Nixon
American politician, 37th President of the United States

1890 Kurt Tucholsky
German journalist

Deaths On This Day, January 9th 🪦

2014 Amiri Baraka
American poet, actor, activist

1908 Wilhelm Busch
German poet, painter, illustrator

1908 Abraham Goldfaden
Russian actor, playwright, author

1873 Napoleon III
French politician, 1st President of France

1324 Marco Polo
Italian explorer
 


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