1970 – The first “Earth Day” was observed by millions of Americans. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/earth-day
1056 – Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye
1370 – Building begins on the Bastille fortress in Paris
1500 – Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil and claimed it for Portugal.
1509 – Henry VIII ascended to the throne of England upon the death of his father Henry VII.
1529 – Spain and Portugal divided the eastern hemisphere in the Treaty of Saragosa.
1659 – Lord Protector Richard Cromwell disbands English parliament
1692 – Edward Bishop is jailed for proposing flogging as a cure for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts
1745 – The Peace of Fussen was signed, restoring the status quo of Germany.
1769 – Madame du Barry becomes French King Louis XV’s “official” mistress
1792 – U.S. President George Washington proclaimed American neutrality in the war in Europe.
1817 – Curacao prohibits use of white paint due to fierce sunlight
1823 – British inventor Robert John Tyers patents an in-line roller skate he calls the “Volito”, with a single row of 5 wooden wheels, a wooden sole, and a curved iron bar at the front as a rudimentary brake.
1861 – Robert E. Lee was named commander of Virginia forces.
1864 – The U.S. Congress passed legislation that allowed the inscription “In God We Trust” to be included on one-cent and two-cent coins.
1871 – All German Jews emancipated after the German Constitution adopted by its last state Bavaria
1889 – At noon, the Oklahoma land rush officially started as thousands of Americans raced for new, unclaimed land.
1898 – The first shot of the Spanish-American war occurred when the USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship.
1898 – Congress passes Volunteer Army Act calling for a Volunteer Cavalry
1914 – Babe Ruth made his pitching debut with the Baltimore Orioles.
1915 – At the Second Battle Ypres the Germans became the first country to use poison gas.
1915 – The New York Yankees wore pinstripes and the hat-in-the-ring logo for the first time.
1916 – Karl Spindler scuttles the Aud near Daunt’s Rock, to prevent its cargo of 20,000 rifles destined for Irish republicans falling into enemy hands
1918 – British naval forces attempted to sink block-ships in the German U-boat bases at the Battle of Zeeburgge.
1930 – The U.S., Britain and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.
1931 – Egypt signed the treaty of friendship with Iraq.
1931 – James G. Ray landed an autogyro on the lawn of the White House.
1934 – US Division of Investigation (later the FBI) under Melvin Purvis botch an operation to capture the John Dillinger Gang at Little Bohemia Lodge, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, with 2 dead and 4 injured
1940 – Rear Admiral Joseph Taussig testifies before US Senate Naval Affairs Committee that war with Japan is inevitable
1944 – During World War II, the Allies launched a major attack against the Japanese in Hollandia, New Guinea.
1945 – Adolf Hitler admits defeat, The German dictator announced in the underground Führerbunker that he plans to commit suicide after learning that Soviet forces had entered Berlin.
1945 – Concentration Camp at Sachsenhausen liberated
1945 – SS chief Heinrich Himmler secretly meets with Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden, asking him to act as an intermediary for a surrender offer to the Western Allies. The Allies do not take the offer seriously.
1954 – The U.S. Senate Army-McCarthy televised hearings began.
1967 – Martial Law goes into effect in Greece
1969 – 1st human eye transplant performed
1970 – The first “Earth Day” was observed by millions of Americans. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/earth-day
1971 – Soyuz 10 launches as the world’s first mission to the first-ever space station (the Salyut 1) however the docking was unsuccessful and the cosmonauts returned to Earth
1976 – Barbara Walters became first female nightly network news anchor.
1977 – Optical fiber is used for telephone transmissions for the first time
1981 – 10,000 copper workers in Chile strike
1981 – Almost 1 million West German metal workers go on strike
1983 – Stern mag announces major historical find-discovery of 60 volume personal diaries written by Adolf Hitler (turned out to be a hoax)
1987 – The American Physical Society said that the “Star Wars” missile system was “highly questionable” and would take ten years to research.
1990 – Lebanon release US hostage Robert Polhill after 39 months
1991 – Shalom America (Jewish cable network) is launched in Brooklyn & Queens
1992 – A series of massive explosions destroys parts of Guadalajara, The disaster in the downtown district of Analco occurred after gasoline had leaked into the sewer system. At least 206 people died, nearly 500 were injured, and about 15,000 were left homeless.
1993 – The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, DC. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/timeline-event/holocaust/after-1945/holocaust-memorial-museum-dedication
1994 – 7,000 Tutsi slaughtered by Hutus in the stadium at Kibuye, Rwanda
1997 – In Lima, Peru government commandos storm and capture the residence of the Japanese ambassador ending a 126-day hostage crisis. In the rescue 71 hostages were saved. Those killed: one hostage (of a heart attack), two soldiers, and all 14 rebels.
1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria – 93 villagers killed.
2000 – Armed immigration agents took Elian Gonzalez from the Miami home of his relatives to reunite him with his father.
2002 – Filippino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a state of emergency in the city of General Santos in response to a series of bombing attacks the day before. The attacks were blamed on Muslim extremists.
2006 – 243 people are injured in pro-democracy protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces open fire on protesters against King Gyanendra.
2006 – Four Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometers north of Kandahar, Afghanistan by a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants, the worst single day combat loss for the Canadian army since the Korean War
2010 – The Boeing X-37 began its first orbital mission. It successfully returned to Earth on December 3, 2010.
2016 – Paris Agreement on climate change signed in New York binding 195 nations to an increase in the global average temperature to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C
2018 – Saudi-led coalition airstrike kills more than 20 at a wedding in northwestern Yemen
2020 – Sudan bans female genital mutilation and makes it a criminal offense
2021 – US President Joe Biden pledges to cut US carbon emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030 at a virtual climate summit
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
