1947 – Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills, CA, at the order of mob associates angered over the soaring costs of his project, the Flamingo resort in Las Vegas, NV.
0451 – Roman and Barbarian warriors brought Attila’s army to a halt at the Catalaunian Plains in eastern France.
0451 – Battle of the Catalaunian Plains: Roman and Visigoths forces defeat Attila the Hun in north east France, halting Hun invasion of Roman Gaul (exact date disputed)
1212 – French and Spanish crusaders unite against the Almohaden at Toledo
1221 – Foundation stone laid for Burgos Cathedral in the presence of Ferdinand III of Castile (made a UNESCO World Heritage Site 1984)
1397 – The Union of Kalmar united Denmark, Sweden, and Norway under one monarch.
1627 – Ottoman pirates begin raids on Icelandic villages, will eventually capture over 400 people to sell into slavery
1631 – The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.
1675 – King Philip’s War begins when a small band of Wampanoag men attack and kill colonists in Swansea, Massachusetts, returning a few days later and destroying town
1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater.
1756 – Black Hole of Calcutta: 146 British soldiers, Anglo-Indian soldiers and Indian civilians are imprisoned in a small dungeon in Calcutta, India where most die from suffocation and heat exhaustion
1782 – The U.S. Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States.
1789 – French Revolution: The Third Estate of the French Estates-General swears the Tennis Court Oath at the Palace of Versailles, swearing not to disband until a new constitution is formed
1791 – King Louis XVI of France was captured while attempting to flee the country in the so-called Flight to Varennes.
1793 – Eli Whitney applied for a cotton gin patent. He received the patent on March 14. The cotton gin initiated the American mass-production concept.
1819 – The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. She is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, but most of the journey was made under sail
1837 – Queen Victoria at 18 ascends British throne following death of uncle King William IV Ruled for 63 years ending in 1901
1862 – Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated
1863 – West Virginia became the 35th state to join the U.S.
1866 – Italy declares war on Austria beginning the Third Italian War of Independence
1871 – Ku Klux Klan trials began in federal court in Oxford Miss
1893 – Lizzie Borden is acquitted of murdering her stepmother and father.
1898 – The U.S. Navy seized the island of Guam enroute to the Phillipines to fight the Spanish.
1900 – Baron Von Ketteler, German Minister, decides to go to the Chinese authorities to demand more guards for European protection from Boxers and is killed by Boxers en route
1910 – Mexican President Porfirio Diaz proclaimed martial law and arrested hundreds.
1923 – France announced it would seize the Rhineland to assist Germany in paying its war debts.
1928 – Washburn-Crosby Company merged with 26 other mills to become General Mills.
1941 – The U.S. Army Air Forces was established, replacing the Army Air Corps. The Army Air Forces were abolished with the creation of the United States Air Force in 1947.
1942 – Kazimierz Piechowski and three others escape from Auschwitz concentration camp, In a feat of “exceptional courage and gallantry”, as stated by the Polish author Kazimierz Smoleń, the four prisoners left via the front gate in a stolen SS staff car, dressed as SS officers. During World War II, the Nazi regime murdered 1.1 million people in Auschwitz. Only 144 are known to have escaped.
1942 – Japanese submarine shells isolated Estevan Point on Vancouver Island, with little damage; only time Canadian land territory under fire in World War II”
1943 – Race-related rioting erupted in Detroit. Federal troops were sent in two days later to end the violence that left more than 30 dead.
1945 – U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius Jr. approves transfer of German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and his specialists to the US
1947 – Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills, CA, at the order of mob associates angered over the soaring costs of his project, the Flamingo resort in Las Vegas, NV.
1950 – Willie Mays graduated from high school and immediately signed with the New York Giants.
1955 – The AFL and CIO agreed to combine names and a merge into a single group.
1963 – The Red Phone: The hotline between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was established following Cuban Missile Crisis. Contrary to popular belief, communications between the two superpowers occurred via teletype or fax, and today, via email.
1967 – Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the conviction.
1968 Austin Currie, then Nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) at Stormont, and other Irish civil rights activists, protest discrimination in the allocation of housing by ‘squatting’ (illegally occupying) in a house in Caledon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
1973 – Ezeiza massacre in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Snipers fired upon left-wing peronists. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 injured
1977 – Oil enters Trans-Alaska pipeline exits 38 days later at Valdez
1979 – ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart was shot to death in Managua, Nicaragua, by a member of President Anastasio Somoza’s national guard.
1979 – US President Jimmy Carter unveils 32 solar panels installed on the roof of the White House; his immediate successor has them removed
1983 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers must treat male and female workers equally in providing health benefits for their spouses.
1983 – Iran moves into northern Iraq (casualties top 13,800 in ten days)
1988 – Supreme Court upholds a law that made it illegal for private clubs to discriminate against women and minorities
1991 – German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.
1994 – Bomb attack on Islamic temple in Mashad Iran (70 killed)
1994 – US Fairchild Hospital Air Force Base massacre, former gunman kills 5 and injures 22
1996 – The Venezuelan Congress approves deals which allow foreign oil companies to explore and produce oil in Venezuela for the first time since the country’s 1975 nationalization of the oil industry
1997 – The tobacco industry agreed to a massive settlement in exchange for major relief from mounting lawsuits and legal bills.
2002 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of mentally retarded murderers was unconstitutionally cruel. The vote was 6 in favor and 3 against.
2011 – Betty Dukes v. Walmart class action lawsuit on alleged employee gender discrimination in pay and promotion policies is decided in a 5-4 decision, ruling that the class should not be certified in its current form
2012 – Western Libyan tribal clashes kill 105 people and injure 500
2017 – Mattel announced it was adding 15 new body types for their Ken doll.
2018 – Algeria turns off its internet to stop students cheating during exams
2018 – Hungarian government passes legislation that criminalizes aiding undocumented migrants
2018 – US President Donald Trump signs Executive Order ending family separation at the border for illegal immigrants
2019 – Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, the first Chinese president to visit North Korea in 14 years
2019 – Oregon Governor Kate Brown authorizes police to round up 11 Republican state senators who have gone into hiding to stop vote on cap-and-trade proposal emissions bill
2020 – Donald Trump controversially holds his first re-election rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, only 6,200 people attend despite the campaign stating 1 million had registered. Social media campaign organised by teens on TikTok, K-Pop fans and others, claims responsibility for wildly inflating the expected attendance.
2020 – Three men stabbed to death, with three others injured, in a terrorist attack in a park in Reading, England
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
