TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – DEC 12
1753 George Washington, the adjutant of Virginia, delivers an ultimatum to the French forces at Fort Le Boeuf, south of Lake Erie, reiterating Britain’s claim to the entire Ohio River valley.
1770 The British soldiers responsible for the “Boston Massacre” are acquitted on murder charges.
1787 Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1791 The Bank of the United States, also known as the First Bank, opened for business in Philadelphia, PA.
1800 Washington, DC, was established as the capital of the United States.
1870 Joseph Rainey took his seat as the first African American in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1896 Guglielmo Marconi gave the first public demonstration of radio at Toynbee Hall, London.
1900 Charles M. Schwab formed the United States Steel Corporation.
1900 Ireland Irish delegates convened to create what they called the “Irish Party” and denounced British atrocities in the Boer War.
1901 Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio transmission in St. John’s Newfoundland.
1912 The Mother’s Day International Association was incorporated with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother’s Day.
1917 Major Vivian Gilbert of the British army revealed the inside story of how Jerusalem fell during the First World War. He said that an army cook was out looking for eggs and was presented with the keys to the city by the mayor. The British won the Holy Land back from the Turks.
1917 Father Edward Flanagan founds Boys Town dedicated to the care of at-risk children, with national headquarters in the village of Boys Town, Nebraska.
1925 Last Qajar Shah of Iran deposed; Rezā Shāh Pahlavi takes over
1925 The first Motel opens the Milestone Mo-Tel of San Luis Obispo, California as the midpoint stop between Los Angeles to San Francisco and costing $1.25 per night per room
1931 Under pressure from the Communists in Canton, Chiang Kai-shek resigns as president of the Nanking Government but remains the head of the Nationalist government that holds nominal rule over most of China.
1937 Benito Mussolini withdrew Italy from the League of Nations and challenged democracies to fight with his army
1946 UN accepts 6 Manhattan blocks as a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr
1956 The United Nations calls for immediate Soviet withdrawal from Hungary.
1969 A bomb exploded at the building of the National Agrarian Bank, Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and injuring 88.
1975 (Canada) A federal licensing of all firearms was recommended by the dean of law, Martin Friedland, who works at the University of Toronto. He said that gun users should have to pass a competency test and undergo a criminal record check.
1979 South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan, acting without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa, alleging that the chief of staff was involved in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
1983 Car bombs were set off in front of the French and U.S. embassies in Kuwait City. Shiite extremists were responsible for the five deaths and 86 wounded. Total of five bombs went off in different locations.
1984 In a telephone conversation with U.S. President Reagan, William J. Schroeder complained of a delay in his Social Security benefits. Schroeder received a check the following day.
1991 At the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in California, the first web server outside of Europe was installed.
1991 The Russian Federation becomes independent from the USSR.
1995 The U.S. Senate stopped a constitutional amendment giving Congress authority to outlaw flag burning and other forms of desecration against the American flag.
2000 The US Supreme Court announces its decision in Bush v. Gore, effectively ending legal changes to the results of that year’s Presidential election.
2000 Timothy McVeigh, over the objections of his lawyers, abandoned his final round of appeals and asked that his execution be set within 120 days. McVeigh was convicted of the April 1995 truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Fedal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, that killed 168 and injured 500.
2001 The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would implement minimum federal election standards and provide funding to help states modernize their voting systems.
2001 Gerardo Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison for being the leader of a Cuban spy ring. His conviction was based on his role in the infiltration of U.S. military bases and in the deaths of four Cuban-Americans whose planes were shot down five years before.
2002 North Korea announced that it would reactivate a nuclear power plant that U.S. officials believed was being used to develop weapons.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
