1938 – Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds” aired on CBS radio. The belief that the realistic radio dramatization was a live news event about a Martian invasion caused panic among listeners.
637 – Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge
1077 – Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV gives the district of Stavoren to the bishop of Utrecht (Conrad, his former tutor)
1270 – The Eighth Crusade and siege of Tunis ended by agreement between Charles I of Sicily (brother to King Louis IX of France, who had died months earlier) and the sultan of Tunis.
1468 – Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, occupies & plunders Liege
1470 – Wars of the Roses: Henry VI of England returns to the English throne after Earl of Warwick defeats Yorkists in battle
1485 – Henry VII of England crowned at Westminster Abbey
1503 – Queen Isabella of Spain bans violence against Indians in the Americas
1766 – St. Paul’s Chapel in New York is consecrated
1768 – First Methodist church in North American colonies initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC)
1817 – The independent government of Venezuela was established by Simon Bolivar.
1866 – Jesse James’ gang robs bank in Lexington, Missouri ($2000)
1868 – John Menard of Louisiana is 1st African American elected to US Congress
1875 – The constitution of Missouri was ratified by popular vote.
1893 – The U.S. Senate gave final approval to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890.
1905 – Russian Tsar Issues the October Manifesto, The manifesto, which was issued by Nicholas II, was a response to the Russian Revolution of 1905 in which there were widespread strikes and protests directed towards the government. The key features of the manifesto included the creation of an elected legislative body called Duma and universal suffrage for men. It also paved the way for a new constitution in 1906.
1938 – Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds” aired on CBS radio. The belief that the realistic radio dramatization was a live news event about a Martian invasion caused panic among listeners.
1939 – USSR & Germany agree on partitioning Poland, Adolf Hitler deports Jews
1943 – In Moscow, a declaration was signed by the Governments of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and China called for an early establishment of an international organization to maintain peace and security. The goal was supported on December 1, 1943, at a meeting in Teheran.
1944 – Anne Frank is deported from Auschwitz to Belsen
1945 – The U.S. government announced the end of shoe rationing.
1948 – 20 die & 6,000 made ill by smog in Donora, Pennsylvania
1954 – US Defense Department announces elimination of all racially segregated regiments
1961 – The Soviet Union detonated Tsar Bomba or Big Ivan over the Mityushikha Bay test range on the Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Circle. The 57 Megatons nuclear bomb was one-of-a-kind and the flash of light when it exploded at a height of 13,000 feet was visible over 1000 kilometers away.
1961 – The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved an order to remove Joseph Stalin’s body from Lenin’s tomb.
1968 – Jack Lynch, Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach), meets with Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister, in London, calling for the ending of partition as a means to resolve the unrest in Northern Ireland
1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon approved legislation to increase Social Security spending by $5.3 billion.
1973 – The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time
1975 – Prince Juan Carlos assumed power in Spain as dictator Francisco Franco was near death.
1975 – The New York Daily News ran the headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” The headline came a day after U.S. President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.
1982 – Portugal’s constitution was revised for the first time since it was ratified on April 25, 1976.
1983 – The first democratic elections are held in Argentina after seven years of military rule.
1984 – In Poland, police found the body of kidnapped pro-Solidarity priest Father Jerry Popieluszko. His death was blamed on four security officers.
1993 – The United Nations deadline concerning ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide passed with country’s military still in control.
1995 – Federalist prevailed over separatists in Quebec in a referendum concerning secession from the federation of Canada.
1997 – Shirley Allen, 51, held Illinois police off for 39 days captured
1998 – The terrorist who hijacked a Turkish Airlines plane and the 39 people on board was killed when anti-terrorist squads raided the plane.
2001 – In New York City, U.S. President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch at Game 3 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
2012 – Walt Disney purchases Lucasfilm Ltd, and its rights for Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, for $4.05 billion
2014 – Sweden Recognizes Palestine, By doing so, it became the first EU country in Western Europe to recognize the State of Palestine. Yasser Arafat declared an independent Palestine on November 15, 1988. The UN General Assembly recognized it a month later.
2017 – Kenyan election rerun, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the winner with 38% turnout
2017 – President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates are indicted on fraud charges, advisor George Papadopoulos pleads guilty to lying to the FBI
2018 – German ex-nurse Niels Högel admits in court to killing over 100 patients, making him one of the world’s worst serial killers
2018 – US Pentagon sends 5,200 troops to Mexican border in advance of migrant caravan from Central America
2019 – Twitter head Jack Dorsey announces it will no longer take political ads
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
