1998 – Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an “improper physical relationship” with the intern and on the same day admits before the nation he “misled people” about the relationship
1563 – King Charles IX of France declared an adult at 13
1590 – Governor of Roanoke Island colony, John White, returns from England to find no trace of the colonists he had left there 3 years earlier [or Aug 18, 1591]
1661 – French Superintendent of Finances Nicolas Fouquet throws one of the grandest and opulent parties ever seen in France, appalling King Louis XIV and leading to Fouquet’s arrest for embezzlement weeks later
1787 – Jews are granted permission in Budapest Hungary to pray in groups
1790 – The capital city of the U.S. moved to Philadelphia from New York City.
1815 – Napoleon began serving his exile when he arrived at the island of St. Helena.
1859 – A hot air balloon was used to carry mail for the first time. John Wise left Lafayette, IN, for New York City with 100 letters. He had to land after only 27 miles.
1863 – Federal batteries and ships bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC, harbor during the Civil War.
1877 – American astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Mars’ moon Phobos
1896 – The Klondike gold rush was set off by George Carmack discovering gold on Rabbit Creek in Alaska.
1903 – Joseph Pulitzer donated a million dollars to Columbia University. This started the Pulitzer Prizes in his name.
1908 – Projection in Paris of the very first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie realized by Émile Cohl
1915 – Mob lynches Jewish businessman Leo Frank in Cobb County, Georgia, after death sentence for murder of 13-year-old girl commuted to life
1936 – An unemployed worker, Neils B. Ruud, in Madison, Wisconsin, receives the first unemployment benefit check paid under a State law, for $15
1940 – Adolf Hitler orders a total blockade of Great Britain
1943 – The Allied conquest of Sicily was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina.
1945 – The nationalists of Indonesia declared their independence from the Netherlands.
1946 – George Orwell publishes “Animal Farm” in the United Kingdom
1953 – First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California.
1956 – One of the largest demonstrations in South Africa’s history, 20,000 women marched to Pretoria’s Union Buildings to present petition against carrying of passes by women to the Prime Minister
1957 – Baseball player Richie Ashburn fouls and hits fan Alice Roth twice in the same game at bat playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1st hit breaks her nose, 2nd one hits her while she is on the stretcher
1960 – Gabon gains independence from the French
1960 – Francis Gary Powers U-2 spy trial opens in Moscow
1961 – The Communist East German government completed the construction of the Berlin Wall.
1970 – Venera 7 launched by the Soviet Union, Launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to land on another planet, Venus, and send data back to Earth. It entered Venus’ atmosphere in December 1970.
1982 – The U.S. Senate approved an immigration bill that granted permanent resident status to illegal aliens who had arrived in the United States before 1977.
1985 – A year-long strike began when 1,400 Geo. A. Hormel and Co. meat packers walked off the job.
1988 – Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
1996 – A military cargo plane crashed in Wyoming killing eight crewmembers and a Secret Service employee. The plane was carrying gear for U.S. President Clinton.
1996 – Ross Perot was announced to be the Reform Party’s presidential candidate. It was the party’s first-ever candidate.
1998 – Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an “improper physical relationship” with the intern and on the same day admits before the nation he “misled people” about the relationship
1998 – NationsBank and BankAmerica merge to create the largest U.S. bank.
1998 – Russia devalued the ruble.
2005 – The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts.
2012 – Gay pride events are banned for a century in Moscow
2015 – Discovery of 7,000 year old mass grave in Schöneck-Kilianstädten, Central Germany, published in PNAS Journal. 26 bodies bear evidence of violent conflict
2017 – The first observation of a collision of two neutron stars took place.
2017 – Terror attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain as van rams into crowds killing 16, injuring 120
2019 – Suicide bombing at a wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills 63, with over 200 injured. The Islamic State claims responsibility
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
