TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – AUG 22
1350 John II, also known as John the Good, succeeds Philip VI as king of France.
1485 Henry Tudor defeats Richard III at Bosworth. This victory establishes the Tudor dynasty in England and ends the War of the Roses.
1567 The “Council of Blood” was established by the Duke of Alba. This was the beginning of his reign of terror in the Netherlands.
1642 The English Civil War began between supporters of King Charles I (Royalists or Cavaliers) and those of Oliver Cromwell (Roundheads).
1777 With the approach of General Benedict Arnold’s army, British Colonel Barry St. Ledger abandons Fort Stanwix and returns to Canada.
1846 The United States annexed New Mexico.
1849 The Portuguese governor of Macao, China, is assassinated because of his anti-Chinese policies.
1902 The Cadillac Company to sell the Cadillac range of cars is formed. The Cadillac is named after the 17th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701.
1906 The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, NJ began to manufacture the Victrola. The hand-cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sold for $200.
1922 Michael Collins, Irish politician, is killed in an ambush.
1942 Brazil declares war on the Axis powers. She is the only South American country to send combat troops into Europe.
1944 Following the D-Day landings Hitler decrees that if Germany is forced out of Paris the city and all it’s landmarks should be left a smoldering ruin.
1945 Vietnam conflict begins as Ho Chi Minh leads a successful coup
1952 Devil’s Island’s penal colony is permanently closed.
1954 A build up of red air power made the American army withdraw four out of six U.S. military units from South Korea. After President Syngman Ree leaked the information to the south, protests erupted in the streets of the capitalist nation.
1962 OAS (Secret Army Organization) gunmen unsuccessfully attempt to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle; the incident inspires Frederick Forsyth’s novel, The Day of the Jackal.
1969 Hurricane Camille hits US Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.421 billion in damages.
1971 FBI arrests members of The Camden 28, an anti-war group, as the group is raiding a draft office in Camden, NJ.
1975 US President Gerald Ford survives second assassination attempt in 17 days, this one by Sarah Jane Moore in San Francisco, Cal.
1986 Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million to settle a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit.
1989 First complete ring around Neptune discovered.
1989 Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, Calif.
1995 During 11-day siege at at Ruby Ridge, Id., FBI HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi kills Vicki Weaver while shooting at another target.
1996 U.S. President Clinton signed legislation that ended guaranteed cash payments to the poor and demanded work from recipients.
2003 Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended for refusing to comply with federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court building’s lobby.
2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., southwest of the National Mall opens to the public, A ceremony dedicating the Memorial was scheduled for Sunday, August 28th, 2011, the 48th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech
2011 Rebels Advance on Libyan Capital of Tripoli making Gaddafi’s hold on power less likely to continue. Gaddafi has been in hiding since the NATO attacks on Libya in June but forces loyal to him are continuing to fight including mounting sniper attacks against the rebels.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
