1963 – Martin Luther King Makes His “I Have a Dream” Speech, The historic speech that was a call to end racism in the United States was given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, a political rally organized by human and political rights groups. Over 200,000 people gathered in Washington DC to demand jobs and equality for African-Americans. The I Have a Dream speech by Dr. King became a symbol of the American civil rights movement and is one of the most recognizable speeches in recorded history.
0476 – Orestes, father of Emperor Romulus Augustulus is captured and executed by Odoacer and his followers
1189 – Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan
1207 – King John of England grants small town of Liverpool a charter (right to elect a mayor and aldermen)
1542 – Turkish-Portuguese War (1538-1557) – Battle of Wofla: the Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and afterwards executed.
1609 – Delaware Bay was discovered by Henry Hudson.
1619 – Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor. His policy of “One church, one king” was his way of trying to outlaw Protestantism.
1640 – Second Bishop’s War: King Charles I’s English army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn
1774 – The first American-born saint was born in New York City. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975.
1789 – William Herschel discovers Saturn’s moon Enceladus
1830 – “The Tom Thumb” was demonstrated in Baltimore, MD. It was the first passenger-carrying train of its kind to be built in America.
1833 – Slavery was banned by the British Parliament throughout the British Empire.
1845 – First Issue of Scientific American hits the newsstands
1859 – A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far afield as Japan
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Hatteras, North Carolina, 1st combined operation of Union Army and Navy results in Union domination of strategically important North Carolina Sounds
1907 – “American Messenger Company” was started by two teenagers, Jim Casey and Claude Ryan. The company’s name was later changedto “United Parcel Service.”
1916 – Italy’s declaration of war against Germany took effect during World War I.
1917 – Ten suffragists were arrested as they picketed the White House.
1922 – The first radio commercial aired on WEAF in New York City. The Queensboro Realty Company bought 10 minutes of time for $100.
1924 – Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union
1937 – Toyota Motor Corporation is Formed
1939 – Journalist Care Hollingworth observes the “large numbers of troops, literally hundreds of tanks, armored cars and field guns” Germany had aligned along the Polish border. Three days later, Hitler invades Poland and WWII begins.
1952 – German & Israeli reach accord about recovery payments
1955 – Emmett Till is Murdered in Mississippi, The 14-year old African-American boy was brutally killed by white men after he was allegedly reported to have flirted with a white woman a day before. Till, who was from Chicago, was visiting family in Money, Mississippi, when he was kidnapped, mutilated, and his body dumped into the river.
1957 – US Senator James Thurmond (Rep, SC) begins 24-hr filibuster against civil rights bill
1963 – Martin Luther King Makes His “I Have a Dream” Speech, The historic speech that was a call to end racism in the United States was given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, a political rally organized by human and political rights groups. Over 200,000 people gathered in Washington DC to demand jobs and equality for African-Americans. The I Have a Dream speech by Dr. King became a symbol of the American civil rights movement and is one of the most recognizable speeches in recorded history.
1968 – Police & anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago’s Democratic National Convention
1978 – Ja’afar Sharif-Emami appointed premier of Iran
1979 – IRA bomb explodes in Brussels’ Great Market
1980 – First use of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine to scan the human body at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Scotland
1981 – “The New York Daily News” published its final afternoon edition.
1982 – The first Gay Games are held in San Francisco.
1983 – Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin announces his resignation
1986 – US Navy officer Jerry A Whitworth sentenced to 365 years for spying
1990 – Iraq declared Kuwait to be its 19th province and renamed Kuwait City al-Kadhima.
1995 – The biggest bank in the U.S. was created when Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank announced their $10 billion deal.
1995 – Kuwaiti Oil Minister Abdul Mohsen al-Medej announces that his country will increase its oil production capacity to as much as 3.5 million barrels per day by 2005
1996 – A divorce decree was issued for Britain’s Charles and Princess Diana. This was the official end to the 15-year marriage.
1998 – Pakistan’s National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the “Qur’an and Sunnah” the “supreme law” but the bill is defeated in the Senate.
2003 – An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London’s underground rail network to a halt.
2013 – China and Russia walk out of a UN Security Council meeting after the US pushes for immediate action against Syria’s use of chemical weapons
2014 – Google announced its Project Wing. The project was aimed at delivering products across a city using unmanned flying vehicles.
2017 – Kenya brings in world’s toughest ban on plastic bags with possible US$38,000 fine and four years in jail
2017 – North Korea launches missile that flies over Japan, the country’s J-Alert warning system warns people to take cover
2019 – Climate change activist Greta Thunberg arrives in New York after sailing across the Atlantic in an emissions-free voyage
2019 – British PM Boris Johnson prorogues parliament, suspending it for 5 weeks to limit opposition to a no deal Brexit, prompting a furious backlash
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
