TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – DEC 16
1431 Henry VI of England is crowned King of France.
1598 Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point – in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese
1653 Oliver Cromwell takes on dictatorial powers with the title of “Lord Protector.”
1773 Boston tea party incident – Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston harbour in protest against British imposed Tea Act
1809 Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate.
1835 A fire in New York City destroys property estimated to be worth $20,000,000. It lasts two days, ravages 17 blocks, and destroys 674 buildings including the Stock Exchange, Merchants’ Exchange, Post Office, and the South Dutch Church.
1901 “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” by Beatrix Potter, was printed for the first time.
1905 Sime Silverman published the first issue of “Variety”.
1916 Grigori Rasputin assassinated by a group of noble Russian conspirators.
1930 In Spain, a general strike is called in support of the revolution.
1933 Germany quit the League of Nations and Adolph Hitler was in power with his Nazi regime. Other European countries were nervous of Germany’s intentions; however, they were relying on negotiations instead of war at that point. France was threatened by Germany, but generally felt secure behind her fortifications.
1939 The National Women’s Party urges immediate congressional action on equal rights.
1944 Ardennes campaign (‘Battle of the Bulge’) begins in Belgium
1950 President Truman proclaimed a state of emergency to combat the growth of communism and delegated many of his own war powers to Charles E. Wilson, the new Mobilization Director of the Economic Stabilization Agency . As part of the measures to fight communism new price controls are put in place and new war production targets are set.
1969 The British Parliament votes to abolish the death penalty in Great Britain, there had been a temporary ban on the death penalty since 1965.
1978 Cleveland becomes the first U.S. city to default since the depression.
1981 The U.S. Congress restored the $122 minimum monthly social security benefit for current recipients.
1991 The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism by a vote of 111-25.
1995 Many U.S. government functions were again closed as a temporary finance provision expired and the budget dispute between President Clinton and Republicans in Congress continued.
1997 President Bill Clinton and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo joined forces to combat illegal immigration and drug smuggling along the 2,000 mile border between Mexico and the United States. President Clinton declared, “The United States and Mexico are working hard to forge a true partnership founded on mutual respect, a partnership as broad as our border is long.”
1998 The U.S. and Britain fired hundreds of missiles on Iraq in response to Saddam Hussein’s refusal to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors.
2000 U.S. President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to be the first African-American secretary of state. Powell was sworn in January 20, 2001.
2001 Cuba received the first commercial food shipment from the United States in nearly 40 years. The shipment was sent to help Cuba after Hurrican Michelle hit Cuba on November 4, 2001.
2003 President George W. Bush signs the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which establishes the United States’ first national standards regarding email and gives the Federal Trade Commission authority to enforce the act.
2004 The United Kingdoms high court makes a ruling to the government’s anti terrorism policy that it can not detain foreign suspects indefinitely without trial.
2006 The United States has denied approving the Turkish attacks on P.K.K. targets in northern Iraq, which killed one woman. The Turkish army claims the U.S. provided intelligence and gave tacit approval by opening Iraqi airspace to Turkish jets. The U.S. has denied approving the Turkish attacks, and would only say it had been informed of the operation in advance.
2009 Iran has successfully test-fired an improved version of one of their medium-range missiles. TV pictures have shown the launch of the Sajjil-2 rocket, which is said to have enough range to hit Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
