1941 – In an emotional speech to the Canadian Parliament Winston Churchill states Britain will never surrender to “Hitler and his Nazi gang” and that “they have asked for total war. Let us make sure they get it”. Afterwards Yousef Karsh captures him in his famous photograph, “The Roaring Lion”.
987 – French King Hugo Capet crowns his son Robert the compassionate king
1317 – Pontifical decree “Sancta Romania” against spiritualists
1460 – At the Battle of Wakefield, in England’s Wars of the Roses, the Duke of York was defeated and killed by the Lancastrians.
1610 – Hungarian aristocrat Elizabeth Báthory arrested at Csejte Castle on suspicion of killing and torturing hundreds of young girls and women
1703 – Tokyo hit by Earthquake; about 37,000 die
1809 – Wearing masks at balls forbidden in Boston
1853 – The United States bought about 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.
1853 – Dinner party held inside life-sized model of an Iguanodon (ornithopod dinosaur), created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in South London
1861 – Associated Banks in NYC halt gold payments to government and investors, to disrupt Abraham Lincoln’s US bank reform program
1875 – Andrassy Note calls for Christian-Muslim religious freedoms
1880 – The Transvaal was declared a republic. Paul Kruger became its first president.
1887 – A petition to Queen Victoria with over one million names of women appealing for public houses to be closed on Sundays was handed to the home secretary.
1896 – Filipino nationalist José Rizal is executed by firing squad in Manila by the Spanish
1903 – About 600 people died when fire broke out at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, IL.
1905 – Former Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated near his home in Caldwell, Idaho
1906 – The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, later laid down the foundations of Pakistan
1907 – Abraham Mills’ Mills Committee declares baseball was invented in 1839 by future American Civil War general Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York; widely disproven, now known as ‘the Doubleday myth’
1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed.
1924 – Edwin Hubble announced the existence of other galactic systems.
1927 – The first subway in the Orient was dedicated in Tokyo, Japan.
1935 – Italian bombers destroyed a Swedish Red Cross unit in Ethiopia.
1936 – The United Auto Workers union staged its first sit-down strike, at the Fisher Body Plant in Flint, MI.
1936 – Beginning of the “feud” between comedians Fred Allen and Jack Benny on Allen’s “Town Hall Tonight” show
1941 – In an emotional speech to the Canadian Parliament Winston Churchill states Britain will never surrender to “Hitler and his Nazi gang” and that “they have asked for total war. Let us make sure they get it”. Afterwards Yousef Karsh captures him in his famous photograph, “The Roaring Lion”.
1941 – Nazis require Dutch physicians to join Nazi organization
1944 – King George II of Greece proclaimed a regency to rule his country, virtually renouncing the throne.
1947 – King Michael of Romania abdicated in favor of a Communist Republic. He claimed he was forced from his throne.
1952 – Tuskegee Inst reports 1952 as 1st yr in 71 with no lynchings in US
1953 – The first color TV sets went on sale for about $1,175.
1965 – Ferdinand Marcos inaugurated as President of the Philippines
1972 – The United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
1973 – 1st picture of a comet from space (Comet Kohoutek-Skylab)
1978 – Ohio State University fired Woody Hayes as its football coach, one day after Hayes punched Clemson University player Charlie Bauman during the Gator Bowl. Bauman had intercepted an Ohio pass.
1980 – “The Wonderful World of Disney” was cancelled by NBC after more than 25 years on the TV. It was the longest-running series in prime-time television history.
1988 – Former Soviet President Brezhnev’s son-in-law sentenced to 12-yr (bribery)
1988 – Mercedes-Benz pays $20.2-M fine failed to meet ’86 government fuel standard
1988 – Oliver North subpoenas US Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as defense witnesses for his upcoming trial
1993 – Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations.
1996 – A passenger train was bombed by Bodo separatists in India’s eastern state of Assam. At least 26 people were killed and dozens were seriously injured.
1996 – About 250,000 striking workers shut down vital services across Israel in protests against budget cuts proposed by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
1997 – More than 400 people were massacred in four villages in the single worst incident during Algeria’s insurgency.
2000 – Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
2003 – U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself and his office from the Plame affair.
2004 – A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.
2006 – Saddam Hussein executed, The deposed president of Iraq was hanged after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity. Hussein was the fifth president of Iraq and came to power after a coup in 1968.
2011 – Samoa and Tokelau skipped December 30, The South Pacific Ocean Islands changed their time zone and move west of the international dateline to align their time zone with their major trading partners, Australia and New Zealand. In doing so, they skipped December 30 and moved directly from December 29 to December 31. 119 years ago, Samoa had made a similar shift, eastwards of the dateline, to synchronize its time with the United States. Today, Samoa follows West Samoa Time, which is 13 hours ahead of UTC.
2012 – 19 people are killed by a suicide bomber in Baluchistan, Pakistan
2013 – 15 people are killed in a trolley-bus bomb attack in Volgograd, Russia
2016 – A ceasefire organized by Russia, Iran and Turkey between Syria’s government and opposition groups takes effect
2016 – Last day Indians are able to deposit in banks 500 and 1,000 rupee notes which were scrapped only 50 days earlier in an anti-corruption measure
2020 – Argentina is the first major Latin American country to legalize abortion (signed into law 14 Jan 2021)
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
