1959 – “The Day the Music Died” plane crash kills musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, J. P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper), and the pilot. near Clear Lake, Iowa
1112 – Marriage of Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence, uniting the fortunes of those two states
1377 – Mass execution of population (between 2,500 and 5,000) of Cesena, Italy, by Breton troops of Giovanni Acuto under the command of Robert, Cardinal of Geneva, acting as the legate of Pope Gregory XI
1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south
1509 – The Battle of Diu, naval battle at port of Diu, India between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire, establishes Portuguese trading control
1576 – Henry of Navarre (future Henry IV) escapes from Paris
1653 – Cardinal Mazarin returns to Paris from exile
1690 – The first paper money in America was issued by the Massachusetts colony. The currency was used to pay soldiers that were fighting in the war against Quebec.
1740 – Charles de Bourbon, King of Naples, invites Jews to return to Sicily
1743 – Philadelphia establishes a “pesthouse” to quarantine immigrants
1752 – Dutch States-General forbid export of windmills
1783 – Spain recognized the independence of the United States.
1807 – A British military force, under Brig-Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the city of Montevideo, then part of the Spanish Empire now capital of Uruguay, following a siege.
1809 – Territory of Illinois organizes (including present-day Wisconsin)
1815 – The world’s first commercial cheese factory was established in Switzerland.
1836 – Whig Party holds its first national convention (Albany NY)
1855 – Wisconsin Supreme Court declares US Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional
1862 – Thomas Edison printed the “Weekly Herald” and distributed it to train passengers traveling between Port Huron and Detroit, MI. It was the first time a newspaper had been printed on a train.
1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified, grants voting rights regardless of race
1874 – A patent was issued to Samuel W. Francis for the spork.
1887 – To avoid disputed national elections, Congress creates Electoral Count Act
1900 – In Frankfort, KY, gubernatorial candidate William Goebels died from an assasin’s bullet wounds. On August 18, 1900, Ex-Sec. of State Caleb Powers was found guilt of conspiracy to murder Gov. Goebels.
1908 – Supreme Court rules a union boycott violates Sherman Antitrust Act
1913 – The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized the power to impose and collect income tax.
1916 – In Ottawa, Canada’s original parliament buildings burned down.
1917 – The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, which had announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel began service. It is the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet.
1919 – The Bolshevik army is defeated in a series of clashes with the White Russians, who are fighting to reclaim the government after the 1917 revolution
1927 – The Federal Radio Commission was created when U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill.
1928 – Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names ‘Sinanthropus pekinensis’ (now known as ‘Homo erectus’)
1930 – William Howard Taft, resigns as chief justice for health reasons
1941 – Supreme Court upheld Federal Wage & Hour law, sets minimum wages & maximum hours
1945 – Russia agreed to enter World War II against Japan.
1947 – Percival Prattisbecame the first black news correspondent admitted to the House and Senate press gallery in Washington, DC. He worked for “Our World” in New York City.
1951 – The Tennessee Williams play, “The Rose Tattoo”, opened on Broadway in New York.
1959 – The Day The Music Died: A plane crash kills rock-and-roll performers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.
1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan makes his famous “wind of change” speech in Africa, against the apartheid regime, angering South African politicians
1962 – President Kennedy bans all trade with Cuba except for food & drugs
1964 – Black & Puerto Rican students boycott NYC public schools
1966 – The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made by the Soviet space vehicle Luna IX.
1967 – Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia, is hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne
1969 – At the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo, Yasser Arafat was appointed leader of the PLO.
1971 – NYPD officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust while his fellow officers stood outside and failed to call for assistance
1973 – President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
1984 – The first baby conceived by embryo transplant born in Long Beach CA
1986 – US President Ronald Reagan announces formation of commission of enquiry on Challenger Accident
1988 – Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.
1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954
1992 – Maximum New York State unemployment benefits raised to $300 per week
1994 – President Bill Clinton lifts US trade embargo against Vietnam
1995 – Air Force Lt. Colonel Eileen Collins becomes the first woman commander of a U.S. space mission as the shuttle Discovery blasts off from Cape Kennedy.
1998 – Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker. She was the first woman executed in the U.S. since 1984.
2007 – The Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
2009 – Eric Holder was sworn in as attorney general. He was the first African-American to hold the post.
2010 – US Transportation secretary Ray LaHood advises owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving them, seek repair. This on the heels of Toyota’s 5 million car recall worldwide
2015 – The British House of Commons voted to approve letting scientist create babies from the DNA of three people.
2016 – Lord Lucan’s death certificate is granted, 42 years after he disappeared following the murder of nanny Sandra Rivett
2020 – Cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3700 passengers quarantined in Yokohama port, Japan after cases of COVID-19 found on board
2021 – US and Russia extend their New START nuclear arms control treaty for five years, the last remaining nuclear arms deal between the two countries
2022 – ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blows himself and his family up during a raid by US Special Forces in Syria
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
