1945 – During World War II, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a conference at Yalta to outline plans for Germany’s defeat.
0211 – Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies in Eboracum (York) in England, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta
0960 – Coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of the Song, initiating three centuries of Song Dynasty dominance in southern China
1194 – 100,000 ransom is paid for Richard I, King of England
1454 – In the Thirteen Years’ War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master
1555 – Reformer and bible translator John Roger is the first protestant martyr under Mary I, when he is burnt at the stake at Smithfield, London
1620 – Prince Bethlen Gabor of Hungary signs peace with Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II
1670 – Battle of Sinhagad, Shivaji commander Tanaji Malusare recaptures fort of Sinhagad from the Mugals, scaling the walls with help of pet monitor lizard
1699 – 350 rebellious Streltsi executed in Moscow
1783 – Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.
1787 – Shays’s Rebellion, an uprising of Massachusetts farmers, was defeated.
1789 – Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.
1846 – Mormons leave Nauvoo, Illinois, for settlement in the west
1847 – In Maryland, the first U.S. Telegraph Company was established.
1859 – German archeologist Constantin von Tischendorf discovers the Codex Sinaiticus, The “Sinai Bible”, a handwritten copy of the Greek Bible, is considered a great historical treasure.
1861 – Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, AL, to form the Confederate States of America.
1866 – Mary Baker Eddy reportedly cures her injuries by opening a bible
1880 – “Black Donnelly” massacre in Biddulph, Ontario, Canada: Irish immigrants James (63), Johannah (56), John (32), Thomas (25) and Bridget (21) Donnelly murdered at home by members of the Vigilance Committee
1899 – The Philippine–American War begins with fighting between American and Philippine revolutionary forces
1901 – Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Joseph I, gives a speech condemning the demands of national groups and calls for economic and social reform
1904 – The Russo-Japanese War began after Japan laid siege to Port Arthur.
1913 – Louis Perlman received a patent for his demountable tire-carrying rims.
1922 – After boycotts and international pressure, Japan agrees to return Shantung Province to China
1932 – The Winter Olympics were held in the United States at Lake Placid, NY.
1933 – German President Paul von Hindenburg limits freedom of the press
1936 – Radium E. became the first radioactive substance to be produced synthetically.
1941 – The United Service Organizations (USO) was created.
1945 – During World War II, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a conference at Yalta to outline plans for Germany’s defeat.
1948 – Ceylon gained independence within the British Commonwealth. The country later became known as Sri Lanka.
1949 – Failed assassination attempt on Shah of Persia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
1957 – Smith-Corona Manufacturing Inc., of New York, began selling portable electric typewriters. The first machine weighed 19 pounds.
1959 – Israel begins exporting copper ore
1964 – The Administrator of General Services announced that the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had been ratified. The amendment banned the poll tax.
1968 – The world’s largest hovercraft was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.
1969 – The Palestine National Congress appoints Yasser Arafat chairman of the PLO
1972 – US Senator Strom Thurmond suggests John Lennon be deported
1973 – British Army snipers shoot dead a Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and three civilians at the junction in Belfast during the ‘Troubles’ in N Ireland
1974 – Patricia (Patty) Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1976 – An earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras killed more than 22,000 people.
1985 – 20 countries (but not US) sign UN treaty outlawing torture
1985 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s defense budget called for a tripling of the expenditure on the “Star Wars” research program.
1987 – US President Reagan’s veto of Clean Water Act is overridden by Congress
1993 – Russian scientists unfurled a giant mirror in orbit and flashed a beam of sunlight across Europe during the night. Observers saw it only as a momentary flash.
1997 – A civil jury in California found O.J. Simpson liable in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Goldman’s parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.
1997 – President Milosevic of Serbia apparently surrendered to the will of his people, ordering his government to recognize opposition victories in local elections held in November 1996.
1999 – Warplanes from Israel attacked south Lebanon just after rockets were fired toward Israel. No casualies were claimed on either side.
1999 – Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, was shot and killed in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers. The officers had been conducting a nighttime search for a rape suspect.
2000 – German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with the sabotage of German railway lines.
2000 – Austrian President Thomas Klestil swore in a coalition government that included Joerg Haider’s far-right Freedom Party. European Union sanctions were a result of the action.
2003 – Yugoslavia was formally dissolved by lawmakers. The country was replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.
2004 – The social networking website Facebook.com was launched.
2004 – Same-sex marriage first made legal in the U.S., The Massachusetts Supreme Court declared the right for citizens to have same-sex marriages.
2013 – 20 people are killed after an apartment building was struck by a rocket in Aleppo, Syria
2013 – 22 people are killed and 44 are injured after a suicide bombing in Taji, Iraq
2013 – Paris, France annuls 213 year old law banning women from wearing trousers
2020 – Radio personality Rush Limbaugh is presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump during the State Of The Union Address
2021 – First successful face and double hand transplant announced performed on 22 year-old Joe DiMeo in New York
2021 – International Criminal Court convicts Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen of war crimes and crimes against humanity including forced pregnancy in legal first
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
