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, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta.
0362 – Roman Emperor Julian promulgates an edict that recognizes equal rights to all the religions in the Roman Empire.
0960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song Dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries.
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
1657 – Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector, grants Portuguese Jew Antonio Fernandez Caravajal and other Sephardic Jews denizen status (1st known rights granted to English Jews)
1699 – 350 rebellious Streltsi executed in Moscow
1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), 46 of the Forty-Seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master’s death
1783 – Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.
1787 – The first Anglican bishops of New York & Pennsylvania consecrated in London
1789 – Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.
1794 – The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.
1818 – Sir Walter Scott supervised the rediscovery of the Honours of Scotland – the Scottish Crown Jewels – in Edinburgh Castle
1824 – J.W. Goodrich introduced rubber galoshes to the public.
1846 – Mormons leave Nauvoo MO for settlement in the west
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 – Confederate constitutional convention meets for first time, Montgomery AL, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi & South Carolina elect Jefferson Davis President of Confederacy.
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. Revolt against US occupation of Philippines
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.
1915 – Experiments to find cause of pellagra begin at Mississippi Penitentiary
1922 – After boycotts and international pressure, Japan agrees to return Shantung Province to China
1932 – The first Winter Olympics were held in the United States at Lake Placid, NY.
1936 – Radium E. became the first radioactive substance to be produced synthetically.
1938 – Hitler seizes control of German army & puts Nazi in key posts
1941 – The United Service Organizations (USO) is created, at the request of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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
1952 – Jackie Robinson was named Director of Communication for NBC. He was the first black executive of a major radio-TV network.
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
1961 – Angolan War of Independence begins when militants storm Luanda jail and barracks, trying to free political prisoners (last until 1974)
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.
1971 – Apollo 14 lander Antares lands on Moon (Shepard & Mitchell)
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 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s defense budget called for a tripling of the expenditure on the “Star Wars” research program.
1987 – President Reagan’s veto of Clean Water Act is overridden by Congress
1988 – Despite union calls to end the strike, rank-and-file seamen at major British ports refuse to return to work
1990 – 10 Israeli tourists murdered near Cairo
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.
1999 – Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race-relations in the city.
2000 – German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with the sabotage of German railway lines.
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.
2013 – 20 people are killed after an apartment building was struck by a rocket in Aleppo, Syria
2016 – Morocco’s Mohammed VI switches on world’s largest solar plant near Ouarzazate. Planned to power 1 million homes when fully completed 2018
2020 – Radio personality Rush Limbaugh is presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump during the State Of The Union Address
2021 – Denmark approves plans for world’s first energy island in the North Sea to provide power to 3 million Europeans
2023 – Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by US fighter jets off the US eastern seaboard, after drifting across the US for days and igniting a political storm
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
