1973 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that had been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case (Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion.
1371 – King Robert II of Scotland (1371-90) is crowned, becoming the first monarch of the House of Stewart
1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrive at the Vatican
1510 – Jews are expelled from Colmar, Alsace
1575 – English Queen Elizabeth I grants Thomas Tallis & William Byrd music press monopoly
1666 – Shah Jahan, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur, died at the age of 74. He was the Mongul emperor of India that built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz-i-Mahal.
1673 – Postal service between New York & Boston inaugurated
1689 – Prince William of Orange (future King William III of Britain), summons Convention Parliament to discuss ruling jointly with his wife Mary (daughter of exiled King James II)
1690 – Iroquois tribes renew allegiance to British against French
1771 – The Falkland Islands were ceded to Britain by Spain.
1775 – Marshal Oscar von Lubomirski expels Jews from Warsaw, Poland
1813 – Americans capture Frenchtown, Michigan Territory
1814 – 1st Knights Templar grand encampment in US held in New York City
1824 – The Asante army crushed British troops in the Gold Coast.
1862 – Confederate government raises premium for volunteers from $10 to $20
1877 – Arthur Tooth, an Anglican clergyman is taken into custody after being prosecuted for using ritualist practices
1879 – James Shields began a term as a U.S. Senator from Missouri. He had previously served Illinois and Minnesota. He was the first Senator to serve three states.
1879 – British troops were massacred by the Zulus at Isandhlwana.
1895 – The National Association of Manufacturers was organized in Cincinnati, OH.
1901 – Queen Victoria of England died after reigning for nearly 64 years. Edward VII, her son, succeeded her.
1903 – The Hay-Herrán Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Colombian Chargé Dr. Tomás Herrán. The treaty granted the United States rights to the land proposed for the Panama Canal.
1905 – Insurgent workers were fired on in St Petersburg, Russia, resulting in “Bloody Sunday.” 500 people were killed.
1908 – Katie Mulcahey is arrested for lighting a cigarette, violating the 1-day old “Sullivan Ordinance” banning women from smoking in public, and is fined $5. Appearing before the judge she stated “I’ve got as much right to smoke as you have. I never heard of this new law, and I don’t want to hear about it. No man shall dictate to me.”
1917 – U.S. President Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for “peace without victory.” America entered the war the following April.
1930 – In New York, excavation began for the Empire State Building.
1936 – In Paris, Premier Pierre Laval resigned over diplomatic failure in the Ethiopian crisis.
1941 – 1st mass killing of Jews in Romania
1944 – Allied forces begin landing at Anzio on the Italian mainland
1951 – Fidel Castro was ejected from a Winter League baseball game after hitting a batter. He later gave up baseball for politics.
1957 – Suspected “Mad Bomber” was arrested in Waterbury, CT. George P. Metesky was accused of planting more than 30 explosive devices in the New York City area.
1957 – The Israeli army withdrew from the Sinai. They had invaded Egypt on October 29, 1956.
1962 – Cuba’s membership in the Organization of American States (OAS) was suspended.
1963 – The Élysée Treaty formalizes the reconciliation between Germany and France. The treaty effectively ended centuries of enmity between the two European countries.
1968 – “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”, debuted on NBC TV.
1968 – Apollo Lunar Module is launched to Moon; unmanned lunar module tests made
1972 – The United Kingdom, the Irish Republic, and Denmark joined the EEC.
1973 – Joe Frazier lost the first fight of his professional career to George Foreman. He had been the undefeated heavyweight world champion since February 16, 1970 when he knocked out Jimmy Ellis.
1973 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that had been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case (Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion.
1979 – 10,000s UK public sector workers go on strike
1980 – Russian dissidents Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner arrested in Moscow and banished to Gorky
1984 – Apple introduced the Macintosh during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII.
1987 – Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a press conference on live national television, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism
1990 – Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet worm.
1992 – Rebel soldiers seized the national radio station in Kinshasa, Zaire’s capital, and broadcast a demand for the government’s resignation.
1995 – Two Palestinian suicide bombers from the Gaza Strip detonated powerful explosives at a military transit point in central Israel, killing 19 Israelis.
1997 – The U.S. Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the first female secretary of state.
1998 – Theodore Kaczynski pled guilty to federal charges for his role as the Unabomber. He agreed to life in prison without parole.
2000 – Elian Gonzalez’s grandmothers met privately with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno as they appealed for help in removing the boy from his Florida relatives and reuniting him with his father in Cuba.
2001 – Acting on a tip, authorities captured four of the “Texas 7” in Woodland Park, CO, at a convenience store. A fifth convict killed himself inside a motor home.
2002 – In Calcutta, India, Heavily armed gunmen attacked the U.S. government cultural center. Five police officers were killed and twenty others, including one pedestrian and one private security guard, were wounded.
2002 – Lawyers suing Enron Corp. asked a court to prevent further shredding of documents due to the pending federal investigation.
2002 – Kmart Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy making it the largest retailer in history to seek legal protection from its creditors.
2006 – Eco Morales becomes Bolivia’s first indigenous president. The left-wing politician has focused mainly on combating poverty and curbing the influence of transnational corporations.
2007 – The jury portion of the trial against Robert Pickton, accused of being Canada’s worst serial killer, opens in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
2014 – Water vapour is detected on the dwarf planet Ceres
2016 – Winter storm conditions strand 500 motorists for 24 hours in Somerset and Bedford counties, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike
2018 – US government ends three-day shutdown after an agreement in Congress to extend funding
2021 – Lloyd Austin confirmed as defense secretary by the US Senate, and the first black head of the Pentagon
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
