1998 – In a TV statement, Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”, On August 17, 1998, Clinton admitted to having had an “improper physical relationship” with Monica Lewinsky.
1340 – English king Edward III proclaimed king of France
1482 – “Pentateuch” the Jewish Bible is 1st printed as a book in Bologna, Italy
1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón discovered Brazil.
1564 – The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism
1697 – Isaac Newton receives Jean Bernoulli’s 6 month time-limit problem, solves problem before going to bed that same night
1699 – Venice, Poland & Austria sign Treaty of Karlowitz with Ottoman Empire, ending the Great Turkish War (1683-97) – 1st time Ottomans concede significant territory
1777 – Captain James Cook stops in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) with Resolution, for supplies, on his 3rd trip to Pacific Ocean
1784 – In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the symbol to be the turkey.
1788 – The first European settlers in Australia, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, landed in what became known as Sydney. The group had first settled at Botany Bay eight days before. This day is celebrated as Australia Day.
1802 – The U.S. Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol.
1808 – Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia
1827 – Peru seceded from Colombia in protest against Simón Bolívar’s alleged tyranny.
1837 – Michigan became the 26th state to join the United States.
1838 – Myall Creek Massacre: about 50 Wirrayaraay indigenous people killed by New South Wales Mounted Police (seven men later the first ever to be hanged for killing Australian Aborigines)
1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
1841 – Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British.
1861 – In the U.S., Louisiana seceded from the Union.
1862 – Lincoln issues General War Order #1, calling for a Union offensive, General George McClellan ignores order
1870 – The state of Virgina rejoined the Union.
1871 – US income tax repealed
1875 – George F. Green patented the electric dental drill for sawing, filing, dressing and polishing teeth.
1905 – The Cullinan diamond, at 3,106.75 carats, was found by Captain Wells at the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa.
1907 – 1st US federal corrupt election practices law passed
1907 – In Austria, universal and direct suffrage (limited to males over 24) is introduced, a reform long demanded by the socialists and others
1913 – Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for playing 2 seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics
1915 – Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, is established
1918 – Herbert Hoover, US Food Administrator, calls for “wheatless” & “meatless” days for war effort
1920 – Amedeo Modigliani’s fiancé Jeanne Hébuterne jumps out of a window a day after the artist’s funeral killing herself and her unborn child
1920 – Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer
1929 – Rube Goldberg’s “The Inventions of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, A.K.,” cartoon series first published in “Colliers Weekly”
1934 – Nazi Germany & Poland sign 10-year non-aggression treaty
1939 – In the Spanish Civil War, Franco’s forces, with Italian aid, took Barcelona.
1940 – Nazis forbid Polish Jews to travel on trains
1942 – The first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland.
1950 – India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president.
1950 – The American Associated Insurance Companies, of St. Louis, MO, issued the first baby sitter’s insurance policy.
1957 – India annexes Kashmir
1961 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy appointed Dr. Janet G. Travell as the first woman to be the “personal physician to the President”.
1962 – The U.S. launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon. The probe missed its target by about 22,000 miles.
1962 – Bishop Burke of Buffalo Catholic dioceses declares Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” to be impure and bans it from all Catholic schools
1965 – South Vietnam military coup under general Nguyen Khanh
1972 – In Hermsdorf, Czechoslovakia, a JAT Yugoslav Airlines flight crashed after the detonation of a bomb in the forward cargo hold killing 27 people. The bomb was believed to have been placed on the plane by a Croatian extremist group. Vesna Vulovic, a stewardess, survived after falling 33,000 feet in the tail section. She broke both legs and became paralyzed from the waist down.
1976 – Belgium Catholic elite starts amnesty campaign for war criminals
1976 – Israel opens “Good Fence” to Lebanon
1979 – “The Dukes of Hazzard” premieres on US TV network CBS
1982 – For the first time since the 1930s, the unemployed population in UK rises above three million
1986 – Yoweri Museveni’s rebel army conquers Kampala, Uganda
1989 – AT&T reports 1st loss in 103 years; $1.67 B in 1988
1992 – Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced that his country would stop targeting U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.
1993 – Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
1994 – In Sydney, Australia, a young man lunged at and fired two blank shots at Britain’s Prince Charles.
1996 – U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning the Whitewater probe.
1998 – In a TV statement, Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”, On August 17, 1998, Clinton admitted to having had an “improper physical relationship” with Monica Lewinsky.
1999 – Saddam Hussein vowed revenge against the U.S. in response to air-strikes that reportedly killed civilians. The strikes were U.S. planes defending themselves against anti-aircraft fire.
2004 – Mydoom, the most destructive computer worm (so far), first sighted on computers in North America. Goes on to cause $38 billion in damages.
2005 – Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, the first African American woman to hold the post
2009 – The Icelandic government and banking system collapsed. Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned
2010 – The World Health Organization rejects claims that it overstated the severity of the swine flu pandemic under pressure from vaccine companies
2013 – 10 people are killed and 20 are injured by a suicide bombing in Kunduz, Afghanistan
2013 – 30 people are killed during a violent protest in Port Said, Egypt
2016 – Leader of Oregon militia occupying Malheur wildlife refuge arrested and another killed in shoot-out with Federal agents
2019 – Five people shot and killed in domestic deputes in Louisiana, a 21- year old gunman arrested a day later
2022 – Spotify removes Neil Young’s music from its streaming platform after the singer-songwriter’s ultimatum in objection to COVID-19 misinformation in Joe Rogan’s podcasts
2022 – US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announces his retirement
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
