1979 – Sony introduced the Walkman.
0069 – Roman General Vespasian is first proclaimed Emperor by troops in Egypt, during year of the four emperors
0070 – Roman General Titus and his forces set up battering rams to assault the walls of Jerusalem
1200 – In China, sunglasses are invented
1517 – 1st burning of Protestants at the stake in the Netherlands
1535 – Sir Thomas More goes on trial in England charged with treason
1543 – England and Scotland signed the peace of Greenwich.
1776 – 1st vote on Declaration of Independence for Britain’s North American colonies
1795 – John Rutledge becomes 2nd chief justice of US Supreme Court
1798 – Napoleon Bonaparte took Alexandria, Egypt.
1836 – US President Andrew Jackson announces to Congress bequest by James Smithson of 100,000 gold sovereigns to found institution in Washington.
1841 – Mammoth Cave National Park established with 45,310 acres, including world’s largest cave network in Kentucky, US
1845 – Uniform postal rates went into effect throughout the United States. The Act of Congress was passed on March 3, 1845.
1861 – US War Department decrees that Kansas and Tennessee are to be canvassed for volunteers
1862 – The U.S. Congress established the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
1862 – Alexander II of Russia grants Jews right to publish books
1863 – During the U.S. Civil War, the first day’s fighting at Gettysburg began.
1867 – The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario & Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister
1874 – 1st US kidnapping for ransom, 4-year-old Charles Ross, $20,000
1876 – Montenegro declared war on the Turks.
1898 – During the Spanish-American War, Theodore Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders” waged a victorious assault on San Juan Hill in Cuba.
1905 – The USDA Forest Service was created within the Department of Agriculture. The agency was given the mission to sustain healthy, diverse, and productive forests and grasslands for present and future generations.
1916 – First day of the Battle of the Somme: the British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men (WWI)
1931 – US President Herbert Hoover places a one year moratorium on war debt payments
1933 – German nazi regime declares that married women shouldn’t work
1934 – The Federal Communications Commission replaced the Federal Radio Commission as the regulator of broadcasting in the United States.
1940 – In Washington, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was opened to traffic. The bridge collapsed during a wind storm on November 7, 1940.
1943 – The U.S. Government began automatically withholding federal income tax from paychecks.
1945 – New York established the New York State Commission Against Discrimination to prevent discrimination in employment because of race, creed or natural origin. It was the first such agency in the U.S.
1946 – U.S. President Harry Truman signed Public Law 476 that incorporated the Civil Air Patrol as a benevolent, nonprofit organization. The Civil Air Patrol was created on December 1, 1941.
1950 – American ground troops arrived in South Korea to stem the tide of the advancing North Korean army.
1960 – The independent Somali Democratic Republic, commonly known as Somalia, is formed out of former British and Italian territories
1961 – British troops landed in Kuwait to aid against Iraqi threats.
1961 – The first community air-raid shelter was built. The shelter in Boise, ID had a capacity of 1,000 people and family memberships sold for $100.
1963 – The U.S. postmaster introduced the five-digit ZIP (Zoning Improvement Plan) code.
1966 – The Medicare federal insurance program went into effect.
1968 – The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was signed by 60 countries. It limited the spreading of nuclear material for military purposes. On May 11, 1995, the treaty was extended indefinitely.
1971 – Twenty-sixth Amendment, which lowers the voting age from 21 to 18, is ratified and becomes part of the United States Constitution
1978 – Former US President Richard Nixon makes 1st public speech since resigning in 1974
1979 – Sony introduced the Walkman. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-sony-walkman-goes-on-sale
1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed legislation that provided for 2 acres of land near the Lincoln Memorial for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
1981 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that candidates for federal office had an “affirmative right” to go on national television.
1989 – The Montreal Protocol, an international treaty, went into effect. It limited the production of ozone-destroying chemicals.
1991 – The Warsaw Pact, a defense treaty between 8 communist countries, is formally disbanded in Prague
1996 – Canadian NHL franchise Winnipeg Jets officially moves to Arizona, renamed the Phoenix Coyotes
1997 – The sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred from Great Britain to China. Britain had controlled Hong Kong as a colony for 156 years.
1999 – The U.S. Justice Department released new regulations that granted the attorney general sole power to appoint and oversee special counsels. The 1978 independent-counsel statute expired on June 30.
2000 – Vermont’s civil unions law goes into effect.
2003 – In Hong Kong, thousands of protesters marched to show their opposition to anti-subversion legislation.
2007 – England bans smoking in all public indoor spaces: with the ban already in force in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, this means it is illegal to smoke in indoor public places anywhere in the UK. Australia implements a similar ban.
2012 – 17 people are killed and 45 injured in an attack on two churches in Garissa, Kenya
2013 – Demonstrations occur across Egypt with 15 million people calling for the resignation of their President, Mohammed Morsi
2016 – Islamic militants storm a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 20 hostages and 2 police, country’s worse terror attack
2018 – Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the US’s steel tariffs take effect, 25% on some steel, 10% on 250 other goods
2019 – At least 16 people killed in a Taliban attack with over 100 injured in Kabul, Afghanistan
2020 – Russian President Vladimir Putin wins national referendum allowing longer presidential terms of office
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
