TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JULY 28
1540 Henry VIII of England marries Catherine Howard; Thomas Cromwell is beheaded on Tower Hill in England.
1615 French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovers Lake Huron on his seventh voyage to the New World.
1794 French Revolution figure Robespierre & 22 other leaders of “the Terror” guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris
1821 The Peruvian War of Independence against Spain began in 1811 and ended with a declaration of independence under the leadership of José de San Martín.
1866 The metric system was legalized by the U.S. Congress for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States.
1868 The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to all those born or naturalized in the United States, is adopted.
1898 Spain, through the offices of the French embassy in Washington, D.C., requests peace terms in its war with the United States.
1914 Austria-Hungary decides against mediation and declares war on Serbia – first declaration of war of WWI
1917 Silent Parade organised by James Weldon Johnson of 10,000 African-Americans who march on 5th Ave in NYC to protest against lynching
1920 Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa the notorious bandit has surrendered unconditionally to the provisional government of Mexico.
1932 The Bonus Army of impoverished World War I veterans is violently pushed out of Washington, D.C.
1945 A B-25 bomber crashes into the Empire State Building in New York City, killing 13 people.
1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act is passed by the US Congress The act established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
1976 Tangshan Earthquake, 8.2 in magnitude kills over 240,000 Northern China in the largest loss of life from an earthquake in the 20th century
1982 Israel Bombers and fighters are blasting large area’s of West Beirut attacking any area or building they believe may house PLO Palestinian Liberation Army Guerillas. After nightfall the PLO Guerillas returned fire on Israeli positions using rockets and mortar fire.
1988 Israeli diplomats arrive in Moscow for the first time in 21 years.
1998 Monica Lewinsky received blanket immunity from prosecution to testify before a grand jury about her relationship with U.S. President Clinton.
2005 The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announces an end to its 30-year armed campaign in Northern Ireland.
2008 On this day three suicide bombings took place in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 28 people and injuring 90 people. The suicide attacks were carried out by female bombers and were aimed at disrupting a Shia Muslim pilgrimage to the Kadhimiya shrine.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
