1977 – An opinion piece by Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs appeared in “The Washington Post.” The article called for a national memorial to “remind an ungrateful nation of what it has done to its sons” that had served in the Vietnam War.
585 BC – The first known prediction of a solar eclipse was made in Greece.
1085 – Alfonso VI took Toledo, Spain from the Moslems.
1241 – 1st attack on Jewish community of Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1521 – Edict of Worms outlaws Martin Luther and his followers
1571 – Pope Pius V forms The Holy League to fight the Ottomans with other Catholic maritime states including Spain, Venice, Naples and Sicily
1784 – Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek
1787 – The Constitutional convention opened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding.
1844 – The gasoline engine was patented by Stuart Perry.
1861 – John Merryman is arrested under suspension of writ of habeas corpus it later sparks a supreme court decision protecting writ
1895 – Oscar Wilde, a playwright, poet and novelist, was convicted of a morals charge and sentenced to prison in London.
1925 – John Scopes was indicted for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution.
1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of the Ukrainian People’s Republic
1927 – Ford Motor Company announced that the Model A would replace the Model T.
1927 – The “Movietone News” was shown for the first time at the Sam Harris Theatre in New York City.
1932 – Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, 1st appears in ‘Mickey’s Revue’ by Walt Disney
1943 – Riot at Mobile, Alabama, shipyard over upgrading 12 black workers
1946 – Jordan gained independence from Britain.
1948 – Polish war hero Witold Pilecki is executed by communist police after a show trial in Warsaw
1961 – JFK announces US goal of putting a man on the Moon before the end of decade
1963 – 32 African countries form a coalition against white rule – The Organisation of African Unity was founded to promote decolonization and end white minority governments in Africa. The OAU was replaced by the African Union in 2002.
1968 – The Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, MO, was dedicated.
1969 – Midnight Cowboy, the only x-rated film to win a best picture Oscar, was released.
1977 – An opinion piece by Vietnam verteran Jan Scruggs appeared in “The Washington Post.” The article called for a national memorial to “remind an ungrateful nation of what it has done to its sons” that had served in the Vietnam War.
1979 – The worst air disaster in U.S. history (excluding the Sept. 11 attacks) occurred when a DC-10 crashed at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, killing over 270 people.
1979 – Etan Patz disappears – The disappearance and murder of the 6-year-old boy from New York City and the extensive publicity it received helped spark the missing children’s movement.
1981 – Daredevil Daniel Goodwin scaled Chicago’s Sears Tower, while wearing a “Spiderman” costume, in 7 1/2 hours.
1985 – Bangladesh was hit with a hurricane and tidal wave that killed more than 11,000 people.
1986 – Approximately 7 million Americans participated in “Hands Across America.”
1991 – Israel evacuates 14,000 Ethiopian Jews
1997 – In Sierra Leone a military coup overthrew the popularly elected President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. He was replaced with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
1997 – U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history (41 years and 10 months).
1999 – A report by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China concluded that China had “stolen design information on the U.S. most-advanced thermonuclear weapons” and that China’s penetration of U.S. weapons laboratories “spans at least the past several decades and almost certainly continues today.”
2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.
2002 – China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people
2006 – In Houston, former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skillinng were convicted of conspiracy and fraud for the downfall of Enron.
2009 – North Korea announced that it had conducted a second successful nuclear test in the province of North Hamgyong. The United Nations Security Council condemned the reported test.
2012 – Up to 116 people are massacred, including women and children, by the Syrian army in Houla, in the Homs province
2017 – Pitched battles between Islamic State-linked militants and Philippine government troops in and around Marawi, leave 43 dead, with thousands fleeing
2020 – Video of African American George Floyd’s arrest and murder while restrained in Minneapolis police custody shows he was pinned to the ground by police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, ignites widespread condemnation and nationwide protests
2021 – Coup in Mali as military Colonel Assimi Goïta ousts country’s civilian President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane arresting and detaining them
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
