1961 – Apollo program: U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a “”man on the moon”” before the end of the decade.
585 BC – The first known prediction of a solar eclipse was made in Greece.
1085 – Alfonso VI took Toledo, Spain from the Moslems.
1241 – First attack on Jewish community of Frankfort-on-the-Main Germany
1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw
1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as English Lord Protector
1720 – “Le Grand St Antoine”” reaches Marseille, plague kills 80,000
1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
1787 – The Constitutional convention opened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding.
1810 – Argentina declared independence from Napoleonic Spain.
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 the writ
1895 – Oscar Wilde, a playwright, poet and novelist, was convicted of a morals charge and sentenced to prison in London.
1895 – The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president
1911 – President of Mexico, Porfolio Diaz, resigned his office.
1914 – The United Kingdom’s House of Commons passes Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.
1925 – John Scopes was indicted for teaching the Darwinian theory in school.
1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of 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.
1935 – Jesse Owens tied the world record for the 100-yard dash. He ran it in 9.4 seconds. He also broke three other world track records.
1943 – Riot at Mobile AL shipyard over upgrading 12 black workers
1946 – Jordan gained independence from Britain.
1947 – Coal dust explosion rocks Centralia Coal Company’s Mine #5 killing 111
1953 – In Nevada, the first atomic cannon was fired.
1959 – Supreme Court rules that Louisiana prohibiting black-white boxing is unconstitutional
1961 – Apollo program: U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a “”man on the moon”” before the end of the 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.
1964 – Supreme Court rules closing schools to avoid desegregation unconstitutional
1968 – The Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, MO, was dedicated.
1970 – Boeing Computer Services was founded.
1973 – Launch of Skylab 2 mission, which was first U.S. manned orbiting space station. It had an all Navy crew of CAPT Charles Conrad, Jr., USN. (commanding), CDR Joseph P. Kerwin, USN and CDR Paul J. Weitz, USN. During the 28 day mission of 404 orbits, the craft rendezvoused with Skylab to make repairs and conduct science experiments. Recovery by USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14)
1977 – “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” opened and became the largest grossing film to date.
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. https://www.americanheritage.com/heal-nation-creating-vietnam-wall
1979 – American Airlines flight 191 crashes shortly after takeoff – The photo showing the lopsided DC-10 hurtling towards the ground at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago is one of the most horrifying images in aviation history. All 258 people on board died.
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.
1983 – “The Return of the Jedi” opened nationwide. It set a new record in opening day box office sales. The gross was $6,219,629.
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.”
1996 – In Nimes, France, Christina Sanchez became the first woman to achieve the rank of matadore in Europe.
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).
1997 – Poland adopted a constitution that removed all traces of communism.
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.
2000 – The Walt Disney Co. and Time Warner Inc. signed a long-term deal that ended a dispute over the airing policies of Time Warner. Time Warner had blacked out Disney programs for a 39 hour period the previous month due to the lack of an agreement.
2002 – A China Airlines jumbo jet breaks apart in mid-air, The Boeing 747 aircraft crashed into the Taiwan Strait, leaving no survivors among the 225 people on board. The accident was caused by improper repairs 22 years earlier, and the airplane was far beyond the serviceable life recommended by Boeing in terms of the number of flights, total hours in the air, and the number of years in service.
2006 – In Houston, former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skillinng were convicted of conspiracy and fraud for the downfall of Enron.
2008 – NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander landed in the arctic plains of Mars.
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 – A SpaceX Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the International Space Station
2012 – Up to 116 people are massacred, including women and children, by the Syrian army in Houla, in the Homs province
2014 – Petro Poroshenko is elected President of Ukraine
2018 – Harvey Weinstein turns himself in to New York police to face charges of rape, a criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct
2019 – First ever albino panda footage in the wild released (taken in April) from China’s Wolong National Nature Reserve
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
2022 – Russian forces pound eastern Ukrainian cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in attempt to take whole province of Luhansk, with at least 150 deaths
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
