1919 – The U.S. Congress enacted the Volstead Act, also known as the National Prohibition Act. The act enumerated ways to enforce Prohibition. Prohibition was put in place in the country by the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment made it illegal to produce, sell, or transport alcohol in the US except for medical or religious purposes. The act was named after Andrew Volstead, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who was one of the sponsors of the bill. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the 21st Amendment in December 1933.
306 – Maxentius proclaimed Emperor of Rome
312 – Emperor Constantine the Great beats rival Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
1216 – Henry III age nine is crowned King of England at Gloucester Cathedral after the death of his father King John (2nd coronation in 1220)
1422 – Charles V’s son succeeds him as king Charles VII of France
1449 – Christian I is crowned King of Denmark in the Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen, establishing the House of Oldenburg (still rules the Danish throne today)
1492 – Christopher Columbus sights Cuba and claims it for Spain under the name “Juana”
1636 – Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts. The original name was Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was the first school of higher education in America.
1646 – First Protestant church assembly for American Indians established in Massachusetts
1726 – “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift is published by Benjamin Motte in London
1776 – The Battle of White Plains took place during the American Revolutionary War.
1790 – New York gives up claims to Vermont for $30,000
1793 – Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin.
1831 – Michael Faraday demonstrates his dynamo invention, an electrical generator
1867 – Maimonides College in Pennsylvania is first Jewish college in the US
1886 – The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by U.S. President Cleveland. The statue weighs 225 tons and is 152 feet tall. It was originally known as “Liberty Enlightening the World.”
1904 – The St. Louis Police Department became the first to use fingerprinting.
1919 – The U.S. Congress enacted the Volstead Act, also known as the National Prohibition Act. The act enumerated ways to enforce Prohibition. Prohibition was put in place in the country by the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment made it illegal to produce, sell, or transport alcohol in the US except for medical or religious purposes. The act was named after Andrew Volstead, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who was one of the sponsors of the bill. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the 21st Amendment in December 1933.
1921 – First American gubernatorial recall election is held in North Dakota. Governor Lynn Frazier loses to Ragnvald A. Nestos by just over 4,000 votes (1.8%).
1922 – Benito Mussolini took control of the Italian government and introduced fascism to Italy.
1936 – The Statue of Liberty was rededicated by U.S. President Roosevelt on its 50th anniversary.
1940 – During World War II, Italy invaded Greece.
1948 – Flag of Israel is adopted
1949 – U.S. President Harry Truman swore in Eugenie Moore Anderson as the U.S. ambassador to Denmark. Anderson was the first woman to hold the post of ambassador.
1962 – Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the U.S. that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
1965 – Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
1965 – The Gateway Arch along the waterfront in St. Louis, MO, was completed.
1975 – Venezuela and foreign oil companies agree on nationalization as of January 1, 1976
1976 – John D. Erlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, entered a federal prison camp in Safford, AZ, to begin serving his sentence for Watergate-related convictions.
1978 – NBC’s premiere of Kiss’ acting debut, “Kiss Meets The Phantom of the Park” TV film
1982 – Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev condemned the U.S. for arms buildup.
1983 – The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution “deeply deploring” the ongoing U.S.-led invasion of Grenada.
1985 – John A. Walker Jr. and his son, Michael Lance Walker, pled guilty to charges of spying for the Soviet Union.
1986 – The centennial of the Statue of Liberty was celebrated in New York.
1988 – Roussel Uclaf, a French manufacturer that produces the abortion pill RU486, announced it would resume distribution of the drug after the government of France demanded it do so.
1990 – Iraq announced that it was halting gasoline rationing.
1993 – Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, called for a complete blockade of Haiti to force out the military leaders.
1994 – U.S. President Clinton visited Kuwait and implied that all the troops there would be home by Christmas.
2005 – Plame affair: Lewis Libby, Vice-president Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. Libby resigns later that day.
2006 – Funeral service for the peace of the executed at Bykivnia forest, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, with reburial of 817 Ukrainian civilians (out of some 100,000) executed by Bolsheviks at Bykivnia in 1930s – early 1940s.
2007 – Argentina Elects its First Female President, Former First Lady of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, won the elections with over 45% of all votes cast. She was re-elected to office again in 2011, this time with over 50% of the votes cas
2012 – Syrian ceasefire collapses and 128 people are killed in ongoing civil war violence
2016 – Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area established off Antarctica – world’s largest marine protected area at 598,000 square miles (2.06 million square-kilometers), larger than Mexico
2017 – Spain’s central government imposes direct rule on Catalonia, dismisses its government and calls for new elections in December
2017 – Twin car bomb attacks in Mogadishu, Somalia, kill at least 27, Islamist militant group al-Shabab claim responsibility
2018 – Political crisis in Sri Lanka after President Sirisena sacks Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and the cabinet, suspends parliament for two weeks with one man killed in protests
2021 – Largest-ever drug bust in Asia made by police in Laos with 55 million methamphetamine tablets and 1.5 tonnes of crystal meth discovered in beer crates
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
