TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – SEPT 12
490BC Athenians defeat 2nd Persian invasion of Greece at Marathon
1695 NY Jews petition governor Dongan for religious liberties
1722 The Treaty of St. Petersburg puts an end to the Russo-Persian War.
1758 French astronomer Charles Messier mistakenly identifies the Crab Nebula so begins his Messier Catalogue
1786 Despite his failed efforts to suppress the American Revolution, Lord Cornwallis is appointed governor general of India.
1866 “The Black Crook” opened in New York City. It was the first American burlesque show.
1878 Patent litigation involving the Bell Telephone Company against Western Union Telegraph Company and Elisha Gray began. The issues were over various telephone patents.
1909 World’s first patent for synthetic rubber granted to German chemist Fritz Hofmann
1919 Adolf Hitler joins German Worker’s Party.
1922 The Episcopal Church removed the word “Obey” from the bride’s section of wedding vows.
1933 Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives idea of a nuclear chain reaction
1939 In response to the invasion of Poland, the French Army advances into Germany. On this day they reach their furthest penetration-five miles.
1940 The Lascaux Caves in France, with their prehistoric wall paintings, are discovered. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lascaux-cave-paintings-discovered
1958 US Supreme Court orders the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas to integrate
1966 “The Monkees,” premier on NBC
1974 A Coup in Ethiopia ousts Emperor Haile Selassie… The coup was led by a group of the Ethiopian armed forces and other law enforcement agencies of the country called the Derg.
1977 Steve Biko, a South African activist opposing apartheid, dies while in police custody.
1978 Situation comedy “Taxi” premiers on ABC television
1992 Space Shuttle Endeavor takes off on NASA’s 50th shuttle mission; its crew includes the first African-American woman in space, the first married couple, and the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spacecraft.
2003 UN lifts sanctions against Libya in exchange for that country accepting responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 and paying recompense to victims’ families.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
