1940 – The Lascaux paintings were discovered in France. The cave paintings were 17,000 years old and were some of the best examples of art from the Paleolithic period.
1213 – Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester defeats Peter II of Aragon, the king of Aragon at the Battle of Muret.
1229 – The Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Pona, Mallorca, with the purpose of conquering the island
1396 – Crusaders under earl of Nevers reaches Nicopolis
1609 – English explorer Henry Hudson sailed down what is now known as the Hudson River.
1649 – Drogheda, Ireland falls to Puritan troops; inhabitants massacred
1695 – NY Jews petition governor Dongan for religious liberties
1751 – Amsterdam refuses establishment of Jewish ghetto
1755 – Giacomo Casanova is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in Venice without trial for affront to religion and common decency
1758 – Charles Messier observes the Crab Nebula and begins catalog
1792 – Court martial begins for instigators of the mutiny on the Bounty on board HMS Duke in Portsmouth harbour, presided over by Vice-Admiral Samuel Hood
1814 – During the War of 1812 an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore
1857 – The SS Central America sinks about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, drowning a total of 426 passengers and crew, including Captain William Lewis Herndon. The ship carried 13-15 tons of gold from the San Francisco Gold Rush
1866 – “The Black Crook” opened in New York City. It was the first American burlesque show.
1873 – The first practical typewriter was sold to customers.
1878 – Patent litigation involving the Bell Telephone Company against Western Union Telegraph Company and Elisha Gray began. The issues were over various telephone patents.
1890 – Salisbury is founded by the British South Africa Company in the Mashonaland territory that will become Rhodesia
1897 – Battle of Saragarhi: Thousands of Orakzai and Afridi tribesmen overwhelm and kill at great cost to themselves 21 British Raj Sikh Soldiers led by Havildar Ishar Singh at Tirah, North-West Frontier Province, British India
1910 – United States’ 1st known female cop appointed, Alice Stebbins Wells by LAPD
1914 – The first battle of Marne ended when the allied forces stopped the German offensive in France.
1918 – During World War I, At the Battle of St. Mihiel, U.S. Army personnel operate tanks for the first time. The tanks were French-built.
1922 – The Episcopal Church removed the word “Obey” from the bride’s section of wedding vows.
1923 – Britain takes over Southern Rhodesia from British South Africa Co
1933 – Le Szilrd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.
1938 – In a speech, Adolf Hitler demanded self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.
1940 – The Lascaux paintings were discovered in France. The cave paintings were 17,000 years old and were some of the best examples of art from the Paleolithic period.
1942 – World War II: First day of the Battle of Edson’s Ridge during the Guadalcanal campaign. U.S. Marines protecting Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are attacked by Imperial Japanese Army forces
1943 – During World War II, Benito Mussolini was taken by German paratroopers from the Italian government that was holding him.
1944 – U.S. Army troops entered Germany, near Trier, for the first time during World War II.
1947 – The U.S. Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
1948 – Indian Army Invades the State of Hyderabad a day after Pakistani leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah passes away
1953 – Nikita Krushchev was elected as the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1956 – Black students enter & are barred from Clay Ky elementary school
1959 – Luna 2 launched by USSR; first spacecraft to impact on the Moon
1966 – “The Monkees,”premier on NBC
1970 – Palestinian terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in Jordan, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in Amman.
1974 – Violence occurred on the opening day of classes in Boston, MA, due opposition to court-ordered school “busing.”
1977 – South African anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko died at the age of 30. The student leader died while in police custody which triggered an international outcry.
1981 – “The Smurfs” animated cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera first broadcasts in North America
1983 – Arnold Schwarzenegger became a U.S. citizen. He had emigrated from Austria 14 years earlier.
1986 – US professor Joseph Cicippio is kidnapped and held hostage in Beirut
1990 – US, United Kingdom, France, USSR, East & West Germanys sign agreements allowing 2 Germanys to merge
1991 – The space shuttle Discovery took off on a mission to deploy an observatory that was to study the Earth’s ozone layer.
1992 – Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first African-American woman in space. She was the payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavor. Also onboard were Mission Specialist N. Jan Davis and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mark C. Lee. They were the first married couple to fly together in space. And, Mamoru Mohri became the first Japanese person to fly into space.
1997 – The UN passes a resolution allowing Iraq to reach the $2.14 billion oil sales limit under its oil-for-food program
2001 – Article V of the NATO agreement is invoked for only the second time (the other being in Bosnia) in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States of America
2003 – The United Nations lifted sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
2005 – Israel completes its withdrawal of all troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip.
2007 – Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of the crime of plunder.
2009 – The 9-12 Project organized multiple marches and demonstrations across the USA to protest government spending.
2012 – Excavators announce that they may have found the remains of King Richard III of England under a carpark in Leicester
2015 – 12 tourists mistaken for militants, are killed by Egyptian forces in Egypts Western Desert
2018 – More than 3,600 children reported abused by Catholic priests in Germany (1946-2014) in leaked report
2022 – Modern slavery (forced labor and forced marriages) has increased by 10 million to 50 million people in the last five years according to the UN’s International Labour Organization
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
