2013 – The Westgate Mall is attacked in Nairobi, Kenya, In a daring siege, militants of the extremist group al-Shabaab took over the Mall. 63 shoppers were killed during the attack that lasted a few hours, and before the Kenyan security forces rescued the hostages, 4 terrorists were also killed. Al-Shabaab declared that it had undertaken the attack as retaliation for the presence of Kenyan armed forces in Somalia.
46 BC – Julius Caesar celebrates first of four triumphal processions in Rome – over Gaul, Egypt, Pontus and Africa with leader of the Gauls Vercingetorix led in chains
1192 – English King Richard I the Lion hearted, captured by Leopold V, Duke of Austria
1217 – The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights
1348 – Jews in Zurich, Switzerland, are accused of poisoning wells
1451 – Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa orders Jews of Holland to wear a badge
1513 – James V crowned King of Scotland in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle, aged 17 months
1538 – Shrine of Saint Swithun in Winchester smashed up in the middle of the night as part of the English Reformation
1621 – King James I of England gives Sir William Alexander a royal charter for colonisation of Nova Scotia
1776 – 5 days after British take New York, a quarter of the city burns down
1776 – Nathan Hale, spied on British for American rebels, arrested
1784 – “The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser” was published for the first time in Philadelphia. It was the first daily paper in America.
1792 – The French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy.
1823 – Moroni first appears to Joseph Smith, according to Smith
1872 – John Henry Conyers of South Carolina becomes first black student at Annapolis
1893 – Frank Duryea took what is believed to be the first gasoline- powered automobile for a test drive. The “horseless carriage” was designed by Frank and Charles Duryea.
1895 – America’s first automotive producer, the Duryea Motor Wagon Company, is founded by Charles and J. Frank Duryea
1897 – The New York Sun ran the “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial. It was in response to a letter from 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon.
1904 – The general strike called by the Socialist Party that spread throughout Italy ends
1915 – Cecil Chubb buys English prehistoric monument Stonehenge for £6,600
1921 – A storage silo at a BASF fertiliser producing plant explodes in Oppau, Germany, 500—600 killed
1922 – US President Warren G. Harding signs a joint resolution of approval to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine
1931 – Britain went off the gold standard.
1931 – Japanese forces began occupying China’s northeast territory of Manchuria.
1937 – J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” was first published.
1938 – British politician Winston Churchill condemns Germany’s Adolf Hitler’s annexation of Czechoslovakia
1942 – Boeing B-29 Superfortress flies for the first time
1949 – Communist leaders proclaimed The People’s Republic of China.
1955 – Last allied occupying troops leave Austria
1961 – Boeing CH-47 Chinook takes flight for the first time
1964 – Malta gained independence from Britain.
1968 – Soviet spacecraft Zond 5 lands in the Indian ocean after a six-day flight – first successful circumlunar mission with two onboard tortoises surviving the trip
1970 – “NFL Monday Night Football” made its debut on ABC-TV. The game was between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets. The Browns won 31-21.
1973 – Henry Kissinger was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become 56th Secretary of State. He was the first naturalized citizen to hold the office of Secretary of State.
1974 – US Mariner 10 makes 2nd fly-by of Mercury
1976 – Orlando Letelier is assassinated in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the Chilean socialist government of Salvador Allende, overthrown in 1973 by Augusto Pinochet.
1981 – The U.S. Senate confirmed Sandra Day O’Connor to be the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
1981 – Belize gained full independence from Great Britain.
1982 – National Football League (NFL) players began a 57-day strike. It was their first regular-season walkout.
1982 – Amin Gemayel was elected president of Lebanon. He was the brother of Bashir Gemayel who was the president-elect when he was assassinated.
1985 – North and South Korea opened their borders for their family reunion program.
1985 – American CIA case officer Edward Lee Howard flees to Russia after being identified as a KGB agent
1990 – Reports that US refinery problems will lead to a loss in capacity and aggressive remarks by Saddam Hussein send crude prices to new highs
1993 – Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin announced that he was ousting the Communist-dominated Congress. The action was effectively seizing all state power.
1996 – The board of all-male Virginia Military Institute voted to admit women.
2003 – Galileo mission terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter’s atmosphere, where it is crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes
2008 – Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the two last remaining independent investment banks on Wall Street, become bank holding companies as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.
2013 – 100 people are killed in a series of attacks across Iraq
2013 – The Westgate Mall is attacked in Nairobi, Kenya, In a daring siege, militants of the extremist group al-Shabaab took over the Mall. 63 shoppers were killed during the attack that lasted a few hours, and before the Kenyan security forces rescued the hostages, 4 terrorists were also killed. Al-Shabaab declared that it had undertaken the attack as retaliation for the presence of Kenyan armed forces in Somalia.
2018 – Fossil of Dickinsonia, “the Holy Grail of palaeontology” proven to be oldest known animal fossil, 558 million years old from White Sea, Russia
2021 – World leaders address climate change at the UN, Joe Biden pledges to double financial aid to developing countries, President Xi Jinping says China will stop coal-fired projects abroad
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
