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.
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 – An 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
1621 – King James I of England gives Sir William Alexander a royal charter for colonisation of Nova Scotia
1745 – Battle of Prestonpans: A Hanoverian army under the command of Sir John Cope is defeated, in ten minutes, by the Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart
1780 – Benedict Arnold gives British Major John André plans to West Point
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 votes to abolish the monarchy.
1827 – According to Joseph Smith, Jr., the angel Moroni gave him a record of gold plates, one-third of which Joseph translated into The Book of Mormon.
1860 – In the Second Opium War, an Anglo-French force defeats Chinese troops at the battle of Baliqiao
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.
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.
1898 – Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days’ Reform in China, imprisoning the Guangxu Emperor
1915 – Cecil Chubb buys English prehistoric monument Stonehenge for £6,600
1921 – Pope Benedictus XV donates 1 million lire to feed Russians
1922 – Pres Warren G Harding signs a joint resolution of approval to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine
1931 – Britain went off the gold standard.
1936 – Spanish fascist junta names Francisco Franco to Generalissimo and Supreme Commander
1937 – J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” was first published.
1939 – Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu is assassinated by pro-Nazi members of the Iron Guard.
1942 – On the end of Yom Kippur, the Germans ordered Konstantynow Jews (Poland) to permanently evacuate Konstantynow and move to the Ghetto – established in Biala Podlaska, meant to assemble Jews from nearby 7 towns among them: Konstantynow, Janw Podlaski, Rossosz, Terespol, and 3 more
1948 – Milton Berle debuted as the host of “The Texaco Star Theater” on NBC-TV. The show later became “The Milton Berle Show.” Berle was the regular host until 1967.
1949 – Communist leaders proclaimed The People’s Republic of China.
1964 – The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world’s first Mach 3 bomber, made its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.
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 – Monday Night Football, with Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Keith Jackson calling the plays, makes its debut on ABC-TV. The game was between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets. The Browns won 31-21.
1972 – Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos declares martial law in the Philippines (not publicly announced until 23rd Sep)
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.
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.
1982 – National Football League (NFL) players began a 57-day strike. It was their first regular-season walkout.
1984 – General Motors and the United Auto Workers union reached an agreement that would end the previous six days of spot strikes.
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.
1995 – The Hindu milk miracle occurs, in which statues of the Hindu God Ganesh began drinking milk when spoonfuls were placed near their mouths
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 – 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
2016 – Three genetic studies published in “Nature” conclude all non-Africans descended from one migration out of Africa 50-80,000 years ago
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
2022 – Vladimir Putin announces partial mobilization of Russian population, drafting between 300,000 and 1.2m men to fight in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prompting demonstrations around the country
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
