1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court when she was sworn in as the 102nd justice. She had been nominated the previous July by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
303 – On a voyage preaching the gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France.
1066 – Battle of Stamford Bridge: English army under King Harold II defeat invading Norwegians led by King Harald Hardrada and Harold’s brother Tostig, who were both killed
1237 – Treaty of York signed between kings Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland which establishes a boundary between the two countries (mostly unchanged in modern times)
1396 – Battle of Nicopolis: forces of Ottoman Sultan Bajezid I defeat a combined Crusades army in northern Bulgaria
1492 – The crew of the Pinta, one of Christopher Columbus’ ships, mistakenly thought that they had spotted land.
1493 – Christopher Columbus left Spain with 17 ships on his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere.
1513 – The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa when he crossed the Isthmus of Panama. He named the body of water the South Sea. He was truly just the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.
1639 – Suzuki Shosan, Samurai monk of Zen Buddhism, found awakening
1690 – One of America’s earliest newspapers published its first and last edition. The “Publik Occurences Both Foreign and Domestik” was published at the London Coffee House in Boston, MA, by Benjamin Harris.
1775 – Ethan Allen was captured by the British during the American Revolutionary War. He was leading the attack on Montreal.
1789 – The first U.S. Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution. Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.
1804 – Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution, establishing the procedure for electing the President and Vice President, becomes effective
1847 – During the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces led by General Zachary Taylor captured Monterrey Mexico.
1867 – Congress creates 1st all-black university, Howard U in Washington, D.C.
1878 – British physician Dr. Charles Drysdale warns against the use of tobacco in a letter to The Times newspaper in one of the earliest public health announcements on the dangers of smoking
1890 – The Sequoia National Park was established as a U.S. National Park in Central California.
1890 – Mormon President Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto in which the practice of polygamy was renounced.
1906 – Leonardo Torres Quevedo successfully demonstrates the Telekino at Bilbao before a great crowd, guiding a boat from the shore, considered the birth of the remote control
1915 Battle of Loos commenced, lasted until 14th October. Chlorine gas deployed by the British was blown back into their own trenches: 59,000 British & 26,000 German casualties
1919 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, CO. The speaking tour was in support of the Treaty of Versailles.
1926 – Henry Ford announces an 8 hour, 5-day work week for workers at the Ford Motor Company
1949 – Evangelist Billy Graham begins his “Los Angeles Crusade” in a circus tent erected in a parking lot
1956 – A transatlantic telephone-cable system began operation between Newfoundland and Scotland.
1957 – 300 U.S. Army troops stood guard as nine black students were escorted to class at Central High School in Little Rock, AR. The children had been forced to withdraw 2 days earlier because of unruly white mobs.
1962 – The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria is officially created
1965 – Beatle cartoon show begins in US
1973 – The three crewmen of Skylab II landed in the Pacific Ocean after being on the U.S. space laboratory for 59 days.
1974 – Scientists first report that freon gases from aerosol sprays are destroying the ozone layer
1977 – Runners run the first Chicago Marathon
1978 – Melissa Ludtke, a writer for “Sports Illustrated”, filed a suit in U.S. District Court. The result was that Major League Baseball could not bar female writers from the locker room after the game.
1980 – Chevy Chase calls Cary Grant a homo on Tomorrow show, a lawsuit follows
1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court when she was sworn in as the 102nd justice. She had been nominated the previous July by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oconnor-nominated-to-supreme-court
1982 – Penn prison guard George Banks kills 13 (5 were his own children)
1985 – Palestinian terrorists kill 3 Israeli sailors at Lanaca Cyprus
1986 – Antonin Scalia appointed to US Supreme Court
1990 – The U.N. Security Council voted to impose an air embargo against Iraq. Cuba was the only dissenting vote.
1990 – Saddam Hussein warns that US will repeat Vietnam experience
1991 – The U.N. Security Council unanimously ordered a worldwide arms embargo against Yugoslavia and all of its warring factions.
1992 – In Orlando, FL, a judge ruled in favor of 12-year-old Gregory Kingsley. He had sought a divorce from his biological parents.
1992 – The Mars Observer blasted off on a mission that cost $980 million. The probe has not been heard from since it reached Mars in August of 1993.
1995 – Ross Perot announced that he would form the Independence Party.
2002 – U.S. forces landed in Ivory Coast to aid in the rescue foreigners trapped in a school by fighting between government troops and rebel troops. Rebels had attempted to take over the government on September 19.
2012 – China launched its first aircraft carrier into service.
2017 – First ever woman graduates from the US Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course
2017 – Ex-New York congressman Anthony Weiner sentenced to 21 months in jail for sexting underage girl
2018 – Comedian Bill Cosby sentenced to 3-10 years in jail for 2004 sexual assault, first celebrity to be jailed in the #MeToo era
2018 – US President Donald Trump criticizes Globalism and Iran speaking at the UN General Assembly
2020 – 18 people in a government convoy killed by Islamist militants in Borno State, Nigeria
2020 – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes the 1st woman to lie in state in the US Capitol in Washington D.C.
2021 – UK announces temporary visas to try and counteract shortage of lorry drivers for deliveries to the UK amid panic buying on fuel
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
