Empress Theodora Halts Riots
532 Nika riots begin in Constantinople, a revolt against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I that leaves half the city burned and thousands dead. The riots were prompted by the failed execution of chariot racing supporters and only stopped after Empress Theodora refused to flee, forcing her husband to act decisively.
- 888 Odo (Eudes), Count of Paris, succeeds Charles III the Fat to become King of West Francia (888-898)
- 1099 Crusaders set fire to Mara, Syria
- 1404 The Act of Multipliers is passed by the English Parliament forbidding alchemists to use their knowledge to create precious metals (it was feared that if any alchemist should succeed it would bring ruin upon the state)
- 1607 The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain
Galilei Discovers Callisto
1610 Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th satellite of Jupiter
- 1621 Jan Pieterszoon Coen's fleet sets sail to Moluccas (from Jacarta)
- 1630 Letters Patent issued to Plymouth Colony
Mithridate
1673 Jean Racine's play "Mithridate" premieres in Paris
Jonathan Swift Ordained
1695 Jonathan Swift ordained an Anglican priest in Ireland
- 1733 British officer James Oglethorpe and 130 English colonists arrive at Charleston, South Carolina
- 1742 HMS Tyger runs aground on coral reefs near Garden Key, Florida, (rediscovered 1993 and identified 2024) [1]
- 1770 Pierre de Beaumarchais' "Les Deux Amis" premieres in Paris
- 1794 Congress changes US flag to 15 stars & 15 stripes
- 1822 The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus
- 1830 Great fire in New Orleans thought to be set by rebel slaves
- 1840 The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives
- 1842 Dr. William Brydon, a surgeon in the British Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for (reputedly) being the sole survivor of an army of 16,500 when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.
- 1849 British lease Vancouver Island to the Hudson's Bay Company for seven shillings a year, granting them exclusive trading rights
- 1863 Chenille yarn making machine patented by William Canter in NYC
- 1865 Second Battle of Fort Fisher: A force of 58 Union ships and over 8,000 troops converge on Fort Fisher, North Carolina
- 1873 P. B. S. Pinchback relinquishes office of Louisiana Governor
- 1874 Battle between jobless and police in NYC leaves 100s injured
- 1874 US troops land in Honolulu to protect the king
Wagner's "Parsifal"
1882 Richard Wagner completes his final opera "Parsifal"
- 1883 Fire in Circus Ferroni in Berditschoft, Poland, kills 430
- 1883 Henrik Ibsen's play "En Folkefiende" (An Enemy of the People) premieres in Oslo
- 1888 The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. for "the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge" [1]
- 1893 British Independent Labour Party forms (Keir Hardie as its leader)
- 1893 U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
- 1894 Revolution in Sicily crushed by government troops
"An Ideal Husband"
1895 Oscar Wilde's play "An Ideal Husband" premieres at the Haymarket Theatre in London
Dreyfus Affair
1898 Emile Zola publishes his open letter "J'accuse" accusing the French government of framing Alfred Dreyfus for sabotage
Bartók's "Kossuth"
1904 Béla Bartók's symphonic poem "Kossuth" premieres by the Budapest Philharmonic Society in Budapest
Farman Wins Grand Prix d'Aviation
1908 Henri Farman becomes the first person to fly an observed circuit of more than 1km, winning the Grand Prix d'Aviation
- 1908 Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, kills 171 people
- 1908 Stanley Cup, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal Wanderers rout Ottawa Victorias, 13-1 for 2-0 sweep of challenge series
- 1910 John Millington Synge's play "Deirdre of the Sorrows" premieres in Dublin
"Die Ratten"
1911 Gerhart Hauptmann's play "Die Ratten" (The Rats) premieres in Berlin
Amundsen at Walvis Bay
1911 Roald Amundsen anchors at Walvis Bay, southwestern Africa
- 1911 South Africa cricket team's 1st win over Australia, at Adelaide
- 1912 -40°F (-40°C), Oakland, Maryland (state record)
- 1913 Delta Sigma Theta, the world's largest Black Women's Sorority is founded at Howard University, Washington, D.C.
- 1914 Industrial Workers of the World leader and songwriter Joe Hill arrested for murder during a robbery
- 1915 Earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800
- 1915 Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, presents plan for assault on Dardanelles
- 1917 Ammunitions ship explosion at Ekonomiia port near Archangel, Russia kills many and injures hundreds
- 1917 Train at Ciurea station in Romania catches fire and explodes, between 800-1,000 die, making it the third worst rail accident in history
- 1919 Dutch Soccer team OSV forms
- 1920 NY Times editorial (falsely) reports rockets can never fly
- 1922 Buck Weaver, a Black Sox, applies unsuccessfully for reinstatement
- 1922 Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments ended
- 1922 WHA-AM in Madison WI begins radio transmissions
- 1924 Nationalist Wafd-party wins Egyptian parliament elections
- 1927 US & Mexico battle over oil interests
- 1928 Swedish-American inventor E.F.W. Alexanderson, of General Electric, demonstrates the first television receiver at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York
- 1929 Humanist Society established in Hollywood, California
- 1930 "Mickey Mouse" comic strip 1st appears
- 1934 The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR
- 1935 Plebiscite in Saar indicates a desire (90.3%) to join Nazi Germany
- 1938 The Church of England accepts the theory of evolution
Burgos Treaty
1939 Belgian premier signs Burgos Treaty for trade relations with Franco's Spain
- 1939 The Black Friday bush fires burn 20,000 square kilometres of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.
- 1942 Allied Conference on war trials at St. James's Palace, London
Ford's Plastic Patent
1942 Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies
- 1942 Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag): German U-boats begin harassing shipping on North American Atlantic coast (198 ships sunk by April)
- 1942 World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter
- 1943 Adolf Hitler declares "Total War" against the Allies
Casablanca Conference
1943 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Casablanca, French Morocco for a conference of Allied forces in World War II
- 1943 Soviet offensive at Don under general Golikov
- 1943 US infantry captures Galloping Horse Ridge, Guadalcanal
Prokofiev's 5th Symphony
1945 Sergei Prokofiev's 5th Symphony premieres by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Prokofiev, in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory
- 1954 Military rule in Egypt; 318 Muslim Brotherhood members arrested
- 1954 WEAR TV channel 3 in Pensacola-Mobile, FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
"All that Fall"
1957 "All that Fall", first radio play by Samuel Beckett, aired on BBC Third Programme
- 1957 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Allen Tate
- 1958 9,000 scientists of 43 nations petition UN for nuclear test ban
- 1958 Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.
- 1958 US newspaper "Daily Worker" ceases publication
Amnesty to Algerians
1959 French President Charles De Gaulle grants amnesty to 130 Algerians sentenced to death
- 1959 King Boudouin promises Belgian Congo independence
"The Twist"
1962 Chubby Checker's song "The Twist", credited with starting the Twist dance craze, goes to #1 in the charts two years after first reaching number one spot
Chamberlain Scores 73 Points
1962 Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain scores 73 points in Warriors' 135-117 win over Chicago Packers; at the time, most points scored in NBA regulation game, and remains tied for 3rd-highest total
- 1964 Hindu-Muslim rioting breaks out in the Indian city of Calcutta - now Kolkata - resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people.
Future Pope Made Archbishop
1964 John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla] becomes archbishop of Kraków
Weaver First Black Cabinet Selection
1966 Robert C. Weaver, 1st Black person selected for cabinet by US President Lyndon B. Johnson (Housing and Urban Development - HUD)
- 1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1967 Bloodless coup in Togo led by Lt. Col. Étienne Eyadéma and Kléber Dadjo
- 1967 London/Decca Records release Rolling Stones' single "Let's Spend the Night Together"
Cash Performs at State Prison
1968 Johnny Cash performs for inmates at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California; show is recorded for live album release
- 1968 Minnesota North Stars NHL player Bill Masterson, suffers head injuries during a game and dies two days later, becoming the 1st player to die as result of a game
- 1970 Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu flees Biafra into exile, leaving his deputy Philip Effiong to surrender to the Nigerian army, unofficially ending the Nigerian Civil War
- 1970 Riots begin in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast
Canadiens Obtain Mahovlich
1971 In a high profile NHL trade, the Montreal Canadiens obtain future Hockey Hall of Fame left wing Frank Mahovlich from Detroit, in exchange for Bill Collins, Guy Charron and Mickey Redmond
- 1972 An army commander stages a bloodless coup in Ghana, while the prime minister is in London
- 1972 Bernice Gera wins anti-discrimination case against the National Baseball Congressl, initiated March 15, 1971 to be allowed to umpire
- 1973 Lasse Daniel Efskind skates world record 1000m (1:17.6)
- 1974 Seraphim is elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.
- 1974 Super Bowl VIII, Rice Stadium, Houston, TX: Miami Dolphins beat Minnesota Vikings, 24-7; MVP: Larry Csonka, Miami, RB
Kissinger Hints Action Over Oil
1975 US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hints at military action against oil countries in case of "actual strangulation of the industrialized world" in the wake of oil shock
Kurzweil Reading Machine
1976 American inventor Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind unveil the Kurzweil Reading Machine, the first omni-font optical character recognition system
- 1976 Future undisputed world middleweight boxing champion Marvin Hagler suffers his first career loss in a controversial 10-round majority decision to Bobby Watts at the Philadelphia Spectrum
- 1976 Sarah Caldwell is 1st woman to conduct at NYC Metropolitan Opera House as she led orchestra in a performance of "La Traviata"
- 1978 NASA select its first American women astronauts
- 1979 Charlie Daniels hosts Volunteer Jam
- 1979 YMCA files libel suit against Village People's YMCA song
- 1980 Head of narcotic brigade arrested for drug smuggling in Belgium
- 1980 Togo's constitution becomes effective
- 1981 Barbara Sonntag, Colo, crochets record 147 stitches/min for 1/2 hour
- 1981 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to May Swenson and Howard Nemerov
Bossy's 15th Hat Trick
1981 NHL New York Islanders Mike Bossy's 15th career hat trick among his 4 goals, in 6-3 win over visiting Pittsburgh Penquins
- 1982 Air Florida 737 took off in a snowstorm, crashes into 14th St Bridge in Washington, D.C., & falls into Potomac River, killing 78
Baseball Hall of Fame
1982 Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
AMA Urges Boxing Ban
1983 AMA urges ban on boxing, cites Muhammad Ali's deteriorating condition
- 1984 TV anchor Christine Craft wins $325,000 in her case against KMBC-TV
- 1985 99-year-old Otto Bucher from Switzerland becomes the oldest man to record a hole-in-one at Spanish GC La Manga's 130-yard 12th hole
- 1985 Blackhawk Doug Wilson failed on 12th penalty shot against Islanders
- 1985 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $17.1 million
- 1985 Express train derails in Ethiopia, killing at least 428
McEnroe Retains ATP Title
1985 John McEnroe repeats previous year's result with a 7–5, 6–0, 6–4 win over Ivan Lendl to claim back-to-back season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Gretzky Makes 400
1985 Playing in his 436th career game, Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky scores his 400th career NHL goal and adds 2 assists in a 5-4 Oilers' win over the Sabres in Buffalo
- 1986 ABC's TV premiere of "The Right of The People", whose writer and director is said to have been inspired by the 14 December 1980 massacre at Bob's Big Boy in Los Angeles
- 1986 NCCA institutes eligibility requirements based on college exams
- 1986 South Yemen President Ali Nasser Mohammed's bodyguard shoots opponents
- 1987 Seven top New York City Mafia bosses sentenced to 100 years in prison each
- 1987 West German police arrest Mohammed Ali Hamadi, suspect in 1985 hijacking
Garvey Retires
1988 MLB Los Angeles Dodger/San Diego Padre Steve Garvey retires
- 1988 Supreme Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school newspapers, plays & other expressive activities
- 1989 "Ryan's Hope" ends 13½ year run on ABC-TV
"A Bit of Fry and Laurie"
1989 British comedy sketch show series "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie debuts on BBC1
- 1989 Computers across Britain hit by "Friday the 13th"/Jerusalem virus
- 1989 Jerry Parks, Oklahoma defensive back, charged with shooting a teammate
- 1989 Ruins of Mashkan-shapir (occupied 2050-1720 BC) found in Iraq
- 1989 Subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz begins 1-year jail sentence
- 1990 Douglas Wilder, 1st elected African American Governor inaugurated (Virginia)
- 1991 Football fans of the Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates clash in Orkney, South Africa leading to a riot and 42 deaths in the Oppenheimer Stadium disaster
Soares Re-elected
1991 President Mário Soares of Portugal re-elected
- 1991 Soviet troops continue attack on Vilnius, capital of Lithuania; 13 people killed and 140 injured as
UN's Cuéllar, Hussein meet
1991 UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar meets with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
Dahmer's Insanity Plea
1992 American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty but insane
- 1992 Excavation of new ballpark at Gateway (Jacobs Field) begins
- 1992 Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II
- 1993 French, British, and US fighter jets launch bombing raids in southern Iraq
- 1993 STS-54 (Endeavour) launches into orbit
- 1994 Italian government of Carlo Ciampi resigns
Harding's Bodyguard Arrested
1994 Tonya Harding's bodyguard, Shawn Eric Eckardt & Derrick Brian Smith arrested & charged with conspiracy in attack of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan
- 1995 26 HNL teams unanimously ratify agreement to end NHL strike
- 1995 America3 becomes 1st all-female crew to win an America's Cup race
- 1997 Radical guerrillas hold 72 hostages and shoot at police outside the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru
- 1998 "Patti LaBelle On Broadway" opens at St James Theater NYC
- 1998 CBS pays $4 billion to televise AFC games for 8-years
Jordan's Second Retirement
1999 Basketball superstar Michael Jordan announces his second retirement just prior to start of lockout-shortened 1998-99 NBA season; returns in 2001 with Washington
Gates Steps Aside
2000 Microsoft chairman Bill Gates steps aside as chief executive and promotes company president Steve Ballmer to the position
- 2001 Atlanta Hawks retire Dominique Wilkins' No. 21 in pre-game ceremonies at Philips Arena; joins Bob Pettit and Lou Hudson as the only Hawks to have their numbers retired
- 2001 Earthquake measuring magnitude 7.6 strikes El Salvador, killing more than 840 people
Schottenheimer Fired
2002 In a controversial move, Marty Schottenheimer is fired as head coach of the Washington Redskins after just one season
Pete Townshend Arrested
2003 Rock musician Pete Townshend of The Who is arrested in London on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. He is later cleared.
- 2004 Harold Shipman, a British GP who is believed to have killed more than 200 of his patients in Manchester, is found hanged in his prison cell
- 2004 Toronto's Tom Fitzgerald and Gary Roberts become first teammates in NHL history to play their 1,000th NHL game on the same night as the Maple Leafs beat the visiting Calgary Flames, 4-1
- 2007 Two thirds of the Venus's southern hemisphere suddenly brightened as something triggered aerosols to form at a furious rate.
- 2008 Orlando Magic knock down a then NBA-record 23 3-pointers in 37 attempts (62.2%); Jameer Nelson goes 5-for-5 from beyond the arc as Magic beat the Sacramento Kings, 139-107
- 2009 Global shipping experiences a drop in trade, as exports from South Korea dropping an annualised 30%, with Taiwan and Japan experiencing a 42% and 27% drop respectively
- 2012 Italian cruiseliner Costa Concordia runs aground at Isola de Giglio, Italy, causing 32 deaths
- 2014 14 people are killed and 7 are injured from an explosion in an illegal gambling hall in Kaili City, China
Ballon d'Or
2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid & Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo ends Lionel Messi's domination of award; FFC Frankfurt goalkeeper Nadine Angerer takes women's award
"Schitt's Creek"
2015 TV comedy "Schitt's Creek" created by and starring Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, Catherine O'Hara and Annie Murphy premieres on CBC in Canada
Wahlberg Donates Fee
2018 American actor Mark Wahlberg donates his $1.5M re-shoot fee for the film "All The Money In The World" to "Time's Up" movement after revelation co-star Michelle Williams was only paid $1000
- 2018 Chelsea Manning, former soldier responsible for Wikileaks announces her bid to run for US Senate
- 2018 Early-morning ballistic missile alert sent across Hawaii in error, revoked after 38 minutes
- 2019 Houston guard James Harden scores 38 points in Rockets' 116-108 loss to Orlando; 16th straight game with 30+ points matching Kobe Bryant's NBA record streak; also goes 1 for 17 from 3-point arc, tying record for most misses
Messi Scores 400 Goals
2019 Lionel Messi scores for FC Barcelona in 3-0 win over Eibar, his 400th goal in La Liga; becomes first player to reach mark in just one of Europe's top 5 leagues; Cristiano Ronaldo had 409 in Spain, England & Italy
- 2020 Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow are fired by team owner Jim Crane for their roles in the sign-stealing scandal after MLB suspends both for one year
- 2020 Oldest material existing on earth at 7.5 billion years old revealed by scientists studying the Murchison meteorite that fell to earth in Australia in 1960s
Queen Supports Harry and Meghan
2020 Queen Elizabeth II issues a statement saying she reluctantly supports Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wish to live a more independent life
- 2021 Deadliest air raid by Israel on Syria since 2018, when 10 soldiers and 47 allied fighters killed in attacks on military positions [1]
- 2021 Irish PM Minister Micheál Martin issues apology for treatment of unmarried mothers and babies in church-run institutions 1920-1990s after report 9,000 children had died [1]
Trump Impeached Again
2021 President Donald Trump is impeached by the US House of Representatives voting 232-197, for “incitement of insurrection”, first time in history a US President is impeached twice
- 2021 World's oldest known cave painting of an animal - a pig, 45,000 years old, discovered in Leang Tedongnge cave, island of Sulawesi, Indonesia [1]
- 2022 Australian equals hottest temperature on record of 50.7C (123.26F) in Onslow, Western Australia
- 2022 Britain's Prince Andrew stripped of his military titles and royal patronages by Buckingham Palace, amid continuing sexual assault allegations
Sirhan Sirhan's Release Blocked
2022 California Governor Gavin Newsom blocks Robert F. Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan's release on parole after 53 years in jail [1]
- 2022 Landmark conviction of former Syrian intelligence officer Anwar Raslan for state-sponsored crimes against humanity in Koblenz, Germany [1]
- 2023 China reports 60,000 COVID-19-related deaths in just over a month while another report estimates 900 million people have been infected, 64% of the country's population [1]
- 2023 English actor Julian Sands (65) reported missing after failing to return from a hike on Mount Baldy in San Bernardino County, California
- 2024 Artic blast affects large parts of the US, with 44 million people under winter weather advisory, with Montanan registering 60 degrees below zero i [1]
- 2024 Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party is re-elected for the third time led by vice president Lai Ching-te, amid Chinese warnings their election would increase conflict with China [1]
