Events 1 - 200 of 245
Henry VIII's Church
1535 King Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in England
New France
1541 King Francis I of France commissions Jean-Francois Roberval to settle the province of New France
- 1552 France signs secret treaty with German Protestants
Elizabeth I Crowned
1559 Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey
- 1582 Russia cedes Livonia & Estonia to Poland, loses access to Baltic
- 1586 Battle at Boxum: Spanish troops under Tassis beat state army
- 1600 French King Henri IV grants military captain Pierre Chauvin de Tonnetuit a ten-year commission for the fur trade in New France - he goes on to found doomed colony of Tadoussac [1]
- 1752 Tobias Smollett publishes pamphlet accusing Henry Fielding of plagiarism
- 1754 Riot at burial of Orangist leader Daniel Raap in Amsterdam
British Museum Opens its Doors
1759 British Museum opens in Montague House, London
Event of Interest
1782 Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance, recommends to U.S. Congress establishment of decimal coinage and a national mint
- 1784 The Asiatic Society is founded by William Jones at a meeting in Calcutta's Fort William, India
'Terrifying' Top Hat Causes Sensation
1797 1st top hat worn by John Etherington of London
- 1815 War of 1812: the USS President, an American frigate, is captured by four British frigates
- 1822 Greek War of Independence: Demetrius Ypsilanti is elected president of the legislative assembly.
- 1831 1st US railroad honeymoon trip, Mr & Mrs Pierson, Charleston, South Carolina
- 1831 1st US-built locomotive to pull a passenger train makes 1st run
- 1833 HMS Beagle anchors at Goeree Tierra del Fuego
- 1844 University of Notre Dame receives its charter in Indiana
"Poor Folk"
1846 Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky's first novel "Poor Folk" is published in the St Petersburg Collection almanac
Steam Elevator Patented
1861 Steam elevator patented by Elisha Otis
- 1861 US Civil War: Union forces at Fort Pikens on Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, Florida refuse Florida Militia demand to surrender
- 1863 1st US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston Morning Journal
- 1865 Second Battle of Fort Fisher: Union Navy bombards Fort Fisher, North Carolina, allowing Union troops to capture Confederacy's last remaining seaport [1]
Democratic Party Symbol
1870 Donkey first used as symbol of Democratic Party, in Harper's Weekly
- 1876 "Die Afrikaanse Patriot", the first newspaper in Afrikaans, is published in Paarl
- 1877 US Assay Office in Helena, Montana opens
- 1882 1st US ski club forms (Berlin NH)
- 1882 French explorer Jules Nicholas Crevaux is the first European to discover an Inca City near Sarta, north-west Argentina
- 1886 Weekly Herald, 1st newspaper in Vancouver, BC, publishes 1st issue
Basketball Rules Published
1892 Basketball rules first published in Triangle Magazine, written by James Naismith
- 1907 3-element vacuum tube patented by American inventor Lee De Forest
- 1907 Gold dental inlays first described by William Taggart, who invented them
- 1908 Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first for African-American women, established by Ethel Hedgeman and 15 other students at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
- 1908 C Hill & R J Hartigan make 8th wkt partnership 243 for Australia
- 1910 Constructions ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming
- 1911 1st airplane bombing experiments with explosives at San Francisco
- 1915 Japan claims economic control of China
"The Last Days of Mankind"
1919 Frank Wedekind's play "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind)" premieres
- 1919 Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps
- 1919 Semana Tragica (Tragic Week): Bloodbath in Buenos Aires
- 1919 Two million gallons of molasses flood Boston Massachusetts in the "Great Molasses Flood" when a storage tank burst, drowning 21 and injuring 150
- 1919 Wilson Collison & Otto Harbach's play "Up in Mabel's Room" premieres in NYC
Arthur Griffith Elected
1922 Arthur Griffith is elected president of the Irish Free State after Eamon de Valera resigns in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty (De Valera will lead a military opposition seeking a unified and independent Ireland)
- 1924 3rd Dutch government Ruijs de Beerenbrouck forms
Event of Interest
1925 Hans Luther forms German government, with DNVP
Scopes Guilty Verdict Overturned
1927 Tennessee Supreme Court overturns (on a technicality) John T. Scopes' guilty verdict for teaching evolution in the “Scopes monkey trial”, but the law itself remains in force
Headley Scores 157
1930 Brilliant West Indian cricket batsman George Headley scores 157 of 176 on debut on the 4th day of the drawn 1st Test against England in Bridgetown, Barbados
Dillinger Survives Bank Robbery
1934 While robbing the First National Bank in East Chicago, Indianapolis, John Dillinger is shot several times by officer William O'Malley, but survives because he is wearing a bullet proof vest.
- 1935 300 Dutch ice cream salesmen protest against Italian competition
- 1935 Clifford Odets' first produced play "Waiting for Lefty" premieres in NYC
- 1936 1st all-glass windowless structure in US completed, Toledo, Ohio
- 1936 Horace Stoneham is elected president of New York Giants MLB franchise; succeeds late father, Charles; remains president for next 40 years, presiding over move to SF, before selling team in 1976
- 1936 Nonprofit Ford Foundation incorporates
- 1937 Spanish Civil War: Second Battle of the Corunna Road ends after both forces withdraw
- 1939 Municipal Railway & Market St RR begin service to Transbay Terminal
- 1940 German U-Boot torpedoes Dutch merchant ship Arendskerk (Eagle's Church)
- 1942 Chicago Cubs drop plans to install lights at Wrigley Field because of military's need for materials; takes 35 years before lights finally installed at the venerable ballpark
The "Green Light Letter"
1942 US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sends his famed "Green Light Letter" to MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, encouraging baseball to continue playing during World War II
- 1943 1,000 workers complete air conditioning system for Pentagon
- 1943 1st transport of Jews from Amsterdam to concentration camp Vught
- 1943 World War II: The Soviets begin a counter-offensive at Voronezh
- 1943 World's largest office building, the Pentagon is completed to house the US military
- 1944 European Advisory Commission decides to divide Germany
Eisenhower Allied Commander
1944 General Eisenhower arrives in England to take up his command as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force [1]
- 1944 Vught Concentration Camp puts 74 women in 1 cell, 10 die
- 1945 Every Amsterdammer gets 3 kg of sugar beets
- 1945 Red Army frees Crakow-Plaszow concentration camp
Manhattan Project
1945 The Manhattan Project's G-5 Group, headed by Physicist's Donald Kerst and Seth Neddermeyer, take their first betatron pictures of a nuclear implosion at the Los Alamos Laboratory
"Black Dahlia" Found Dead
1947 The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
1948 "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", film based on B. Traven's novel, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart premieres
Sawchuk's 1st Shutout
1950 Red Wings' rookie goalie Terry Sawchuk records his first of 115 career NHL shutouts, as Detroit beats the New York Rangers, 1-0 at Madison Square Garden
- 1951 "Cloud of Death" rolls down Mount Lamington, New Guinea kills 3-5,000
- 1951 Ilse Koch, also known as "The Bitch of Buchenwald", is sentenced to life imprisonment by a West German court
- 1951 Supreme Court rule "clear & present danger" of incitement to riot is not protected speech & can be a cause for arrest
- 1953 16 car Federal Express train loses brakes & crashes in Washington, D.C. station
- 1953 East Germany's first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georg Dertingen arrested for "espionage", beginning a purge of senior officials, accused of spying for 'imperialistic powers' and plotting against the state
- 1955 1st official act of Princess Beatrice, launches tanker Vasum
"From Jewish Folk Poetry"
1955 Dmitri Shostakovich's "From Jewish Folk Poetry" premieres in Leningrad
- 1955 USSR ends state of war with German Federal Republic
- 1956 Dmitri Shostakovich appointed honorary member of Academia Santa Cecilia
- 1956 KWAB TV channel 4 in Big Spring, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers extend their 5-year lease on Ebbets Field by signing a new 3-year lease with real estate developer Marvin Kratter; club moves to Los Angeles the next year
- 1958 New York Yankees announce that 140 MLB games to be televised on WPIX TV this season in a deal worth over $1 million dollars
Gordy Signs Supremes
1961 Berry Gordy signs The Supremes to Motown Records
- 1962 Battle of Arafura Sea: Dutch destroyers intercept and destroy three Indonesian torpedo boats attempting to land marines on the territory of Netherlands New Guinea as part of the Soviet-Indonesian Operation Trikora
Coco The Clown
1962 Coco the Clown [Nicolai Poliakoff] is the subject of the BBC TV programme "This is Your Life"
- 1962 Derveni Papyrus rediscovered - Europe's oldest surviving manuscript from c. 340 B.C., commentary on a Orphic poem, found in a tomb in Derveni, Northern Greece [1]
- 1964 MLB executives vote to hold a free agent amateur draft, officially known as Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in NYC
Willie Mays Highest Paid
1964 San Francisco Giants make champion outfielder Willie Mays the highest-paid player in baseball when they sign him to a new $105,000 per season contract
- 1964 Teamsters negotiate 1st national labor contract
- 1965 Brunswick Records releases the single "I Can't Explain" by British rockers "The Who" in the UK, their 1st after changing their band name
Warriors Trade Chamberlain
1965 One of the biggest trades in NBA history; San Francisco Warriors send Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann and cash
- 1965 Soviet underground nuclear test creates the atomic lake Chagan, Kazakhstan
- 1965 Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan, forms
- 1966 The First Nigerian Republic is overthrown in a military coup d'etat by Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the Prime Minister of Nigeria and other senior political and military figures are killed
Rolling Stones Alter Lyrics for Show
1967 Rolling Stones appear for the fifth time on the Ed Sullivan Show, reluctantly agree to alter lyrics of "Let's Spend The Night Together" [1] [2]
- 1967 Super Bowl I, LA Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA: Green Bay Packers beat KC Chiefs, 35-10; MVP: Bart Starr, Green Bay, QB
- 1968 KDCD TV channel 18 in Midland, Texas (IND) begins broadcasting
- 1968 Minnesota North Stars forward Bill Masterton dies 2 days after suffering a head injury in a game against the Oakland Seals; the only death as a result of a game injury in NHL history
- 1969 Nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
Troubles Official Enquiry
1969 Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill announces that an official inquiry will analyse the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland
- 1969 Soyuz 5 launched by Soviet Union
Gaddafi Head of State
1970 Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed Chairman of Libyan Revolutionary Command Council - de facto head of state
- 1970 Nigerian civil war officially ends after 2 1/2 years of fighting when the Republic of Biafra disbands and joins Nigeria
- 1970 Riots break out in the Ardoyne area of Belfast
- 1971 Aswan High Dam officially opens in Egypt
"My Sweet Lord"
1971 George Harrison releases 1st solo single "My Sweet Lord" in the UK; tops the charts in 15 countries, and becomes subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit
- 1972 TV drama "Emergency" with Randolph Mantooth and Robert Fuller premieres on NBC TV
Frazier vs. Daniels
1972 World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier stops Terry Daniels in 4 rounds in New Orleans to retain his WBC and WBA titles
- 1973 4 Watergate burglars plead guilty in federal court
- 1973 Gene Shalit joins Today Show panel
Paul VI Meets Golda Meir
1973 Pope Paul VI holds an audience with Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir at the Vatican
US Offensive Action Suspended
1973 US President Richard Nixon suspends all US offensive action in North Vietnam
- 1974 Expert panel reports 18½ minute gap in Watergate tape, 5 separate erasures
"Happy Days"
1974 TV sitcom "Happy Days" created by Garry Marshall and starring Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, and Tom Bosley, begins an 11 year run on ABC
Diller's Hollywood Star
1975 Pioneering American female comedian Phyllis Diller gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- 1975 Portugal signs accord for Angola's independence
- 1975 Space Mountain opens at Disney World in Orlando, Florida
Would-Be Ford Assassin Sentenced
1976 Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life for attempting to shoot US President Gerald Ford
- 1976 US-German Helios B solar probe launched into solar orbit
- 1976 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1977 Coneheads debut on "Saturday Night Live"
- 1977 Festac '77, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, begins in Lagos, Nigeria
- 1978 Super Bowl XII, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Dallas Cowboys beat Denver Broncos, 27-10; MVP: Harvey Martin, Dallas, DE & Randy White, Dallas, DT
- 1978 Theodore Bundy kills Fla State U coeds Lisa Levy & Margaret Bowman
- 1980 Pam Gems' "Piaf!" premieres in London
- 1981 Pitcher Bob Gibson is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility; after a stellar 17 year career, polls 337 votes from Baseball Writers Association of America
- 1981 Police drama "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV
Pope Receives Wałęsa
1981 Pope John Paul II receives Lech Wałęsa and Solidarity delegation at the Vatican
- 1982 "Forbidden Broadway" by/with Gerard Alessandrini premieres in NYC
- 1982 Mark Thatcher, son of UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher, makes his way home after 6 days missing in the Sahara
- 1983 Dutch political party DS'70 disbands
- 1983 Javed Miandad & Mudassar Nazar make 451 stand v India
- 1983 Thom Syles keeps a life saver intact in his mouth for over 7 hours
McEnroe's 2nd ATP
1984 John McEnroe reverses previous year's result with a 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 win over Ivan Lendl to claim his second season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Navratilova’s Winning Streak Ends
1984 Martina Navratilova’s 54-match winning streak ends when beaten by Hana Mandlíková 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in the final of the Virginia Slims of California tennis event in Oakland; after loss Navratilova wins next 74 matches for new record
- 1984 Schonbrun skates world record 5 km (7:39.44)
- 1984 Tony Benn, described as a “left wing rebel” wins Labour's nomination for the by-election in Chesterfield, England
- 1985 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to John Ashbery & Fred Chapell
- 1985 CBS' premiere of TV made teen drug abuse drama, "Not My Kid", based on the previous year's book by Beth Polson
- 1985 Mike Gatting (207) and Graeme Fowler (201) become first pair of England batsmen to complete double centuries in the same innings during 9-wicket 4th cricket Test win against India at Madras
- 1985 Tancredo Neves becomes 1st elected President of Brazil in 21 years, but dies before taking office
- 1986 Living Seas opens (Disneyland)
Roy's 1st Shutout
1986 Montreal's rookie goaltender Patrick Roy records his first of 66 career NHL shutouts, in the Canadiens' 4-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets at the Forum
Larry Bird's Double Accolade
1987 Champion Boston Celtics NBA forward Larry Bird is named Man of the Year by 'The Sporting News' and Athlete of the Year by 'Associated Press'; first time one athlete gains both distinctions
- 1987 Police officer who mistakenly shot and paralysed an innocent woman in Brixton, UK, is cleared of all criminal charges
- 1988 19-year-old Indian cricket leg-spinner Narenda Hirwani records best bowling figures on debut in Test history; captures 16-136 in 255 run 4th Test win v West Indies in Madras; Hirwani takes 8 wickets in each innings
- 1988 Indian cricket wicketkeeper Kiran More stumps 5 West Indian batsman in 4th Test at Madras; world Test record
- 1988 Narendra Hirwani takes 16-136 (8-61 & 8-75) v WI on Test debut
- 1988 NFL analyst Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder makes several questionable comments about African Americans during a lunchtime interview on CBS' NFL Today; fired the next day
- 1989 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $22.6 million
Forman vs. Cooney
1990 42-year-old former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman stops Gerry Cooney in 2 rounds in Atlantic City in a non-title bout; Cooney's last fight
- 1990 AT&T experiences long distance problems due to a computer glitch
- 1990 Golden State coach Don Nelson becomes 2nd man in NBA history to appear in 1,000 games both as a player and coach (joining Lenny Wilkens) as the Warriors lose to the Indiana Pacers, 144-105
- 1990 In a bizarre twist in the NHL, Washington Capitals fire coach Brian Murray, who had been head coach since 1981; replace him with his brother Terry, who had been coaching in the minors
- 1990 In a shrewd move, Detroit Tigers sign 1st baseman Cecil Fielder who spent previous season in Japan; hits 51 homers this MLB season and becomes a premier power hitter for most of the 1990s
Australia Own Victoria Cross
1991 Elizabeth II signs letters patent that allows Australia to institute its own Victoria Cross, the first Commonwealth realm to do so
- 1991 UN's deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait (they don't)
Johnny Cash, Isley Brothers Inducted
1992 7th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Bobby "Blue" Bland; Booker T. and the MG's; Johnny Cash; Jimi Hendrix Experience; Isley Brothers; Sam and Dave; The Yardbirds; Elmore James; Professor Longhair; Leo Fender; Bill Graham; and Doc Pomus
- 1992 Bulgaria recognizes Macedonia
- 1992 Cleaning woman finds intimate photos of Sarah Ferguson with US man
- 1992 Supreme Court rules 5-3 that Joseph Doherty isn't entitled to asylum
- 1993 7.5 earthquake strikes northern Japan, killing 2 people
- 1993 Soap opera "Santa Barbara" final show on NBC TV
- 1993 Top Italian mafia leader Salvatore "Toto" Riina arrested in Palermo, Sicily
- 1994 Dallas Mavericks drop a 104-87 decision to the San Antonio Spurs at Reunion Arena to set an unwanted NBA record with their 17th consecutive home defeat; break mark of 16 set by Orlando in 1990
- 1994 Hague motorist with .51% alcohol in blood, breaks Dutch record (.47%)
Lawrence Taylor Retires
1994 Lawrence Taylor announces his retirement from the NFL
- 1994 Queen Elizabeth falls off her horse & breaks her left wrist
- 1995 Southern Alabama begins using new area code 334
- 1995 Western Washington begins using new area code 360
Rodman Kicks Cameraman
1997 Controversial Chicago Bulls' forward Dennis Rodman kicks cameraman Eugene Amos in the groin during a game against Minnesota Timberwolves; ultimately pays Amos $200,000 settlement, and is suspended for 11 games without pay
Princess Diana Calls for Landmine Ban
1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, calls for an international ban on landmines, angering ministers in the UK
- 1997 San Francisco head coach George Seifert announces his resignation after 8 highly-successful NFL seasons with the 49ers: winningest coach in team history at 108-35; 2 Super Bowl titles
- 1997 Seattle's Sam Perkins ties Jeff Hornacek's NBA single-game record by connecting on 8 straight 3-point field goals during Sonics' 122-78 win over visiting Toronto; Seattle also sets an NBA steals record with 27
- 1997 Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with Mir Space Station
- 1998 Australian schoolboy Ian Thorpe becomes youngest ever male to become a world swimming champion when he wins 400m freestyle aged 15 years, 3 months in Perth; also wins event at 2001 & 2003 World Championships
