Events 1 - 200 of 201
- 141 6th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
Black Death
1345 Conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, thought by scholars at the University of Paris to be the "cause of the plague epidemic" known as the Black Death. Actual cause was the bacterium yersinia pestis spread by fleas, rats and other animals.
Walter Raleigh Released
1616 Walter Raleigh released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana
- 1627 France & Spain sign accord for fighting protestantism
Robert Hooke Appointed Professor of Geometry
1664 Scientist Robert Hooke is appointed Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London
- 1697 Dutch sea captain Willem de Vlamingh returns to Batavia after exploring "South Land" (west coast of Australia)
- 1703 Akō incident: 46 of the 47 surviving Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death in Edo
- 1739 Iranian ruler Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne
- 1760 Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings
Boston Tea Party
1774 The British parliament passes first of the Intolerable Acts: the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston harbor until colonists would pay for damages following the Boston Tea Party
Electric Battery Discovered
1800 Alessandro Volta reports his discovery of the electric battery in a letter to Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society of London
Napoléon Enters Paris
1815 Napoléon Bonaparte enters Paris after his escape from Elba, begins 100-day rule
- 1816 US Supreme Court affirms its right to review state court decisions
Welcome Shoppers, But No Whistling Please
1819 London’s famous Burlington Arcade opens, the world’s 1st shopping arcade
- 1833 US & Siam sign commercial treaty
Uncle Tom's Cabin
1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published in Boston
Republican Party Founded
1854 Anti-slavery activists within the US Whig political party opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Act form a new Republican Party; notable politicians who switched allegiance include Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison
- 1854 Boston Public Library opens in Boston, Massachusetts as the first large free municipal library in the US [1]
- 1854 Republican Party formally organized in Ripon, Wisconsin
- 1861 An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina
- 1865 2nd day of Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina
- 1865 Michigan authorizes workers' cooperatives
Jesse James Robbery
1868 Jesse James Gang robs a bank in Russellville, Kentucky, of $14,000
- 1883 Jan Matzeliger receives his 1st patent (number 274,207) for shoe lasting machine which mechanized shoe production
- 1883 Unity treaty of Paris signed: protects industrial property
- 1885 Yiddish theater opens in New York City with an operetta by Abraham Goldfaden
- 1886 1st AC power plant in US begins commercial operation in Massachusetts
- 1888 Premiere of the very first Romani language operetta staged in Moscow, Russia
- 1890 General Federation of Women's Clubs founded in the United States
- 1896 Marines land in Nicaragua to protect US citizens
- 1896 Uprising in Matabeleland
- 1897 1st US orthodox Jewish Rabbinical seminary (RIETS) incorporates in NY
Franco-Ethiopian Convention
1897 France signs treaty with Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia establishing a common border between French held Djibouti and Ethiopia
- 1900 US Secretary of State John Hay announces that all nations to whom he sent notes calling for an 'open door' policy in China have essentially accepted his stand
- 1902 France and Russia issue a joint declaration that approves the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, but stipulates that they have the right to protect interests in China and Korea
Captain Brassbound's Conversion
1906 George Bernard Shaw's play "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" premieres in London
Wilson Meets with Cabinet
1917 After the sinking of 3 more American merchant ships, US President Woodrow Wilson meets with cabinet, who agree that war is inevitable
- 1920 1st flight from London to South Africa lands (took 1½ months)
- 1921 Upper Silesia votes for amalgamation with Germany in a plebiscite that is 63% in favor
- 1922 USS Langley is commissioned, US Navy's 1st aircraft carrier
- 1922 WIP-AM in Philadelphia PA begins radio transmissions
- 1923 Bavarian minister of interior refuses to forbid Nazi Sturm Abteilung
- 1923 Belgian Senate rejects Dutch University in Ghent
- 1924 Finnair begins scheduled flight of Helsinki-Tallinn
- 1930 American engine builder Clessie Cummins sets diesel engine speed record of 80.4 mph (129.39 kph)
Sanders Court & Café
1930 American fast food restaurant chain "KFC" [Kentucky Fried Chicken] is founded as Sanders Court & Café by Colonel Harland Sanders in North Corbin, Kentucky
Didrikson Zaharias's Hitless Inning
1934 American all-round female super athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias pitches a hitless inning for Philadelphia A's in their exhibition pre-season baseball game against Brooklyn Dodgers
- 1934 Rudolf Kuhnold demonstrates radar in Kiel Germany
Battle of Guadalajara
1937 Franco's Republican army launch their (eventually successful) counter-offensive against Italian International Brigades fighting for the Nationalists at the Battle of Guadalajara, Spain
- 1939 7,000 Jews flee German occupied Memel Lithuania
- 1940 Paul Reynoud becomes French premier
- 1941 Exhibition "Planning and Construction in the East" opens in Berlin to showcase Generalplan Ost (plan for the East) German rural settlements after planned deportation of millions of Slavs [1]
- 1941 Nazi German-Yugoslav pact drawn
- 1942 Convoy PQ13 departs Reykjavik Iceland to Russia
MacArthur Vows "I Shall Return"
1942 General Douglas MacArthur vows "I came through and I shall return" after escaping Japanese-occupied Philippines
- 1942 Major German assault on Malta
- 1943 German U-384 bombed & sinks
- 1944 2,500 women trample guards and floorwalkers to purchase 1,500 alarm clocks announced for sale in a Chicago Illinois department store
- 1944 Bus falls off bridge into Passaic River NJ, killing 16
- 1945 US 70th Infantry Division captures Saarbrucken, immediately prior the invasion of Germany by the western Allies
- 1947 180 tonne blue whale (record) caught in South Atlantic
20th Academy Awards
1948 20th Academy Awards: "Gentleman's Agreement", Loretta Young, Ronald Colman win
1st Live Televised Symphony
1948 First live televised symphony performances: Eugene Ormandy leads Philadelphia Orchestra on CBS, followed 90 minutes later by Arturo Toscanini leading the NBC Orchestra on NBC
Peggy Kirk Wins LPGA
1949 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Amateur Peggy Kirk wins her only major title by 2 strokes from Patty Berg and Dorothy Kirby
- 1951 Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded
- 1951 Indonesian army offensive against Darul Islam on Java
Academy Awards
1952 24th Academy Awards: "An American in Paris", Humphrey Bogart and Vivien Leigh win
- 1952 Final ratification of peace treaty restoring sovereignty to Japan by US Senate
- 1954 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania)
- 1955 KXTV TV channel 10 in Sacramento, CA (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1956 Edward Ochab succeeds Bolesław Bierut as 1st secretary of the Polish Communist Party
- 1956 Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) erupts
- 1956 Tunisia gains independence from France when the Protocol agreement signed between the two countries
- 1956 Union workers ended a 156-day strike at Westinghouse Electric Corp
- 1956 USSR performs nuclear test
- 1957 Britain accepts NATO offer to mediate in Cyprus, but Greece rejects it
- 1958 50 inches of snow falls across the Mason–Dixon line
- 1958 Clandestine Burasi Bizim Radio (communist) begins transmitting
- 1958 Greek Clandestine Radio (communist), Voice of Truth 1st transmission
- 1962 Sjoukje Dijkstra becomes world champion figure skater
- 1963 1st "Pop Art" exhibition (NYC)
- 1964 ESRO established, European Space Research Organization
Dorothy Height's 1st Column
1965 Civil and Women's Rights Activist Dorothy Height has her first column published in the weekly African-American newspaper called the "New York Amsterdam News"
- 1965 Venkataraghavan takes 8-72 v NZ at Delhi
The Happening
1967 The Supremes release single "The Happening"
- 1967 WOET (now WPTD) TV channel 16 in Dayton, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1968 Military intervene in South-Yemen (leftist ministers resign)
- 1971 Boston Bruins win 13th straight NHL game
Event of Interest
1971 Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark resigns in protest at what he views as a limited security response by the British government
- 1972 19 mountain climbers killed on Japan's Mount Fuji during an avalanche
- 1972 Donegall Street bombing: the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonate its first car bomb on Donegall Street in Belfast; four civilians, two RUC officers and a UDR soldier killed while 148 people were wounded
- 1972 S Mansholt succeeds Malfatti as chairman of European Committee
- 1973 NBC TV premiere of pilot episode of "Police Story", based on Los Angeles Police Dept. Joseph Wambaugh's writings
Baseball Hall of Fame
1973 Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame, 11 weeks after his death in a plane crash
- 1974 "The Super Cops" directed by Gordon Parks premieres in NYC, New York
Historic Publication
1976 American publishing heiress Patty Hearst convicted of armed robbery for her part in a 1974 California heist
- 1976 Jevgeni Kulikov skates world record 1000m (1:15.70)
- 1977 Communists and socialists win French municipal elections
Election of Interest
1977 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's party loses election in India
Election of Interest
1977 Parisians elect former PM Jacques Chirac as 1st mayor in a century
- 1978 Flyers' Rick MacLeash scores on 6th penalty shot against Islanders
- 1980 The Mi Amigo ship containing England's pirate radio Caroline sinks
- 1980 US appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran
- 1981 Argentine ex-president Isabel Peron sentenced to 8 years
- 1981 Jean Harris sentenced 15-to-life for slaying of Scarsdale Diet Dr
- 1982 France performs nuclear test
- 1982 Joan Jett & Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" goes #1 for 7 weeks
- 1982 Rev Andries Treurnicht forms Conservative Party of South Africa
Sports History
1983 In a clash of tennis legends, Martina Navratilova outclasses Chris Evert Lloyd 6-2, 6-0 to win her first of 5 straight WTA Tour Championships at Madison Square Garden, NYC
- 1984 Andy Kaufman and Fred Blassie's film "My Breakfast With Blassie" premieres
- 1984 Nigerian Major-General Babatunde Idiagbon launches a campaign on ‘National Consciousness and Enlightenment’
- 1984 US Senate rejects amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools
- 1985 Libby Riddles is 1st woman to win Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race
- 1986 228 KPH gust of wind strikes Cairngorm (UK record)
- 1986 Jacques Chirac forms French government
- 1986 New York City passes its first lesbian and gay rights legislation
- 1987 FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment)
- 1987 NASA launches Palapa B2P
- 1987 Soap opera "Capitol" final episode
- 1987 Soviet filmmakers arrive in Hollywood for an entertainment summit
World Record
1987 Yvonne van Gennip skates ladies' world record 5 km (7:20.36)
- 1988 David Henry Hwang's "M. Butterfly," premieres in NYC
Boxing Title Fight
1988 Defending champion Mike Tyson beats Tony Tubbs by TKO in round 2 at the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo for the undisputed world heavyweight boxing title
- 1988 Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
- 1989 Richard J Kerr replaces Robert M Gates as deputy director of CIA
Sports History
1990 LA Lakers retires Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's #33
Music History
1990 Singer Gloria Estefan fractures her spine when a truck hits her tour bus near Scranton, Pennsylvania
Music History
1991 Michael Jackson signs $65 million deal with Sony Records to produce six albums
- 1991 Supreme Court rules unanimously employers can't exclude women from jobs where exposure to toxic chemicals could potentially damage fetus
- 1991 US forgives $2 billion in loans to Poland
- 1992 Janice Pennington is awarded $1.3M for accident on Price is Right set
A First Lady Goes Shoplifting
1992 Manuel Noriega's wife Felicidad arrested for stealing buttons from dresses
World Record
1993 Dan Jansen skates world record 500m (36.02 sec)
- 1993 IRA-bomb kills 3-year-old in Warrington, England
- 1994 El Salvador's 1st presidential election following 12-year-old civil war
- 1994 Mashonaland U-24 beat Matabeleland on 1st inning to win Logan Cup
- 1994 Zulu-king Goodwill Zwelithini founds realm in South Africa
Baby It's You
1995 Beatles release single, a cover of Shirelles song, "Baby It's You" (written by Burt Bacharach & Mack David), with late John Lennon as lead singer; 1st Fab Four single in nearly 10 years
- 1995 Dow-Jones hits record 4083.68
- 1995 Members of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo release sarin gas on three lines of the Tokyo subway, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000
- 1996 "Love Thy Neighbor" opens at Booth Theater NYC
- 1996 Erik & Lyle Menendez found guilty of killing their parents
- 1996 UK admits humans can catch CJD (Mad Cow Disease)
- 1997 Liggett admits cigarettes are addictive
- 1999 Legoland, California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California
- 2000 Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after a gun battle that leaves a Georgia sheriff's deputy dead
Papal Visit
2000 Pope John Paul II visits Holy Land - Jordan, Israel, Palestine
- 2001 Petrobras 36 Oil Platform, the world's largest oil rig, sinks with 400,000 US gallons of fuel and crude oil aboard, after suffering three explosions on March 15
Invasion of Iraq
2003 A US-led coalition launches a ground invasion of Iraq after an ultimatum for Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq expires
Event of Interest
2004 Stephen Harper wins the leadership of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada, becoming the party's first leader.
Event of Interest
2006 Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Deby.
- 2012 50 people are killed and 240 injured in a wave of terror attacks across 10 cities in Iraq
- 2012 Disney movie John Carter records one of the largest losses in cinema history with a $200 million dollar write down
- 2013 First Breakthrough Prizes, world's most generous science prize worth $3 million, awarded in Mathematics, Life Sciences and Physics established by Julia and Yuri Milner
- 2013 Pierre Deligne wins the 2013 Abel Prize in mathematics
Obama Visits Cuba
2016 Barack Obama becomes the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a 3 day tour
- 2017 Indian rivers Yamuna and the Ganges declared "living entities" by court in the state of Uttarakhand
Film & TV History
2018 Actress Cynthia Nixon announces she will run for New York Governor
Meeting of Interest
2018 Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House
- 2019 A woman who can smell Parkinson's disease has helped researchers identify molecules on the skin of people with the disease in Manchester, England
- 2019 Finland is the world's happiest country, South Sudan is world's least happy, according to annual World Happiness Report
- 2019 Four men arrested in South Korea for secretly filming 1,600 hotel guests and selling the footage via a website
- 2019 Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts calls the state's flooding "the most widespread destruction we have ever seen in our state's history"
Disney Acquires 21st Century Fox
2019 The Walt Disney Company acquires Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox entertainment business for $71 billion
- 2020 India hangs four men for 2012 gang rape and murder of woman on a bus in New Delhi, country's first hanging since 2013
- 2020 Smoke from Australian bushfires killed more people than the fires - 417 vs 33 according to new study published in "Medical Journal of Australia"
- 2021 Miami Beach imposes a state of emergency and a curfew as large crowds descend on the area for spring break
- 2021 Overseas spectators will not be allowed to attend the Tokyo Summer Olympics due to the pandemic Japanese organizers confirm
- 2021 Severe one-in-a-hundred-year flooding in Sydney and the surrounding state of New South Wales prompts evacuation orders
- 2022 Intense fighting in Ukrainian city of Mariupol continues as Russian forces encircle the city, trapping 300,000 people [1]
Xi Visits Putin
2023 Chinese leader Xi Jinping visits Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the first between the two since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago [1]
- 2023 Somalian drought may have killed 43,000 people in 2022, half of them children under five, according to new research presented by UNICEF in Mogadishu [1]
- 2023 Sri Lanka receives bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $2.9bn, amid its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948 [1]
- 2023 UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says world has less than a decade to stop catastrophic warming: must reduce greenhouse gases by half by 2030, and cease adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by early 2050s [1]
Gershwin Prize
2024 British singer-songwriter Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin receive Library of Congress Gershwin Prize at the White House in Washington, D.C.
- 2024 French mathematician Michel Talagrand awarded 2024 Abel prize for his work on probability theory and describing randomness [1]
- 2024 Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, the country's first gay and biracial taoiseach, announces he is stepping down after serving 2017-2020 and since December 2022 [1]