- 764 K'inich K'uk' Bahlum becomes king of the Maya city of Palenque - its last known ruler before the city's collapse
Convocation of Canterbury
1531 King Henry VIII is recognized as the supreme head of the Church in England by the Convocation of Canterbury
Event of Interest
1576 Spanish official Diego Garcia de Palacio writes of his visit to ruins of Copan to King Philip II of Spain - 1st non-Indian to visit and report on a major Maya site
Queen Anne
1702 James II's daughter Anne Stuart becomes Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland following the death of William III
- 1706 Vienna's Wiener Stadtbank established
- 1711 Antoin de Guiscard, a French and English spy, fails in an attempt to murder English Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert Harley; Harley survives stabbing, and Guiscard dies later from injuries sustained in the fracas
- 1722 Afghan monarch Mir Mahmud occupies Persia
- 1746 Duke of Cumberland's troops occupy Aberdeen
- 1754 Marquis of Ensenada becomes premier of Spain
- 1766 Willem V (18) becomes governor of United Provinces
- 1777 Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt
- 1782 Gnadenhutten Massacre - Ohio militia kills 90 Native American
- 1801 British drive French forces from Abukir, Egypt
- 1813 1st concerto of Royal Philharmonic
- 1817 The New York Stock Exchange is founded
- 1838 US mint in New Orleans begins operation (producing dimes)
- 1844 Oscar I (45) ascends to the throne of Sweden-Norway, upon the death of his father, Charles XIV John
Perry Expedition
1854 US Commodore Matthew C. Perry's second trip to Japan
- 1855 1st train crosses 1st US railway suspension bridge, Niagara Falls
- 1857 British seismologist John Milne is hired by the Japanese government as a foreign adviser (oyatoi gaikokujin)
- 1861 St Augustine Florida surrenders to Union armies
- 1862 Battle of Elkhorn Tavern ends with Confederate withdrawal
- 1862 Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" launched
- 1862 Naval Engagement at Hampton Roads, VA CSS Virginia, Jamestown & Yorktown vs USS Cumberland, Congress & Monitor
- 1865 Battle of Kingston, North Carolina (Wilcox's ridge, Wise's Forks)
- 1867 British North America Act is passed in the House of Commons, serves as Canada's constitution for more than 100 years
- 1884 1st performance of Edward MacDowell's 2nd Piano Suite
Susan B. Anthony Addresses Congress
1884 Susan B. Anthony addresses U.S. House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote, 16 years after legislators 1st introduced a federal women's suffrage amendment.
- 1887 Everett Horton, CT, patents fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes
- 1894 The state of New York enacts the nation's first dog-licensing law
- 1896 Volunteers of America forms (NYC)
- 1898 Richard Straus' "Don Quixote" premieres in Keulen
- 1900 NL decides to go with 8 teams They exclude Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville & Washington (in 1953 Boston Braves move to Milwaukee)
Sibelius' 2nd Symphony
1902 1st performance of Jean Sibelius' 2nd Symphony, his most popular, by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society
- 1904 Australian cricket spin bowler Hugh Trumble dismisses England batsmen Bernard Bosanquet, Plum Warner and Dick Lilley for his second Test hat-trick in 5th Test victory in Melbourne; Trumble's final Test
- 1906 Stanley Cup, Dey's Arena, Ottawa, ON: Ottawa HC beats Smiths Falls (ON), 8-2 for a 2-0 sweep of challenge series
- 1908 Dutch utopist Frederick of Eden speaks in Carnegie Hall, NY
- 1910 Baroness Raymonde de Laroche of Paris becomes the 1st ever licensed female pilot
- 1913 Internal Revenue Service begins to levy & collect income taxes
- 1913 MLB Federal League organizes with 6 teams, including the Chicago Whales, who built and played at Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field); League folded after 3 seasons
- 1915 1st US navy minelayer, Baltimore, commissioned
- 1916 US invades Cuba for 3rd time, this to end corrupt Menocal regime
- 1917 Russian "February Revolution" begins in earnest with protests celebrating International Woman's Day and riots in St Petersburg over food rations and conduct of the war [OS=Feb 23]
Cloture Rule
1917 US Senate introduces the Cloture Rule, requiring a two-thirds majority to end debate, at the urging of Woodrow Wilson [1]
- 1920 Denmark & Cuba join the League of Nations
- 1921 Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
- 1924 Coal mine explosion kills 171 at Castle Gate, Utah
- 1927 Pan American Airlines incorporates
- 1929 US worker union commission reports of slavery in Liberia
Hubble's Galaxy Photo
1934 Edwin Hubble photo shows as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars
- 1936 The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
- 1939 Lenore Coffee & William Joyce Cowan's "Family Portrait" premieres
- 1941 1st baseball player drafted into WW II (Hugh Mulcahy, Phillies)
- 1942 Japanese forces capture Rangoon, Burma
- 1942 KNIL, Dutch colonial army on Java, surrenders to Japanese armies
- 1943 335 allied bombers attack German city of Nuremberg, a centre for military production
- 1943 Limited gambling legalized in Mexico
- 1944 US resumes bombing Berlin
- 1945 "Kiss Me Kate" opens in Britain
- 1945 53 Amsterdammers executed by nazi occupiers
- 1945 International Women's Day is 1st observed
- 1945 Nazi Sicherheitsdienst (SD) intelligence agency executes 116 prisoners, and one reluctant police official, at de Woeste Hoeve, Netherlands in response to raid by resistance forces two days earlier
- 1945 Phyllis M Daley is 1st black nurse sworn in as US Navy ensign
- 1946 1st helicopter licensed for commercial use (NYC)
- 1948 US Supreme Court rules in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional
- 1949 WAGA TV channel 5 in Atlanta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1949 WBAP-FM, Fort Worth Texas, begins broadcasting
- 1950 1st woman medical officer assigned to naval vessel (BR Walters)
- 1951 Intl Table Tennis Federation bans Egypt (for refusing to play Israel)
- 1952 Antoine Pinay forms French government
- 1953 Census indicates 239,000 farmers gave up farming in last 2 years in US
- 1953 KSWO TV channel 7 in Lawton, Oklahoma (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1953 WFMJ TV channel 21 in Youngstown, Ohio (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1954 Herb McKinley sets quarter mile record of 0:46.8 in Melbourne, Australia
- 1957 David Diamond's 6th Symphony premieres with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch
- 1957 Egypt reopens the Suez Canal after Israel withdraws from occupied Egyptian territory
- 1957 Israeli troops leave Egypt in compliance with UN resolution
- 1957 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
- 1958 Silky Sullivan comes from 40 lengths back to win by 3 at Santa Anita
Event of Interest
1958 William Faulkner says US school degenerated to become babysitters
Event of Interest
1961 US nuclear submarine Patrick Henry arrives at Scottish naval base of Holy Loch from South Carolina in a record underseas journey of 66 days 22 hrs
Radio Premiere
1962 The Beatles (with Pete Best) BBC radio debut - a cover of Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)", recorded the previous evening on stage at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester
- 1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1963 Syrian Arab Rep Revolution Day - Military coup in Syria
Hall of Fame
1966 Baseball player, manager and coach Casey Stengel elected to Baseball Hall of Fame in a surprise ceremony
- 1967 New Orleans Saints begin selling season tickets (20,000 sold 1st day)
- 1968 6-year-old Tommy Moore scores hole-in-one in golf (Hagerstown, Maryland)
- 1968 Bill Graham's New York rock venue Fillmore East opens in Manhattan
- 1968 Students demonstrate in Warsaw
- 1970 WTCI TV channel 45 in Chattanooga, TN (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1971 Gun battle between Official Irish Republican Army and Provisional IRA leave 1 man killed; result of feud between two wings of the IRA developing since the split in 1970
Sinatra Snaps the Fight of the Century
1971 Joe Frazier ends Muhammad Ali's 31-fight winning streak at Madison Square Garden, NYC; retains heavyweight boxing title by unanimous points decision over 15 rounds in the "Fight of the Century"
- 1971 Milwaukee Bucks win their 20th straight NBA game (team record)
- 1971 Radio Hanoi broadcasts Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner"
- 1972 1st flight of the Goodyear blimp Europa (N2A); 1st airship flown over Britain in 20 years
Event of Interest
1973 Eisenhower Tunnel, world's highest and US longest, opens 60km west of Denver, Colorado
Music History
1973 Paul & Linda McCartney are fined £100 for growing cannabis
- 1973 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) undertakes its first operation in Great Britain, planting four car bombs in London. Ten members of PIRA are later arrested at Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the country.
- 1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1974 Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France
- 1975 Royal Canadian Mint announces branch opening in Winnipeg, Manitoba
- 1976 1,774 kg (largest observed) stony meteorite falls in Jilin, China
- 1977 Henry L Marsh III elected mayor of Richmond, Virginia
- 1977 Princess Anne announces she's expecting her 1st child (Peter)
Radio Premiere
1978 The first-ever radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is transmitted on BBC Radio 4.
- 1979 1st extraterrestrial volcano discovered on Jupiter's satellite Io
- 1979 China withdraws invasion troops from Vietnam
- 1979 Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) transported 38 miles overland from Palmdale
Sports History
1980 Greg Chappell 235 & Yallop 172, for 217 stand at Faisalabad
- 1980 The first festival of rock music kicks off in the Soviet Union
- 1980 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Sports History
1981 Dennis Lillee ct by Qld 12th man Dennis Lillie in Shield game
- 1983 House Foreign Affairs Com endorses nuclear weapons freeze with USSR
- 1983 IBM releases PC DOS version 2.0
Event of Interest
1983 President Reagan 1st known use of term "Evil Empire" (about the USSR) in speech in Florida
Sports History
1986 Martina Navratilova is 1st tennis player to earn $10 million
Living Doll
1986 The Young Ones and Cliff Richard release new version of single "Living Doll" for Comic Relief charity
- 1987 "A Team" last aired on NBC-TV after 4 years
- 1987 17th Easter Seal Telethon raises $35,184,425
- 1987 David Hookes (306*) Wayne Phillips make 462 stand for S Aust
- 1987 FBI apprehends most wanted Claude L Dallas, Jr in California
- 1987 Nelli Cooman becomes world champion 60m indoor
- 1989 Roger Kingdom runs indoor world record 60m hurdles (7.37 secs)
- 1990 NYC's Zodiac killer shoots 1st victim, Mario Orosco
- 1991 Planeloads of US troops arrive home from the Persian Gulf, Iraq hands over 40 foreign journalists and 2 American soldiers it captured
- 1991 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Film & TV History
1993 Katharine Hepburn released from the hospital after exhaustion
- 1994 B737 collides with Ilyushin-86 in New Delhi, at least 8 killed
- 1994 Train accident at Pinetown, Natal, kills 47
- 1994 US Defense Department announces smoking ban in workplaces
- 1995 -26°F (-32.2°C) in Bismarck, North Dakota
- 1995 -44°F (-42.2°C) in Chosedacharad, Komi-district, on 67°N
- 1995 Dutch Liberal Party wins Provincial-National elections
Fargo
1996 "Fargo" directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen, starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi released in the US
Film & TV History
1998 The Screen Actors Guild award Gloria Stuart (Old Rose in "Titanic") with their Founders Award
Murder of Interest
1999 The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing
- 2004 A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council after the invasion and occupation by American-led forces
- 2012 Greece secures debt-restructuring deal with private lenders
- 2012 Toyota recalls 700,000 vehicles over safety concerns
- 2013 North Korea terminates all peace pacts with South Korea
Flight MH370 Disappears
2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with 239 people loses contact and disappears, prompting the most expensive search effort in history and one of the most enduring aviation mysteries
Film & TV History
2016 Turner Classic Movies show several of Claire Trevor’s films to honor the 106th anniversary of her birth
- 2017 Aboriginal DNA study by University of Adelaide shows Aboriginal population dates back 50,000 years from one migration
- 2017 FC Barcelona in a great comeback become 1st team to overturn 4-0 deficit beating St-Germain 6-5 in return game to reach the Champions League quarter finals
- 2018 5 million Spanish women mark International Women's Day by striking over gender inequality and sexual discrimination
- 2018 Asia-Pacific trade deal signed in Santiago, Chile by 11 countries after US pulled out
Event of Interest
2018 US President Donald Trump authorizes tariffs on steel and aluminium, excluding Canada and Mexico
- 2019 US national women's soccer team sue for equal pay by filing a federal gender discrimination lawsuit against United States Soccer Federation
Sports History
2020 A police report is filed against Brian Ortega for allegedly slapping rapper Jay Park at UFC 248
- 2020 America registers 521 cases of COVID-19 with 21 deaths across 33 states
- 2020 BNP Paribas Open international tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, dubbed 'the 5th Grand Slam' is cancelled due to concerns surrounding COVID-19 and the safety of participants and attendees
- 2020 ICC Women's Cricket T20 World Cup, Melbourne: Defending champions Australia beats India by 85 runs; Beth Mooney [77no] Player of the Series; Alyssa Healy 75 off 39 balls MVP; crowd 86,174
- 2020 Italy announces it is locking down northern region of Lombardy, including Milan, with 16 million people, as COVID-19 cases reach 5,800 with 233 deaths
Event of Interest
2021 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says COVID-9 pandemic has had an "extremely unfair" effect on income and economic opportunities for women
Agreement of Interest
2022 Reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers agrees to remain with the Green Bay Packers in a reported 4-year, $200m deal that would make him the highest paid player in NFL history
- 2022 Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon formally apologises to the 4,000 Scots, mostly women, accused of witchcraft between 1563 and 1736 [1]
- 2022 Sydney has wettest start to the year since records began, recording 822 millimetres of rain amid widespread flooding [1]
- 2022 UK band Glass Animals' song "Heat Waves" sets new record of 59 weeks for longest time to reach No. 1 on US Billboard Top 100 [1]
Event of Interest
2022 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invokes Winston Churchill speaking virtually to the UK parliament "We will not fail. We will fight till the end" [1]
- 2023 171 trillion pieces of plastic now litter the world's oceans, increasing from 16 trillion in 2005, estimate scientists from Gyres Institute [1]
- 2023 Oldest known reference to Norse god Odin from fifth century, revealed on gold disc from Vindelev hoard, Western Denmark, by Danish scientists [1]
- 2024 A report by the Pentagon into UFOs since 1945 finds no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence [1]
