Events 1 - 200 of 219
Dome of Hagia Sophia Collapses
558 In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders the dome rebuilt.
- 1253 Flemish friar William of Rubruck sets off to convert the Mongols to Christianity, a mission ordered by French king Louis IX - one of the most famous travel accounts in the Medieval world
- 1274 2nd Council of Lyons (14th ecumenical council) opens, convened by Pope Gregory X
- 1355 1,200 Jews of Toledo, Spain killed by Count Henry of Trastamara
- 1416 Monk Nicolaas Serrurier arrested because of heresy at Tournay
Siege of Orléans Broken
1429 English siege of Orleans broken by Joan of Arc and the French army
- 1697 Stockholm's medieval royal castle is destroyed by fire, the Codex Gigas (world's largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript) survives by being thrown out a window
Penn Begins Emancipation Meetings
1700 William Penn begins monthly meetings for blacks advocating emancipation
1st Presidential Ball
1789 First US Presidential inaugural ball (for George Washington in NYC)
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
1824 Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th (Choral) Symphony, often regarded as his greatest work, premieres at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna, Austria [1]
- 1847 American Medical Association founded in Philadelphia
- 1848 Prussians stop insurrection in Varsovia
- 1856 Argentina & Brazil sign a navigation pact
- 1861 Riot occurs between pro-secessionist & Union supporters in Knoxville, Tennessee
- 1862 Battle of West Point, Virginia at Eltham's Landing, Barnhamsville
- 1862 Much of Enschede, Netherlands, destroyed by fire
- 1862 South Dakota Historical Society is founded as the Old Settlers Association of Dakota Territory; organization renamed after statehood attained in 1890
- 1864 Battle of Wilderness ends inconclusively in Virginia, Union losses 17,666; Confederates 7,500
- 1864 Skirmish at Port Walthall Junction, Virginia (Drewry's Bluff)
Attack on Bismarck
1866 German premier Otto von Bismarck seriously wounded in assassination attempt
- 1867 Blacks stage ride-in to protest segregation in New Orleans
Nobel Patents Dynamite
1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patents dynamite in England, the first of three patents he would receive for the explosive material
- 1873 US marines attack Panama
- 1875 German SS Schiller sinks near Scilly Islands, 312 killed
- 1877 Cincinnati Enquirer first uses term "bullpen" to indicate baseball field foul territory where late-coming spectators were herded like cattle
- 1885 John E. W. Thompson named US minister to Haiti
- 1888 Édouard Lalo's opera "Le roi d'Ys" premieres in Paris
- 1891 Battle in Bunyoro: British Captain Frederick Lugard stops Muslim rebellion, 300 killed
- 1895 Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention - the world's first radio receiver in St. Petersburg. Celebrated as Radio Day in Russia.
- 1902 La Soufrière volcano on St Vincent kills 1,680 people
- 1904 Flexible Flyer trademark registered
- 1907 Central American Court of Justice inaugurated in San Jose, Costa Rica - first standing tribunal for International Law in the world [1]
- 1907 Charles Collier wins 1st Isle of Man TT Race: (38.22 mph)
- 1908 Emperor Franz-Joseph celebrates his golden jubilee with festivities throughout the Austro-Hungarian empire
- 1909 Construction begins on first 100 houses in Ahuzat Bayit (Tel Aviv)
Plans for Pulitzer Prize
1912 Columbia University approves plans to award the Pulitzer Prize in several categories, after establishment by Joseph Pulitzer
- 1913 An ambassadorial conference in St Petersburg, Russia, awards the town of Silistria to Rumania in compensation for Bulgaria's other territorial gains in the First Balkan War
- 1913 British House of Commons rejects women's right to vote
- 1913 Plot by English suffragettes to blow up part of St Paul's cathedral thwarted when the bomb is discovered [1]
- 1914 US Congress establishes Mother's Day
RMS Lusitania Sinks
1915 RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off the southern coast of Ireland; 1198 lives lost
Ruth Leads Victory
1917 In a testament to his pitching ability, future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth leads Boston Red Sox to a 1-0 victory against Washington Senators legend Walter Johnson
- 1919 A draft of the Versailles Treaty is shown to the Germans
- 1920 USSR recognizes Georgia's independence
- 1922 Belgian soccer team defeats Netherlands: 1-2
- 1922 NY Giant Jesse Barnes no-hits Phillies, 2-0
- 1923 Mine strike at Belgian Borinage railroad
- 1924 Peruvian Torre forms APRA, Alianza Popular Revolutionaria Americana
- 1925 1st projection planetarium opens at Deutsche Museum in Munich, Germany
- 1925 MBA Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop Glenn Wright makes an unassisted triple play
- 1925 Phillies have their 8th game postponed in a row
- 1927 Angelos Sikelianos organizes the first Delphic Festival in Delphi to celebrate the ancient Greek Delphic ideal.
- 1927 SF Municipal Airport (Mills Field) dedicated
The Bridge of the Luis Rey
1928 Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder for his novel "The Bridge of San Luis Rey"
Juliana Canal
1934 Princess Juliana of the Netherlands opens Juliana Canal between Maastricht and Maasbracht
- 1934 Pulitzer prize awarded to Sidney Kingsley for his play "Men in White"
- 1934 World's largest pearl (6.4 kg) found at Palawan, Philippines
- 1938 Dutch Minister of Justice Goseling calls fugitives of Nazi-Germany "undesired strangers"
- 1940 British House of Commons begins its Norway Debate on the conduct of the war after Germany invaded Norway - will lead to Winston Churchill becoming Prime Minister
Chattanooga Choo Choo
1941 Glenn Miller records "Chattanooga Choo Choo" for RCA, it becomes 1st record to be designated "gold"
George Washington Carver Launched
1943 Liberty Ship George Washington Carver, named after scientist, launched
- 1943 US 1st Armour division occupies Ferryville, Tunisia
- 1943 US 9th Infantry division occupies Bizerta/Bensert, Tunisia
Negro Baseball League Forms
1945 Branch Rickey announces formation of the US Negro Baseball League
- 1945 Princess Irene Brigade moves into The Hague, Netherlands
- 1945 Pulitzer Prize for a Novel awarded to John Hersey for "Bell for Adano"
- 1945 SS open fire on crowd in Amsterdam, killing 22
Nazi Germany Surrenders
1945 Unconditional surrender of the German Third Reich to the Allies signed by General Alfred Jodl at Rheims, Northern France
Japanese Constitution
1947 General MacArthur approves Japanese constitution
- 1947 Paraguayian government unleashes contra revolt
- 1948 Nazi collaborator V-Mann Antonius van de Waals sentenced to death
- 1949 Roem–Van Roijen Agreement negotiated in Jakarta between Indonesian Republican Mohammad Roem and Jan Herman van Roijen for Netherlands - paves the way for independence
- 1951 International Olympic committee allows Russia to participate in 1952 Olympics
- 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction awarded to Conrad Richter, for his novel "The Town"
- 1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer
- 1953 Record 537-kg swordfish is caught by LE Marron, in Chile
- 1954 French surrender to Vietminh after 55-day siege at Dien Bien Phu
- 1954 US, Great Britain & France reject Russian membership of NATO
- 1955 USSR signs peace treaty with France & Great Britain
- 1955 West European Union established
- 1956 Battle at Oran, Algeria, kills 300
- 1956 NY Giant Bill White, homers in his 1st at bat
Pulitzer Prize
1956 Pulitzer Prize for Drama awarded to Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett for their play "The Diary of Anne Frank"
Roy Campanella Night
1959 "Roy Campanella Night" Largest baseball crowd at 93,103 at the LA Coliseum see Yankees beat Dodgers 6-2 in exhibition game
- 1960 Dodgers Larry & Norm Sherry are baseball's 10th brother battery
- 1960 LA Dodger Norm Sherry's 11th HR wins the game for brother Larry
Soviet History
1960 Leonid Brezhnev replaces Kliment Voroshilov as President of USSR
Chess Championship
1960 Michael Tal beats Mikhail Botvinnik 12½-8½ for world chess championship
Spy History
1960 USSR announces Francis Gary Powers confesses to being a CIA spy
- 1962 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction awarded to Theodore H. White for "The Making of the President 1960"
- 1962 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- 1963 SETC Telstar 2 launched (apogee 6,700 miles (10,800 km))
- 1965 WAOW TV channel 9 in Wausau, Wisconsin (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1966 Mamas & Papas' "Monday Monday" hits #1
- 1966 NY Yankees fire manager Johnny Keane
- 1969 Lt General Robert E Cushman, Jr, USMC, becomes deputy director of CIA
- 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction awarded to Eudora Welty for "Optimist's Daughter"
- 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry awarded to Robert Lowell for "Dolphin"
- 1975 Small Astronomy Satellite Explorer 53 launched to study X-rays
End of Vietnam Era
1975 US President Gerald Ford declares an end to "Vietnam Era"
- 1979 5th UNCTAD-conference opens in Manila
- 1979 Gary Roenicke hits into Orioles 13th triple play (Oakland)
- 1980 Paul Geidel Jr, American murderer, and longest-serving prison inmate in the United States, paroled after 68 years, 296 days, at the age of 86.
- 1980 Samm-Art Williams' "Home" premieres in NYC
- 1980 Yugoslav President Josip Tito is buried
- 1982 Californian federal jury rules NFL violates antitrust laws in preventing Oakland Raiders move to Los Angeles Coliseum
- 1982 IBM releases PC-DOS version 1.1
- 1982 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1983 August Hoffman performs record 29,051 consecutive sit-ups
Agent Orange in Vietnam
1984 $180m out-of-court settlement reached in Agent Orange suit
- 1986 Iraq bombs a Tehran oil refiner
- 1986 Phillies outfielder Garry Maddox, retires
- 1987 105°F in Sacramento, California
- 1987 Diane Chambers' (Shelley Long) final episode on TV comedy "Cheers"
- 1988 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1989 Mark Merrony (Wales) cycles for 30 mins in Nepal at 21,030 feet
Panamanian General Election
1989 Panamanian voters reject dictator Manuel Noriega's bid for presidency
- 1991 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1991 Haryana beat Bombay in the Ranji Cricket Trophy final by 2 runs
- 1992 27th Amendment to US Constitution is ratified; bars increases to congressional pay from taking effect until after an intervening election [1] [2]
- 1992 5 NYC cops arrested in Hauppauge, Long Island, for selling cocaine
Ángel Cordero Jr. Retires
1992 Champion Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr. retires after winning 7,057 thoroughbred horse races
The Scream is Recovered
1994 Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" is recovered 3 months after it was stolen
Election of Jacques Chirac
1995 Jacques Chirac wins French presidential election
- 1995 Revival of Budd Schulberg's stage drama "On the Waterfront", adapted from his screenplay for the 1954 film, closes at the Atkinson Theater, NYC, after 8 performances [1]
- 1995 Twins beat Indians 10-9 in 17 innings, 6 hours & 36 minutes
- 1996 Comedian Martin Lawrence suffers a nervous breakdown
- 1997 Expos scores 13 in 6th at Giants
- 1997 Galileo, 4th Ganymede Flyby (Orbit 8)
The Fifth Element
1997 Science fiction film "The Fifth Element" written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich is released. Then the most expensive European film ever made.
- 1998 Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for $US40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the then largest industrial merger in history
- 1999 Guinea-Bissau President João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira is ousted in a military coup
- 1999 Jury finds "The Jenny Jones Show" and Warner Bros. liable in death of Scott Amedure, after purposely deceiving Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a same-sex crush episode. Schmitz later kills Amedure, jury awards Amedure's family $25 million
- 1999 Kosovo War: In Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade
Papal Visit
1999 Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
Hat-Trick for Thierry Henry
2006 On the final day of the Premier League season, Thierry Henry scores a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic in the last match played at Highbury
- 2007 Ehud Netzer of Hebrew University announces he has discovered the tomb of Herod the Great at Herodium, West Bank
Event of Interest
2008 Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in as the 3rd President of the Russian Federation
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
2011 "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides", directed by Rob Marshall, starring Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz, premieres in - opening weekend makes $350.6m
- 2012 NATO air strike kills 14 and woulds 6 civilians in Afghanistan's Badghis Province
- 2012 Paeleoclimatological research claims dinosaur flatulence may have warmed the earth
Putin's Third Term
2012 Vladimir Putin sworn in for third six-year term as President of Russia
- 2013 20 people are killed and 36 are injured after a gas tanker explodes in Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico
- 2013 4 people are killed after the Mayon Volcano erupts in the Philippines
- 2013 55 people are killed by a Boko Haram attack in Nigeria
- 2013 8 people are killed and a dozen are injured after bear attacks in Orissa, India
- 2013 Delaware becomes the 11th US State to legalize same-sex marriage
- 2013 Jolly Nero, an Italian cargo ship, crashes into the port of Genoa, killing seven people
- 2013 The Dow Jones Industrial average and S&P 500 set record highs
- 2014 Fighting between pro-Russian and Kiev forces continue amid fears internationally of a civil war in Ukraine
Election of Interest
2015 British General Elections: Conservative Party win outright majority and David Cameron returns as Prime Minister
Macron Defeats Le Pen
2017 Emmanuel Macron wins France's presidential election, defeating Marine Le Pen
MTV Movie & TV Awards
2017 MTV becomes 1st major awards show to adopt gender-neutral categories - Emma Watson best film actor, Millie Bobby Brown best TV actor
- 2017 “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” becomes the highest grossing Indian box office film ever earning $120 million
- 2018 Global tourism accounts for 8% of the world's carbon emissions according to a University of Sydney study
Event of Interest
2018 Iran-Contra figure Oliver North announced as the new President of the US National Rifle Association
Met Gala: Heavenly Bodies
2018 Met Gala, "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" is hosted by Anna Wintour, Amal Clooney, Donatella Versace and Rihanna wearing a Pope-inspired outfit
- 2018 More mudslides in Rwanda kill 18 people bringing the year's death toll to 200
- 2018 Vladimir Putin is sworn in as Russian President for another 6 years
- 2018 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Welshman Mark Williams beats John Higgins of Scotland, 18-16; as promised, does his press conference in the nude
- 2019 Denver is the first US city to decriminalize psilocybin "magic mushrooms"