356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
1401 – William Sawtree, 1st English religious martyr, burned in London
1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Toruń Royal Prussia, Polish mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
1539 – Jews of Tyrnau Hungary (then Trnava Czech), expelled
1545 – Pierre Brully, [Peter Brulius], calvinist minister, burned to death
1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
1736 – George Frideric Handel’s “Alexander’s Feast” premieres
1771 – Messier adds M46-M49 to his catalog (galactic clusters in Puppis & Hydra & galaxy in Virgo)
1797 – One third of papal domain ceded to France
1803 – US Congress accepts Ohio’s constitution, statehood not ratified till 1953
1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama and confined to Fort Stoddert (later acquitted due to lack of evidence of treason, as Chief Justice Marshall did not consider conspiracy without actions sufficient for conviction)
The Burr conspiracy in the beginning of the 19th century was a suspected treasonous cabal of planters, politicians, and army officers allegedly led by former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr (1801-1805). According to the accusations against him, Burr’s goal was to create an independent nation in the center of North America and/or present-day Southwest and parts of present-day Mexico. Burr’s version was that he intended to take possession of, and farm, 40,000 acres (160 km²) in the Texas Territory leased to him by the Spanish Crown.
U.S. President Thomas Jefferson ordered Burr arrested and indicted for treason, despite not providing firm evidence. Burr’s true intentions remain unclear to historians, some of whom claim he intended to take parts of Texas and some, or all, of the Louisiana Purchase, for himself. Burr was acquitted of treason, but the trial destroyed his already faltering political career.
While Burr was still Vice President, in 1804 he met with Anthony Merry, the British Minister to the United States. As Burr told several of his colleagues, he suggested to Merry that the British might regain power in the Southwest if they contributed guns and money to his expedition. Burr offered to detach Louisiana from the Union in exchange for a half a million dollars and a British fleet in the Gulf of Mexico. Merry wrote, “It is clear Mr. Burr… means to endeavor to be the instrument for effecting such a connection – he has told me that the inhabitants of Louisiana … prefer having the protection and assistance of Great Britain.” “Execution of their design is only delayed by the difficulty of obtaining previously an assurance of protection & assistance from some foreign power.”
In November 1805, Burr again met with Merry and asked for two or three ships of the line and money. Merry informed Burr that London had not yet responded to Burr’s plans which he had forwarded the previous year. Merry gave him fifteen hundred dollars. Those Merry worked for in London expressed no interest in furthering an American secession. In the spring of 1806, Burr had his final meeting with Merry. In this meeting Merry informed Burr that still no response had been received from London. Burr told Merry, “with or without such support it certainly would be made very shortly.” Merry was recalled to Britain on June 1, 1806.
Burr, with his prospects for a political career squashed, left the United States for a self-imposed exile in Europe until 1811.
1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government “officially” transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States. (Was it a total scam?
1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This is the first time this defense is successfully used in the United States.
1861 – Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom [NS=Mar 3]
1876 – Founding of the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA) in Philadelphia.
1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
1881 – Kansas becomes 1st state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages
1884 – Tornadoes in Miss, Ala, NC, SC, Tenn, Ky & In kill 800 people
1910 – Typhoid Mary [Mary Mallon] is freed from her first periods of forced isolation and goes on to cause several further outbreaks of typhoid in the New York area
1913 – 1st prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box
1913 – Mexican General V Huerta takes power with US support
1920 – Netherlands joins League of Nations
1922 – Ed Wynn becomes 1st talent to sign as a radio entertainer
1927 – General strike against British occupiers in Shanghai
1932 – William Faulkner completes his novel “Light in August”
1933 – Prussian minister Goering bans all Catholic newspapers
1933 – Arnold Ludwig Mendelssohn, composer, dies at 77
1940 – Smokey Robinson, American R&B and soul singer-songwriter (The Miracles-Tears of a Clown) Born
and
1940 – Bobby Rogers, US vocalist (Miracles-You Really Got a Hold on Me), (d. 2013) Born
1941 – Nazi police attacked & driven away from Koco, Amsterdam
1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to internment camps.
1942 – Frank Abbandando, American gangster (executed) (b. 1910)
1943 – “Mama” Cass Elliot, actress (Mamas & Papas-Monday Monday) Born
1944 – Siegfried Garibaldi Kallenberg, composer, dies at 76
1945 – Wim Speelman, Dutch resistance fighter, executed at 26
1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
1945 – Brotherhood Day-1st celebrated
1948 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.
1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Velvett Fogg, and Mythology) was born.
1949 – 1st Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Ezra Pound
1949 – Mass arrests of communists in India
1950 – Andy Powell, rocker (Wishbone Ash) Born
1952 – Knut Hamsun, writer, dies at 92
Knut Hamsun is Norway’s most famous and admired author. Ever since he was young he has disapproved of the English for the starvation they caused in Norway during WWI. When the Germans occupy Norway on April 9, 1940, he welcomes them and the protection they can give from Great Britain, but opposes the way these ideals are turned into action – that Norwegians are jailed and executed.
1954 – Jamie West-Oram, rock guitarist (Fixx) Born
1955 – Jeff Daniels, American actor, singer, and playwright was born.
1953 – Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
1956 – Dave Wakeling, rock singer/guitarist (The Beat · General Public) Born
1958 – Carl Perkins leaves Sun Records for Columbia Records
1959 – Roger Goodell, Jamestown New York, American NFL Commissioner – Birthed
1960 – Bill Keane’s “Family Circus” cartoon strip debuts
1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique reawakens the Feminist Movement in the United States as women’s organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
1963 – Robert Frost wins Bollingen Prize
1963 – USSR informs JFK it is withdrawing several thousand troops from Cuba
1963 – Seal, English vocalist/songwriter (Killer, Crazy, Kiss by a Rose) Born
1964 – Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Whitesnake, Burning Rain, Hurricane, Bad Moon Rising, Lion, and Dio) was born.
1965 – Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Smash Mouth) was born.
1965 – Jon Fishman, American drummer (Phish, Pork Tornado, and Surrender to the Air) was born.
1966 – Justine Bateman, Rye NY, actress (Mallory-Family Ties, Satisfaction) Born
1966 – Prince Markie D, [Mark Morale], rocker (Fat Boys-Jail House Rock) Born
1967 – Benicio Del Toro, Puerto Rico, actor (Licence to Kill, Usual Suspects) Born
1968 – Frank Watkins, US heavy metal bassist (Obituary, Cause of Death) Born
1969 – Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fear Factory, Ascension of the Watchers, City of Fire, and GZR) was born.
1970 – AL Cy Young winner Denny McLain suspended for bookmaking
1974 – 1st American Music Award: Helen Reddy & Jim Croce win
1975 – Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer (3 Doors Down) was born.
1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford’s Proclamation 4417
1978 – Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper was born.
1980 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (AC/DC) (b. 1946) died.
1981 – George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for “subconscious plagiarism” “My Sweet Lord” with “He’s So Fine”
1984 – 1st brother combo to win Gold & Silver in same event at Olympics (Phil & Steve Mahre-Slalom)
1985 – William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave hospital.
1986 – US Senate ratifies UN’s anti-genocide convention 37 years later
1986 – USSR launches Mir space station into Earth orbit
1987 – Anti-smoking ad airs for 1st time on TV, featuring Yul Brynner: he died of smoking-induced lung cancer on 10th October 1985
1987 – Minnesota sheriff office arrest FBI most wanted, Thomas G Harrelson
1989 – L A Baby orangutan, at Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Born
1992 – Peter Collins discovers nova Cygni 1992
1992 – Porn producer Jim Mitchell found guilty of killing his brother Artie
1998 – Grandpa Jones, country comic/banjo wizard (Hee Haw), dies at 84
1999 – Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite leader (assassinated)
1998 – US hockey team destroys their rooms at Olympic village in Japan
2001 – An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
2001 – Stanley Kramer, producer and director, known for: Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). (b. 1913) Dies
2003 – Johnny PayCheck, American country singer/songwriter (b. 1938) Dies
2002 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
2004 – Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is awarded an “honorary knighthood” in recognition of a “lifetime of service to humanity.”
2012 – 44 people killed in prison brawl in Apocada, Mexico, between two rival drug cartels