351 – The Jewish revolt against Gallus breaks out. After his arrival at Antioch, the Jews begin a rebellion in Palestine.
1429 – Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning, wounded, to lead the final charge. The victory marks a turning point in the Hundred Years’ War.
1664 – Louis XIV of France inaugurates the Palace of Versailles.
1697 – Stockholm’s royal castle (dating back to medieval times) is destroyed by fire. It is replaced by the current Royal Palace in the eighteenth century.
1718 – The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
1794 – French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.
1812 – Robert Browning, London England, poet (Pied Piper)Born
1824 – World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer’s supervision.
1832 – The independence of Greece is recognized by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King.
1832 – Carl G Neumann, German mathematician/physicist (Neumann-functions) Born
1833 – Johannes Brahms, Hamburg Germany, composer – Born
1840 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1893) was born.
1846 – The Cambridge Chronicle, America’s oldest surviving weekly newspaper, is published for the first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1847 – The American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1864 – American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
1885 – George “Gabby” Hayes, Wellesvile NY, actor (In Old Santa Fe, El Paso) Born
1895 – In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector — a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
1896 – H. H. Holmes [Herman Webster Mudgett], American serial killer executed by hanging at 34
1901 – Gary Cooper, Montana, actor (2 Academy Awards-Sgt York, High Noon) Born
1915 – World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many formerly pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire
1919 – Eva Peron-Duarte [Evita], Argentina, 1st lady/actress, (d. 1952) Born
1920 – Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
1921 – Over 5000 people have already starved to death in Ireland and it is feared many more will follow
1933 – Johnny Unitas, NFL QB (Balt Colts, San Diego); one of the greats – Born
1940 – The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.
1941 – Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” The song was first featured in the 1941 movie “Sun Valley Serenade,” a movie that starred many of the biggest names of the day. It became one of the most popular hits from the era and even has its own website.
1945 – World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany’s participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
1946 – Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer (Grateful Dead, The Other Ones, The Dead, 7 Walkers, Rhythm Devils, and BK3) was born
1946 – Jerry Nolan, American drummer (The New York Dolls, The Heartbreakers, and The Pleasure Seekers/Cradle) (d. 1992) was born.
1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees.
1948 – The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.
1950 – Prairie Prince, American rock drummer and an accomplished painter, muralist and a graphic artist. He is a member of The Tubes and a founding member of Journey – Born
1950 – Tim Russert, American journalist (d. 2008) was born.
1950 – Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb, American boxer and actor – Born
1950 – Levitt and Sons, Builders announce a 2,000 home rental community at Island Trees Later Becoming Levittown, Hempstead, Long Island, New York ideal for GI’s returning home following the end of World War II, the project used a new type of construction based on mass-production housing never used before, due to the prefabricated design they could build 30 houses a day. Following the success of the project they announced a further 4,000 homes which would be for sale not rental, offering ownership on a 30-year mortgage with no down payment and monthly costs the same as rental. After two years they began offering a larger home “a ranch house” 32 feet by 25 feet ( 800 Sq Ft ) for $7,990. The concept was copied all over the United States and modern suburbia was born.
1952 – The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.
1960 – Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960 – Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.
1962 – Robbie Knievel, daredevil, son of Evel (Chips Something Special) Born
1964 – Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, a Fairchild F-27 airliner, crashes near San Ramon, California, killing all 44 aboard; the FBI later reports that a cockpit recorder tape indicates that the pilot and co-pilot had been shot by a suicidal passenger.
1965 – Owen Hart, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 1999) was born.
1977 – Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, the first of his Triple Crown victories for three-year-old thoroughbred horses. The Three Races for the Triple Crown in the US are (1) The Kentucky Derby, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky; (2) The Preakness Stakes, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland; (3) The Belmont Stakes, at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
1992 – Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.
1994 – Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
1996 – Albert Meltzer, anarchist, dies at 76
Meltzer believed that the only true type of anarchism was communistic. He opposed the individualist anarchism of people such as Benjamin Tucker, believing that the private police that individualists support would constitute a government
1998 – Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for $40 billion USD and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
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.
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.
2000 – Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.
2004 – American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.
Nick Berg Video Was Uploaded From London, Not Iraq
2007 – Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.