1150 – Emperor Xizong of Jin was murdered by Prince Hailing of Jin in a Coup d’état.
1324 – Marco Polo, Italian merchant and explorer (b. 1254) died.
1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
1431 – Judges’ investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
1570 – Tsar Ivan the Terrible kills 1,000-2,000 residents of Novgorod
1773 – Cassandra Austen, English watercolorist and sister of Jane Austen (d. 1845) Born
1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain’s war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
1816 – Sir Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
1839 – Thomas Henderson measures 1st stellar parallax (Alpha Centauri)
1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
1861 – American Civil War: The “Star of the West” incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the “First Shots of the American Civil War”. (False Flag?)
1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
1863 – American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman begins in Arkansas.
1873 – Emperor Napoleon III of France (b. 1808) Dies
1880 – The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high winds and heavy snow.
1893 – Mohara, Arab ivory/slave trader, dies in battle & is eaten
1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1902 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint, founded Opus Dei (d. 1975) was birthed
1905 – A strike in St. Petersburg and Peaceful protesters go to the Winter Palace to give the Tsar a petition and the Imperial Guard fires on the crowd, killing two-hundred people
1912 – US Marines invade Honduras
1920 – The Human Fly ( George Polley ) attempts to climb to the top of the Woolworth Building in New York City ( 57 Floors ). He reaches the 30th floor before being arrested
1913 – Richard Nixon, American politician, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994) was birthed
1914 – Gypsy Rose Lee, [Rose Hovick], burlesque actress (Gypsy), born in Seattle, Washington – Born
1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
1917 – World War I: the Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations’ decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
1935 – Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005) was born.
1936 – John Gilbert, actor (Love, Downstairs), dies at 40
1936 – Semi-automatic rifles adopted by US army
1939 – Jimmy Boyd, American actor and singer (d. 2009) was born.
1940 – Al Downing, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2005) was born.
1941 – Joan Baez, Staten Island, folk singer/human rights advocate – Born
1941 – Sammy Kaye records the song “Until Tomorrow” with his orchestra. The song goes on to be a big hit.
1943 – Scott Walker, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (The Walker Brothers) was born.
1943 – Jerry Yester, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (Modern Folk Quartet, The Lovin’ Spoonful, and The New Christy Minstrels) was born.
1944 – Jimmy Page, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, The Honeydrippers, The Firm, and XYZ)f was born.
1946 – Countee Cullen, African American poet of the Harlem Renaissance (Black Christ, One Way to Heaven), dies at 42
1947 – Elizabeth “Betty” Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.
1948 – Bill Cowsill, Newport RI, rock guitarist/vocals (Cowsills-We Can Fly) Born
1948 – Paul King, Dagenham Essex, English rocker (Blue Oyster Cult) Born
1950 – David Johansen, NY DOLLS [ AKA: Buster Poindexter], NY, singer (Hot! Hot! Hot!) BORN
1951 – Crystal Gayle, Ky, country singer (Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue) Born
1952 – Marines give notice that they will recall Ted Williams to active duty
1952 – This was a time of Cold War between the United States and various countries in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. It was recognized that something needed to be done…like…yesterday-or at least 18 months ago.President Truman’s popularity had suffered prior to the time of his plan to take action. According to the opinions of a large number of people, he had not handled responsibilities during the Korean War very well. However, when he expressed his views on how the fight of communism should be handled he received a standing ovation during his State of the Union Address which took place during this year, on this day. Part of his plan was to support the feeding of hungry in foreign countries. The ideal was that if the starving people were fed then they would not “stomach communism”. This was part of a Four Point program which also included technological and agricultural assistance to third world countries.
1956 – Abigail Van Buren’s “Dear Abby” column 1st appears in newspapers
1957 – Phil Lewis, American singer-songwriter (L.A. Guns, Girl, New Torpedos, and Tormé) was born.
1957 – British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
1958 – Toyota and Datsun make their first appearances in the United States at the Imported Motor Car Show in Los Angeles, California.
1961 – Al Jean, American screenwriter and producer was born.
1964 – Due to the problems caused by the Panama Canal Zone which was under US control and split the country of Panama in two, U.S. forces shoot six Panamanian students protesting when U.S. students raise the American flag in the Panama Canal Zone. Following the shootings riots break out resulting in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and three U.S. soldiers. The Panama Canal Zone was a stretch of land extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline of the Panama canal ( except Panama City and Colón ). The Panama Canal had been completed by the United States and the canal openened in 1914 to provide a short cut between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
1965 – Eric Erlandson, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Hole, RRIICCEE, and Rodney & the Tube Tops) was born.
1966 – Albert Stevens, an American patient in secret medical trials who survived the highest known radiation dose in a human, dies of heart disease at 79
1967 – Carl Bell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Fuel) was born.
1967 – Steve Harwell, American singer-songwriter (Smash Mouth) was born.
1967 – Dave Matthews, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Dave Matthews Band and Dave Matthews & Friends) was born.
1968 – Al Schnier, American rock guitarist (moe.) Born
1968 – Surveyor 7 space probe soft lands on Moon
1969 – First trial flight of Concorde supersonic jetliner, Bristol, England
1972 – The Seawise University Ship sunk into a Hong Kong Harbor despite two days worth of effort to put out a fire that had caused this wreck. This ship was formerly named the Queen Elizabeth, and was considered to be the largest passenger steamship at the time of its creation in 1938.
1972 – Mat Hoffman, Professional BMX rider was born.
1975 – During this time in history, the affects of marijuana (a.k.a. pot, weed) were largely unknown. Even certain research scientists had a hard time determining at this time exactly what “pot” would do to a person. This was to be decided in years to come. As of the year 1975, scientists who had spent time studying the affects of this drug were not much help in determining whether or not penalties regarding the use of said drug should be as stiff as they are. They even admitted to this themselves during this time in history.
1979 – High-school player Daryl Moreau makes 126th consecutive free throws
1979 – K-Mart pulls Steve Martin’s “Let’s Get Small” for being in “bad taste”
1979 – Supreme Court strikes down (6-3) PA law requiring doctors performing an abortion to try to preserve lives of potentially viable fetuses
1979 – Bobby Orr’s #4 jersey is retired by the Boston Bruins
1980 – 63 beheaded in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
1982 – Kate Middleton, Reading, England, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William – Birthed
1982 – Paul Lynde, actor (Bye Bye Birdie, Bewitched. Hlwd Squares), dies at 55
1984 – (Hillside Strangler) Angelo Buono was sentence to life in prison on this day. He was found guilty of committing violent crimes that let to the death of 10 women in the Los Angeles area.
1984 – John Lennon single “Nobody Told Me” released posthumously
1986 – Kodak the camera giant was taken to court by the Polaroid company for using it’s patent and was forced to compensate it’s customers who had bought the cameras and could not purchase film.
1989 – Johnny Bench & Carl Yastrzemski elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1991 – Baseball officially bans Pete Rose from being elected to Hall of Fame
1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
2001 – Apple announced iTunes at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, for organizing and playing digital music and videos. Now widely used by Windows and Mac users.
2002 – Michael Jackson receives the Artist of the Century award at the American music awards
2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaces interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the first iPhone.
2008 – Johnny Grant, American radio personality, television producer (b. 1923) Dies
2008 – William Quinn, Irish Republican Army soldier (b. 1950) Murdered
2008 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (b. 1977) Murdered
2009 – The UN Security Council has passed a resolution urging an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the United States Abstained from the vote.
2014 – Germany has agreed to help the international community in destroying Syria’s chemical weapons. Germany had previously not allowed chemical weapons to be in the country but have since decided to share the responsibility and help destroy the weapons as part of an international effort.