|
December 27th
1571 ~ Birthday of Johannes Kepler, astronomer.
1822 ~ Birthday of Louis Pasteur, Scientist. 1831 ~ Charles Darwin embarked on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle. 1871 ~ The world's first cat show was held at the Crystal Palace in London. 1904 ~ James Barrie's play Peter Pan premiers in London. 1932 ~ Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City. 1945 ~ The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations. 1945 ~ Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted Indonesia sovereignty. 1985 ~ Naturalist Dian Fossey was found murdered in Rwanda. 2001 ~ The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. |
December 28th
1065 ~ Westminster Abbey consecrated.
1836 ~ Spain recognized Mexico’s independence. 1869 ~ William F. Semple patented chewing gum. 1895 ~ The Lumiere Brothers gave birth to Cinema at the Grand Cafe in Paris. 1937 ~ Death of Maurice Ravel, French composer. 1951 ~ The Peak District became the UK’s first National Park. 1969 ~ Birthday of Linus Torvalds, Benevolent Dictator for Life of Linux. 1973 ~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn published Gulag Archipelago. 1983 ~ Death of Dennis Wilson, the only Beach Boy who could surf. 2000 ~ Montgomery Ward announced it was going out of business after 128 years. |
December 29th
1170 ~ Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by knights acting under the orders of Henry II.
1845 ~ Texas became the 28th state of the United States. 1851 ~ The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) opened in Boston. 1890 ~ Defeat at the Battle of Wounded Knee effectively ended American Indian resistance to European settlement of the U.S. 1916 ~ Death of Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk. 1937 ~ The Constitution of Ireland, changing the Irish Free State into Eire, went into effect. 1940 ~ The Luftwaffe began dropping incendiary bombs on London. 1986 ~ Death of Harold Macmillan, former Prime Minister of the UK. 1989 ~ Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia. 1989 ~ San Francisco rocked by a 6.9 earthquake. |
December 30th
1691 ~ Death of Robert Boyle, the first modern Chemist.
1853 ~ The U.S. bought some 45,000 sq miles of land from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase. 1879 ~ The Pirates of Penzance was first performed. 1896 ~ Jose Rizal, hero of the Philippine Revolution, was executed by firing-squad by the Spanish. 1911 ~ Sun Yat-sen was elected the first president of the Republic of China. 1922 ~ The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed by the confederation of Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, and Transcaucasian Federation. 1924 ~ Edwin Hubble announced the existence of other galaxies. 1937 ~ Birthday of Gordon Banks, the best Goalkeeper ever. 1981 ~ Wayne Gretzky scored his 50th goal in 39 games. 1993 ~ Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations. |
December 31st
404 ~ The last gladiatorial contest took place in Rome.
1879 ~ Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of an electric incandescent lamp. 1880 ~ Birthday of George Marshall, U.S. Secretary of State, recipient of 1953 Nobel Peace Prize. 1938 ~ The first breath test for drivers, "drunkometer," was introduced. 1960 ~ The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender. 1964 ~ One of my boyhood heroes, Donald Campbell set the world water speed record, the only man to set both the world land and water speed records in the same year. 1980 ~ Death of Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer. 1987 ~ Robert Mugabe sworn in as Zimbabwe's president. 1995 ~ The last new Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip was published. 1999 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was designated acting president. |
January1st
45 BC ~ Julian calendar went into effect.
630 ~ The Prophet Muhammad set out with an army of about 1,600 from Medina to capture Mecca. 1752 ~ Birthday of Betsy Ross, American seamstress. 1801 ~ Discovery of 1 Ceres, first known asteroid. 1879 ~ Birthday of E. M. Forster, English novelist. 1892 ~ Ellis Island began accepting immigrants to the U.S. 1901 ~ Establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia (Federation). 1983 ~ The ARPANET officially changed to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet. 1985 ~ The Internet's Domain Name System created. 2002 ~ Euro banknotes and coins became legal tender. |
January 2nd
1492 ~ Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrendered.
1727 ~ Birthday of James Wolfe, British general in French and Indian War. 1757 ~ The UK captured Calcutta, India 1872 ~ Brigham Young was arrested for bigamy (25 wives). 1882 ~ John D. Rockefeller united his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust. 1904 ~ Death of James Longstreet, Confederate general. 1920 ~ Birthday of Isaac Asimov, Russian-born American science fiction author. 1929 ~ Canada and the United States agreed on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls. 1942 ~ World War II: Manila was captured by Japanese forces. 1996 ~ U.S. peacekeepers arrive in Bosnia. |
January 3rd
106 BC ~ Birthday of Cicero, Roman Statesman & Philosopher.
1521 ~ Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther. 1777 ~ General George Washington defeated General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton. 1861 ~ Delaware voted to not secede from the United States. 1892 ~ Birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien, South African-born Writer & Philologist. 1945 ~ Birthday of Stephen Stills, American Singer, Songwriter, & Guitarist. 1956 ~ Birthday of Mel Gibson, Australian Actor & Director. 1979 ~ Death of Conrad Hilton, American hotelier. 1987 ~ Aretha Franklin became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1993 ~ Presidents George Bush and Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow. (START). |
January 4th
1643 ~ Birthday of Isaac Newton, Scientist & Philosopher.
1710 ~ Birthday of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Composer. 1785 ~ Birthday of Jakob Grimm, German philologist, elder half of the Brothers Grimm. 1809 ~ Birthday of Louis Braille, Inventor of a writing system for the blind. 1948 ~ Burma gained its independence from the UK. 1951 ~ Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces recapture Seoul. 1960 ~ Death of Albert Camus, French Philosopher & Writer. 1961 ~ Death of Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian Physicist. 1967 ~ Donald Campbell died while trying to break the water speed record. 2004 ~ Spirit, the first of two NASA Mars Rovers, landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 GMT. |
Schrodinger, hmmmm, did we ever find that blasted cat of his?
|
I believe that when last seen, it was half dead. :D
|
January 5th
1781 ~ Richmond, Virginia was burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1914 ~ Ford Motor Company announced an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor. 1933 ~ Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began in San Francisco Bay. 1938 ~ Birth of King Juan Carlos I of Spain. 1964 ~ Pope Paul VI met the Greek patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem, the first meeting of Catholic and Orthodox leaders since 1439. 1968 ~ Alexander Dubček comes to power, "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia. 1972 ~ President Nixon funded the development of a space shuttle program. 1997 ~ Withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya. 2000 ~ The 1st day of the 2000 Al Qaeda Summit. 2003 ~ Death of Roy Jenkins, British Politician. |
January 6th
1412 ~ Birthday of Joan of Arc, Saint & French Patriot.
1822 ~ Birthday of Heinrich Schliemann, Archaeologist. 1838 ~ Samuel Morse first successfully tested the electrical telegraph. 1838 ~ Birthday of Max Bruch, German composer. 1884 ~ Death of Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics. 1907 ~ Maria Montessori opened her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome. 1918 ~ Death of Georg Cantor, German mathematician. 1946 ~ William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) hanged for treason. 1995 ~ A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines lead to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka. 1994 ~ Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed by an assailant under orders from Tonya Harding. |
January 7th
1610 ~ Galileo Galilei discovered the four moons of Jupiter which are now known as the “Galilean moons”.
1785 ~ Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries became the first men to cross the English Channel by air. 1899 ~ Birthday of Francis Poulenc, French composer. 1916 ~ Birthday of Paul Keres, Estonian chess player. 1922 ~ Birthday of Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist. 1924 ~ George Gershwin completed Rhapsody in Blue. 1927 ~ First international telephone call - New York City to London. 1943 ~ Death of Nikola Tesla, Inventor & Electrical Engineer. 1980 ~ President Carter authorized legislation guaranteeing $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation. 1999 ~ The impeachment trial of President Clinton began. |
January 8th
1324 ~ Death of Marco Polo Italian explorer.
1642 ~ Death of Galileo Galilei, father of the scientific method. 1735 ~ Birthday of John Carroll, first Roman Catholic Archbishop in the U.S. 11889 ~ Herman Hollerith received a patent for his electric tabulating machine. 1925 ~ Birthday of Gerald Durrell, Naturalist & Writer. 1926 ~ Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud became the King of Saudi Arabia. 1942 ~ Birthday of Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist. 1958 ~ Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Chess Championship. 1994 ~ Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov began his record setting 437 days in space. 1999 ~ Cosmologists announced that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing. |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:16 PM. |
Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.0.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.