this day in history

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 6 1014
Czar Samuil of Bulgaria dies after an army of 15,000 of his men is returned, blinded by his enemy Emperor Basil of the Byzantine Empire. One out of every hundred of his men was permitted to keep one eye, such that they were able to return home. For this victory Basil earned the title Bulgaroctonus, slayer of Bulgars.


Oct 6 1536
The man to translate the Holy Bible into English, William Tyndale, is strangled and burnt at the stake in Brussels, Belgium. Translations of the Bible into vernacular had been long suppressed, but oddly most of the work in the KJV's New Testament is Tyndale's.


Oct 6 1815
Mayfield, New York resident Barent Becker is hanged for serving his wife Ann a dish of stewed tomatoes and arsenic.


Oct 6 1976
During a televised debate, President and candidate Gerald Ford asserts that there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. Ford loses the election.


Oct 6 1977
Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, Jr., Los Angeles' infamous "Hillside Stranglers," rape and murder their first victim, 21-year-old waitress Elissa Kastin. They dump her naked corpse on Chevy Chase Drive.


Oct 6 1980
John Lydon, of band PiL and formerly the Sex Pistols, arrested for disorderly conduct in a Dublin bar.


Oct 6 1981
During a commemoration of the Yom Kippur War, armed gunmen leap from a truck and begin shooting into the reviewing stand at Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Along with Sadat, the assassins kill eight others.


Oct 6 1997
Six boys watch as a female classmate is held down and raped in a locker room at Paramount High School in Boligee, Alabama. In all, about twelve boys are present at the incident; only six are ever charged.



1762 - Seven Years' War: conclusion of the Battle of Manila between Britain and Spain, which resulted in the British occupation of Manila for the rest of the war.

1854 - The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead started shortly after midnight, leading to 53 deaths and hundreds injured.

1884 - The Naval War College of the United States Navy was founded in Newport, Rhode Island.

1889 - Thomas Edison shows his first motion picture.

1903 - The High Court of Australia sits for the first time.

1906 - The Majlis of Iran convened for the first time.

1922 - The great powers of the first world war withdraw from Istanbul

1927 - Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent talking movie.

1928 - Chiang Kai-Shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.

1939 - Last Polish army is defeated in World War II.

1966 - LSD is declared illegal in the United States.

1973 - The Crossing: 80,000 Egyptian troops cross the Suez Canal, destroying the fortified Israeli Bar-Lev Line and starting the Yom Kippur War.

1977 - The first prototype of the MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight.

1985 - PC Keith Blakelock is murdered as riots erupt in the Broadwater Farm suburb of London.

1987 - Fiji becomes a republic.

2002 - The French oil tanker Limburg is bombed off Yemen.

2007 - Jason Lewis completes the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe.

Births

1951 - Kevin Cronin, American musician (REO Speedwagon)

1973 - Ioan Gruffudd, Welsh actor

Deaths

1951 - Will Keith Kellogg, American food manufacturer (Kellogg Company) (b. 1860)

Holidays and observances

Egypt - Armed Forces Day; commemorates the October war of 1973.

U.S. - German-American Day observed since 1987

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 7 1900
Heinrich Himmler is born in Munich.


Oct 7 1964
Walter W. Jenkins, chief White House aide and longtime friend of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is arrested for disorderly conduct two blocks from the White House. Jenkins was discovered in a YMCA pay toilet with another man. Ultimately, Jenkins is forced to resign, so as not to jeopardize Johnson's re-election campaign. Jenkins stated that during his arrest, his mind had been "befuddled by fatigue, alcohol, physical illness, and lack of food."


Oct 7 1985
Off the coast of Italy, four Palestinian terrorists hijack the cruise ship Achille Lauro, and toss overboard crippled American tourist Leon Klinghoffer.


Oct 7 2000
Jeb Bush's youngest son John discovered fogging up the windows with a girl in a Jeep Cherokee behind a Tallahassee mall. The underaged pair are not charged with a crime. According to the police report, John was naked but for a pair of socks.



1492 - Christopher Columbus misses Florida when he changes course.

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1763 - George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

1769 - English explorer, Captain Cook, sails to New Zealand.

1777 - American Revolutionary War: Americans beat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.

1780 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

1806 - Carbon paper patented in London by inventor Ralph Wedgewood.

1849 - Edgar Allan Poe dies at 5:00 A.M. four days after being found in a Baltimore gutter.

1879 - Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.

1886 - Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba.

1919 - KLM of the Netherlands was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1928 - Ras Tafari Makonnen crowned negus of Abyssinia by Empress Zauditu. (origin of Rastafari movement)

1931 - First infrared photograph, Rochester, New York.

1938 - Germany demands all Jewish passports stamped with the letter J.

1940 - World War II: Germany invades Romania.

1940 - World War II: the McCollum memo proposes bringing the U.S. into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

1941 - World War II: German army occupies Viazma, U.S.S.R.

1942 - U.S. and British government announce establishment of United Nations.

1942 - World War II: A salvo of Katyusha rockets destroys a German battalion in Stalingrad.

1942 - The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

1943 - World War II: Japan executes 100 American civilian prisoners on Wake Island.

1944 - World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp.

1944 - World War II: Uprising at Auschwitz, Jews burn down crematoria.

1944 - World War II: Fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel ordered to return to Berlin.

1944 - World War II: Allies bombs sea dikes at Vlissingen.

1949 - German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.

1950 - Annexation of Tibet by China.

1950 - United States forces cross the 38th parallel.

1951 - Malayan Emergency: Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA) ambushes and kills British High Commissioner Sir Henry Gurney.

1951 - David Ben-Gurion forms Israeli government.

1998 - Gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young adults in Laramie, Wyoming.

2000 - The last ever competitive match at Wembley Stadium is a 1-0 defeat of England to Germany and the last goal was scored by Liverpool's Dietmar Hammann. The match was Tony Adams' 60th at Wembley setting the record for most appearances at the stadium.

2001 - The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

Births

1900 - Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official (d. 1945)

1945 - Kevin Godley, British musician (10cc)

1951 - John Cougar Mellencamp, American singer

1953 - Tico Torres, Drummer (Bon Jovi)

1957 - Jayne Torvill, British figure skater

1959 - Simon Cowell, English recording executive

1964 - Sam Brown, Singer-songwriter

1968 - Thom Yorke, English singer (Radiohead)

Deaths

1849 - Edgar Allan Poe, American writer (b. 1809)

2004 - Ken Bigley, British civil engineer, kidnapped and murdered in Iraq (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

East Germany - Republic Day

Brazil - Composer Day

[Cymru am byth]

8th October

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1600 - San Marino adopts its written constitution.

1856 - The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.

1918 - World War I - In the Argonne Forest in France, United States Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.

1932 - The Indian Air Force is established.

1939 - World War II: Germany annexes Western Poland.

1941 - World War II: In their invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany reaches the Sea of Azov with the capture of Mariupol.

1944 - The Battle of Crucifix Hill, a World War II battle, occurs on Crucifix Hill just outside of Aachen. Capt. Bobbie Brown receives a Medal of Honor for his heroics in this battle.

1962 - Spiegel scandal: Der Spiegel publishes the article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about a NATO manoeuver called "Fallex 62", which uncovered the sorry state of the Bundeswehr (Germany's army) facing the communist threat from the east at the time. The magazine was soon accused of treason.

1967 - Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia.

1973 - Yom Kippur War: Gabi Amir's armored brigade attacks Egyptian occupied positions on the Israeli side of the Suez Canal, in hope of driving them away. The attack fails, and over 150 Israeli tanks are destroyed.

1978 - Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.

1982 - Poland bans Solidarity.

Births

1948 - Johnny Ramone, American musician (The Ramones) (d. 2004)

1965 - C-Jay Ramone, American musician (The Ramones)

1968 - Leeroy Thornhill, British musician & Dancer(The Prodigy)

1974 - DJ Q-Ball, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)

Deaths

1793 - John Hancock, American revolutionary (b. 1737)

1869 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (b. 1804)

1967 - Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1883)

1990 - B.J. Wilson, English musician (Procol Harum) (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances

Wales and Cornwall - Saint Keyne

Independence Day in Croatia

Navy Day in Peru


9th October

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1604 - Supernova 1604, the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way.

1799 - Sinking of HMS Lutine, with the loss of 240 men and a cargo worth £1,200,000.

1804 - Hobart, capital of Tasmania, is founded.

1806 - Prussia declares war on France.

1812 - War of 1812: In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships: HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia.

1854 - Beginning of the siege of Sebastopol.

1888 - The Washington Monument officially opens to the general public.

1914 - World War I: Siege of Antwerp - Antwerp, Belgium falls to German troops.

1936 - Generators at Boulder Dam (later renamed to Hoover Dam) begin to generate electricity from the Colorado River and transmit it 266 miles to Los Angeles, California.

1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain - During a nighttime air raid by the German Luftwaffe, St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, England is hit by a bomb.

1942 - Statute of Westminster 1931 formalises Australian autonomy.

1942 - The last day of the October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps forces withdraw back across the Matanikau River after destroying most of the Imperial Japanese Army's 4th Infantry Regiment.

1962 - Uganda becomes an independent Commonwealth realm.

1967 - A day after being caught, Che Guevara is executed for attempting to incite a revolution in Bolivia.

1970 - The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.

1981 - Abolition of capital punishment in France.

1986 - The musical The Phantom of the Opera has its first performance at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.

1989 - An official news agency in the Soviet Union reports the landing of a UFO in Voronezh.

2001 - Second mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attack.

2004 - Democratic elections held for the first time in Afghanistan.

2005 - Smoking is completely banned on the UK rail network.

2006 - North Korea allegedly tests its first nuclear device.

Births

1940 - John Lennon, British musician and songwriter (The Beatles) (d. 1980)

1944 - John Entwistle, British musician (The Who) (d. 2002)

1952 - Sharon Osbourne, English music manager and wife of Ozzy Osbourne

1954 - James Fearnley, English musician (The Pogues)

1969 - P.J. Harvey, English musician

1970 - Savannah, American pornographic actress (d. 1994)

1975 - Sean Lennon, American musician & son of ex-beatle John Lennon

Holidays and observances

South Korea - Hangul Day: celebrating the invention of Hangul, the native Korean phonetic alphabet.

Uganda - Independence Day (from Britain, 1962)

Leif Erikson Day - in United States, Iceland and Norway: celebrating the first European landing in North America

Ecuador - Guayaquil's Independence Day (from Spain 1820) (Dia de la independencia de Guayaquil)

Romania - Romanian Holocaust Remembrance Day

[Cymru am byth]

10th October

680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as Aashurah.

732 - Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.

1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.

1938 - The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.

1944 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp.

1954 - The Communist Party of Honduras is founded.

1957 - The Windscale fire in Cumbria, UK becomes the worlds first major nuclear accident.

1967 - The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, enters into force.

1969 - King Crimson releases their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, considered by many to be the first progressive rock album.

1970 - Fiji becomes independent.

1970 - In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, the London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

1979 - The Pac-Man arcade game is released to the Japanese market by Namco.

1985 - United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.

1995 - South African President Nelson Mandela attends Genadendal.

Births

1955 - David Lee Roth, American singer (Van Halen)

1960 - Eric Martin, American singer (Mr. Big)

Deaths

1939 - Eleanor Rigby, a real person whose name may have suggested the title to The Beatles song (b. 1895)

Holidays and observances

Republic of China (Taiwan) - National Day

Fiji - Fiji Day (National Day)

Japan - National Health-Sports Day

World Mental Health Day

North Korea - Party Foundation Party

Finland - The Day of Finnish literature

11th October

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1776 - American Revolution: Battle of Valcour Island - On Lake Champlain 15 American gunboats are defeated but give Patriot forces enough time to prepare defenses of New York City.

1852 - The University of Sydney, Australia's oldest university, is inaugurated in Sydney.

1899 - Second Boer War begins: In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State erupts.

1910 - Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright Brothers at Kinloch Field (Lambert-St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.

1941 - Beginning of the National Liberation War of Macedonia.

1942 - World War II: Battle of Cape Esperance - On the northwest coast of Guadalcanal, United States Navy ships intercept and defeat a Japanese fleet on their way to reinforce troops on the island.

1982 - The Mary Rose, a Tudor gunship which sunk on July 18 1545, is raised from the sea bed in the Solent Channel, near Portsmouth.

1984 - Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.

1986 - Cold War: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe.

Births

1946 - Daryl Hall, American musician

1946 - Gary Mallaber, American musician (The Steve Miller Band)

1947 - Al Atkins, English musician (Judas Priest original vocalist)

1957 - Dawn French, Welsh comedian

[Cymru am byth]

12th October

1216 - King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash, probably near Fosdyke, perhaps near Sutton Bridge

1492 - Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean, specifically in The Bahamas. The explorer believes he has reached East Asia

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1692 - The Salem Witch Trials were ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips.

1773 - America's first insane asylum opens for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds' in Virginia

1792 - First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York

1810 - First Oktoberfest: The Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

1823 - Charles Macintosh, of Scotland, sells the first raincoat.

1899 - Boer republic of South Africa declares war with England.

1901 - President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.

1915 - World War I: British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium

1917 - The First Battle of Passchendaele, now Passendale

1928 - An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston

1933 - The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island, is acquired by the United States Department of Justice

1941 - This and the next day, German Nazis kill 11,000 Jews in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. Einsatzkommando 6 massacres most of the remaining Jews of the city, marching them to a ravine where they were killed.

1942 - World War II: Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance with the Japanese commander, Aritomo Gotō dying from wounds suffered in the battle and two Japanese destroyers sunk by Allied air attack.

1984 - Brighton hotel bombing: Margaret Thatcher survives an IRA bomb, which shredded her bathroom barely two minutes after she had left it.

1986 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China

1999 - The Day of Six Billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born.

2000 - The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39

2002 - Terrorists detonate bombs in Paddy's Pub and the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and wounding over 300.

Births

1537 - King Edward VI of England (d. 1553)

1866 - Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1937)

1890 - Michael Collins, IRAleader (d. 1922)

1948 - Rick Parfitt, British musician (Status Quo)

Deaths

1870 - Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general (b. 1807)

1978 - Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sex Pistol Sid Vicious (b. 1958)


13th October

1307 - Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into "admitting" heresy.

1492 - Columbus and his crew land in the Bahamas

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1792 - In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.

1812 - War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights - As part of the Niagara campaign in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock.

1884 - Greenwich established as universal time meridian of longitude.

1918 - Mehmed Talat Pasha and the Young Turk (C.U.P.) ministry resign and sign an armistice, ending Ottoman participation in World War I.

1923 - Ankara replaces Istanbul as the capital of Turkey.

1943 - World War II: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.

1944 - World War II: Riga, the capital of Latvia is seized by the Red Army.

Births

1925 - Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1941 - Paul Simon, American singer and musician (Simon and Garfunkel)

1944 - Robert Lamm, American musician (Chicago)

1947 - Sammy Hagar, American singer (Van Halen)

1960 - Joey Belladonna, American musician (Anthrax)

1981 - Kele Okereke, English lead singer of Bloc Party

[_booted_]

You're a bit behind, cymru!! Do you want me to help you out and help you catch up? (I know the source).

[Cymru am byth]

14th October

1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, the forces of William the Conqueror defeat the Saxon army and kill King Harold II of England.

1322 - Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence.

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1586 - Mary I of Scotland goes on trial for conspiracy against Elizabeth I of England.

1773 - American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom's East India Company tea ships' cargo are burned at Annapolis, Maryland.

1789 - George Washington proclaims the first Thanksgiving Day.

1812 - Work on London's Regent's Canal starts.

1840 - Maronite leader Bashir II surrenders to the British forces and goes into exile in Malta.

1843 - The British arrest Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell for conspiracy.

1884 - George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film.

1912 - While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, former president Theodore Roosevelt is shot by saloonkeeper William Schrank. With a fresh flesh wound and the bullet still in him, Roosevelt still delivers his scheduled speech.

1913 - Senghenydd Colliery Disaster, the United Kingdom's worst coal mining accident, which claimed 439 lives.

1914 - German troops occupy Bruges.

1926 - The children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, is first published.

1933 - Nazi Germany withdraws from The League of Nations.

1939 - German U-Boat U-47 sinks British battleship HMS Royal Oak.

1942 - A German U-boat sinks the ferry SS Caribou, killing 137.

1942 - Japanese battleship strikes Henderson Field.

1943 - Japan declares Philippine Independence.

1943 - Prisoners at the Sobibor death camp in Poland revolt, resulting in the death of 11 SS. About half of the camp's 600 prisoners escape; about 50 survive the war.

1943 - U.S. 8th Air Force loses 60 B-17 Flying Fortresses during an assault on Schweinfurt.

1944 - Allied troops land in Corfu.

1944 - British troops march into Athens.

1947 - Chuck Yeager flies a Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound, the first man to do so in level flight.

1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed.

1963 - The term "Beatlemania" is coined by the British press to describe the scene at the previous night's performance by The Beatles on the TV show Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

1964 - American civil rights movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr becomes the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1966 - The city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro.

1968 - Jim Hines of the USA becomes the first man ever to break the ten second barrier in the 100 metres Olympic final at Mexico City with a time of 9.95 sec. He would be the only man to do so until 1983.

1969 - The United Kingdom introduces the 50p (fifty-pence) coin, replacing the ten-shilling note, in anticipation of the decimalisation of the currency in 1971.

1982 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a War on Drugs.

1994 - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Births

1633 - James II of England and VII of Scotland (d. 1701)

1712 - George Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1770)

1890 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th President of the United States (d. 1969)

1945 - Colin Hodgkinson, English musician (Whitesnake)

1946 - Justin Hayward, English musician (Moody Blues)

1946 - Dan McCafferty, Scottish musician (Nazareth)

1974 - Jessica Drake, American porn star

1977 - Bianca Beauchamp, adult model

1983 - Vanessa Lane, American porn star

Deaths

1066 - Harold Godwinson, King of England

1318 - Edward Bruce, High King of Ireland


15th October

1582 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.

1888 - The "From Hell" letter sent by Jack the Ripper is received by the investigators.

1917 - World War I: At Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany.

1928 - The airship, the Graf Zeppelin completed its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA.

1940 - "The Great Dictator", a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released.

1944 - The Arrow Cross Party (very similar to Hitler's NSDAP (Nazi party)) takes over the power in Hungary.

1945 - World War II: The former premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval is shot by a firing squad for treason.

1946 - Nuremberg Trials: Hermann Göring poisons himself the night before his execution.

1951 - Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized the first oral contraceptive

1953 - British nuclear test Totem 1 detonated at Emu Field, South Australia.

1987 - The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England.

1989 - Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.

1990 - Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.
1992 - In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 53 serial murders.

1997 - The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC (United Kingdom).

Births

1946 - Richard Carpenter (musician), American musician (The_Carpenters)

1948 - Chris de Burgh, Irish singer and songwriter

1953 - Tito Jackson, American musician

Deaths

1917 - Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (b. 1876)

[Cymru am byth]

You're a bit behind, cymru!! Do you want me to help you out and help you catch up? (I know the source).

it's ok mate, i've caught up loads the last couple of days, i'll be up to date by tomorrow

[Cymru am byth]

16th October

1775 - Portland, Maine burnt by the British.

1780 - Royalton, Vermont and Tunbridge, Vermont last major raid of the American Revolutionary War.

1781 - George Washington captures Yorktown, Virginia after the Siege of Yorktown.

1793 - Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI is guillotined at the height of the French Revolution.

1834 - Much of the ancient structures of the Palace of Westminster in London is burnt down.

1869 - Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, is discovered.

1869 - England's first residential college for women, Girton College, Cambridge, is founded.

1923 - The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy Disney.

1934 - Chinese Communists begin the Long March; it ended a year and four days later, by which time Mao Zedong had regained his title as party chairman.

1939 - World War II: First attack on British territory by German Luftwaffe.

1940 - Benjamin O. Davis Sr. named first African American general in the United States Army.

1940 - Warsaw Ghetto established.

1946 - Ten war criminals of the Second World War, condemned in the Nuremberg trials are hanged.

1961 - Cork Airport opened in Ireland.

1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis between the United States and Cuba began.

1964 - People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon.

1978 - Karol Józef Wojtyła becomes Pope John Paul II.

1984 - Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1987 - Great Storm of 1987: hurricane force winds hit much of the South of England killing 23 people.

2002 - Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, was signed into law by President George W. Bush.

Births

1430 - King James II of Scotland (d. 1460)

1886 - David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1973)

1943 - Fred Turner, Canadian bass player (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

1947 - Terry Griffiths, Welsh snooker player

1947 - Bob Weir, American musician (Grateful Dead)

1953 - Tony Carey, American-born rock keyboardist, producer (Rainbow, Planet P Project)

1962 - Flea, Australian musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

1982 - Frédéric Michalak, French rugby player

1984 - Melissa Lauren, French pornographic actress

Deaths

1946 - Nuremberg trial executions

Hans Frank, German war criminal (b. 1900)

Wilhelm Frick, German war criminal (b. 1877)

Alfred Jodl, German military officer (b. 1890)

Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Austrian SS officer (b. 1903)

Wilhelm Keitel, German military officer (b. 1882)

Joachim von Ribbentrop, German politician (b. 1893)

Alfred Rosenberg, Nazi ideologist (b. 1893)

Fritz Sauckel, German war criminal (b. 1894)

Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian Nazi leader (b. 1892)

Julius Streicher, German propagandist (b. 1887)

Holidays and observances

Boss's Day in the United States

Pope John Paul II Day in Poland

World Food Day


17th October

1346 - Battle of Neville's Cross: King David II of Scotland is captured by Edward III of England at Calais, and imprisoned in the Tower of London for eleven years.

1604 - Kepler's Star: German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes that an exceptionally bright star had suddenly appeared in the constellation. Ophiuchus, which turned out to be the last supernova to have been observed in our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

1660 - Nine Regicides, the men who signed the death warrant of Charles I, are hanged, drawn and quartered, another is hanged.

1662 - Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France for 40,000 pounds.

1777 - American troops defeat the British in the Battle of Saratoga.

1781 - General Charles Cornwallis offers his surrender to the American revolutionists at Yorktown, Virginia

1800 - England takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.

1888 - Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).

1917 - First British bombing of Germany in World War I.

1931 - Al Capone convicted of income tax evasion.

1933 - Albert Einstein, fleeing Nazi Germany, moves to the US.

1941 - For the first time in World War II, a German submarine attacks an American ship.

1979 - Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

2006 - The United States population reaches 300 million.

Births

1946 - Michael Hossack, American musician (The Doobie Brothers)

1972 - Eminem, American rapper

1972 - Wyclef Jean, Haitian-born singer

[Cymru am byth]

18th October

1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock.

1016 - The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle of Ashingdon.

1851 - Herman Melville's Moby Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.

1860 - The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.

1867 - United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.

1892 - The First long distance phone call in the United States between Chicago and New York.

1898 - United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.

1908 - Belgium annexes the Congo Free State.

1912 - The First Balkan War begins.

1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.

1989 - East German leader Erich Honecker resigns.

1991 - Azerbaijan declares independence from USSR.

2007 - After 8 years in exile, Benazir Bhutto returns to her homeland Pakistan. The same night, suicide attackers blow themselves up near Bhutto's convoy, killing over 100 in the cheering crowd, including 20 police officers. Bhutto escaped uninjured.

Births

1926 - Chuck Berry, American musician

1939 - Lee Harvey Oswald, purported American assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)

1949 - Joe Egan, British musician (Stealers Wheel)

1949 - Gary Richrath, American musician (REO Speedwagon)

1964 - Dan Lilker, American bassist (Anthrax, S.O.D., Nuclear Assault, and Brutal Truth)

1974 - Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer

1974 - Peter Svensson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)

Deaths

1541 - Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland (b. 1489)

1865 - Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1784)

1931 - Thomas Edison, American inventor (b. 1847)

Holidays and observances

USA : Alaska: Alaska Day


19th October

1216 - King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry.

1453 - The French recapture of Bordeaux brings the Hundred Years' War to a close, with the English retaining only Calais on French soil.

1781 - At Yorktown, Virginia, British commander Lord Cornwallis surrendered to a Franco-American force led by George Washington and the comte de Rochambeau, paving the way for the end of the American Revolutionary War.

1912 - Italy takes possession of Tripoli, Libya from the Ottoman Empire.

1914 - The First Battle of Ypres begins.

1933 - Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.

1935 - The League of Nations places economic sanctions on fascist Italy for its invasion of Ethiopia.

1943 - Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.

1944 - United States forces land in the Philippines.

1960 - The United States government places an embargo on Communist Cuba.

1976 The Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is placed on the List of Endangered Species.

1987 - In retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy disables three of Iran's offshore oil platforms.

1989 - Guildford Four convictions are quashed by the Court of Appeal - they had spent 15 years in prison through a miscarriage of justice.

2003 - Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.

2005 - Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity

Births

1944 - Peter Tosh, Jamaican musician, political activist (d. 1987)

1948 - Patrick Simmons, American musician (The Doobie Brothers)

1957 - Karl Wallinger, Welsh musician (The Waterboys, World Party)

Deaths

1790 - Lyman Hall, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1724)

[Cymru am byth]

20th October


1818 - The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.


1827 - Battle of Navarino - a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada is destroyed by an allied British, French, and Russian naval force in the port of Navarino in Pylos, Greece. The most important result of this battle is the end of the Greek Liberation War and the affirmation of independence of modern Greece.


1910 - The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland.


1935 - The Long March ends


1941 - World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are killed in the Kragujevac massacre.


1944 - The Soviet army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia


1955 - Publication of The Return of the King, being the last part of The Lord of the Rings.


1967 - A purported bigfoot is filmed by Patterson and Gimlin.


1973 - The Sydney Opera House opens


1977 - A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines along with backup singer Cassie Gaines, the road manager, pilot, and co-pilot.


Births


1784 - Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1865)


1950 - Tom Petty, American musician


1958 - Mark King, English musician and singer (Level 42)


1961 - Ian Rush, Welsh footballer


1972 - Will Greenwood, England rugby union player


1978 - Paul Wilson, Irish bass player (Snow Patrol)


1979 - Paul O'Connell, Irish rugby player


1984 - Andrew Trimble, Irish rugby player


Deaths


1964 - Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States (b. 1874)


1977 - Members of the American rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd killed in a plane crash:


Cassie Gaines (b. 1948)


Steve Gaines (b. 1949)


Ronnie Van Zant (b. 1948)


2007 - Paul Raven, British bass-player (Killing Joke, Ministry) (b. 1961)


Holidays and observances


Sweetest Day - USA

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 21 1947


Twenty-one lunatics die as a fire destroys an insane asylum in Hoff, Germany.



Oct 21 1973


J. Paul Getty Jr's ear is removed by kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome, along with a photo. It doesn't arrive until November 8.



Oct 21 1987


Former Miss America Bess Myerson arrested on charges of bribery, conspiracy, and mail fraud, all involving an alimony-fixing scandal. She was found not guilty, however.



Oct 21 1995


Shannon Hoon, lead singer of the pop band Blind Melon, dies of a heroin overdose in New Orleans, inside the band's tour bus.



Oct 21 1997


Hotel owners in the Detroit area meet to discuss suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian's practice of leaving corpses in their hotel rooms.



Oct 21 1997


The Government of Singapore announces in a widely publicized "toilet alert" that the drive for toilet cleanliness is a great success. Five toilets were selected by citizens as toilet role models.





1774 - First display of the word "Liberty" on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts and which was in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.


1797 - In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.


1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve. It signalled the virtual end of French maritime power and left Britain navally unchallenged until the twentieth century.


1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grand Army of Napoleon at Ulm, reaping Napoleon over 30,000 prisoners and inflicting 10,000 casualties on the losers. Ulm was considered to be one of Napoleon's finest hours.


1824 - Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.


1854 - Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.


1879 - Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13½ hours before burning out).


1921 - President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting President against lynching in the deep south.


1941 - 7000 Serbs were shot in Kragujevac, Serbia by Nazi Germans.


1944 - The first kamikaze attack: HMAS Australia was hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg (441 pound) bomb off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.


1945 - Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.


1945 - Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón married actress Evita.


1966 - Aberfan disaster: A coal tip falls on the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, mostly schoolchildren.


1990 - The first Apple Day, is held in Covent Garden, London.


1994 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.


2007 - San Diego County has its worst wildfire disaster in San Diegan history as the Harris and Witch Fires blazed across the county. Together, they have burned at least 200,000 acres of land. Only one casualty has been reported.


Births


1940 - Manfred Mann, English musician


1946 - Lux Interior, American singer (The Cramps)


1952 - Brent Mydland, American keyboardist (Grateful Dead) (d. 1990)


1953 - Charlotte Caffey, American musician (The Go-Go's)


1957 - Julian Cope, English musician and writer (The Teardrop Explodes)


1962 - David Campese, Australian rugby union footballer


1964 - Jon Carin, American musician (Pink Floyd, The Who, Roger Waters)


Deaths


1805 - Horatio Nelson, British admiral (b. 1758)


1995 - Shannon Hoon, American singer (Blind Melon) (b. 1967)


2007 - Paul Fox, English musician and singer (The Ruts) (b. 1951)


Holidays and observances


Apple Day


Republic of China - Overseas Chinese Day


Trafalgar Day — celebrated throughout much of the British Empire in the 19th and early 20th Century.

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 22 1844


Jesus Christ fails to appear to the Seventh Day Adventists, led by Bible scientist William Miller. The Millerites were expecting the End Times to accompany the appearance of the Savior, so that didn't happen either.



Oct 22 1934


Notorious bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd dies of multiple gunshot wounds in the back, after a shootout with the FBI at the Conkle Farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.



Oct 22 1956


A 200-ton concrete girder smushes 48 people in Karachi, Pakistan.



Oct 22 1976

Red dye #4 is banned by the US Food and Drug Administration, because it causes tumors in the bladders of dogs. The dye is still used in Canada. The ban wreaks havoc with the M&M supply.


1692 - Last hanging for witchcraft in the United States.

1877 - The Blantyre mining disaster in Scotland kills 207 miners. Those widows and orphans who were unable to support themselves were evicted by the mine owners and likely sent to the Poor House.

1878 - The first rugby match under floodlights takes place in Salford, between Broughton and Swinton.

1910 - Dr. Crippen is convicted at the Old Bailey of poisoning his wife and was subsequently hanged at Pentonville Prison in London.

1941 - French hero of the resistance Guy Môquet is executed by the Germans, along with 29 other hostages as a retaliation for a killed German officer.

1943 - World War II: Kassel: RAF conducts an air raid on the city of 236,000 people, killing 10,000, rendering 150,000 homeless. Second firestorm raid in Germany

1946 - Forty four British sailors die when two British warships hit mines off the coast of Albania.

1953 - Laos gains independence from France.

1999 - Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy France government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity.

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 23 4004 BC


According to calculations by 17th century biblical theologian James Ussher, God creates the heavens and the Earth.



Oct 23 1976


In an astonishing lack of forethought, President Jimmy Carter admits a deadly sin in a Playboy magazine interview: "I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me."



Oct 23 1983


NBC news anchor Jessica Savitch drowns in 18 inches of dirty water after her car flips upside down into a ditch. The events are later played out in a lovely Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story, made-for-cable tearjerker.



Oct 23 1983


An Islamic Jihad suicide bomber drives a truck loaded with 2.5 tons of TNT into the US Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The explosion kills 241 American servicemen. Simultaneously, a smaller truck bomb strikes another base in Beirut, killing 58 French soldiers. Even though the NSA has proof that the Iranians are behind the attacks, President Ronald Reagan begins delivering them weapons for hostages only 39 days later.



Oct 23 1987


Robert Bork is borked, the Senate voting a record 58 to 42 to refuse him a seat on the Supreme Court. Ostensibly this was because he admitted to smoking marijuana as a youth, which would be the wrong reason. He should have been rejected for being a statist sleazebag.



Oct 23 1988


A concert-goer at a Skinny Puppy show in Cincinnati mistakes a stuffed dog, a prop that undergoes "vivisection" during the performance, for a live dog and calls the cops. Even after the police establish no real animals have been harmed, bandmates Nivek Ogre and Cevin Key, along with their tour manager, are arrested on disorderly conduct charges. They spend the night in jail and are fined $200.



Oct 23 1995


The murderer of the popstar singer Selena, and president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, found guilty in Houston of her slaying.



Oct 23 1997


Newborn son of The Artist Formerly Known As Prince dies of complications from a "rare skull deformity." The baby's death certificate fails to name either the father or mother.



42 BC - Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi - Brutus's army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. Brutus commits suicide.

1641 - Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 - anniversary commemorated by Irish Protestants for over 200 years.

1642 - Battle of Edgehill: First major battle of the First English Civil War.

1694 - American colonial forces, led by Sir William Phipps, fail to seize Quebec.

1707 - The first Parliament of Great Britain, i.e., the United Kingdom, meets.

1739 - War of Jenkins' Ear starts: British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, reluctantly declares war on Spain.

1813 - The Pacific Fur Company trading post in Astoria, Oregon is turned over to the rival British North West Company (the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest was dominated for the next three decades by the United Kingdom).

1941 - World War II: Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov takes command of Red Army operations designed to prevent the further advance into Russia of German forces and to prevent the German armies from capturing Moscow.

1941 - Burning of the Odessa, Ukraine, Jews: 19,000 Jews are burned alive at Dalnik in Odessa, by Romanian and German troops. The next day, another 10,000 Jews are killed. Romanian Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolae Deleanu administered the executions.

1942 - World War II: The Second Battle of El Alamein starts - At El Alamein in northern Egypt, the British Eighth Army under Field Marshal Montgomery begin a critical offensive to expel the Axis armies from Egypt, never to return.

1942 - All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Among the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory", "Love in Bloom", "Blue Hawaii").

1944 - World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf begins - The largest naval battle in history begins in the Philippines; and also, the Soviet Red Army enters Hungary.

1973 - The Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the scandal.

1973 - A United Nations sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria.

1983 - Lebanon Civil War: The U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. Marines. A French army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops.

2001 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army of Northern Ireland commences disarmament after peace talks.

Births

1942 - Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop (d. 2007)

1959 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, American musical parodist

1964 - Robert Trujillo, American bassist (Metallica)

1979 - Simon Davies, Welsh footballer

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 24 1947
In a very un-American fashion, Walt Disney testifies to the House Unamerican Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be Communists, ranting about how Communists were infiltrating the unions he has to deal with, and how "Commie groups began smear campaigns against him."

Oct 24 1955
A nude, very dead body is found in the Mexico apartment of Will Rogers' daughter Mary. The corpse of Manolo Just, a probable bisexual of approximately 30 years, had the name "Mary Rogers" tattooed on his arm. The death is suspicious, but never conclusively attributed to homicide.

Oct 24 1960
At the Soviet Union's Baykonur space facility, an R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad, incinerating 165 people. Included among the dead is Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is covered up as having occurred in a plane crash.

Oct 24 1989
Televangelist Jim Bakker receives 45 years and a $500,000 fine for defrauding investors of $3.7M. Bakker had already been dismissed from his PTL ministry, so the criminal penalties probably just added insult to injury.

Oct 24 1991
Gene Roddenberry, creator of the Star Trek science fiction franchise, dies in a Santa Monica, California hospital after a heart attack.

Oct 24 2002
The Washington Sniper attacks come to an end when John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo are arrested. The pair chose victims at random, then shot at them with a sniper rifle. In three weeks, they killed ten people and critically injured three others before a suspicious trucker noticed the pair napping at a rest stop.


1360 - The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War.

1857 - Sheffield F.C., the world's first football club, is founded in Sheffield, England.

1901 - Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

1911 - Orville Wright remained in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina setting a new world record that stood for 10 years.

1917 - The day of the October revolution, The Red Revolution.

1931 - The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic.

1944 - World War II: The Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku, and the battleship Musashi are sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

1945 - Founding of the United Nations

1964 - Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony)

1973 - Yom Kippur War ends

1980 - Government of Poland legalises Solidarity trade union

1986 - Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow. After the verdict, the United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, claiming that Hindawi was helped by Syrian officials.

2003 - Concorde makes its last commercial flight.

Births

1378 - David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland (d. 1402)

1930 - The Big Bopper, American singer (d. 1959)

1933 - Ronald and Reginald Kray, British gangsters (Ronald d. 1995; Reginald d. 2000)

1936 - Bill Wyman, English musician (The Rolling Stones)

1946 - Jerry Edmonton, Canadian drummer (d. 1993) (Steppenwolf)

1973 - Jeff Wilson, New Zealand rugby player

Deaths

1537 - Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII of England

Holidays and observances

Zambia - Independence Day (1964)

United Nations Day (charter 1945)

Take Back Your Time Day

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 25 1854
During the Crimean War's Battle of Balaclava, Lord Raglan orders the British cavalry corps on a suicide mission to capture artillery guns protected by 19,000 Russian troops. Hundreds are needlessly killed in what is later known as the Charge of the Light Brigade.


Oct 25 1913
Birthday of Klaus Barbie, infamous Nazi War Criminal. After World War II, US Intelligence helped the "Butcher of Lyons" enter Bolivia, where he lived openly for many years in the capital, La Paz. Barbie was finally deported to France in 1987.


Oct 25 1938
The Archbishop of Dubuque, the Most Reverend Francis J.L. Beckman, denounces the newfangled Swing music -- the latest craze -- as nothing more than "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away the moral fiber of young people." Its cannibalistic rhythms are said to lead one down the "primrose path to Hell."


Oct 25 1957
In chair number four of the barber shop at the Park Sheraton hotel in Manhattan, Mafia don Albert Anastasia is shot five times by the Gallo Brothers, under orders from Carlo Gambino.


Oct 25 1983
In order to maintain an uninterrupted supply of nutmeg to satisfy global demand, the United States of America invades the Caribbean island of Grenada. The invasion is rationalized as a rescue mission for American medical school rejects stuck in a sleazy offshore diploma mill.


Oct 25 1991
On the way back from a Huey Lewis concert, rock promoter Bill Graham is killed when his helicopter hits high-voltage power lines in Vallejo, California.



1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a four-month siege.

1315 - Adam Banastre, Henry de Lea and William Bradshaw, led an attack on Liverpool Castle.

1415 - The army of Henry V of England defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.

1747 - British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke defeats the French at the second battle of Cape Finisterre.

1760 - George III becomes King of Great Britain.

1813 - War of 1812: Canadians and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of Chateauguay.

1828 - The St Katharine Docks opened in London.

1854 - The Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War (Charge of the Light Brigade).

1900 - The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.

1944 - Heinrich Himmler orders a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates, a loosely organized youth culture in Nazi Germany that had assisted army deserters and others to hide from the Third Reich.

1944 - The USS Tang (SS-306) under Richard O'Kane (the top submarine captain of World War II) is sunk by the ship's own torpedo.

1944 - The Romanian Army liberates Carei, the last Romanian city under Axis Powers' occupation.

1944 - Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history, takes place in and around the Philippines between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the U.S. Third and U.S. Seventh Fleets.

1945 - The Republic of China takes over administration of Taiwan following Japan's surrender to the Allies.

1962 - Cuban missile crisis: Adlai Stevenson shows photos at the UN proving Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba

1971 - The United Nations seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China (see political status of Taiwan and China and the United Nations)

2004 - Fidel Castro, Cuba's President, announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned by November 8.

2007 - The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

Births

1944 - Jon Anderson, English singer (Yes)

1948 - Glenn Tipton, English guitarist (Judas Priest)

1955 - Matthias Jabs, German guitarist (Scorpions)

1962 - Chad Smith, American drummer (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

1970 - Ed Robertson, Canadian musician (Barenaked Ladies)

Deaths

1154 - King Stephen of England (b. 1096)

1760 - George II of Great Britain (b. 1683)

2004 - John Peel, Legendary British disc jockey (b. 1939)

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 26 1440


Gilles de Rais, one of the wealthiest noblemen in France, is executed for heresy after he is found to have engaged in the kidnap, sodomization, and murder of 200 young boys from the lower classes. Rais enjoyed masturbating on the stomachs of the boys as they suffered excruciating deaths, sometimes also enjoying necrophilia with their corpses.



Oct 26 1944


Vice President Harry S Truman publicly denies ever having been a member of the Ku Klux Klan.



Oct 26 1970


Political comic strip Doonesbury appears in newspapers for the first time. Garry Trudeau's creation confused newspaper editors: Does it belong in the funny pages or the editorial section?



Oct 26 1979


Kim Jae Kyu, director of South Korea's central intelligence agency, "accidentally" shoots President Park Chung Hee to death, also killing Park's bodyguard. Park had been president (dictator, effectively) since 1961. Kim is executed the following May for his attempted coup d'etat.



Oct 26 1984


The newborn "Baby Fae" is given the heart of a baboon, in an operation performed by Dr. Leonard Bailey in Loma Linda, California. She lasts 21 days.



Oct 26 1984


19-year-old John D. McCollum kills himself with a .22 caliber handgun after spending the day listening to Ozzy Osbourne records. One year later, McCollum's parents file suit against Ozzy and CBS Records, alleging that the song "Suicide Solution" from the album Blizzard of Ozz contributed to their son's death. Except that the song's subject was quite plainly alcohol addiction. The case is eventually thrown out of court.



Oct 26 1991


33-year-old insurance agent Lori Keevil-Matthews visits an outdoor art project installed by Christo. 1,760 yellow umbrellas were scattered along the ridge line of the Tejon Pass, near Interstate 5 in Southern California. Then a freak 40 mph gust suddenly picks up a 485-pound umbrella, slamming the spectator against a boulder. She dies on the scene.



Oct 26 1997


During a 1,500-person tug-of-war contest in Taipei the rope snaps, suddenly amputating the left arms of Chen Ming-kuo and Yang Chung-ming. The two men had wrapped the rope around their left biceps [big mistake] Both arms are successfully reattached.



Oct 26 1997


Basketball great Charles Barkley is charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest after throwing 20-year-old man Jorge Lugo through a plate glass window in an Orlando, Florida dance club. Barkley later tells reporters: "I regret we weren't on a higher floor."



Oct 26 2002

After pumping an aerosol form of the fast-acting anesthetic Fentanyl Citrate into the air, Russian special forces raid the Palace of Culture of the Podshipnikov Zavod. Three days prior, Chechen terrorists captured 750 audience members inside the Moscow theater. The gas kills 116 captives. About fifty terrorists are slain as well, primarily from summary execution (close-range pistol shots to the head).


1640 - The Treaty of Ripon is signed, restoring peace between Scotland and Charles I of England.

1776 - Benjamin Franklin departed from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.

1859 - The Royal Charter is wrecked on the coast of Anglesey, north Wales with 459 dead.

1861 - The Pony Express officially ceased operations.

1863 - The Football Association is formed.

1881 - The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona.

1905 - Norway becomes independent from Sweden.

1917 - Battle of Caporetto: Italy suffers a catastrophic defeat at the hands of Germany and Austria during the World War I.

1918 - Erich Ludendorff, quartermaster-general of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.

1936 - The first electric generator at Hoover Dam went into full operation.

1940 - The P-51 Mustang makes its maiden flight.

1942 - World War II: In the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands during the Guadalcanal Campaign, one U.S. aircraft carrier, Hornet, was sunk and another aircraft carrier, Enterprise, is heavily damaged.

1943 - World War II: First flight of the Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil".

1944 - World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends.

1947 - The Maharaja of Kashmir agrees to allow his kingdom to join India.

1947 - The British Military Occupation ends in Iraq.

1955 - After the last Allied troops have left the country and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares permanent neutrality.

1964 - Eric Edgar Cooke becomes last person in Western Australia to be executed.

1965 - The Beatles are appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs).

1977 - The last natural case of smallpox was discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.

1994 - Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.

1995 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Mossad agents assassinate Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shikaki in his hotel in Malta.

1999 - Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.

2001 - The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.

2002 - Moscow Theatre Siege: Approximately 50 Chechen rebels and 150 hostages die when Russian Spetsnaz storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the rebels during a musical performance three days before.

Births

1946 - Keith Hopwood, British musician (Herman's Hermits)

1983 - Luke Watson, South African rugby player

Deaths

899 - Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (b. 849)

1944 - Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1857)

Holidays and observances

Austria - National Day: Anniversary of the Declaration of Neutrality (1955)

[Cymru am byth]

27th October

939 - Edmund I succeeds Athelstan as King of England.

1275 - Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam.

1644 - Second Battle of Newbury in the English Civil War.

1682 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded.

1810 - United States annexes the former Spanish colony of West Florida.

1838 - Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated.

1904 - The first underground New York City Subway line opens; the system becomes the biggest in United States, and one of the biggest in world.

1922 - A referendum in Rhodesia rejects the country's annexation to the South African Union.

1936 - Mrs Wallis Simpson filed for divorce which would eventually allow her to marry King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, thus forcing his abdication from the throne.

1953 - British nuclear test Totem 2 is detonated at Emu Field, South Australia.

1962 - Major Rudolph Anderson of the United States Air Force became the only direct human casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis when his U-2 reconnaissance airplane was shot down in Cuba by a Soviet-supplied SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile.

1981 - The Soviet submarine U 137 runs aground on the east coast of Sweden.

1986 - The United Kingdom government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang.

1991 - Turkmenistan achieved independence from the Soviet Union.

1991 - First free legislative elections in Poland since 1936.

1992 - United States Navy radioman Allen R. Schindler, Jr. is brutally murdered by shipmates for being gay, precipitating first military, then national debate about gays in the military that resulted in the United States "Don't ask, don't tell" military policy.

1995 - Latvia applies for membership in the European Union.

Births

1728 - James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (d. 1779)

1914 - Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet (d. 1953)

1939 - John Cleese, British actor and writer

1940 - John Gotti, American gangster (d. 2002)

1951 - K.K. Downing, British guitarist (Judas Priest)

1956 - Veronica Hart, American porn actress

1958 - Simon Le Bon, English singer (Duran Duran)

1967 - Scott Weiland, American singer (Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver)

1970 - Adrian Erlandsson, Swedish drummer (Cradle of Filth)

Deaths

1670 - Vavasor Powell, Welsh non-conformist leader (b. 1617)

Holidays and observances

United States - Navy Day

Greece - Flag Day

Turkmenistan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Independence Day (from Britain, 1979)

[HeyBuddy]

Hey, you're almost caught up :xyxthumbs:

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 28 4004 BC


God creates Adam and Eve five days after the rest of the universe, according to Biblical calculations by Archbishop James Ussher.



Oct 28 1919


The Volstead Act passes, over President Wilson's veto. Prohibition is ignored by most Americans, and fosters Mafia encroachment into legitimate businesses. Strangely, the lesson here has yet to be learned.



Oct 28 1922


Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini seizes power in Italy, with the assistance of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XI declared "Mussolini is a man sent by divine providence." In return for this endorsement, the silly dictator signs the Lateran treaty, restoring papal sovereignty over the Vatican. But at least the trains run on time.



Oct 28 1948


The Nobel committee announces that Swiss chemist Paul Mueller has won the 1948 chemistry prize. He discovered the unusual insecticidal properties of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2- bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane. Thanks to Mueller, the world embraces the phenomenal bug-killer... until somebody discovers that the hydrocarbon, popularly known as DDT, also excels at causing cancer.



Oct 28 1955


William Henry Gates III is born in Seattle. Even after becoming chairman of Microsoft and the richest man in the world, Bill's mother would sometimes have to remind him to wash his hair. [Seriously.]



Oct 28 1965


Pope Paul VI issues Nostra Aetate in which he absolves the Jews of killing Jesus, thus reversing 760 years of official Vatican policy. Innocent III had declared in 1205 that "the Jews, by their own guilt, are consigned to perpetual servitude because they crucified the Lord."



Oct 28 1976


John D. Ehrlichman, President Nixon's former domestic policy adviser and convicted Watergate felon, arrives at the Swift Trail Camp minimum-security facility in southeast Arizona.



Oct 28 2005

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is indicted on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and false statements made in his testimony during the Valerie Plame leak investigation. He resigns from his White House job soon after.


1664 - The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, later to be known as the Royal Marines, is established.

1775 - American Revolutionary War A British proclamation forbids residents from leaving Boston.

1776 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains - British Army forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.

1834 - The Battle of Pinjarra occurs in the Swan River Colony in present-day Pinjarra, Western Australia. Between 14 and 40 Aborigines are killed by British colonists.

1868 - Thomas Edison applied for his first patent, an electrical vote recorder.

1886 - In New York Harbor, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.

1918 - World War I: Czechoslovakia is granted its independence from Austria-Hungary.

1918 - The German fleet is immobilized when sailors mutiny en masse and disobey an order to leave port five times; 1,000 would ultimately be arrested.

1918 - New Polish government in Western Galicia (Central Europe) is established.

1919 - The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.

1922 - March on Rome: Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government.

1936 - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.

1940 - World War II: Italy invades Greece through Albania. This was the selected anniversary of Greece's entry into World War II. It is celebrated in Greece as Okhi Day (Όχι=No) Day.

1941 - Holocaust in Kaunas, Lithuania: German SS forces arrange the massacre of more than 9,000 Jews of the Kaunas ghetto. After the victims assembled on the Demokratu square at 6 am to be shot they are buried in gigantic ditches.

1942 - The Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway) is completed through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska.

1942 - Holocaust: 2,000 Jewish children and 6,000 Jewish adults from Cracow are deported by Germans to Belzec death camp.

1942 - Holocaust: SS directive orders all Jewish children's mittens and stockings to be sent from the death camps to the SS families.

1943 - The alleged Philadelphia Experiment supposedly occurred.

1970 - The land speed record set by Gary Gabelich in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.

1971 - Britain launches its first (and as of 2007, only) satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket.

1972 - The first Airbus A300 flies into the skies.

1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.

1986 - The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is re-celebrated in New York Harbor.

Births

1846 - Georges Auguste Escoffier, French Chef & father of modern french cuisine (d. 1935)

1941 - Hank Marvin, English guitarist (The Shadows)

1945 - Elton Dean, English musician (Soft Machine) (d. 2006)

1945 - Wayne Fontana, British singer (The Mindbenders)

1958 - William Reid, Scottish musician (The Jesus and Mary Chain)

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 29 1897


Paul Joseph Göbbels is born in Rheydt, Germany.



Oct 29 1929


The value of the New York Stock Exchange tumbles 11% in a widespread panic. Thousands of people lose their life savings as 16,410,030 shares change hands. Black Tuesday marks the beginning of the Great


Depression.



Oct 29 1957


Some raving lunatic tosses a hand grenade into Israel's parliament, the Knesset. The explosion wounds Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and five cabinet ministers.



Oct 29 1994


Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, Colorado upholsterer Francisco Duran fires 27 shots at the White House from the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Ave. Because he opted for Chinese-made SKS rifle, few of Duran's shots come anywhere near the building. Nevertheless, he receives a life sentence for attempting to assassinate President Clinton.



Oct 29 1997


Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the First Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible, dies from a cardiac arrest at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco. His death certificate incorrectly lists the date as October 31.



1390 - First trial for witchcraft in Paris.

1618 - English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.

1792 - Mount Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River.

1859 - Spain declares war on Morocco.

1863 - Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross.

1886 - The ticker-tape parade is invented in New York City when office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated.

1922 - The King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, appoints Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister.

1923 - Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

1942 - Holocaust: In the United Kingdom, leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register outrage over Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews.

1944 - Breda in the Netherlands is liberated by 1st Polish Armoured Division

1955 - The Soviet battleship Novorossiisk strikes a World War II mine in the harbor at Sevastopol.

1956 - Suez Crisis begins: Israel forces invade the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.

1964 - A collection of irreplaceable gems, including the 565 carat (113 g) Star of India, is stolen by a group of thieves including Jack Murphy from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

1967 - London criminal Jack "the hat" McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.

1969 - The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.

1986 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opens the last stretch of the M25 motorway.

1998 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities.

2004 - The Arabic news network Al Jazeera broadcasts an excerpt from a video of Osama bin Laden in which the terrorist leader first admits direct responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks and references the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

2004 - In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.

Births

1656 - Edmond Halley, English astronomer & comet namesake (d. 1742)

1897 - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (d. 1945)

1944 - Denny Laine, English musician (Moody Blues,Wings)

1946 - Peter Green, English guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)

1955 - Kevin DuBrow, American singer (Quiet Riot)

1955 - Roger O'Donnell, English musician (The Cure)

Deaths

1618 - Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer (executed) (b. 1554)

Holidays and observances

Turkey - Republic Day (1923)

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 30 1938


CBS radio announces that glistening, black-eyed Martians have landed at Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Luckily for the extraterrestrials, the news is announced during a Mercury Theatre program and later discounted as a work of fiction. Needless to say, the event causes widespread panic before the government manages to clamp a lid on it.



Oct 30 1944


Anne Frank deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. (If you're reading the diary, she dies in the end.)



Oct 30 1961


Due to his "violations of Lenin's precepts," Soviet leaders decree that Josef Stalin's body be quietly removed from its place of honor inside Lenin's tomb. They bury the Man of Steel with a plain granite marker near the Kremlin wall.



Oct 30 1966


The Zodiac kills his first victim, 18-year-old Cheri Jo Bates, in the library parking lot of a community college in Riverside, California. Zodiac stabs her to death with a small knife, nearly decapitating Bates in the process.



Oct 30 2002

Jason William Mizell, aka Run-D.M.C.'s legendary DJ Jam Master Jay, is shot dead in the lounge of his Merrick Boulevard recording studio in Queens. The masked culprit, who gave Mizell a close-range .40-caliber gunshot wound behind the left ear, remains at large to this day.



1470 - Henry VI of England returns to the English throne after Earl of Warwick defeats Yorkists in battle.


1485 - Henry VII of England crowned.


1831 - In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in United States history.


1918 - The Ottoman Empire signs an armistice with the Allies, ending the First World War in the Middle East.


1925 - John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter.


1929 - The Stuttgart Cable Car is constructed in Stuttgart, Germany.


1938 - Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a nationwide panic in the United States.


1941 - World War II: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves U.S. $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations.


1941 - 1,500 Jews from Pidhaytsi (in western Ukraine) are sent by Nazis to Belzec extermination camp.


1944 - Anne Frank is deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.


1953 - Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document National Security Council Paper No. 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat.


1960 - Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.


1961 - Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 58 megatons of yield, it is still the largest nuclear device ever detonated. Nikita Kruschev announces that the scientists had planned to make it 100 megatons, but had reduced the yield to reduce fallout over the Soviet Union.


1965 - Vietnam War: Just miles from Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by wave after wave of Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. Among the dead, a sketch of Marine positions was found on the body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.


1973 - The Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time.


Births


1735 - John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (d. 1826)


1939 - Grace Slick, American singer (Jefferson Airplane)


1947 - Timothy B. Schmit, American musician (Eagles)


1967 - Gavin Rossdale, English musician & Mr Gwen Stefani (Bush)


Deaths


1809 - William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)


1923 - Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1858)


1979 - Barnes Wallis, British aeronautical engineer, inventor of the bouncing bomb (b. 1887)


2002 - Jam Master Jay, American rapper and musician (Run DMC) (murdered) (b. 1965)


Holidays and observances


USA - Mischief Night in some areas (known as Devil's Night in Michigan)


International Orthopaedic Nurses Day


Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions in post-Soviet states


National Candy Corn Day, USA


National day of the cow, in Australia.

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 31


All Hallows Eve. What once served as a spooky New Years Eve tradition for the ancient Celts (which they called Samhain) was ultimately appropriated by Pope Gregory IV in 840 AD to serve as the daylong vigil preceding the Feast of All Saints. Even so, the Christians preserved the pagan festival's spooky trappings anyway. Cunning bastards.



Oct 31 1926


Houdini dies in room 401 of Grace Hospital in Detroit. The escape artist was killed by diffuse peritonitis, after having undergone an emergency appendectomy. Contrary to popular belief, the fatal appendicitis could not have been caused by a punch to the stomach.



Oct 31 1966


The Acid Test Graduation! Ken Kesey hosts, among others. "The question is no longer CAN you pass the Acid Test, but DID you pass the Acid Test."



Oct 31 1993


Actor River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose on the sidewalk in front of the Viper Room in West Hollywood.



Oct 31 1996


"Socially responsible" juice maker Odwalla voluntarily recalls its unpasteurized apple juice drinks after a west coast E. coli scare that killed sixteen-month-old Anna Gimmestad and caused 66 others to fall ill. The FDA describes the symptoms as a diarrheal illness with bloody stools that could lead to kidney failure.



Oct 31 1997

A Halloween "Hell House" opens in Vacaville, California for the benefit of local youths. Tableaus inside the house include a gay man dead from AIDS, a teenaged "Grunge" suicide resplendent with empty beer bottles, and a bloody mock abortion. The exhibits are operated by the Bible thumpers at Harvest Church.



1863 - The Maori Wars resumed as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the Waikato.


1892 - Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.


1917 - World War I: Battle of Beersheba - "last successful cavalry charge in history"


1923 - 160 consecutive days of 100 degrees at Marble Bar, Australia begins.


1926 - Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured.


1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain ends - The United Kingdom prevents Germany from invading Great Britain.


1941 - After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.


1941 - World War II: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors. It is the first U.S. Navy vessel sunk by enemy action in WWII.


1943 - World War II: F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar guided interception.


1956 - Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.


1959 - Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to renounce his American citizenship at the US Embassy in Moscow, USSR.


1975 - Queen released their hit single, Bohemian Rhapsody. It spent 9 weeks at number 1 on the UK charts.


1997 - 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward, convicted by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, jury of second-degree murder the day before, is sentenced to life in prison.


1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.


1999 - Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.


Births


1920 - Dick Francis, Welsh novelist


1945 - Russ Ballard, English rock singer/songwriter, guitarist (The Zombies, Argent)


1949 - Bob Siebenberg, American drummer (Supertramp)


1961 - Larry Mullen, Irish drummer (U2)


1963 - Mikkey Dee, Swedish drummer (Motörhead)


1964 - Colm O'Ciosoig, Irish drummer (My Bloody Valentine, Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions)


1965 - Annabella Lwin, British singer (Bow Wow Wow)


1966 - Adam Horovitz, American rapper (Beastie Boys)


1970 - Mitch Harris, American guitarist (Napalm Death, among others)


1972 - Matt Dawson, English rugby player


1973 - Beverly Lynne, American erotic film actress


Deaths


1926 - Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born magician (b. 1874)


1984 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (assasinated) (b. 1917)


2006 - Pieter Willem Botha, President of South Africa (b. 1916)


2007 - Ray Gravell, Welsh Rugby Union player (b. 1951)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 1 1530
Holland's dikes fail, drowning 400,000.


Nov 1 1755
An earthquake and resultant fire in Lisbon kills 50,000. The jail was damaged, and escaped prisoners were looting, setting fires, and committing mayhem. Gallows had to be erected around the city to restore order.


Nov 1 1896
Tits appear for the first time in National Geographic, starting a trend of providing masturbation material to youth for decades. The tits are attached to a Zulu woman.


Nov 1 1939
A rabbit that was born of artificial insemination is shown to the world. History does not record why anyone felt that rabbits needed any help in the procreation department.


Nov 1 1948
A Chinese merchant ship with as many as 6,000 people aboard explodes and sinks off southern Manchuria, killing all aboard.


Nov 1 1950
Attempt by Puerto Rican nationalists to assassinate President Truman at Blair House fails, leaving one of them dead with a bullet in the head.


Nov 1 1951
US Soldiers are exposed to an atomic explosion for the first time in training exercises, at Desert Rock, Nevada. Participation was not voluntary and served both to train and indoctrinate.


Nov 1 1990
A New York City civil jury awards Sandra Miller $100 for battery after an incident in which boxer Mike Tyson grabbed her breasts, insulted and propositioned her. The jury found Tyson's behavior "not outrageous". Mike certainly has a way with women.


Nov 1 1994
A group of South Korean cannibals known as the Chijon Family are sentenced to death for murdering and eating five people. The group was founded in 1993 by ex-convict Kim Ki Hwan and several other prisoners, in solidarity against the wealthy. Eat the rich.



1512 - The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

1592 - At the Battle of Busan, the outnumbered Korean navy defeats a larger Japanese army.

1604 - William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1611 - William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1683 - The British crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties.

1765 - The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the 13 colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.

1800 - US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).

1884 - The Gaelic Athletic Association is set up in Hayes's Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary.

1894 - Nicholas II becomes the new Tsar of Russia after his father, Alexander III, dies.

1896 - A picture showing the unclad (bare) breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time.

1911 - The first dropping of a bomb from an airplane in combat, during the Italo-Turkish War.

1914 - World War I: the first British Royal Navy defeat of the war with Germany, the Battle of Coronel, is fought off of the western coast of Chile, in the Pacific.

1945 - Australia joins the United Nations.

1950 - Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman at Blair House.

1951 - American soldiers are exposed to an atomic explosion for training purposes in Desert Rock, Nevada. Participation was not voluntary.

1952 - Operation Ivy - The United States successfully detonates the first large hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike" ["M" for megaton], in the Eniwetok atoll, located in the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean. The explosion had a yield of 10 megatons.

1955 - The Famous Flames, a band featuring James Brown, records "Please, Please, Please" at a radio station in Macon, Georgia.

1960 - While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps.

1981 - Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom.

1993 - The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

Births

1762 - Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1812)

1782 - Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1859)

1946 - Ric Grech, English rock bassist (Family, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Traffic) (d. 1990)

1950 - Dan Peek, American guitarist (America)

1962 - Anthony Kiedis, American singer (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

1963 - Rick Allen, British drummer (Def Leppard)

Deaths

1894 - Tsar Alexander III of Russia (b. 1845)

Holidays and observances

Mexico- Day of the Dead celebrations begin.

Algeria - National day

Antigua and Barbuda - Independence Day (from Britain, 1981)

World Vegan Day

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 2 1974
The Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns, killing 78. Six of the victims jumped six floors to their deaths. After the fire started, club officials barred the doors, suspecting a ruse by customers to avoid paying.

Nov 2 1984
Velma Barfield, convicted of killing her mother, her boyfriend and two others with rat poison in their food was put to death by lethal injection in Raleigh, N.C. Barfield was the first female executed in the US since 1962.

Nov 2 1988
The Internet Worm is released by Cornell grad student Robert Morris. His ingenious program was meant to explore the Internet harmlessly, but due to a bug, it crashed some 6,000 computers.

Nov 2 1995
The image of Jesus Christ appears to many people in a photo taken by the Hubble space telescope, depicting a gigantic gas plume 7000 light years from Earth. Some CNN viewers pointed out the image resembles Gene Shalit more than the Lord Saviour.

Nov 2 2003
Arrested Development debuts on the Fox network. The half-hour sitcom was a brilliant yet short-lived show (lasted three seasons) whose cast included Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross and Ron Howard.

1570 - A tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1,000 people.

1899 - The Boers begin their 118 day siege of British held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.

1914 - Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

1917 - The Balfour Declaration proclaims support for Jewish settlement in Palestine.

1930 - Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.

1936 - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.

1936 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaims the Rome-Berlin Axis, establishing the alliance of the Axis Powers.

1936 - The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, high-definition (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.

1947 - In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.

1948 - U.S. presidential election, 1948: Harry S. Truman defeats Thomas E. Dewey for the US presidency.

1959 - The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway

1960 - Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case

1965 - Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.

1982 - Channel 4 in the United Kingdom is launched.

1983 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King Day.

2000 - The first crew arrives at the International Space Station.

2007 - Cymru am byth finally catches up with this damn thread:40: :40:

Births

1734 - Daniel Boone, American frontiersman (d. 1820)

1755 - Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (d. 1793)

1865 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (d. 1923)

1941 - Bruce Welch, English musician and songwriter (The Shadows)

1944 - Keith Emerson, British keyboardist and composer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)

1957 - Carter Beauford, American drummer (Dave Matthews Band)

1969 - Reginald Arvizu, American bassist (KoЯn)

Deaths

1996 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (b. 1963)

Holidays and observances

Mexico and Ecuador - Day of the Dead (Spanish: El Dia de los Muertos), a celebration of dead ancestors.

Rastafari movement - The coronation of Haile Selassie (1930) celebrated

Brazil and Portugal - Dia de Finados, a celebration of dead ancestors in the All Souls Day.

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 3 1755
The colony of Massachusetts offers a 20 pound bounty for scalps of Indian boys or girls under the age of 12. Warrior scalps fetch a slightly higher price, 30 pounds.

Nov 3 1913
Income tax law signed.

Nov 3 1957
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-laika-space-dog.jpg
Laika the dog becomes the first living creature in space. She asphyxiated when oxygen in the Soviet Sputnik 2 ran out. However, some western researchers speculate that Laika roasted when the satellite's heat shields were detached.

Nov 3 1979
Diff'rent Strokes premieres on NBC. The cast's child actors have gone on to bigger and better things: Todd Bridges (arrests: drug possession, 1983; attempted murder, 1989; knife stabbing in self defense, no arrest, 1993; assault with a deadly weapon, 1997); Dana Plato (armed robbery, 1992, then a porno centerfold; dead of a drug overdose in 1999); Gary Coleman (a short, pudgy gun nut who plays Nintendo games; 2003 gubernatorial candidate).

1493 - Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.

1783 - John Austin, a highwayman, is the last to be publicly hanged at London's Tyburn gallows.

1838 - The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.

1856 - A British fleet bombs Canton.

1883 - American Old West: Self-described "Black Bart the poet" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves an incriminating clue that eventually leads to his capture.

1903 - With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent from Colombia. US President Theodore Roosevelt had wanted the United States to build the Panama Canal, but was not willing to pay what Colombia asked.

1911 - Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market in competition with the Ford Model T.

1913 - The USA introduces an income tax.

1918 - Austria-Hungary enters an armistice with the World War I Allies, and the Habsburg-ruled empire dissolves.

1918 - Poland declares its independence from Russia.

1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein ends - German forces under Erwin Rommel are forced to retreat during the night.

1943 - World War II: 500 aircraft of the U.S. 8th Air Force devastate Wilhelmshafen harbor in Germany.

1944 - World War II: Two supreme commanders of the Slovak National Uprising, Generals Ján Golian and Rudolf Viest are captured, tortured and later executed by German forces.

1954 - The first in the Godzilla series of films is released in Japan.

1978 - Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1979 - Greensboro massacre: Five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot dead and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis during a "Death to the Klan" rally.

Births

1954 - Adam Ant,(Stuart Goddard) English singer

1969 - Robert Miles, Swiss record producer, composer and musician in trance and ambient music.

1973 - Mick Thomson, American guitarist (Slipknot)

1977 - Aria Giovanni, American model

Deaths

1926 - Annie Oakley, American sharp-shooter (b. 1860)

2002 - Lonnie Donegan, Scottish musician (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

Independence Day in Panama (1903, from Colombia), Dominica (1978, from Britain) and Federated States of Micronesia (1986, from United States)

Japan - Culture Day

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 4 1963
At a Beatles command performance (present: Queen Elizabeth; the Queen Mother; Princess Margaret), John Lennon utters the remark: "Will the people in the cheaper seats clap their hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."

Nov 4 1966
The Arno and Po rivers in Italy flood, submerging 2/3 of Florence. Irreplaceable renaissance art treasures and books were destroyed. 113 people died and 30,000 were rendered homeless.

Nov 4 1979
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-iran-hostage-crisis-th.jpg
The US Embassy in Tehran is stormed by "students", holding 52 hostages for 444 days.

Nov 4 1986
The Iran-Contra Scandal is first reported in "Al Shiraa", an obscure Lebanese magazine. The public would come to learn that millions had been paid for US weapons and equipment for Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages in Lebanon. Profits were illegally channeled to the Contras fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Nov 4 1993
A series of fires rage in Southern California, destroying 300 very expensive homes in Malibu and 700 homes scattered elsewhere. Damage totals $500M to $1B. Half of the large fires were arson.

1501 - Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's wife) meets Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII's older brother - they would later marry.


1677 - The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange. They would later be known as William and Mary.

1839 – The Newport Rising is the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain.

1890 - City & South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.

1899 - Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published.

1918 - World War I: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy.

1918 - The German Revolution begins when 40,000 sailors take over the port in Kiel.

1921 - The Sturmabteilung or SA is formally formed by Adolf Hitler

1924 - Calvin Coolidge is elected the twenty-ninth President of the United States of America.

1939 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.

1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein - Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel leads his forces on a five-month retreat.

1952 - Dwight David Eisenhower is elected the thirty-fourth President of the United States of America.

1956 - Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.

1960 - Filming wraps on The Misfits, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable -- the last film for both.

1970 - Genie, a 13 year old feral child was found in Los Angeles, California having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life.

1980 - Ronald Wilson Reagan is elected as the 40th President of the United States of America.

1994 - San Francisco: First conference that focusses exclusively on the subject of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web.

1995 - Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an extreme right-wing Israeli.

2001 - The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established.

Births

1470 - King Edward V of England, one of the two princes in the Tower

1954 - Chris Difford, English musician and songwriter (Squeeze)

1956 - Jordan Rudess, American musician (Dream Theater)

1956 - James Honeyman-Scott, English guitarist (The Pretenders) (d. 1982)

1965 - Wayne Static, American musician (Static-X)

1965 - Jeff Scott Soto, American musician (Yngwie Malmsteen Band, Journey)

1979 - Audrey Hollander, American pornographic actress

1980 - Jerry Collins, New Zealand rugby union footballer

Holidays and observances

Panama's Flag Day

Italy - celebration of victory in World War I, the date of the Armed Forces

Russia - Day of People's Unity

Tonga's National Day

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 5 1605
Parliament is scheduled for detonation in the notorious Gunpowder Plot, in which Catholic conspirators attempted to roll back protestantism in England. Thirty-six barrels of black powder were uncovered in the cellar, and fuses were found in Guy Fawkes' pocket. In consequence, Fawkes was hanged. Britains now celebrate his death with fireworks.

Nov 5 1975
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-travis-walton.jpg
Logger Travis Walton is abducted by aliens near Snowflake, Arizona and is missing for five days. Aliens performed "various experiments" on the abductee. One can only imagine this involved anal probes of some manner. Needless to say, Walton finds the experience immensely lucrative as his experiences are chronicled in the mediocre book Fire in the Sky and a very bad film by Paramount.

Nov 5 1979
Ayatollah Khomeini declares the US to be "The Great Satan". In return, Time Magazine later selects the ayatollah "Man of the Year".

Nov 5 1994
Ronald Reagan announces that he has Alzheimer's. For some people it merely confirms what they suspected all along. [Trivia question: Which 1980's president fell asleep at an audience with the Pope?]

1854 - The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War.

1862 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George B. McClellan as commander of the Union Army for the second and final time.

1862 - Indian Wars: In Minnesota, more than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of rape and murder of white settlers and are sentenced to hang.

1912 - Woodrow Wilson elected twenty-eighth President of The United States of America.

1913 - United Kingdom annexes Cyprus, and together with France declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

1937 - World War II: Adolf Hitler holds a secret meeting and states his plans for acquiring "living space" for the German people.

1940 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected to third term as President of The United States of America.

1942 - The World War II Second Battle of El Alamein is won by the British in El Alamein, Egypt.

1945 - Colombia joins the United Nations.

1965 - State of Emergency declared in Rhodesia after collapse of negotiations with Great Britain over Rhodesian independence (UDI would follow six days later)

1968 - Richard M. Nixon elected as the thirty-seventh President of the United States of America.

1994 - Forty-five year old George Foreman becomes boxing's oldest heavyweight champion when he knocks out Michael Moorer.

2000 - Emperor Haile Selassie I is given an Imperial funeral by the Ethiopian Orthodox church

2006 - Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi'as in 1982.

Births

1947 - Peter Noone, English musician (Herman's Hermits)

1961 - David Bryson, American guitarist and vocalist (Counting Crows)

1971 - Jonny Greenwood, guitarist (Radiohead)

1977 - Brittney Skye, American porn star

Deaths

2003 - Bobby Hatfield, American singer (Righteous Brothers) (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances

New Zealand,United Kingdom and the province of Newfoundland & Labrador (Canada): Guy Fawkes night (also called Bonfire night; or Fireworks night): Failure of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 6 1962
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-nixon-little-people.jpg
Dick Nixon loses the governor's election in California, proclaiming to the nation, "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more." (This was a full decade prior to "Lick Dick in '72".)

Nov 6 1985
Hugh Hefner's Playboy Club in New York City admits topless male bunnies.

Nov 6 1988
Beatle/boozehound Ringo Starr checks into an alcohol rehabilitation center.

Nov 6 1989
Kitty Dukakis, wife of Presidential candidate and Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, is hospitalized for drinking rubbing alcohol.

Nov 6 1996
In Vicente Guererro, Mexico, the family of Eduardo Quihua Maquixtle, including four children, are stabbed by three men who accuse them of witchcraft.

Nov 6 2002
Actress Winona Ryder found guilty of shoplifting, after she lifted $5500 in crap from Saks Fifth Avenue on Wilshire Boulevard. Among the merchandise she stole was a $760 sweater and $600 hair decorations. And an $80 pair of socks.

1528 - Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first known European to set foot in Texas.

1917 - World War I: Third Battle of Ypres ends: After three months of fierce fighting, Canadian forces take Passchendaele in Belgium.

1935 - First flight of the Hawker Hurricane.

1939 - World War II: Sonderaktion Krakau

1941 - World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin addresses the Soviet Union for only the second time during his three-decade rule. He states that even though 350,000 troops were killed in German attacks so far, that the Germans have lost 4.5 million soldiers (a wild exaggeration) and that Soviet victory was near.

1942 - World War II: SS City of Cairo sunk by German U-Boat U-68 in the South Atlantic en route to Brazil from Cape Town.

1943 - World War II: Russia recaptures Kiev. Before withdrawing, Germans destroy most of the city's ancient buildings.

1944 - Plutonium is first produced at the Hanford Atomic Facility, subsequently used in the Fat Man Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

1962 - Apartheid: The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and calls for all UN member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation.

1965 - Freedom Flights begin: Cuba and the United States formally agree to start an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the United States. By 1971, 250,000 Cubans will take advantage of this program.

1971 - The AEC tests the largest U.S. underground hydrogen bomb, code-named Cannikin, on Amchitka Island in the Aleutians.

1985 - "Irangate" scandal: The American press reveals that US President Ronald Reagan had authorized the shipment of arms to Iran.

1999 - Australians vote to keep the British monarch as their head of state in the Australian republic referendum.

Births

1948 - Glenn Frey, American singer (Eagles)

1965 - Greg Graffin, American singer (Bad Religion)

1966 - Paul Gilbert, American guitarist and singer (Mr Big)

1966 - Christian Lorenz, German keyboardist (Rammstein)

Holidays and observances

Dominican Republic - Constitution Day (1844)

Finland - The Finnish Swedish Heritage Day and an official flag day

Sweden - Death of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and official flag day

Tajikistan - Constitution Day (1994)

[Borro]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w238/TX1138/thisthreadsucks.jpg

[HeyBuddy]

LOL...you listed the birth of a porn star. I love it. You really do your research. :xyxthumbs:

[Cymru am byth]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w238/TX1138/thisthreadsucks.jpg

You're the only one to complain:xyxthumbs:

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 7 1783
A man convicted of forgery is the last public hanging at London's Tyburn site, ending a gallows tradition begun in 1196.

Nov 7 1872
The cargo ship Mary Celeste sails from New York, never reaching Genoa. Four weeks later it is found completely abandoned, whereabouts of the ten man crew unknown. The ship's cargo was alcohol, so you decide.

Nov 7 1918
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-spanish-flu.jpg
A ship from New Zealand brings the 1918 influenza epidemic to Western Samoa, killing 7542 -- about twenty percent of the population by the end of the year. Perhaps 20,000,000 people are killed from the epidemic globally, including half a million Americans.

Nov 7 1965
The Pillsbury Doughboy makes its first appearance. It (we refer to the creature as "it"; marketing may call it a Doughboy but there is no evidence of genitals) has had a long and uneventful career, but the puffy pastry is now in serious trouble as he recently shit a croissant in front of god and everybody.

Nov 7 1983
A bomb explodes inside the US Capitol building. The structure was damaged but there were no deaths or injuries.

Nov 7 1991 Magic Johnson announces that he is an AIDS victim. Perhaps the basketball player's condition has something to do with his sleeping promiscuously with thousands of women.


1492 - The Ensisheim Meteorite, the oldest meteorite with a known date of impact, struck the earth around noon in a wheat field outside the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France.

1665 - The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, is first published.

1885 - In Craigellachie, British Columbia, construction ends on the Canadian Pacific Railway railway extending across Canada.

1900 - Battle of Leliefontein, a battle during which the Royal Canadian Dragoons win three Victoria Crosses

1914 - The German colony of Kiaochow Bay and its centre at Tsingtao are captured by Japanese forces.

1917 - Russian Revolution: In Petrograd, Russia, Bolshevik leaders Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky lead revolutionaries in overthrowing the Provisional Government (As Russia is still using the Julian Calendar, subsequent period references show an October 25 date).

1917 - World War I: Third Battle of Gaza ends: British forces capture Gaza from the Ottoman Empire.

1921 - the Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF), Italian National Fascist Party, is created by Benito Mussolini.

1931 - The Chinese Soviet Republic proclaimed on the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.

1941 - World War II: Soviet hospital ship Armenia sunk by German planes while evacuating refugees and wounded military and staff of several Crimea’s hospitals. It is estimated that over 5,000 people died in the sinking.

1941 - Holocaust: Jewish tragedy in Nemyriv, Ukraine: German fascists murder 2580 Jews. Earlier in September, 1941 2,400 Jews were shot by German Nazis at the brickworks near Nemyriv.

1956 - Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to immediately withdraw their troops from Egypt.
1957 - Cold War: The Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters.

1990 - Mary Robinson is first woman to be elected President of the Republic of Ireland

2000 - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration discovered one of the country's largest LSD lab inside a converted military missile silo in Wamego, Kansas.

2001 - The supersonic commercial aircraft Concorde resumes flying after a 15-month break.

2002 - Iran bans advertising of United States products.

2004 - War in Iraq: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day "state of emergency" as U.S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Births

1936 - Dame Gwyneth Jones, Welsh soprano

1960 - Tommy Thayer, American guitarist (Kiss)

1967 - Sharleen Spiteri Scottish singer and songwriter (Texas)

1968 - Greg Tribbett, American musician (Mudvayne)

1970 - Neil Hannon, Northern Irish musician (The Divine Comedy)

1972 - Danny Grewcock, English rugby union player

1981 - Lily Thai, Asian porn star

Deaths

1944 - Hannah Szenes, Jewish woman who parachuted into Yugoslavia during World War II to help save the Jews of Hungary (b. 1921)

[Borro]

You're the only one to complain:xyxthumbs:


I'm fuckin with u ...sheesh :1orglaugh:

[HeyBuddy]

1981 :xyxthumbs:

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 8 1879
Leon Trotsky's birthday!

Nov 8 1923
Adolf Hitler attempts to seize the government in Munich. The event is now known as the "Beer Hall Putsch" and lands his ass in jail.

Nov 8 1937
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-eternal-jew.jpg
The Nazi exhibition Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew) opens in Munich, which ran until the 16th. Later, a film is released by the same name. "Wherever rats appear they bring ruin, by destroying mankind's goods and foodstuffs."

Nov 8 1973
The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper along with a ransom note. It takes two weeks to arrive. Previously, the kidnapping was thought to be a ruse by the son to obtain money, but the ear convinces his father to pay the $2.9M ransom.

Nov 8 1991
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-marion-barry.jpg
Convicted crack smoker Marion Barry, who served six months in prison in 1990, is re-elected mayor of Washington D.C. Astonishing. And even more astonishing, on the same day Sonny Bono is elected to the United States Congress.

Nov 8 1997
President Bill Clinton speaks at a dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization.

Nov 8 1997
A newborn baby is abandoned at a toilet in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. While the baby was found within five minutes of birth, police are still searching for the mother.

1793 - In Paris, the French Revolutionary government opens the Louvre to the public as a museum.

1861 - American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mailship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.

1895 - While experimenting with electricity Wilhelm Röntgen discovers x-rays.

1917 - People's Commissars gives authority to Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Josef Stalin.

1923 - Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.

1938 - A pogrom against the Jews of Germany and Austria takes place in response to the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris.

1939 - Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.

1939 - In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes an assassination attempt while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.

1942 - Holocaust: In Ternopil, western Ukraine, German SS deport about 2,400 Jews from Ternopil ghetto to the Belzec death camp, so called "Second Aktion". When the Germans captured Ternopil, about 18,000 Jews lived in the city.

1942 - World War II: Operation Torch - United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.

1942 - World War II: French resistance coup in Algiers, by which 400 Civil French patriots neutralized Vichyst XIXth Army Corps during 15 hours, arrested vichyst generals (Juin, Darlan, etc.), and so allowed the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers, then, from there, to the whole of French North Africa.

1950 - Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history.

1965 - The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.

1966 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.

1987 - Remembrance Day Bombing: In Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, an Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb explodes, at a ceremony honouring Britain's war dead, killing eleven people.

2002 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".

2004 - War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Births

1847 - Bram Stoker, Irish novelist (d. 1912)

1946 - Roy Wood, English songwriter and musician (Electric Light Orchestra, The Move, Wizzard)

1957 - Porl Thompson, British musician (The Cure)

1966 - Gordon Ramsay, British chef & Ex Glasgow Rangers footballer

1985 - Jack Osbourne, son of Ozzy

Deaths

1887 - Doc Holliday, American gambler and gunfighter (b. 1851)

[HeyBuddy]

What a terrible day. Not a single famous porn star born?

[Borro]

Doc Holliday died on todays date? Sad day indeed huckleberry.

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 9 1888
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-mary-jane-kelly-closeup-scene.jpg
Mary Jane Kelly, a 25 year old hooker, falls victim to Jack the Ripper. Mary's face had been mutilated; her breasts had been removed and she had been disemboweled. Her various internal organs were scattered about. She was the Rippers last known victim.

Nov 9 1953
Dylan Thomas drinks himself to death.

Nov 9 1971
John Emil List, a "deeply religious" Lutheran, kills his mother, wife, and three teenage children. He is not found until 1988, living with a new improved family as Robert P. Clark in Richmond Virginia.

Nov 9 1997
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-lookinland.jpg
Michael Paul Lookinland, aka "Bobby" from the Brady Bunch, charged with drunk driving in St. George, Utah. With a BAL of 0.258, the 36 year old former child star was very drunk.

Nov 9 2005
After being shuffled around the weekly schedule, Fox television executives give up on Arrested Development and release the last four episodes in a two-hour block. The show does not go on despite interest from rival networks ABC and Showtime.

Nov 9 2346
Romulans commit an atrocity now known as the Khitomer Massacre, slaughtering over 4,000 Klingons on an agricultural colony. Worf and Kahlest are the only two to survive.

1492 - Peace of Etaples between Henry VII and Charles VIII.

1620 - Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1688 - The Glorious Revolution: William of Orange captures Exeter.

1729 - Spain, France and England sign the Treaty of Seville.

1764 - Mary Campbell, a captive of the Lenape during the French and Indian War, is turned over to forces commanded by Colonel Henry Bouquet.

1872 - The Great Boston Fire of 1872.

1887 - The United States receives rights to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1906 - Theodore Roosevelt is the first sitting President of the United States to make an official trip outside the country. He did so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.

1907 - The Cullinan Diamond is presented to King Edward VII on his birthday.

1917 - Josef Stalin enters the provisional government of the USSR.

1918 - Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates after the German Revolution, and Germany is proclaimed a Republic.

1921 - Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with the photoelectric effect.

1923 - In Munich, Germany, police and government troops crush the Beer Hall Putsch in Bavaria. The failed coup is the work of the Nazis.

1937 - Japanese troops take control of Shanghai, China.

1938 - Kristallnacht, Nazi Germany's first large-scale act of physical anti-Jewish violence, begins.

1953 - Cambodia becomes independent from France.

1989 - Cold War: Fall of the Berlin Wall. Communist-controlled East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall allowing its citizens to freely travel to West Germany. People start demolishing the Berlin Wall.

1990 - New democratic constitution was issued in Nepal.

1990 - Mary Robinson was elected Ireland's first female President and the first from the Labour Party.

1993 - Stari most, the "old bridge" in Bosnian Mostar built in 1566, collapses after several days of bombing.

1998 - Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offences (treason etc).

2007 - Glasgow, Scotland is selected to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Births

1841 - King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (d. 1910)

1886 - S. O. Davies, Welsh politician (d. 1972)

1941 - Tom Fogerty, American musician (Creedence Clearwater Revival) (d. 1990)

1954 - Dennis Stratton, British musician, (Iron Maiden(1979-1980), Praying Mantis)

1965 - Bryn Terfel, Welsh baritone

Deaths

1937 - Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1866)

1940 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869)

1952 - Chaim Weizmann, 1st President of Israel (b. 1874)

1953 - Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and author (b. 1914)

1970 - Charles de Gaulle, President of France (b. 1890)

Holidays and observances

Cambodia - Independence Day (1953)

Pakistan - Allama Iqbal Day (1877)

Germany - November 9th is often called Germany's Schicksalstag (day of fate) due to the events of 1848, 1918, 1923, 1938, and 1989.

Europe - Inventor's Day - in honor of Hedy Lamarr's birthday

United States - World Freedom Day, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989

International - Diwali (Hindu festival)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 10 4004 BC
Adam and Eve are driven from Paradise.

Nov 10 1928
Emperor Hirohito enthroned at Kyoto.

Nov 10 1938
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-kristallnacht.jpg
Kristallnacht, Night of Broken Glass, in Germany. Members of the SA, SS, and Hitler Youth round up some 30,000 jews. Jewish homes and shops are targeted for vandalism, 177 synagogues are destroyed by fire and 91 jews are killed.

Nov 10 1940
Walt Disney begins serving as a secret informer for the Los Angeles office of the FBI, to report back information on Hollywood subversives. He was made a "Full Special Agent in Charge Contact" in 1954. We should note that Disney was atheist and thus subversive in his own little way.

Nov 10 1972
Two men hijack Southern Airways Flight 49 out of Birmingham, and hopscotch it variously in the U.S., Canada, and Cuba while demanding $7M. At one point they circle Oak Ridge National Laboratory and threaten to crash the plane into that top secret nuclear installation. After two days, and exhausting most of the aircraft's supply of mini liquor bottles, the plane lands for good in Havana where the hijackers are jailed by Fidel Castro. Said one of the two hijackers later, "I wanted to fly over the Statue of Liberty and urinate on it."

Nov 10 1997 Seymore Hersh's book "The Dark Side of Camelot" published, includes allegations that explicit photos were taken of John F. Kennedy with various sex partners and brought by a Secret Service agent to a Washington gallery for framing. The gallery owner, Sidney Mickelson, stated that the participants included a naked Kennedy and assorted lady friends wearing masks.



1674 - Anglo-Dutch War: As provided in the Treaty of Westminster, Netherlands cedes New Netherlands to England.

1775 - The United States Marine Corps was founded.

1871 - Henry Morton Stanley locates missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika saying "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

1951 - Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.
1954 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery.

1958 - The Hope Diamond was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston.

1969 - National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuts the children's television program Sesame Street.

Births

1683 - George II of Great Britain (d. 1760)

1925 - Richard Burton, Welsh actor (d. 1984)

1947 - Glen Buxton, American musician (Alice Cooper) (d. 1997)

1954 - Mario Cipollina, American bass player (Huey Lewis & the News)

1981 - Alison Waite, American model and Playboy Playmate

Deaths

1982 - Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (b. 1906)

Holidays and observances

Turkey - Day of Remembrance of Ataturk

Argentina - Day of Tradition, honouring the death of José Hernández

United States Marine Corps Birthday

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 11 1215
The Fourth Lateran Council meets. They adopt the doctrine of transubstantiation, meaning that bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. This means all Catholics are essentially cannibals on a feeding schedule, but who are we to judge a theology?

Nov 11 1634
Under the urging of Anglican Bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes "An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery." Seven years later, the good Bishop Atherton is himself the second man hanged under the Act.

Nov 11 1969
A drunken Jim Morrison, Door, is arrested by the FBI after he repeatedly prods a stewardess.

Nov 11 1978 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-hollywoodland-th.jpg

A renovated Hollywood Sign is unveiled. The original sign was built in 1923, and said "Hollywoodland". Its 45 foot high letters have served as the jumping point for several suicides, including the first: starlet Peg Entwhistle (letter "H", 1932).

Nov 11 1988 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-dorothea-puente.jpg

Seven bodies are discovered under the ground of a Sacramento California boardinghouse owned by Dorothea Puente. The batty landlord had killed nine elderlies and was receiving their social security money.

Nov 11 1997 19-year-old girl Marianne Biancuzzo is charged in Tucson for drowning her newborn baby in a toilet and hiding the remains in a coffee can under her family's bathroom sink. The baby's carcass was discovered by her 15-year-old brother. What size coffee can you ask? 3 pounds. The brand name has not been released by police.


308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Maxentius and Licinius to be Augusti, while rival contender Constantine I is declared Caesar of Britain and Gaul

1620 - In what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod, the Mayflower Compact is signed on the Mayflower, establishing the basic laws for the Plymouth Colony.

1724 - Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London.

1831 - In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising.

1865 - Treaty of Sinchula is signed in which Bhutan ceded the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company.

1880 - Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol.

1887 - Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal starts at Eastham.

1918 - World War I ends: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside of Compiègne in France. The war officially stops at 11:00 (The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month).

1921 - The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by US President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery.

1926 - U.S. Route 66 is established.

1940 - World War II: Battle of Taranto - The Royal Navy launches the first aircraft carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto.

1940 - The German cruiser Atlantis captures top secret British mail, and sends it to Japan.

1940 - Armistice Day Blizzard: An unexpected blizzard kills 144 in U.S. Midwest.

1942 - World War II: Nazi Germany completed their occupation of France.

1992 - The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.

2004 - New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington

2004 - Yasser Arafat is confirmed dead by the Palestine Liberation Organization, of unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later.

Births

1945 - Chris Dreja, British guitarist and bassist (The Yardbirds)

1950 - Jim Peterik, American musician and songwriter (Survivor)

1973 - Jason White, American musician (Green Day)

Deaths

1724 - Joseph Blake (alias Blueskin), English highwayman (executed) (b. c. 1700)

1880 - Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger (hanged)

1918 - George Lawrence Price, Canadian soldier, last person to be killed in W.W.I. (b. 1892)

1938 - Typhoid Mary, carrier of the typhoid disease (b. 1869)

1988 - William Ifor Jones, Welsh conductor & organist (b. 1900)

Holidays and observances

Several nations celebrate, in some way, the end of World War I, the ceasefire of which went into effect at 11:00am CET on this day in 1918.

Armistice Day in France and Belgium

Veterans Day in the United States (called Armistice Day until 1952, when the name was changed, and the holiday was re-geared toward all military veterans)

Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, including United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

Twins Day (1987) in Taiwan: a festival for biological twins and other multiples. The eleventh day of the eleventh month (11-11) consists of the same numeral in pairs and symbolizes their characteristics.

Poland - Independence Day (1918)

Colombia - Independence of Cartagena, Colombia, from Spain (1811)

Lāčplēsis Day (1919) in Latvia: the official date for commemoration of Latvian soldiers, who had died for the country's freedom.

Angola - Independence Day (1975)

[yup]

1889-Washington becomes the 42nd state. Just saw that in the Sunday Times.

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 12 1912
Frozen bodies of Captain Robert Scott and his men found on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica.

Nov 12 1933
Hugh Gray of the British Aluminium Company took five pictures of the Loch Ness Monster, the first known photos. Four the the five exposures were blank, and the remaining photo was later proven to be a hoax.

Nov 12 1934
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-charles-manson-th.jpg
Charles Manson born in Cincinnati to a 16 year old prostitute and an unknown father. He grows up to do... interesting things.

Nov 12 1938
Hermann Goering announces that Madagascar will be the Jewish homeland, with support from Himmler and others. The original idea actually belongs to a jew of the 19th century, Theodore Herzl. Negotiations were conducted with the French government regarding this so called "Madagascar Plan" (France owned the island at that time), but were broken off in 1942 -- probably because Britain controlled the seas.

Nov 12 1942
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-abe-reles-th.jpg
Mobster Frank Costello has mob informer Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, then in protective custody under guard of six policemen, defenestrated. Reles was in a position to put away several important bosses including Bugsy Siegel and Albert Anastasia. Brooklyn police are greased with $50,000 to allow the killing to occur. His body isn't found until much later.

Nov 12 1970
Cyclone and floods hit Bangladesh (then called East Pakistan). Over 200,000 poor people die.

Nov 12 1993
A Russian woman purchases meat at the Saratov public market at a very good price, but a sutured wound indicates foul play. Yuri Lukin, a local hospital worker, is subsequently arrested for removing human body parts from his employer's refrigerator to raise cash for booze.

Nov 12 2001
An American Airlines Airbus A300 crashes after takeoff from New York City, the first major crash after the terrorist attacks of September 11.

1439 - Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament.

1555 - The English Parliament re-establishes Catholicism.

1847 - Sir James Young Simpson, British physician, is the first to use chloroform as an anaesthetic.

1918 - Austria becomes a republic

1927 - Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin with undisputed control of the Soviet Union.

1941 - World War II: Temperatures around Moscow drop to -12 ° C and the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.

1941 - A Soviet cruiser "Chervona Ukraina" was destroyed during the battle of Sevastopol

1942 - World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal, will last for three days.

1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force launches 29 Avro Lancaster bombers in one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of war and sinks the German battleship Tirpitz, with 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs off Tromsø, Norway

1948 - In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.

1970 - The Oregon Highway Division attempts to destroy a rotting beached Sperm whale with explosives, leading to the now -infamous exploding whale incident

1979 - Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.

1980 - The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes first images of its rings.

1981 - The 2nd shuttle mission of Columbia 2. It was the 1st time a spacecraft was launched twice.

1982 - In the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov becomes the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding Leonid I. Brezhnev.

1990 - Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

1993 - The first Ultimate Fighting Championship is held in Denver, Colorado.

1997 - Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

2001 - 2001 Attack on Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops.

2003 - Occupation of Iraq: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 Iraq war are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.

Births

1962 - Brix Smith, American musician and songwriter (The Fall, The Adult Net)

1964 - David Ellefson, American musician (Megadeth)

1967 - Grant Nicholas, Welsh singer (Feeder)

1977 - Dalene Kurtis, American Playboy Playmate

Deaths

1094 - King Duncan II of Scotland (b. 1060)

2003 - Tony Thompson, American drummer (Chic, Power Station) (b. 1954)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 13 1805
Johann Georg Lehner invents the hot dog. At long last a use for all those hog penises, lips, intestines, and ears.

Nov 13 1974
Nuclear activist Karen Silkwood's car is forced off the road into an embankment, while travelling to an interview with author and New York Times reporter David Burnham. Her files were missing from the wreck, but a not-so-impartial FBI investigation concluded accident. For the TV movie they give Meryl Streep the part.

Nov 13 1974
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-arafat-gun.jpg
Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat stuns the world by wearing a sidearm to the United Nations General Assembly, where he gives his landmark address.

Nov 13 1985
An eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano melts a glacier, causing a mudslide that kills 23,000 poor people in Armero, Colombia.

Nov 13 1986
Ronald Reagan tells television audience: "We have not -- I repeat, did not -- trade weapons or anything else for hostages, nor will we ever."
1002 - English king Ethelred ordered killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre.

1642 - At the Battle of Turnham Green of the First English Civil War the Royalist forces withdrew in face of the Parliamentarian army and failed to take London.

1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Col. Ethan Allen attack Montreal defended by British General Guy Carleton. Allen and his troops were disorganised and soundly defeated; however, U.S. Brigadier General Richard Montgomery's force entered Montreal unopposed.

1851 - The Denny Party lands at Alki Point, the first settlers of what will become Seattle, Washington.

1887 - Bloody Sunday clashes in central London

1941 - World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is torpedoed by U 81, she sinks on November 14.

1942 - World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal - U.S. and Japanese ships engage in an intense, close-quarters surface naval engagement during the Battle of Guadalcanal

1954 - Great Britain defeated France 16-12 to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.

1956 - United States Supreme Court declared Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses illegal; this ended the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1982 - A boxing match held in Las Vegas, Nevada ends when Ray Mancini defeats Kim Duk Koo. Kim's death on November 17 led to significant changes in the sport.

1990 - The World Wide Web first began.

1994 - Voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union in a referendum.

1995 - A truck-bomb explodes outside of a US-operated Saudi Arabian National Guard training center in Riyadh, killing five Americans and two Indians. A group called the Islamic Movement for Change claims responsibility for the attack.

2001 - War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against any foreigners suspected of having connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.

2002 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

Births

1312 - King Edward III of England (d. 1377)

1953 - Andrew Ranken, English musician (The Pogues)

1978 - Nikolai Fraiture, bass player (The Strokes)

Deaths

1093 - King Malcolm III of Scotland (b. 1031)

1770 - George Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1712)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 14 1940
The Nazis bomb Coventry, destroying the cathedral and killing several hundred people. British Intelligence knew ahead of time -- the German ENIGMA ciphers had been decoded -- but did not warn the town's citizens. Of course, Coventry was a legitimate military targetdue to its high concentration of armaments, munitions and engine plants, something the English government tried to play down.

Nov 14 1968
National Turn In Your Draft Card Day.

Nov 14 1991
Former postal employee Thomas McIlvane shoots and kills four of his ex-coworkers and wounds five others, and then suicides. The act was revenge for his recent firing for lying on his time card. McIlvane's previous work experience includes a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps, after he ran over a car with a tank.

Nov 14 1993
Michael Jackson checks into a drug rehabilitation program in order to treat his addiction to painkillers, taken in response to media allegations that he is a homosexual pedophile. According to his publicist, Jackson was "barely able to function adequately on an intellectual level."

1918 - Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.

1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) begins radio service in the United Kingdom.

1941 - World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sinks due to torpedo damage from U 81 sustained on November 13.

1952 - First regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express.

1967 - Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., The Monkees' fourth album, is released.

1970 - The solo album 'Barrett' by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett is released.

1973 - In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey.

1975 - Spain abandons Western Sahara.

1990 - After German reunification, the (extended) Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland.

1991 - American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.

2001 - War in Afghanistan: Afghan Northern Alliance fighters takeover the capital Kabul.

Births

1650 - King William III of England (d. 1702)

1948 - Charles, Prince of Wales

1949 - James Young, American guitarist (Styx)

1956 - Alec John Such, American bassist (Bon Jovi)

1968 - Janine Lindemulder, American porn actress

1975 - Travis Barker, American musician (Blink 182, +44)

1979 - Tobin Esperance, American bassist (Papa Roach)

Holidays and observances

India - Birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru: Children's Day

United States - National Children's Book Week begins

Colombia - "Day of the Colombian Woman"

[Satan's Uncle Ron]

Nov. 15

1763
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon began surveying the Mason-Dixon line.

1777
The Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the U.S. Constitution.

1806
Explorer Zebulon Pike spotted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak.

1939
The cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial was laid by President Roosevelt.

1969
About 250,000 protesters against the Vietnam War, the largest war protest ever, converged peacefully on Washington, DC.

2002
Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as China's Communist Party leader.

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 15 1864
The sack and burning of Atlanta by General William Tecumseh Sherman, making Georgia howl. That act and the subsequent March to the Sea makes Sherman the most hated and despised man in Georgia history.

Nov 15 1940
Nazis quarantine the Warsaw Ghetto, population 400,000 Juden.

Nov 15 1941
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-himmler.jpg
SS chief Himmler orders the arrest and concentration of all homosexuals in Germany. Excluded were certain top Nazi officials who happened to be gay, including Himmler.

Nov 15 1978
A chartered Icelandic Airlines DC-8 with 249 pilgrims returning from Mecca, crashes on approach to Sri Lanka's international airport in Colombo, killing 183 believers.

Nov 15 1979
A package from the Unabomber in the mail carried aboard American flight 444 explodes on the way to Washington. Several people suffer smoke inhalation.

Nov 15 1985
A research assistant is injured when he opens a present from the Unabomber addressed to a University of Michigan professor.

Nov 15 1990
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-millivanilli.jpg
Producers acknowledge that Milli Vanilli (the 1990 "Best Artist" Grammy Award winners) did not sing on their album. One of the duo, Robert Pilatus, later attempts suicide in 1991 but he couldn't even get that performance right. He does succeed 7 years later, though.

1854 - In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is given the necessary royal concession.

1920 - First assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva.

1935 - Canada and the United States sign the reciprocal trade agreement in Washington.

1939 - In Washington, D.C., US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.

1942 - World War II: First flight of the Heinkel He 219.

1942 - World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory.

1943 - Holocaust: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps".

1949 - Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi.

1960 - The Polaris missile is test launched.

1969 - Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea.

1969 - Dave Thomas opens the first Wendy's fast food restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.

1971 - Intel releases world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.

1983 - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is founded.

1985 - The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.

2003 - The first day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings takes place, to be followed by additional bombings on November 20.

2006 - The Al Jazeera English news channel is launched.

Births

1708 - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1778)

1897 - Aneurin Bevan, Welsh politician & founder of the NHS (d. 1960)

Deaths

2002 - Myra Hindley, English murderess (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

Austria - Saint Leopold's day -- no school in Vienna, Lower Austria and Upper Austria

Belgium - King's Feast, not an official holiday, but some state institutions are closed

Brazil - Republic Proclamation Day (1889)

Palestine - Independence Day (declared 1988)

USA - America Recycles Day

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 16 1906
Opera star Enrico Caruso is charged with an indecent act committed in the monkey house of New York's Central Park Zoo. He pinched the bottom of a woman described as "pretty and plump", causing outrage amongst New York high society. Caruso claimed a monkey pinched the lady's bottom.

Nov 16 1957
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-dug-up-a-posse.jpg
Serial killer Ed Gein kills his final victim, Bernice Worden, a store clerk in her 50's. Her decapitated body is later found outdoors hanging from a block and tackle, gutted. Some parts were unaccounted for.

Nov 16 1981
Actor William Holden dies after a fall, hitting his head on a table. He is too fucking drunk to telephone for assistance; instead he bleeds to death while dabbing his serious wound with Kleenex.

Nov 16 1989
A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops slaughters six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.



1776 - American Revolutionary War: Hessian mercenaries capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.

1776 - American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States, the first country in the world to do so

1857 - Second relief of Lucknow. The most Victoria Crosses won in a single day (24).

1907 - Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory become Oklahoma and are admitted as the 46th U.S. state.

1907 - Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania sister ship of RMS Lusitania, sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.

1914 - The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.

1920 - Qantas, the national airline of Australia is registered as an aerial carrier under the name of “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited”. Only KLM (now part of Air France-KLM) and Avianca are older.

1933 - The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.

1940 - World War II: In response to Germany's leveling of Coventry, England two days before, the Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg.

1940 - Holocaust: In occupied Poland, German Nazis close off the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world.

1940 - New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a
Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.

1943 - World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vermork, Norway.

1944 - Dueren, Germany is completely destroyed by Allied aerial bombers.

1945 - Cold War: The United States Army secretly admits 88 German scientists & engineers to help in the production of rocket technology.

1996 - Mother Teresa receives honorary US citizenship.

2000 - Bill Clinton becomes the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.

Births

1896 - Oswald Mosley, British fascist (d. 1980)

1966 - Christian Lorenz, German keyboardist (Rammstein)

1973 - Brendan Laney, Scottish rugby player

1982 - Jannie du Plessis, South African rugby player

Deaths

1093 - Saint Margaret of Scotland, wife of Malcolm III of Scotland

1272 - King Henry III of England (b. 1207)

Holidays and observances

International Day for Tolerance

Iceland - Dagur íslenskrar tungu (Icelandic Language Day)

United Kingdom and Ireland - Children In Need Day

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 17 1796
Empress Catherine the Great dies of a stroke while sitting on the commode.

Nov 17 1968
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-heidi-nfl-th.jpg
NBC preempts the final 1:05 from a very close Jets-Raiders NFL football game with "Heidi". Two touchdowns were scored during this missing time. Sports fans everywhere applaud and understand the network's decision.

Nov 17 1973
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-nixon-on-tv-th.jpg
"People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook".

Nov 17 1992
Scaremongering "journalists" at Dateline NBC falsify a demonstration involving a GM truck exploding on impact. In reality the trucks do not explode on impact, and smarmy reporters do not always tell the truth.

Nov 17 1997
In a three hour gun battle, Islamic militants in the ancient pharaonic city of Luxor indiscriminately slaughter 60 tourists. Six gunmen and two Egyptian policemen are also killed.

1292 - John Balliol becomes King of Scotland.

1511 - Spain and England ally against France.

1558 - Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.

1603 - English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.

1800 - The United States Capitol building in Washington, DC holds its first session of the U.S. Congress

1855 - David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe.

1869 - In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony.

1919 - King George V of the United Kingdom proclaims Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day). The idea was first suggested by Edward George Honey.

1933 - United States recognizes Soviet Union.

1939 - Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal; in addition, Czech universities are shut down and over a thousand Czech students sent to concentration camps. November 17 declared International Student's day.

1941 - World War II: Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables the State Department that Japan has plans to launch an attack against Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (his cable is ignored).

1950 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was enthroned as Tibet's head of state at the age of fifteen.

1953 - The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland are evacuated to the mainland.

1969 - Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.

1970 - Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse.

1978 - The Star Wars Holiday Special aired one time only on CBS.

1989 - Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins - In Czechoslovakia a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29).

2003 - Arnold Schwarzenegger is inaugurated as Governor of California.

Births

1887 - Bernard Montgomery, British World War II commander (d. 1976)

1937 - Peter Cook, British comedian (d. 1995)

1944 - Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (The Byrds) (d. 1991)

1946 - Martin Barre, English rock musician (Jethro Tull)

1966 - Richard Fortus, American guitarist (Guns N' Roses)

1968 - Amber Michaels, German porn actress

1970 - Paul Allender, British guitarist (Cradle of Filth)

Deaths

1558 - Mary I of England (b. 1516)

1768 - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1693)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 18 1421

On Saint Elizabeth's Day, heavy storms combine with the high tide to cause a series of dikes to fail in southern Holland. Massive flooding destroys 72 villages, killing somewhere between 4,000 and 10,000 people.

Nov 18 1686
King of France Louis XIV's anal fistula is operated on by surgeon Charles Francois Felix, with great success. To prepare for the operation Felix practiced his surgery on anuses of the peasantry, with some fatalities at first but improving his technique in time for the royal bung.

Nov 18 1969
Joseph P Kennedy dies at age 81. Achievements: Bootlegger; ambassador to England; his mob ties helped get John F. Kennedy elected. When Jackie wanted a divorce from the philandering president, he offered her $1 million.

Nov 18 1970 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-jerry-lee-lewis-home-th.jpg

Singer/polygamist Jerry Lee Lewis divorces his third wife Myra Gail, after 12 years of marriage. Not only was she jailbait when they got married (being 13 at the time), but Lewis was married to Jane Mitcham at the time.

Nov 18 1978
Congressman Leo Ryan is slain at the People's Temple compound in Guyana, after which over 900 members (including 270 children) of the cult led by the Reverend Jim Jones drank cyanide laced Flavor Aid (a Kool Aid knockoff), their bodies, are bloated by the sun when they are discovered several days later.

Nov 18 1997 Gary Glitter arrested in Britain on a child porn charge. Glitter had brought his computer in for repair, where contraband images were discovered.


326 - The old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.

1307 - According to legend, William Tell shoots an apple off his son's head.

1477 - William Caxton produces Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres, the first book printed on a printing press in England.

1493 - Christopher Columbus first sights what is now Puerto Rico.

1626 - St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.

1803 - The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.

1903 - The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the Americans exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.

1909 - Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.

1916 - World War I: First Battle of the Somme ends - In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.

1918 - Latvia declares its independence from Russia.

1926 - George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize."

1928 - Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the second appearances of cartoon stars Mickey and Minnie Mouse. This is also considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday.

1940 - World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.

1940 - New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.

1942 - Holocaust: German SS carry out selection of Jewish ghetto in Lviv, western Ukraine, arresting 5.000 "unproductive Jews". All get deported to Belzec death camp.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Berlin (air), 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost nine aircraft and 53 air crew.

1943 - Holocaust: Aktion Emtefest: Nazis liquidate Janowska concentration camp in Lviv, western Ukraine, murdering at least 6.000 surviving Jews. German SS leader Fritz Katzman declares Lviv (Lemberg) to be Judenfrei (free from the Jews).

1987 - King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station at King's Cross St Pancras.

1988 - War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for murder in regards to drug traffickers.

1991 - Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland free.

2002 - Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

2003 - In the UK the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.

Births

1918 - Sir Tasker Watkins, Welsh World War II hero(VC), President of the Welsh Rugby Union 1983 - 2004 (d. 2007)

1962 - Kirk Hammett, American guitarist (Metallica)

Deaths

1886 - Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (b. 1829)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 19 1581
Russian Czar Ivan The Terrible kills his son, also named Ivan. The younger Ivan interrupted the elder Ivan, who was beating Ivan Jr's pregnant wife because of her inappropriate garb. Still in a fit of range, dad smote his son with a staff, killing him.
Nov 19 1703
The Man in the Iron Mask dies in the Bastille. He was a prisoner of Louis XIV, forced to wear a black velvet mask, and his identity has never been revealed.
Nov 19 1915
Labor activist Joe Hill executed for a murder he did not commit.
Nov 19 1954
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-sammy-eyepatch.jpg
Driving to Los Angeles, Sammy Davis, Jr. is in a serious automobile accident in San Bernardino. He lost his left eye, but the resultant publicity greatly accelerated his career. The following year, the hepcat turned into a Jew.
Nov 19 1961
Michael Rockefeller, 23 year old son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller (later Vice President), disappears while searching for Asmat wood carvings in the jungles near Atsj, Papua New Guinea. He was probably eaten by the Asmat.
Nov 19 1970
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-lance-rentzel-th.jpg
Lance Rentzel, American professional football player, is arrested for exposing himself to a ten-year-old girl. He was later sentenced to five years' probation. Rentzel was said to have handled the situation bravely, continuing to play pro football and opening admitting his problems. At one point, he labeled himself a "sex pervert." In 1973 he made further headlines when he pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana.
Nov 19 1994 A Rotterdam University study determined that over one in four members of the Dutch Parliament have smoked marijuana.


1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).

1794 - The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to clear up some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War

1863 - American Civil War: Union President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the military cemetery dedication ceremony in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

1941 - World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.

1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.

1944 - World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.

1946 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.

1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.

1979 - Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.

1985 - Cold War: In Geneva, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.

1990 - Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It’s True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.

1994 - In Britain, the first National Lottery draw was held. A £1 ticket gives a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.

2005 - US Marines allegedly commit a massacre on 24 citizens in the town of Haditha in Iraq.

Births

1600 - King Charles I of England (d. 1649)

1831 - James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States (d. 1881)

1960 - Matt Sorum, American drummer (Guns 'n' Roses, Velvet Revolver)

Deaths

1983 - Tom Evans, British musician (Badfinger) (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances

Brazil - Flag Day

Mali - Liberation Day

Puerto Rico - Discovery of Puerto Rico (1493)

United States - Equal Opportunity Day

Norway - The Liberation of the Sami People of the coast

United Arab Emirates - Pilgrimage

Trinidad and Tobago - International Men's Day

World Toilet Day

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 20 1912
Mad Bomber Carl Warr enters Los Angeles city jail with 60 sticks of dynamite strapped to himself. After an hour, two detectives attack Warr who then pulls the bomb's trigger. Nothing happens, and the freakishly masked bomber begs police to kill him.

Nov 20 1917
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) held prisoner, whipped, and raped by Turkish Army officers.

Nov 20 1977
Hillside Strangers, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr, abduct, abuse, and kill three women: Kristina Weckler, Sonja Johnson, and Dolores Cepeda. The two killers would dress as Los Angeles police officers to gain the women's confidence.

Nov 20 1979
Over 300 Shi'ite muslim radicals, followers of Juhaiman al-Utaibi, take control of the Great Mosque in Mecca, demanding a return to more conservative rule. Two weeks later, over 100 of them are dead after a battle with Saudi military. A further 63 are beheaded at scattered locations over Saudi Arabia, to serve as examples.

Nov 20 1995
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-james-hewitt-th.jpg
Princess Diana interviewed on the BBC television program Panorama, where she admits having an affair with James Hewitt, a British army officer. After Diana's death, Hewitt publishes a tell-all book, juicy excerpts of which the tabloid Mail on Sunday bid half a million pounds for.

1820 - An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick was in part inspired by this story).

1917 - World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins - British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.

1917 - Ukraine is declared a republic.

1940 - World War II: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis Powers.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins - United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.

1945 - Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.

1947 - The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London.

1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union's agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.

1985 - Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.

1989 - Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.

1992 - In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over an extended period).

1998 - A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

1998 - The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, was launched.

2003 - After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.

Births

1928 - John Disley, Welsh athlete (3000 metre steeplechase 1952 Olympic bronze)

1947 - Joe Walsh, American musician (Eagles)

1965 - Mike D, American musician (Beastie Boys)

1975 - Timea Margot, Hungarian porn star

1986 - Jared Followill, American bassist (Kings of Leon)

Deaths

1925 - Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom (b. 1844)

Holidays and observances

Brazil - Zumbi Day (since 1978)

Brazil - Dia da Consciência Negra (Afro-Brazilian's Conscience Day)

United Kingdom - wedding day of Queen Elizabeth II (1947), official flag day

Mexico - Anniversary of the Revolution (1910)

UNICEF - Universal Children's Day

Vietnam - Teacher's Day (Ngày nhà giáo Việt Nam)

Transgender Day of Remembrance (since 1999)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 21 1973
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-rose-mary-woods-th.jpg
A gap of 18-1/2 minutes is revealed in one of the Watergate tapes, a conversation between Richard M. Nixon and Haldeman. The erasure is blamed on an accident by Nixon's private secretary Rose Mary Woods, but scientific analysis determines the erasures to be deliberate. Later, Chief of Staff Alexander Haig blames the erasure on "some sinister force".

Nov 21 1980
Don Henley, drummer for the Eagles, arrested for drug possession and contributing to the delinquency of a minor when a naked 16 year old girl is found in his home suffering from drug overdose.

Nov 21 1980
The third deadliest hotel fire in history occurs at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, caused by faulty wiring; 84 people dead. Helicopters were used to rescue stranded guests from the top floors.

Nov 21 1993
Death of actor Bill Bixby, who played David Banner (The Incredible Hulk's mild mannered persona, before the gamma radiation) and also starred in The Courtship of Eddie's Father. Cancer at age 51.

Nov 21 1997
Lead singer of INXS Michael Hutchence found hanged in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Sydney Australia. Police have denied that his death was due to Autoerotic Asphyxiation. Hutchence is survived by his daughter, Heavenly Hirani Tiger Lily.

1272 - Following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England.

1789 - North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.

1791 - Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic.

1877 - Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

1905 - Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc².

1916 - The HMHS Britannic sinks in the Aegean Sea after an explosion from an unknown object, killing 30 people.

1920 - Bloody Sunday during the Anglo-Irish War

1953 - Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce that the "Piltdown Man" skull, held to be one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, was a hoax.

1969 - US President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, DC on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under terms of the agreement, the US is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.

1974 - The Birmingham Pub Bombings by the IRA killed 21 people. The Birmingham Six were sentenced to life in prison for this and subsequently acquitted.

1979 - The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set alight, killing four.

1985 - United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard is arrested for spying (he was caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison).

2002 - NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.

Births

1840 - Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain and German Empress (d. 1901)

1965 - Björk, Icelandic singer

1983 - Jamie Langley, English rugby player
Deaths

1995 - Peter Grant, British rock manager, actor (Led Zeppelin, Bad Company) (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances

Bangladesh - Armed Forces Day in Bangladesh

World Television Day

World Hello Day

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 22 1963
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-jfkopsy-th.jpg
President John F. Kennedy assassinated.

Nov 22 1963
Death of a President, by William Manchester, is the authorized version of the Kennedy assassination. Jackie Kennedy gave ten hours of interview; both Look magazine and the German publication Stern serialized it. Jackie asked that certain passages which were "too personal" be removed. According to the Paul Krassner's periodical The Realist, this is one of the passages: "That man was crouching over the corpse, no longer chuckling but breathing hard and moving his body rhythmically. At first I thought he must be performing some mysterious symbolic rite he'd learned from Mexicans or Indians as a boy. And then I realized -- there is only one way to say this -- he was literally fucking my husband in the throat. In the bullet wound in the front of his throat. He reached a climax and dismounted. I froze. The next thing I remember, he was being sworn in as the new President". It is true, that LBJ was found chuckling over the dead Kennedy on the airplane. However, Paul Krassner embellished the rest just a little bit.

Nov 22 1980
Mae West dies.

Nov 22 1993
Anthony Burgess, author of the ultra-violent A Clockwork Orange, dies. He had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and doctors gave him one year to live back in 1959.

Nov 22 1996
The actor who played Spock's father Sarek, Mark Lenard, dead of multiple myeloma at age 68 in Manhattan. He is survived by Leonard Nimoy.

Nov 22 1997
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-coolio.jpg Coolio arrested in Germany, for attempting to shoplift $2000 in clothes. A clerk at the store also claims Coolio punched her in the stomach during the altercation.


1718 - Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") was killed in battle with a boarding party led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.

1830 - Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1922 - Egyptology: Howard Carter, assisted by Lord Caernarfon, opened the tomb of Tutankhamun.

1940 - World War II: Following the Italian invasion, Greek troops advanced into Albanian soil and liberated Korytsa.

1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - General Friedrich Paulus sent Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army was surrounded.

1943 - World War II: War in the Pacific - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek met in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan

1943 - Lebanese Independence Day. Lebanon gained independence from France.

1963 - John F. Kennedy assassination: In Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy was killed and Texas Governor John B. Connally was seriously wounded by an assassin, identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, who was later captured and charged with the murder of police officer J. D. Tippit. That same day, US Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.

1974 - The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.

1975 - Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco.

1977 - British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.

1986 - Boxing: Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in the second round, becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion at the age of 20 years and 4 months.

1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. :40:

Births

1890 - Charles de Gaulle, President of France (d. 1970)

1946 - Aston Barrett, Jamaican musician (The Wailers)

1950 - Tina Weymouth, American musician (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club)

1956 - Lawrence Gowan, Canadian singer (Styx)

1976 - Ville Valo, Finnish singer (HIM)

1978 - Karen O, American singer (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

1983 - Corey Beaulieu, American guitarist (Trivium)

1984 - Kate Ground, Canadian adult internet model (Katesplayground)

Deaths

1963 - John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (b. 1917)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 23 1910
American murderer Hawley Crippen hanged, after he was caught aboard the SS Montrose attempting to escape from Britain to Canada. It was the first use of radio for the apprehension of a criminal.

Nov 23 1963
The first episode of Doctor Who premiers on the BBC.

Nov 23 1976
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-jerry-lee-lewis-mugshot.jpg
Jerry Lee Lewis arrested in front of Graceland in Memphis for public drunkenness, and carrying a chrome plated .38 derringer revolver.

Nov 23 1980
Over 2500 people are killed when a 6.8 earthquake rocks the Campania and Basilicata regions of Italy.

Nov 23 1997
After a minor traffic incident, three Mexican police officers remove taxi driver Jesus Gallegos from his car and beat him. In front of bystanders. Gallegos charred body is found the next day. The three are charged with homicide.

1499 - Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. He had invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.

1867 - The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England for rescuing two Irish men from jail.

1869 - In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched - one of the last clippers ever to be built, and the only one still surviving to this day.

1889 - The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.

1914 - The US Army retreats from Mexico.

1936 - The first edition of Life is published.

1943 - World War II: The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is destroyed. It will eventually be rebuilt in 1961 and be called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

1943 - World War II: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces.

1955 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to Australia.

1979 - In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.
Births

1804 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (d. 1869)

1945 - Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer

1972 - Chris Adler, American musician (Lamb of God)

Deaths

955 - Edred, King of England (b. c. 923)

1990 - Roald Dahl, British author (b. 1916)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 24 1326
The gay lover of King Edward II, Hugh le Despenser the Younger, is hanged after his penis and testicles are burned in front of him "because he was a heretic and a sodomite, even, it was said, with the King."

Nov 24 1740
William Duell, murderer, hanged at Tyburn in London. He is not killed immediately, though this is not noticed by the executioner. Deull later awakes on the dissection table.

Nov 24 1963
Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald.

Nov 24 1971
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D.B. Cooper hijacks a Northwest Orient 727 and parachutes into the freezing rain over Washington state from the rear stairway of the plane with $200,000 in cash. Rotting currency from the ransom is eventually located, but his rotting body isn't.

Nov 24 1983
Jimmy "the Beard" Ferrozzo is crushed to death after hours in San Francisco's Condor Club. Ferrozzo, the club's assistant manager, was fucking one of the strippers on top of a baby grand piano when one of the pair inadvertently flipped the switch to the motorized winch that lowered the instrument from the ceiling. Only when his legs are trapped between the piano and the ceiling that Ferrozzo manages to shut off the hoist, but he dies of a heart attack. The exotic dancer remains trapped underneath his body until firefighters arrive to free her, several hours later.

Nov 24 1991
Freddie Mercury dies from AIDS.

Nov 24 2003
After his BMW struck a Toyota Camry, country singer Glenn Campbell is arrested with an impressive blood alcohol level of .20 on charges of "extreme" drunk driving, hit and run, and assaulting a police officer, in Phoenix AZ. He is freed on $2000 bond. While in custody, Campbell hummed his hit Rhinestone Cowboy repeatedly.

1639 - Jeremiah Horrocks observes the transit of Venus

1642 - Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).

1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species.

1904 - The first successful caterpillar track is made.

1922 - Author and Irish Republican Army member Robert Erskine Childers is executed by an Irish Free State firing squad for illegally carrying a revolver.

1932 - In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.

1941 - World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French.

1943 - World War II: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks with nearly 650 men killed.

1944 - World War II: Bombing of Tokyo - The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital from the east and by land was made by 88 American aircraft.

Births

1784 - Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (d. 1850)

1806 - William Webb Ellis, credited with the invention of Rugby (d. 1872)

1897 - Lucky Luciano, American gangster (d. 1962)

1941 - Pete Best, British drummer (The Quarrymen AKA The Beatles)

1946 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (d. 1989)

1955 - Elvis Ramone, American drummer (The Ramones)

1962 - John Squire, British guitarist (The Stone Roses)

1964 - Tony Rombola, American guitarist (Godsmack)

Deaths

1848 - William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1779)

1959 - Dally Messenger, Australian rugby player (b. 1883)

1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of John F. Kennedy (b. 1939)

1991 - Freddie Mercury, Zanzibar-born singer (Queen, AIDS, b. 1946)

1991 - Eric Carr, American drummer (KISS, Cancer of the heart, b. 1950)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 25 1867
Patent granted to Alfred Nobel for dynamite.

Nov 25 1957
Mexican painter Diego Rivera dies of heart failure. Earlier as a student, Rivera claimed to have purchased cadavers and experimented with Cannibalism. Human dining preferences included breasts and brains. Also in his autobiography he wrote that he had cancer of the penis, doctors recommending amputation. Both stories are considered somewhat suspect.

Nov 25 1970
Japanese playwright and novelist Yukio Mishima commits seppuku (self disembowelment) after an aborted coup attempt in Japan. He had authored over 100 works and was deemed by Life magazine the "Japanese Hemmingway"; certainly he is one of the best writers Japan has ever produced. But Mishima believed that "true manhood" required you to face your own death willingly.

Nov 25 1987
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Secretarial bimbo Fawn Hall, Oliver North's assistant, removes documents from sealed National Security Council offices inside the White House by hiding them inside her skirt. Go girl!

Nov 25 1997
The Weekly World News reports that the Japanese have a fetishistic attraction to US Attorney General Janet Reno, whom many Americans believe is actually a man. If these reports are true, at the very least we should impose trade sanctions.

1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies. Donnchad, the son of his second daughter Bethóc and Crínán of Dunkeld, inherits the throne.

1120 - The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England.

1177 - Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard.

1491 - The siege of Granada, last Moorish stronghold in Spain, begins.

1542 - Battle of Solway Moss. The English army defeats the Scots.

1703 - The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the British Isles, reaches its peak intensity and maintains it through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people perish in the mighty gale.

1758 - French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control.

1758 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is founded.

1783 - American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

1876 - Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.

1936 - In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, thus agreeing to consult on what measures to take "to safeguard their common interests" in case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation.

1940 - First flight of the deHavilland mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.

1941 - Finland joined the Anti-Comintern Pact.

1944 - World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in Deptford, UK, killing 160 shoppers.

1944 - World War II: Battle of Peleliu - At Peleliu, Palau, the American forces led by the general officer William H. Rupertus defeat the Japanese army led by Colonel Kunio Nakagawa.

1947 - New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.

1950 - The People's Republic of China joins the Korean War, sending thousands of troops across the Yalu river border to fight United Nations forces.

1952 - Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London and eventually becomes the longest continuously-running play in history.

1984 - 36 top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

1992 - The Czechoslovakia Federal Assembly votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia from January 1, 1993.

2005 - Polish Minister of National Defence Radek Sikorski opens Warsaw Pact archives to historians. Maps of possible nuclear strikes against Western Europe, as well as the possible nuclear annihilation of 43 Polish cities and 2 million of its citizens by Soviet-controlled forces, are released.

Births

1946 - Bev Bevan, English rock drummer (The Move, Electric Light Orchestra)

1959 - Steve Rothery, British guitarist (Marillion)

1966 - Tim Armstrong, American musician (Rancid and The Transplants)

1979 - Brooke Haven, American porn star

Deaths

2005 - Richard Burns, English WRC champion (b. 1971)

Holidays and observances

Bosnia and Herzegovina: National Day (1943)

Suriname - Independence Day (from the Netherlands, 1975)

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

International Men's Day in Canada

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 26 1865
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-alice-liddel-th.jpg
Lewis Carroll sends the manuscript for the psychedelic novel "Alice in Wonderland" to his 12 year old special friend Alice Liddell. (Incidentally Carroll, born Charles Dodgson, had a thing for very young girls, frequently photographing them nude.)

Nov 26 1973
The Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo, stabbed to death in prison by a fellow inmate in Massachusetts. DeSalvo had killed 13 women.

Nov 26 1975
Manson family member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme found guilty of attempting to assassinate President Ford. It is unclear why anyone would want to assassinate such an uninteresting president.

Nov 26 1976
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-never-mind-the-bollocks.gif
Sex Pistols single Anarchy in the UK released. The song later appeared on Never Mind the Bollocks, here's the Sex Pistols.

1778 - In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.

1789 - A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress.

1805 - Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales. At 1,007 feet long and 126 feet high it is both the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain, and is a Grade I Listed Building.

1922 - Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.

1941 - US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

1942 - Holocaust: Shoah: 572 Norwegian Jews were deported to Auschwitz on the cargo vessel Donau. This was the first step on the journey to the death camp Auschwitz. Altogether the total number of Jews deported from Norway was 767. 25 of the deported survived.

1942 - The film Casablanca premieres at the Hollywood Theater in New York City, as Allied Expeditionary Forces (AEF) secured their hold on North Africa during World War II.

1942 - World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.

1944 - World War II: Germans begin V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.

1950 - Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China move into North Korea and launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and American forces (Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.

1983 - Brinks Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are taken from the Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport

1998 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament.

2003 - Concorde makes its last ever flight over Bristol, UK.

Births

1945 - John McVie, British musician (Fleetwood Mac)

1951 - Cicciolina, Italian porno actress and politician

1970 - Alex Taylor, Latin porn star

1981 - Aurora Snow, American pornographic actress

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 27 1934
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-babyface-th.jpg
Bank robber Lester Gillis, known as Baby Face Nelson, killed in a tommygun shootout by FBI agents in Fox River Grove, IL. While Nelson was able to kill the two lawmen involved, his naked body was found the next day containing 17 bullets.

Nov 27 1969
Court appointed attorney Ronald Hughes, handling the Charles Manson case, disappears on a camping trip to Sespe Hot Springs in Southern California, accompanied by two Manson followers. His decomposed body is identified by dental x-rays five months later.

Nov 27 1975
Members of the Provisional IRA kill Ross McWhirter, co-founder of the Guinness Book of World Records, in London after a press conference in which McWhirter announced a reward for the capture of those responsible for multiple bombings and shootings across England.

Nov 27 1978
Former policeman Dan White kills San Francisco mayor George Moscone & homosexual supervisor Harvey Milk. White later uses the "twinkie defense" to get a short sentence, but commits suicides after release.

1295 - The first elected representatives from Lancashire were called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as "The Model Parliament".

1703 - The first Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703.

1868 - Indian Wars: Battle of Washita River - United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on Cheyenne living on reservation land.

1940 - World War II: At the Battle of Cape Spartivento, the Royal Navy engages the Regia Marina in the Mediterranean.

1942 - World War II: At Toulon, the French navy scuttles its ships and submarines to keep them out of Nazi hands.

1944 - world War II: An explosion at a RAF ammunition dump at Fauld, Staffordshire kills seventy people.

1946 - Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster".

1990 - The British Conservative Party chooses John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1991 - The United Nations Security Council adopts UN Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.

2005 - The first partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France.

Births

1746 - Robert Livingston, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1813)

1942 - Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist (d. 1970)

1952 - Daryl Stuermer, American guitarist (Genesis)

1959 - Charlie Burchill, Scottish guitarist and keyboardist (Simple Minds)

1962 - Charlie Benante, American drummer (Anthrax)

1962 - Mike Bordin, American musician (Faith No More)

1967 - Shane Embury, British guitarist/bassist (Napalm Death)

1978 - Mike Skinner - (The Streets)

Deaths

2006 - Alan Freeman, British disc jockey known by his nickname 'Fluff' (b. 1927)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 28 1942
A fire at the sleazy Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Boston, kills 491 people. Flammable artificial palm trees aided the spread of the fire. The numerous dead were crushed, burnt, and asphyxiated, all within minutes.

Nov 28 1953
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-frank-olson.jpg
Frank Olson, government scientist, jumps to his death from the Statler Hotel in New York City. In 1975 it is revealed that Olson had been administered LSD by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb in a CIA experiment.

Nov 28 1981
A drunk Natalie Wood topples off her yacht near Catalina Island and drowns. Her husband Robert Wagner, and melodramatic friend Christopher Walken, were onboard and unaware of her predicament, apparently having some sort of argument in the cabin.

Nov 28 1994
Homosexual cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer beaten to death with a broomstick by inmate Christopher Scarver while cleaning the prison bathroom. Dahmer's brain was to be preserved in formaldehyde at the request of Mom, but a court ordered its destruction in late 1995.
1520 - After navigating through the South American strait, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

1582 - In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage licence.

1660 - At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.

1729 - Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.

1814 - The Times in London was for the first time printed by automatic, steam powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the begining of making newspapers available to a mass audience

1821 - Panama Independence Day. Panama separates from Spain and joins the Great Colombia.

1843 - Ka Lahui: Hawaiian Independence Day - The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.

1893 - Women vote in a national election for the first time: the New Zealand general election.

1895 - The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.

1905 - Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party whose goal is the independence of Ireland.

1914 - World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.

1919 - Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit as a British MP, although not the first to be elected - that was Countess Markiewicz.

1920 - Kilmichael Ambush Battle of the Irish War of Independence

1942 - Roll out of the first B-24 Liberator made in Ford's Willow Run plant.

1943 - World War II: Tehran Conference - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran to discuss war strategy.

1944 - World War II - Albania is liberated by the Albanian partisans.

1974 - John Lennon performs onstage at Madison Square Garden in New York City with Elton John, as a result of losing a wager that his song "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" (which Elton also played and sang on) would hit #1 on the pop chart (on November 11). This would also be Lennon's final concert appearance.

1975 - East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.

1989 - Cold War: Velvet Revolution - In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces they will give up their monopoly on political power.

1990 - Margaret Thatcher formally tenders her resignation to The Queen and leaves Downing Street for the last time. John Major is elected her successor.

1997 - Kosovo Liberation Army, Albanian guerrilla group fighting for freedom of Kosovo, presents in front of the people of Kosovo.
Births

1962 - Matt Cameron, American drummer (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam)


1967 - Anna Nicole Smith, American model, television personality and gold digger (d. 2007)

1969 - Lexington Steele (Clifton Britt), American adult film actor (10.5")

Deaths

1170 - Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd

Holidays and observances

Albania - Albanian Independence day (from Turkey, 1912)

Mauritania - Independence Day (from France, 1960)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 29 1864
The Sand Creek Massacre, in which the US Army sent soldiers into an Indian encampment, slaughtering 300 Indian. The Cheyenne and Arapaho had been given an American flag to prevent such an event from occurring, but an army colonel chose to disregard it.

Nov 29 1944
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Malcolm X, then known as small-time criminal Malcolm Little, was arrested for larceny. He received a three months suspended sentence and one year probation.

Nov 29 1961
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The US sends the chimpanzee Enos into space, on the Mercury Atlas 5 capsule from Cape Canaveral.

Nov 29 1986
Death of 82 year old Archibald Leach, better known as Cary Grant. While rumors of Grant's sexuality have been around for years, consider in perspective the words of US congressman Bob Dornan, spoken on the House floor: "I do not think Cary Grant was a homosexual or bisexual. He just got carried away at those orgies."

Nov 29 1987
The KAL flight from Abu Dhabi to Bankgok explodes due to a bomb planted by North Korean agents, off Burma. All 115 aboard were killed. The two agents responsible take suicide pills in Bahrain while they were being questioned.

Nov 29 2001
The "quiet" Beatle George Harrison silenced by cancer.

1777 - San Jose, California, founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.

1781 - The crew of the slave ship Zong murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea in order to claim insurance.

1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.

1922 - Howard Carter opened the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun to the public.

1950 - Korean War: North Korean and Chinese troops force United Nations forces to retreat from North Korea.

1972 - Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari released Pong (the first commercially successful video game) in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, Calif.

1975 - The name "Micro-soft" (for "microcomputer software") is first used in a letter from Bill Gates to Paul Allen.

1990 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes United Nations Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing "use all necessary means to uphold and implement" United Nations Security Council Resolution 660 "to restore international peace and security" if Iraq did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.

Births

1898 - C. S. Lewis, Irish writer (d. 1963) (The Chronicles of Narnia.)

1940 - Denny Doherty, Canadian singer (The Mamas and the Papas) (d. 2007)

1951 - Barry Goudreau, American musician (Boston)

1958 - Michael Dempsey, American musician (The Cure)

1962 - Andy LaRocque Swedish musician (King Diamond)

1970 - Mark Pembridge, Welsh footballer

1973 - Ryan Giggs, Welsh footballer

1982 - Krystal Steal, American pornographic actress

Deaths

1986 - Cary Grant, British-born American actor (b. 1904)

2001 - George Harrison, English singer, guitarist and songwriter (b. 1943)

[Cymru am byth]

Nov 30 1731
100,000 dead when a massive quake strikes Peking, China.

Nov 30 1900
Celebrated Irish author/sodomite Oscar Wilde, dies in Paris of meningitis. Wilde had been charged three times with indecency, specifically "the seduction and corruption of young men." Evidence admitted against him included testimony about fecal stains on his sheets.
Nov 30 1929
Dick Clark, the American Bandstander, born. We heard a rumor about extensive facial plasticizing treatments in the early 1970's. While this rumor remains unverified we must note that the man no longer ages and may not even be human.

Nov 30 1954
At 1 pm, an 8.5 pound stone meteorite falls from the sky and strikes Elizabeth Hulitt Hodge from Sylacauga, Alabama. The housewife was seriously bruised but survived, although the meteorite destroyed her radio.

Nov 30 1985
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-frankenchrist.jpg
Frankenchrist released by the Dead Kennedys. More controversial than the album itself was the packaging: The Shriners filed suit regarding the cover (pictured were some of the ridiculous little cars they drive); and a poster by H.R. Giger included in the album sparked an obscenity trial in Los Angeles.

Nov 30 1991
In Costa Mesa, California, battered wife Omeima Nelson kills her abusive husband and then proceeds to cook him. "I did his ribs just like in a restaurant. It's so sweet, it's so tender and delicious. I like mine tender."

Nov 30 1994
Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot five times in the chest in what may or may not have been an attempted robbery. He lives but is shot dead in Las Vegas, Nevada later.

1782 - American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris (1783) — In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).

1803 - In New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transfer Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.

1872 - The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.

1934 - The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman becomes the first to officially exceed 100mph.

1936 - In London, the Crystal Palace destroyed by fire.

1942 - World War II Guadalcanal Campaign: Battle of Tassafaronga — A smaller squadron of Japanese destroyers led by Raizo Tanaka defeats a a US cruiser force under Carleton H. Wright.

1943 - World War II: Tehran Conference — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin establish an agreement concerning the planned June 1944 invasion of Europe code named Operation Overlord.

1966 - Barbados becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

1967 - The People's Republic of South Yemen becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

1981 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe

1982 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher receives a parcel bomb at 10 Downing Street.

1995 - Official end of Operation Desert Storm

1999 - British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defence contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.

2005 - John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.

Births

1719 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (d. 1772)

1835 - Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain), American writer (d. 1910)

1874 - Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)

1955 - Billy Idol, British musician

1957 - John Ashton, English guitarist (Psychedelic Furs)

1973 - John Moyer, American bassist (Disturbed)

1975 - Ben Thatcher, Welsh footballer

1976 - Josh Lewsey, English rugby union footballer

Deaths

1016 - Edmund II of England

1900 - Oscar Wilde, Irish writer (b. 1854)

Holidays and observances

Barbados - Independence Day (from Britain, 1966)

Philippines - Andres Bonifacio Day

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 1 1934
Politburo member Sergei Kirov killed by Leonid Nikolayev on orders of Josef Stalin. The assassination is used as an excuse to commence the Great Terror in the years 1935 to 1939, in which 800,000 were executed and over 8.5 million arrested. But these figures pale in comparison to the 47 million who died from Stalinist collectivization and other purges.

Dec 1 1947
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-crowley-th.jpg
Aleister Crowley, the wickedest man in the world, dead in Hastings England, aged 74. He wrote that "for nearly all purposes, human sacrifice is best", and taught the Law of Thelema, "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." Crowley also appears on the cover of Beatles' Sgt. Pepper.

Dec 1 1958
An intentionally-set trash fire at the Our Lady of Angels school kills three nuns and more than 90 students in Chicago. Many of the students leaped to their deaths.

Dec 1 1976
The Sex Pistols appear on a British TV show to fill in the place of orchestral band Queen. The boozed-up punks are goaded by the host, Bill Grundy, to "say something outrageous." Several fucks later, the band is suddenly a notorious example for the press.

Dec 1 1997
A high school student in Paducah, Kentucky opens fire on fellow students during a prayer service. The 14-year-old freshman student was armed with a .22-caliber Lugar handgun and earplugs. Two Bible thumpers are killed, the rest are only injured.

Dec 1 1997
Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson files suit against Anabolic Video Productions, the makers of Gang Bang #20, a hardcore pornographic film in which biker bitches are filmed having sex on the company's brand of motorcycle, and atop other promotional merchandise bearing the brand name. Harley claims that the film may confuse viewers into believing that the company authorized or endorsed the activities.

Dec 1 1997
Member of the Georgia Senate Ralph Abernathy attempts to smuggle marijuana into the US from Jamaica in his underwear. He is caught by a drug-sniffing canine and fined $500. Abernathy is the son of the famous civil rights leader of the same name who was Martin Luther King's lieutenant. In January he is censured by the Georgia State Senate.
1420 - Henry V of England enters Paris.

1824 - U.S. presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task to decide the winner (as stipulated by the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution).

1835 - Hans Christian Andersen publishes first book of fairy tales

1860 - Charles Dickens publishes the first installment of Great Expectations in his magazine All the Year Round.

1864 - In his State of the Union Address President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation.

1913 - Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.

1919 - Lady Astor becomes first female member of the British Parliament to take her seat (she had been elected to that position on November 28).

1925 - World War I aftermath: - The final Locarno Treaty is signed in London, establishing post-war territorial settlements.

1941 - World War II: Fiorello LaGuardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signed Administrative Order 9 creating the Civil Air Patrol.

1952 - The New York Daily News reports the first successful sexual reassignment operation.

1955 - American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1958 - Central African Republic becomes independent from France.

1959 - Cold War: Antarctic Treaty signed , which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent.

1961 - The independent Republic of West Papua is proclaimed in modern-day Western New Guinea.

1973 - Papua New Guinea gains self government from Australia.

1982 - At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.

1982 - Michael Jackson releases his second solo album Thriller, which became the biggest selling album of all time.

1990 - Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the seabed.

Births

1761 - Marie Tussaud, French creator of wax sculptures (Madame Tussauds) (d. 1850)

1944 - Eric Bloom, American musician (Blue Öyster Cult)

1944 - John Densmore, American drummer (The Doors)

1946 - Gilbert O'Sullivan, Irish singer

1949 - Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (d. 1993)

1954 - Annette Haven, American porn star

1961 - Armin Meiwes, German cannibal

1977 - Brad Delson, American guitarist (Linkin Park)

Deaths

1135 - Henry I of England

1866 - George Everest, Welsh surveyor and namesake of Mt. Everest (d. 1790)

Holidays and observances

World AIDS Day

Portugal - Restoration of Independence Day

Costa Rica - Military Abolition Day

Romania - The National Day of Romania, Union of Transylvania with Romania

Angola - Pioneers' Day

Australia - First day of Summer

[Big Ozzie]

Dec 1 1997
Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson files suit against Anabolic Video Productions, the makers of Gang Bang #20, a hardcore pornographic film in which biker bitches are filmed having sex on the company's brand of motorcycle, and atop other promotional merchandise bearing the brand name. Harley claims that the film may confuse viewers into believing that the company authorized or endorsed the activities.


LOL...I guess Harley Davidson had a "Hard On" for the Producers! LMFAO!

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 2 1814
Death of the Marquis de Sade, in a lunatic asylum at Charenton. The good Marquis wrote, "There is a kind of pleasure which comes from sacrilege or the profanation of the objects offered us for worship."

Dec 2 1938
Albert Kessel and Robert Lee Cannon put down in California's new gas chamber. The executions are a smashing success.

Dec 2 1956
The Mad Bomber strikes! At Brooklyn's Paramount Theater, injuring 7. The bomber terrorized New York City between 1940 and 1956.

Dec 2 1964
Beatle Ringo Starr has his tonsils removed at University College Hospital in London, causing him to miss part of the Scandinavian and Far East tour.

Dec 2 1980
Four American churchwomen -- three nuns and a lay worker -- are raped, murdered, and buried outside El Salvador's capital, San Salvador. Five national guardsmen are convicted in the killings, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Dec 2 1994
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-fleiss-th.jpg
Heidi Fleiss, the "Hollywood Madam," is convicted of three counts of felony pandering. She provided prostitutes to Hollywood celebrities.

Dec 2 1997
David Afuta, the hairdresser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is found dead with two bullets in his chest at in his apartment after a murder/suicide. The other victim, Anat Elimelech, had one bullet in her. It is not clear which person pulled the trigger. The incident sends the Israeli media into a tizzy.

Dec 2 1997
The bodies of three children who were victims of a human sacrifice performed by their parents are dug up in Caratal village, Trinidad. The three children, the offspring of Kenrick and Chandrowtie London variously aged 17 months to 3 years, had been sacrificed in a religious ceremony that was intended to bring prosperity.

1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.

1804 - At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.

1823 - Monroe Doctrine: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts.

1845 - Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.

1851 - Newly-elected French President Charles Louis Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic.

1852 - Napoleon III becomes Emperor of the French.

1867 - In a New York City theater, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.

1908 - Child Emperor Pu Yi ascends the Chinese throne at the age of two

1927 - Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.

1942 - Manhattan Project: A team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

1943 - A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks an American ship with a mustard gas stockpile. Numerous fatalities (though the exact death toll is unresolved as the bombing raid itself caused hundreds of deaths too).

1946 - British Government invites four Indian leaders, Nehru, Baldev Singh, Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan to obtain the participation of all parties in the Constituent Assembly.

1954 - The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and the Republic of China, is signed in Washington, DC.

1956 - The Granma yacht reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente province and Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.

1961 - In a nationally-broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.

1971 - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm Al Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.

1976 - Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.

1990 - A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932.

1999 - The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.

Births

1941 - Tom McGuinness, British musician (Manfred Mann)

1960 - Nicholas Dingley alias Razzle, British Drummer (Hanoi Rocks)

1960 - Rick Savage, British bassist (Def Leppard)

1968 - Nate Mendel, American bassist (Foo Fighters)

1978 - Chris Wolstenholme, British bassist (Muse)

1981 - Isabella Soprano, American pornographic actress

1981 - Britney Spears, American singer

Deaths

1997 - Shirley Crabtree, (Big Daddy) British professional wrestler (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

Laos - National Day

United Arab Emirates - National Day (independence from Britain, 1971)

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery - United Nations

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 3 1890
Isaac Jordan, the U.S. Congressional Representative from the great state of Ohio, dies after an interesting elevator accident in Cincinnati.

Dec 3 1948
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-ozzy-potty-th.jpg
Ozzy Osbourne's birthday. "I never set out to be a businessman. I just wanted to have fun, fuck chicks and do drugs."

Dec 3 1968
Elvis makes a comeback! Only slightly chunkier than in the old days, everyone thought he was a has-been. Elvis sure showed them.

Dec 3 1974
Civil aviation authorities in England issue a warning to pilots to avoid a 40 foot long inflated pig. The aeropork had escaped its tether during a Pink Floyd photo shoot. Radar contact was lost at 18,000 feet.

Dec 3 1979
At Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, eleven concertgoers variously aged 15 to 27 years are trampled and suffocated trying to get in to see The Who. Insufficient exits were available, and a request by police to open more was ignored.

Dec 3 1984
Methyl isocyanate leaks from a Union Carbide pesticide plant located at a slum in Bhopal, India. The gas kills 4,000 people and injures 200,000 others, many of whom were permanently blinded or disabled. The event set a standard for industrial accidents that has yet to be equalled.

Dec 3 1997
Former Mouseketeer Darlene Gillespie is arrested in Los Angeles for obstructing justice and lying about a securities fraud scam. The fifty-six-year-old former child star had tried to make stock transactions at a public company without paying.

1818 - Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.

1854 - Eureka Stockade: In what is claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy, more than 20 goldminers at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences.

1937 - The Dandy, the UK's longest-running comic, is first published.

1967 - At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky).

1971 - Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: India invades East Pakistan and a full scale war begins claiming hundreds of lives.

1989 - Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the cold war between their nations may be coming to an end (some commentators from both nations exaggerated the wording and independently declared the Cold War over).

1992 - UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, tasked with establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid is distributed in Somalia.

1997 - In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.

Births

1948 - Ozzy Osbourne, English singer

1949 - Mickey Thomas, American singer (Jefferson Starship)

1969 - Bill Steer, British guitarist (Napalm Death, Carcass, Firebird)

1976 - Byron Kelleher, New Zealand rugby union footballer

Deaths

1980 - Oswald Mosley, British Facist politician (b. 1896)

1999 - Scatman John, American singer (b. 1942)

[supanovaz]

coincidences are quiet amazing!

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 4 1930
Rhythm method accepted by the Vatican as an approved method of birth control.

Dec 4 1978
Dianne Feinstein named mayor of San Francisco after the assassination of Mayor Moscone, jump-starting her otherwise pathetic political career. The pro-censorship bitch is now a US Senator, and carries a handgun for protection while campaigning to prohibit others from doing so.

Dec 4 1988
Actor Gary Busey seriously injured in a near-fatal motorcycle crash, which he states also caused an out-of-body experience. Busey was not wearing his helmet, but after the accident told the press he would continue pursuing his out-of-helmet experiences.

Dec 4 1993
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-zappabug-th.jpg
Frank Zappa dead of prostate cancer in Los Angeles at age 52.

1259 - Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.

1619 - 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God (this is considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas).

1639 - Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus

1674 - Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).

1791 - The first issue of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.

1829 - In the face of fierce opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck carries a regulation declaring that all who abetted suttee in India were guilty of culpable homicide.

1872 - The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship was abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged).

1875 - Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.

1881 - The Los Angeles Times is first published.

1918 - US President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.

1921 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.

1942 - Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Filipowicz set up the Żegota organization.

1943 - World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.

1943 - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.

1945 - By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (the UN was eestablished on October 24, 1945).

1969 - Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.

1969 - Surfer Greg Noll rides a 65-foot high wave off the North Shore of Oahu, still the highest ocean surfing ever recorded.

1971 - UN Security Council calls emergency session to consider deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.

1971 - Attack on Pakistan Navy and Karachi by the Indian Navy.

1971 - The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".

1980 - The rock group Led Zeppelin formally announces its breakup.

1981 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).

1992 - Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia, east Africa.

2006 - Adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.

[U]Births

1840 - Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief (d. 1877)

1942 - Chris Hillman, American singer (The Byrds)

1944 - Dennis Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1983)

1947 - Terry Woods, Irish musician (The Pogues, Steeleye Span)

1951 - Gary Rossington, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Deaths

1214 - William I of Scotland

1828 - Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 5 1484
Pope Innocent VIII orders an Inquisition to uncover and execute witches in Europe. Witchcraft becomes a heresy, and over the next three centuries 200,000 accused witches die under most unpleasant circumstances.

Dec 5 1928
In order to protect United Fruit Company employees from striking banana workers, the government declares martial law in Santa Marta, Colombia. Over the next three weeks, Colombian troops kill between 500 and 600 strikers.

Dec 5 1933
Fourteen years of prohibition end when Utah ratifies the 21st amendment. Let the good times roll.

Dec 5 1991
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-richard-speck.jpg
Richard Speck, murderer who killed 8 nurses, dies of natural causes while incarcerated. Somehow he managed to grow breasts while in prison, which was recorded on a videotape aired five years after his death. Behind bars Speck apparently was a black man's bitch, and he didn't mind sucking a little cock now and then. "If they only knew how much fun I was having, they would turn me loose."

Dec 5 1997
South African serial killer Moses Sithole sentenced to 2,410 years for the serial killing of 38 people in 1994 and 1995, as well as 40 rapes and various lesser offenses.

Dec 5 1997
Fairfield, CA resident Alan Hall is rushed to the NorthBay Medical Center in a vain attempt to reattach his amputated penis. Hall informs police that the assailant, a mysterious woman named Brenda, had sliced it off at the base with an X-Acto knife following sex. Authorities ultimately determine the wound to be self-inflicted.

1492 - Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola.

1715 - Alexander Dalzeel, a Scottish privateer in French service, is executed in London, England.

1766 - In London, James Christie holds his first sale.

1932 - German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.

1934 - Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), taking four days to capture the city.

1941 - World War II: In Battle of Moscow Zhukov launched a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.

1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.

1943 - World War II: U.S. Air force begins Operation Crossbow attacking Germany's secret weapons bases.

1944 - World War II: Allied troops occupy Ravenna.

1945 - Flight 19 is lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

1958 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.

1958 - The Preston bypass, the UK's first stretch of motorway opens to traffic for the first time, now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.

1978 - The Soviet Union signs a 'friendship treaty' with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

2005 - The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.

Births

1782 - Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862)

1901 - Walt Disney, American animated film producer (d. 1966)

1932 - Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman), American singer and pianist

1960 - Jack Russell, American singer (Great White)

1963 - Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, British ski jumper :1orglaugh:

1975 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, British snooker player

1976 - Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby player

Deaths

1895 - Chief Gall, Sioux chief (b. 1840)

1926 - Claude Monet, French impressionist painter (b. 1840)

1993 - Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (Gin Blossoms) (b. 1961)

Holidays and observances

Austria - Krampus

Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands and the UK - Saint Nicholas Eve (whom Dutch speakers call Sinterklaas, which became in other languages Santa Claus)

Thailand - The King's Birthday, National Day, Father's Day

Day of the Ninja

first full day of Hanukkah in 2007

Repeal Day celebrating the American 21st amendment which ended prohibition

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 6 1793
Guillotining of Mme. du Barry, mistress of Louis XV. "She screamed, she begged mercy of the horrible crowd that stood around the scaffold, she aroused them to such a point that the executioner grew anxious and hastened to complete his task."

Dec 6 1917
At 9:05 AM, the French munitions ship Mont Blanc explodes in Halifax harbor, Nova Scotia after being struck by another ship. It is the largest explosion before the atomic age. The ship was carrying 200 tons of TNT, 61 tons of gun cotton, 35 tons of Benzyl, and 2,300 tons of picric acid; the explosion destroys 325 acres of the city, leaving 1,900 people dead and injuring over 9,000.

Dec 6 1969
A concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont ends in the death of Meredith Hunter at the hands of the Hells Angels, who were hired for security.

Dec 6 1980
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-jim-bakker-th.jpg
Televangelist Jim Bakker of the PTL ministry has a 15 minute quickie in a motel room with Jessica Hahn. The minister uses the line "When you help the shepherd, you're helping the sheep". Baaaa. PTL later pays Hahn hush money, but seven years later the incident becomes public and Bakker resigns in disgrace.

Dec 6 1987
Three teenagers in Missouri beat a friend to death and blame the incident on heavy metal inspired satanism. The jury didn't buy their story, instead finding a pattern of drug use among the youths and evidence of animal torture during childhood by their ringleader.

Dec 6 1989
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-marc-lepine.jpg
Marc Lepine kills 14 women at Ecole Polytechnic, University of Montreal, and injures 15 others. It is the worst mass murder in Canadian history. On him is a suicide letter explaining his actions as being specific revenge against 19 "feminists who have ruined my life... I have decided to put an end to those viragos."

1768 - The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.

1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.

1877 - The first edition of the Washington Post is published.

1884 - The Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is completed.

1897 - London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs.

1921 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives

1922 - One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.

1947 - The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.

Births

1421 - King Henry VI of England (d. 1471)

1955 - Rick Buckler, British drummer (The Jam)

1956 - Peter Buck, American guitarist (R.E.M.)

1956 - Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)

1957 - Adrian Borland, English musician (The Sound) (d. 1999)

1958 - Nick Park, British filmmaker and animator ( Aardman Animation)

1961 - David Lovering, American drummer (Pixies)

Deaths

343 - Saint Nicholas

1988 - Roy Orbison, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances

Canada - National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Finland - Independence Day (from Russia, 1917)

Spain - Constitution Day

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 7 1941
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-oahu-bombed.jpg
A Day That Will Live In Infamy.

Dec 7 1982
Texas murderer Charlie Brooks becomes the first person executed in the United States by that newfangled lethal injection.

Dec 7 1982
Armenian earthquake kills 100,000.

Dec 7 1987
David Burke, a recently fired airline employee, stalks his ex-boss onboard a Pacific Southwest Airline jet. He shoots the man in mid-flight and causes the plane to crash, killing all 43 people on board.

Dec 7 1993
Colin Ferguson opens fire on the Long Island Railroad, killing 6 and injuring 17 others. His attorney William Kunstler tried to use a "black rage" defense, but Ferguson fired him and represented himself. What resulted was a bizarre proceeding of Ferguson claiming innocence and that he was a "patsy" of the government. The trial ended with six consecutive life sentences.

Dec 7 1995
Disgruntled postal employee John Pitney arrives at his Denver workplace in a dress and is placed on administrative leave. Pitney returns later that day in the same dress but sporting a strap-on dildo and gorilla mask. He is arrested. God bless America and God bless the US Postal Service.
1732 - The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London.

1787 - Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the US Constitution.

1889 - The Gondoliers - one of the most popular of the comic operas created by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan - opens in London

1917 - World War I: The US declares war on Austria-Hungary.

1941 - World War II: Canada declares war on Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Japan.

1941 - World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor - The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the US Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1988 - Yasser Arafat recognizes the right of Israel to exist.


Births

1958 - Tim Butler, English musician (Psychedelic Furs)

1960 - Craig Scanlon, English guitarist (The Fall)

1971 - Chasey Lain, American pornographic actress

1973 - Fabien Pelous, French international rugby player

1977 - Dominic Howard, English drummer (Muse)

Deaths

1980 - Darby Crash, American punk-rock legend (the Germs) (b. 1958)

2005 - Lucy d'Abreu, was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom from April 2004 until her death (b. 1892)

Holidays and observances

US - Pearl Harbor Day (observance)

Colombia - Día de las Velitas (Day of the Candles): Festivity

India - The Armed Forces Flag Day

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 8 1941
The day after Pearl Harbor, the 4th Interceptor Command reports two formations of enemy planes approaching Los Angeles, spotted in the San Francisco area. Fortunately, the seagulls do not bomb the city.

Dec 8 1963
Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He was set free four days later. It was discovered that Sinatra, Jr. cooperated with his abductors in their plot. Dad was not proud, nor pleased. Frank Jr. went on to conduct the big band for Frank Sr. and all was well.

Dec 8 1980 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-last-picture-of-lennon.jpg

Beatle John Lennon shot by a lunatic, Mark David Chapman, outside Lennon's apartment in New York City mere hours after receiving the Beatle's autograph. The National Enquirer is roundly criticized for publishing a fuzzy photograph of Lennon in his coffin, much as they did for Elvis Presley.

Dec 8 1982
Norman D. Mayer barricades himself inside the Washington Monument with hostages and declares that he will blow it up unless all nuclear weapons are dismantled. He is shot by police after 10 hours.

Dec 8 1983
The top elected official in Maricopa County, AZ, declines to resign after a remark that "homosexuals ought to be used instead of animals" for medical experimentation.

Dec 8 1987
Intifada begins in Palestine.

Dec 8 1988
The cities of Leninakan and Spitak are totally destroyed in a massive Armenian earthquake that kills over 50,000.

Dec 8 1997 Actor Robert Downey Jr. sentenced to six months in prison for probation violations related to drug charges.


1864 - The Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon in Bristol, England was officially opened.

1914 - World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands - The Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee is engaged by the Royal Navy.

1940 - The Chicago Bears defeat the Washington Redskins 73-0, in the NFL Championship Game. This is the most lopsided game in NFL history.

1941 - World War II: The Japanese invade the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S. Congress pass a declaration of war against Japan.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - the Republic of China officially declares war against Japan.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in China issues a proclamation which declared war against Japan and Germany on behalf of Korean people, who were under Japanese occupation since 1910.

1941 - World War II: First Japanese attack on Wake Island.

1941 - Holocaust: Gas vans are first used as a means of execution, at the Chelmno extermination camp near Łódź in Poland.

1942 - Holocaust: in Ternopil, Ukraine, German SS organise the last deportation of Ternopil Jews to death camp in Belzec, when 1,400 Jews were sent there. The chief of the Gestapo, SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Müller, bore overall responsibility for the mass murder of the Jews of Ternopil and Berezhany county.

1980 - Mark David Chapman shoots John Lennon in front of The Dakota apartment building with five bullets, murdering him.

1991 - The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Births

1542 - Mary Queen of Scots (d. 1587)

1943 - Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)

1957 - Phil Collen, British guitarist (Def Leppard)

1962 - Marty Friedman, American guitarist (Megadeth)

1973 - Corey Taylor, American singer (Slipknot, Stone Sour)

1977 - Sébastien Chabal, French international rugby player

1978 - John Oster, Welsh footballer

1986 - Amir Khan, British boxer

Deaths

1914 - Maximilian von Spee, German naval officer (Battle of the Falkland Islands WWI)(b. 1861)

1975 - Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep)(Heroin O.D) (b. 1948)

1980 - John Lennon, English musician and peace activist(Murdered) (b. 1940)

2004 - Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Abbott), American guitarist (Pantera)(Murdered on stage)(b. 1966)

Holidays and observances

Buddhism - The Enlightenment of Gautama Buddha (Bodhi Day)

Bulgaria - Day of the Student

Italy - In Milan, the opera season starts.

Austria - Public Holiday.

Malta - Public Holiday.

Romania - Constitution Day

Panama - Mother's Day

Spain - Immaculate Conception - Day of the National Army

Portugal - Immaculate Conception - Day of the national Patron Saint

France - Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights) held in Lyon to honor the Virgin Mary.

International - Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 9 1783
Executions begin at Newgate Prison, London, replacing the previous gallows at Tyburn.

Dec 9 1967
Jim Morrison, vocalist for the Doors, arrested for immoral exhibition at one of his concerts. The arrest was due to him upsetting police -- he was maced, then made the error of badmouthing police onstage -- not for exposing his weenie.

Dec 9 1971
Indian air force bombs an orphanage in Pakistan, killing 300 children.

Dec 9 1994
Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders dismissed after suggesting discussion of masturbation in school classes on sexuality. This gives rise to the euphemistic term "firing the surgeon general."

Dec 9 1997
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-christian-slater-mugshot.jpg
Actor Christian Slater sentenced to 90 days in jail for battery and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was arrested August 11 after a cocaine and heroin binge ending with him assaulting an officer.

Dec 9 1999
President Bill Clinton signs legislation outlawing "crush videos," which generally involve women stomping frogs, mice, or other small animals with high heels. This fetish is definitely a niche market.

1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster.

1835 - The Republic of Texas captures San Antonio.

1851 - The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec.

1856 - The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.

1892 - The football clubs Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End merge to form Newcastle United F.C.

1905 - In France, the law separating church and state is passed.

1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing.

1940 - World War II: Operation Compass - British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.

1941 - World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and the Philippine Commonwealth, declare war on Germany and Japan.

1941 - World War II: The 19th Bombardment Group attack Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon.

1946 - The "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" began with the "Doctors' Trial", prosecuting doctors alleged to be involved in human experimentation.

1950 - Harry Gold is sentenced to thirty years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

1961 - The trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Israel ends with him being found guilty of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of an outlawed organization.

1961 - Tanganyika becomes independent from Britain.

1979 - The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.

Births

1950 - Joan Armatrading, West Indian-born British singer

1958 - Nick Seymour, Australian bassist (Crowded House)

1964 - Paul Landers, German guitarist (Rammstein)

1968 - Brian Bell, American guitarist (Weezer)

1972 - Tre Cool, German-born American drummer (Green Day)

Deaths

1165 - King Malcolm IV of Scotland

1984 - Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, British drummer (Hanoi Rocks) (b. 1960)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 10 1520
The heretic Martin Luther burnt the papal bull issued by Leo X, titled "Exsurge Domine", demanding an end to his heresies. Luther had published 95 points against the practice of granting indulgences, and the Catholic Church only had 94 points in favor of them. Although technically he was the winner, Luther was subsequently excommunicated.

Dec 10 1792
"That if any do commit the detestable and abominable vice of Buggery, with man or beast, he or she so offending, shall be adjudged a felon, and shall suffer death, in the case of felony, without the benefit of Clergy." (Act of General Assembly of Virginia)

Dec 10 1958
Ralph Muller and Peter Kamenoff, two ex-members of the Fountain of the World religious cult, accost guru Krishna Venta at the cult's hillside compound in Box Canyon, Ventura County, California. The men accuse Venta of having fucked their wives. For whatever reason Venta, the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and formerly known as Francis Pencovic, is unable to placate the men. So they detonate 20 sticks of dynamite they brought, 19 of which are strictly overkill. The three men are instantly blown to pieces along with 7 other cultees. Venta's remains are only ever identified through dental records.

Dec 10 1967
Soul singer Otis Redding plus four members of the Bar-Kays are killed in an airplane crash near Madison, Wisconsin.

Dec 10 1993
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-ein-volk.jpg
Adolf Hitler is baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in a ceremony performed inside their London temple. Mormons use this strange retroactive baptismal ritual to ensure ancestors or other relatives may join them in heaven.

Dec 10 1994 The Unabomber strikes, killing Thomas J Mosser, an advertising executive in North Caldwell, New Jersey. Mosser, Executive VP of Young & Rubicam, had assisted Exxon with public relations after the Exxon Valdez spill.

1541 - Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.

1684 - Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.

1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.

1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.

1907 - The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clashed with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals who have been vivisected.

1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs his Instrument of Abdication.

1941 - World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya.

1941 - World War II: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland.

1949 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.

Births

1394 - King James I of Scotland (d. 1437)

1972 - Brian Molko, Belgian-born singer and songwriter (Placebo)

1974 - Meg White, American drummer (The White Stripes)

Deaths

2006 - Augusto Pinochet, military president of Chile (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

Human Rights Day - United Nations

Presentation Ceremony of the Nobel Prize

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 11 1957
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-jerry-lee-and-myra-gail-th.jpg
Rocker Jerry Lee Lewis marries his jailbait 13 year old cousin, Myra Gail Brown. Myra's parents are not told of their coupling until the story was broken by the press the following year. Lewis neglects to divorce his wife Jane Mitcham until April 1958.

Dec 11 1960
In Palm Beach, Florida, retired postmaster Richard Pavlick chooses at the last moment not to ram John F. Kennedy's car and detonate his seven sticks of dynamite. Pavlick later explains that it was out of concern for Jackie: "I did not wish to harm her or the children... I decided to get him at the church or someplace later."

Dec 11 1985
Computer rental store owner Hugh Scrutton is killed outside his Sacramento business when he investigates a package left by the Unabomber. It's his first confirmed kill.

Dec 11 1988
62 people were killed when tons of illegal fireworks exploded in a Mexico City marketplace.

Dec 11 1991
William Kennedy Smith is acquitted of rape charges, stemming from an incident at the Kennedy Compound.



1282 - Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Gruffudd (b. c. 1228) the last native Prince of Wales, was killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales. He was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by King Edward I of England. Some would say he was the penultimate, but in effect he was the last ruler. In Welsh, he is remembered by the alliterative soubriquet Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf (Llywelyn, Our Last Leader).

1816 - Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state

1886 - Dial Square FC, a football club from Woolwich, London that will eventually become known as Arsenal FC, play their first match, a 6-0 win over Eastern Wanderers.

1917 - British troops take Jerusalem from the troops of the Ottoman Empire

1931 - The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.

1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective.

1937 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations

1941 - World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.

1964 - Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fired a mortar shell at the building during the speech.

1994 - First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya

2005 - The Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead, England is rocked by explosions, causing a huge oil fire.

2005 - Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by ethnic attacks on Cronulla.

Births

1940 - David Gates, American musician (Bread)

1958 - Nikki Sixx, American musician (Mötley Crüe)

Deaths

1971 - Maurice "Mac" McDonald, American fast-food pioneer (b. 1902)

Holidays and observances

Argentina - Tango Day, Buenos Aires

USA - Admission day for Indiana (19th state, 1816)

USA - Governor Ralph Carr Day, Colorado's State Holiday since 2002

Wales - Remembrance Day of Llywelyn II

Philippines - Pampanga Day, local official holiday

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 12 1917
The worst train wreck in history, leaving 543 Frenchmen dead.

Dec 12 1937
US gunboat Panay is sunk by the Japanese military on the Yangtze River by a combined action of bombing, dive bombing, and strafing. Japan apologized, disciplining those involved and paying $2.2M reparations.

Dec 12 1980
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-devo.jpg
"Whip It" earns Devo a gold record. It is the first distinction of its kind for any song about masturbation. Whip it good.

Dec 12 1989
Leona Helmsley fined $7 million and sentenced to jail for 21 months for tax evasion. They made the bitch serve 900 hours of community service.

Dec 12 1991 Richard Gere (claims he is not gay) marries supermodel Cindy Crawford (ditto). Widespread rumors that Gere was intimate with a gerbil have yet to be verified.


1098 - First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan - Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.

1781 - American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, defeats a French fleet.

1812 - French invasion of Russia comes to an end.

1862 - USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.

1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.

1911 - Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.

1939 - Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi - Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.

1940 - World War II: Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.

1941 - World War II: Fifty four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesus Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cesar Basa is killed.

1941 - World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.

1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.

1948 - Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.

1956 - Commencement of the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign.

1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.

1982 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence.

1988 - The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains - one of the worst train crashes in Britain.

1991 - Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.

2000 - The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore

2006 - Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.

Births

1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)

1953 - Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (Kiss)

1965 - Will Carling, English rugby union footballer

1976 - Dan Hawkins, English guitarist (The Darkness)

1977 - Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, American triplet Playboy models

Deaths

2007 - Ike Turner, American singer, former husband of Tina Turner (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe Day

Kenya - Jamhuri Day: Independence Day (from Britain, 1963)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 13 303
The feast of St. Lucy. Because her extreme beauty attracted too many admirers, Lucy gouged her own eyes out. Miraculously they grew back. After refusing to marry, the Romans forced her to become a whore. Early depictions show Lucy offering her eyes on a platter; she is now the patron saint of Sicily and of opticians.

Dec 13 1937
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-rape-nanking.jpg
The Japanese Army occupies Nanking, China. For the next three weeks, with the unspoken permission of the army, soldiers literally rape the city, committing untold individual acts of atrocity and killing 350,000 civilians. The Rape of Nanking remains an event unacknowledged and unapologized by the Japanese government.

Dec 13 1942
A fire at a Knights of Columbus men's dance in St. Johns, Newfoundland cooks approximately 100 people. The exits were locked.

Dec 13 1973
The Reverend Jim Jones is arrested in a cruisy movie theater bathroom in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Jones had the bad luck to hit on an undercover LAPD vice officer while masturbating in the Westlake Theatre men's room.

Dec 13 1990
Twelve people die in a religious sacrifice in Tijuana. Industrial alcohol is introduced into fruit punch of ceremony recipients. It is unknown whether the incident constituted suicide or murder.

1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.

1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.

1643 - English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.

1769 - Dartmouth College founded by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal Governor John Wentworth.

1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese.

1938 - The Holocaust: 100 deportees from Sachsenhausen build the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg.

1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.

1941 - World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.

1943 - World War II: 710 Bombers of U.S. 8th Air Force attack Kiel, Germany.

1949 - The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.

2002 - Enlargement of the European Union: The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.

2003 - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit

2006 - The Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, announced as extinct.

Births

1948 - Jeff Baxter, American guitarist (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers)

1948 - Ted Nugent, American guitarist

1974 - Nicholas McCarthy, English guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)

1977 - Peter Stringer, Irish rugby union footballer (scrum half)

1981 - Amy Lee, American singer/songwriter (Evanescence)

Deaths

1945 - Irma Grese, Nazi war criminal (Hanged)(b. 1923)

1945 - Josef Kramer, commandant of Bergen Belsen concentration camp (Hanged)(b. 1906)

1945 - Elisabeth Volkenrath, supervisor at concentration camps (Hanged) (b. 1919)

2001 - Chuck Schuldiner, American musician (Death) (pneumonia) (b. 1967)

2002 - Zal Yanovsky, American musician (The Lovin' Spoonful)( congestive heart failure)(b. 1945)

2005 - Timothy Jordan II, American musician (The All American Rejects, Jonezetta)(suicide.) (b. 1981)

Holidays and observances

Malta - Republic Day (since 1974)

St. Lucia's Day in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and some regions of Italy

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 14 1503
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-nostradamus-th.jpg
Nostradamus born. If you write vague enough prophecies, they will fool almost anyone.

Dec 14 1944
Lupe Velez, Hollywood's "Mexican Spitfire" of the 1940's, commits suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Contrary to her plans of being found laid out on the bed in a silk nightgown, she is instead discovered in the bathroom with her head in the toilet. Her ex-husband, Tarzan star Johnny Weismuller, frequently used to beat her.

Dec 14 1991
A ferry near Safaga, Egypt on the Red Sea strikes a coral reef, drowning more than 460 passengers.


1287 - St. Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.

1542 - Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland.

1751 - The Theresian Military Academy (Austria) is founded as the first Military Academy in the world.

1782 - The Montgolfier brothers first balloon lifts on its very first test flight.

1819 - Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.

1825 - Advocates of Liberalism in Russia rise up against Tsar Nicholas I and are put down in the Decembrist Revolt in St. Petersburg.

1896 - The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.

1903 - The Wright Brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1907 - The schooner Thomas W. Lawson runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Scilly Isles in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.

1911 - Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.

1939 - Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations.

1941 - German military commander of Kharkiv, Ukraine issues an order, under which the Jewish population was to move to the city periphery within 2 days, into the barracks of the works of a machine factory. In the next days 15,000 Jews are shot at Drobitsky Yar.

1941 - World War II: Japan signs treaty of alliance with Thailand.

1946 - The UN General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York City.

1955 - Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations.

1958 - The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first-ever to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility in the Antarctic.

1959 - The Motown record label is founded in Detroit, Michigan by Berry Gordy.

2004 - The Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened.

Births

1895 - King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 1952)

1949 - Cliff Williams, English bassist (AC/DC)

1958 - Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Waterboys)

1958 - Spider Stacy, English musician (The Pogues)

1962 - Ginger Lynn (Ginger Lynn Allen), American adult film actress

1970 - Beth Orton, English singer-songwriter

1985 - Tom Smith, Welsh under 21's rugby union captain (Number 8)

Deaths

1542 - King James V of Scotland (b. 1512)

1799 - George Washington, first President of the United States (shock, asphyxia and dehydration)(b. 1732)

1860 - George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1784)

1861 - Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, consort of Queen Victoria (typhoid)(b. 1819)

1947 - Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 15 1944
En route to Paris, "swing" big band leader Glenn Miller vanishes over the English Channel. Miller, listed as Missing In Action, was serving as a Major in the Army Air Force Band when his plane went down.

Dec 15 1952
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-christine-jorgenson.jpg
Fashion photographer George Jorgenson has a Danish surgeon remove his various naughty bits, in the world's first sex-change operation. George emerges in New York as cabaret actress Christine Jorgenson.

Dec 15 1961
Nazi Adolf Eichmann, former Reichssicherheitshauptamt (that's a real word) bureaucrat, is sentenced to death by a Jerusalem court. Eichmann had been arrested in Argentina and smuggled to Israel the previous year.

Dec 15 1966
Walt Disney dead!

Dec 15 1988
Lori Davis, of Bay Shore NY, files suit against Mike Tyson over an incident in which Tyson played a little grabass with her at a nightclub.

Dec 15 1989
The man that masterminded a campaign of horror against the Colombian people, cartel leader Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, "El Mexicano", is killed by police in a shootout. Gacha had bombed an Avianca plane midflight, killing all 101 passengers, and truckbombed the National Police Headquarters in Bogota. The police were not happy with him.

Dec 15 1997
Thailand begins the mass cremation of some 21,347 dead, all unclaimed from the Poh Tek Tung cemetary in Bangkok. It is a new record.

1891 - James Naismith introduces the first version of basketball, with thirteen rules, a peach basket nailed to either end of his school's gymnasium, and two teams of nine players.

1914 - World War I: The Serbian Army recaptures Belgrade from the invading Austro-Hungarian Army.

1915 - World War I: Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig replaces John French, 1st Earl of Ypres as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force.

1917 - World War I: An armistice is reached between the new Bolshevik government and the Central Powers.

1941 - Annihilation of Jews in Kharkiv, Ukraine: in the proximity of the Rogan works, 8 km away from Kharkiv, in "Drobitsky Ravine" (Drobitsky Yar), over 15 000 Jews were shot, at -15 degrees C below zero.

1945 - Occupation of Japan: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as state religion of Japan.

1960 - Richard Paul Pavlick is arrested for attempting to blow up and assassinate the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy only four days earlier.

1976 - Samoa becomes a member of the UN.

1993 - History of Northern Ireland: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

1994 - The web browser Netscape Navigator 1.0 is released.

1994 - Palau becomes a member of the UN.

Births

1942 - Dave Clark, British musician (The Dave Clark Five)

1955 - Paul Simonon, English bassist (The Clash)

1980 - Sergio Pizzorno, English guitarist (Kasabian)

Deaths

1890 - Sitting Bull, Sioux nation leader (b. circa 1831)

1943 - Fats Waller, American musician (b. 1904)

1944 - Glenn Miller, American musician (later declared dead on this date, true date unknown) (b. 1904)

1966 - Walt Disney, American animator (b. 1901)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 16 1920
In Kansu, China, an 8.6 earthquake kills 180,000 people, mostly from building collapses. But 20,000 froze later because they were unwilling to reoccupy housing during the winter.

Dec 16 1943
At Auschwitz, Dr. Horst Schumann was radiating genitals of Jewish men and women. After a time their genitals were removed and sent to Berlin. Records from his experiments do not survive intact, but the daysheet for today indicates 90 castrations. What were they doing with all those balls?

Dec 16 1950
To fight "world conquest by communist imperialism" in Korea, President Truman declares a state of National Emergency. The order is still in effect, one of four current states of national emergency granting extraordinary powers.

Dec 16 1954
In San Carlos, Venezuela, a hairy dwarf creature attacks residents, then flees into a hovering disk shaped UFO. The creatures escape.

Dec 16 1977
The pinnacle of the Disco era attained with the release of the polyester-clad film Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta.

Dec 16 1985
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-castellano-whacked-th.jpg
John Gotti has Gambino boss Paul Castellano whacked at Spark's Steak House in Manhattan.


1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1689 - Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.

1707 - Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.

1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.

1850 - History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton.

1937 - Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.

1941 - World War II: Japanese occupy Miri, Sarawak

1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination should be deported to Auschwitz.

1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's German army engage in the Belgian Ardennes.

1971 - Bangladesh War of Independence & Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army simultaneously brings an end to both conflicts.

1971 - Independence Day of the State of Bahrain from British Protectorate Status

1991 - Independence of The Republic of Kazakhstan.

1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.

Births

1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)

1943 - Tony Hicks, British guitarist (The Hollies)

1949 - Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top)

1971 - Paul van Dyk, German Trance DJ

1975 - Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian musician (Billy Talent)

Deaths

1980 - Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (leukemia) (b. 1890)

2001 - Stuart Adamson, British musician (Suicide) (The Skids, Big Country)(b. 1958)

Holidays and observances

Bahrain - National Day

Bangladesh - Victory Day

Kazakhstan - Independence Day

South Africa - Day of Reconciliation

Afrikaners (South Africa) - Day of the Vow

Mexico - First day of Las Posadas

Philippines - First day of Misa de Gallo

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 17 1793
Children are executed by the new Guillotine invention for the first time, at Nantes France.

Dec 17 1944
Malmedy massacre, where 81 Americans of Battery B, 285th Field Artillery are killed by Waffen SS in Belgium.

Dec 17 1961
Adilson Marcelino Aviles sets a circus tent on fire at the Gran Circo Norte Americano, Niteroi Brazil, killing 323 people, mostly children. 500 other youngsters were badly burned in this worst circus fire in history. Aviles stated that he wanted revenge on circus owners.

Dec 17 1969
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-project-blue-book-th.jpg
The US Air Force terminates Project Blue Book, which investigated reports of UFO's.

Dec 17 1989
Bartholomew J. Simpson's listed birthday.

Dec 17 1989
Over two thousand protesters are massacred by the government in Timisoara, Romania. It is the spark that brings down the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, who was executed on Christmas Day.

Dec 17 1996
Lima, Peru - Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA) guerrillas seize 460 hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence December 17 1996 All but 72 hostages are released through negotiations. Peruvian special forces storm the residence, kill the 14 members of the MRTA and release hostages April 22 1997.

Dec 17 1997
An episode of the animated TV show Pokémon induces seizures in at least 685 Japanese children. The convulsive sequence contains the depiction of a "vaccine bomb," followed by the flashing red eyes of a rat monster. Of those afflicted, 200 remain hospitalized the next day.



1538 - Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.

1577 - Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.

1718 - Great Britain declares war on Spain.

1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven is baptized at Bonn.

1834 - The Dublin and Kingstown Railway the first public railway on the island of Ireland, opens in Ireland.

1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

1903 - The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.

1941 - World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol.

1941 - World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.

1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - Malmedy massacre - American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper.

1957 - The United States successfully launched the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1961 - Operation Vijay - India seizes Goa from Portugal.

1983 - The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people.

1989 - First free elections in Brazil in 25 years.

1989 - The premiere of animated television series The Simpsons.

2003 - The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Births

1943 - Mary Brunner, American former "Manson Family" member

1949 - Paul Rodgers, English singer (Free; Bad Company)

1958 - Mike Mills, American musician (R.E.M.)

1976 - Zsanett Égerházi, Hungarian-born porn actress

Deaths

1987 - Linda Wong, pornographic actress (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

Bhutan – National Day (1907)

International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

USA – Wright Brothers Day (by Presidential Proclamation)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 18 1879
Stalin's birthday!

Dec 18 1916
Bloodiest and longest battle of World War I ends, with the French defeating Germans at the Battle of Verdun. There were over 1 million casualties, and the Verdun ossuary contains bones of 100,000 unidentified soldiers.

Dec 18 1940
Hitler formulates plans, issued today as Directive 21, for the invasion of Russia. The intent of Operation Barbarossa was to destroy the Red Army. Fighting on two fronts eventually caused Germany's defeat.

Dec 18 1997 The incredibly fat Chris Farley is found dead, wearing only pajama bottoms, and surrounded by empty food containers and pornography. Farley's act often consisted of imitating other very fat celebrities, including Newt Gingrich, Mama Cass, and Tom Arnold. He joins John Candy at the big fat farm in the sky.


1620 - The Mayflower lands in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts delivering 102 Pilgrims.

1642 - Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.

1777 - The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, celebrating the recent victory by the Americans over General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October

1787 - New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1793 - Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.

1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified by Georgia, fulfilling the two-thirds requirement for ratification, and abolishing slavery in the United States.

1912 -The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is supposedly found today in the Piltdown Gravel Pit, by Charles Dawson.

1944 - World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.

1969 - Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years, is carried by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Births

1878 - Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)

1938 - Chas Chandler, English musician (The Animals) (d. 1996)

1943 - Keith Richards, English guitarist (The Rolling Stones)

1946 - Steven Spielberg, American film director

1950 - Randy Castillo, American drummer (Ozzy Osbourne) (d.2002)

1953 - Elliot Easton, American guitarist (The Cars)

1972 - DJ Lethal, Latvian DJ (House of Pain & Limp Bizkit)

1972 - Raymond Herrera, American drummer Fear Factory and businessman

Deaths

2000 - Kirsty MacColl, British singer and songwriter (b. 1959)

Holidays and observances

New Jersey Day - A celebration to New Jersey's admission to the union

Niger - Republic Day (autonomous in 1958)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 19 1941
Twelve days after Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt under authority of Congress, created the Office of Censorship. The bureau had discretion over communications with foreign countries. Participation by domestic publishers was "voluntary".

Dec 19 1971
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-alex-clockwork-th.jpg
A Clockwork Orange opens, originally given an X rating. Censors objected more to the sex scenes than the orgies of ultraviolence, which is rather odd. Director Stanley Kubrik later earns an R by removing some of the smuttier footage.

Dec 19 1991
Yankee's pitcher Steve Howe arrested for criminal possession of cocaine. It's merely one of NINE TIMES this has happened (and seven suspensions, plus one drunk driving arrest.)

Dec 19 1997
Disgruntled postal worker Anthony Deculit enters a Milwaukee post office at 12:45 A.M., shoots his supervisor in the right eye, and kills a fellow coworker. The supervisor had written Deculit up for sleeping on the job. After the shootings he rendered himself dead with the 9mm solution, a shot through the mouth.

Dec 19 1997
The pilot of a SilkAir plane deliberately flies into a mangrove swamp in Indonesia, committing suicide and killing all 104 people aboard. The pilot, Captain Tsu Way Ming, was in debt and had personal problems, had taken a $3M insurance policy prior to the crash. To cover his tracks, he disconnected the flight recorder prior to downing the aircraft.

1154- Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey

1606 - The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who, at Jamestown, Virginia, would found the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.

1843 - A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, is first published in England.


1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun - On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.

1941 - Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army

1961 - India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.

1963 - Zanzibar receives its independence from the United Kingdom, to become a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Hamoud bin Mohammed.

1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.

1984 - The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People's Republic of China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997, is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.

1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate.

2001 - The fire at the World Trade Center, as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks, is finally extinguished after three months.

2007 - The Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Adha falls on this day

Births

1906 - Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1982)

1944 - Zal Yanovsky, Canadian guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002)

1971 - Tiffany Towers, Canadian adult film actress

Deaths

1814 - Joseph Bramah, Inventor and Locksmith, notably invented the beer pump

1993 - Michael Clarke, American drummer (The Byrds) (b. 1946)


1999 - Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (Q in the Bond films) (b. 1914)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 20 1957
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-elvis-in-brief.jpg
Elvis receives orders from the draft board to serve in the United States Army, which to his credit he does without complaint.

Dec 20 1971
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-larry-king-mug.jpg
Talk show host Larry King, host of CNN's Larry King Live, arrested in Miami on charges of grand larceny. He must have been in-between wives.

Dec 20 1973
Basque separatists assassinate the Spanish Prime Minister, Luis Carrero Blanco, by placing a mine under his automobile. The Basques are a non-Spanish ethnic group in Spain; nobody knows where they really came from.

Dec 20 1989
US invades Panama! Smack that dictator!

Dec 20 1996
Carl Sagan, the effervescently lugubrious astronomer, dead of bone marrow disease at age 62.

Dec 20 1997
Sotheby's auctions off the loincloth worn by Kirk Douglas in the 1960 film Spartacus for $2,990.

1192 - Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the crusade.

1606 - The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.

1835 - First signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence at Goliad, Texas.

1860 - South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.

1915 - World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.

1941 - World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.

1942 - World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.

1951 - The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for the first time. The electricity powered four light bulbs.

1955 - Cardiff (Caerdydd) is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.

1988 - The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed in Vienna.

1995 - NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.

2007 - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.

Births

1945 - Peter Criss, American drummer and singer (Kiss)

1957 - Billy Bragg, English singer and songwriter

1957 - Mike Watt, American bassist

1966 - Chris Robinson, American singer (Black Crowes)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 21 1937
Jane Fonda's birthday. Jane, an anti-war activist, also holds the title "Miss Army Recruiting" of 1965.

Dec 21 1945
World War II General George Patton dies in a car accident at Heidelberg, Germany.

Dec 21 1970
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-elvis-nixon.jpg
President Nixon meets with prescription drug addict Elvis Presley at the White House to discuss The King's becoming a special drug enforcement agent. He presents Nixon with a pistol, and receives a special DEA badge in return.

Dec 21 1971
Former Nazi Kurt Waldheim chosen to serve as United Nations Secretary General, the fourth to serve in that position (but the first Nazi). He paves the way for a New World Order.

Dec 21 1975
Terrorist Carlos the Jackal takes hostage the 11 oil ministers at an OPEC meeting in Vienna. The ministers are released after a ransom is paid, and Carlos escapes. The Jackal is not captured until he enters a Sudanese hospital in 1994 for a testicle operation.

Dec 21 1978
John Wayne Gacy arrested in Des Plaines, IL after remains of some of the 33 men and boys he had killed are discovered on his land.

Dec 21 1988
Pan Am flight 103 detonates over Lockerbie Scotland, by means of a remote control radio bomb. All 259 aboard are killed as well as 11 on the ground struck by falling detritus. The PFLP faction of the PLO was responsible, assisted by Libyan sponsorship.

Dec 21 1991
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-barkley-mugshot.jpg
Charles Barkley arrested on charges of battery and disorderly conduct, Milwaukee. He had punched a heckler, but was acquitted.

Dec 21 2012
The Mayan "long count" calendar is based on great cycles of 5125 years, the current cycle ending on this day in 2012. Endings of cycles are punctuated by cataclysmic singularities on a deluge scale, so be prepared. This is the end of time!

1620 - Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1844 - The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.

1861 - Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

1872 - Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth.

1883 - The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment

1936 - First flight of the Junkers JU-88 bomber prototype.

1937 - The film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles.

1967 - Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days.

1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 2h:50m:37s Mission elapsed time (MES), the crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave the Earth's gravity field.

1970 - The F-14 Tomcat flies for the first time.

1979 - Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and Dr S C Mundawarara.

1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.

1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.

Births

1804 - Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)

1946 - Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1998)

Deaths

1987 - John Spence, founding No Doubt member (Suicide)(b. 1969)

Holidays and observances

In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice, sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time. It is also an important festival in the Chinese calendar.

[yup]

Ha Ha , I had to look her up, ginormous bresticals.
1971 - Tiffany Towers, Canadian adult film actress

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 22 1955
The corpse of Evita Peron is stolen by anti-Peronistas.

Dec 22 1972
An earthquake destroys the city of Managua, Nicaragua, leaving 6,000 dead.

Dec 22 1984
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-bernhard-goetz.jpg
Bernhard Goetz shoots 4 teenage boys on the NYC subway after one of them asks him for money.

Dec 22 1996
An alien cadaver of height 5 centimeters is found at the Kibbutz Achihod, Ahyud Israel. Scientists at Israel's Technion Institute in Hafnia determine that not enough material is present to conduct "proper tests" but the alien's composition is chiefly cow manure.

Dec 22 2001
Shoe bomber Richard Reid attempts to blow up an American Airlines transatlantic flight by igniting a plastic explosive concealed in his shoe. Other passengers beat the living daylights out of him.

1807 - The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.

1809 - The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, passes the U.S. Congress.

1940 - World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.

1942 - World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.

1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge--German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium; prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"

1944 - World War II: Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.

1956 - Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity

1965 - In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.

1974 - Former British Prime Minister Edward (Ted) Heath's house is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.

1989 - Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.

1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives

Births

1942 - Dick Parry, English musician (Pink Floyd) ( Sax on Shine on you crazy diamond, Money etc)

1949 - Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)

1949 - Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees)

1967 - Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers) (disappeared in 1995)

1975 - Crissy Moran, American erotic actress

Deaths

1947 - Hans Aumeier, German Nazi official and concentration camp commandant (Hanged) (b. 1906)

1947 - Therese Brandl, Nazi concentration camp guard (Hanged) (b. 1902)

2002 - Joe Strummer, English musician (The Clash)(congenital heart defect) (b. 1952)

[D.B.Cooper]

Dec 22 1996

An alien cadaver of height 5 centimeters is found at the Kibbutz Achihod, Ahyud Israel. Scientists at Israel's Technion Institute in Hafnia determine that not enough material is present to conduct "proper tests" but the alien's composition is chiefly cow manure.

Sounds like Bull Shit to me!

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 23 1888
After an argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh takes a razor and removes a portion of his left ear. Their quarrel regarded the prostitutes in Arles who seemed to prefer Gauguin over Van Gogh; the painter delivered his ear to one Rachel, who preferred Van Gogh. She fainted.

Dec 23 1948
Japanese Premier Tojo and 6 others hanged by the War Crimes Commission at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo, for the crime of starting an aggressive war. As he drops from the gallows, he screams "Banzai!"

Dec 23 1968
The first US incident of motion sickness in orbit. Was it Borman, Lovell, or Anders?

Dec 23 1972
Magnitude 6.25 Earthquake destroys central Managua Nicaragua, 10,000 die.

Dec 23 1975
Leftist members of November 17 faction murder Athens CIA station chief Richard Welch.

Dec 23 1985
In a school playground, James Vance presses a shotgun to his chin and pulls the trigger. He and cohort Raymond Belknap had forged a suicide pact while listening to Stained Class by Judas Priest. But where Belknap succeeded, Vance fails. The dumbshit survives, destroying his face. He later uses his disfigurement to his advantage, terrorizing small children on his bicycle. Both kids' parents file suit against the band, but a judge ultimately rejects their subliminal message theory. Vance dies from painkillers on Thanksgiving three years later.

Dec 23 1994
Actor/dumbass Christian Slater arrested while trying to board a plane with a semiautomatic firearm. Community service, boy.

Dec 23 1995
Bodies of 16 members of the Solar Temple cult who had committed suicide are found on a plateau in the French Alps. Their bodies are charred and arranged in a star formation. Causes of death included stabbing, asphyxiation, gunshot, and poisoning. In 1994, 53 other members had suicided in similar fashion.

Dec 23 1997
Mayor Craig Johnson of Snow Hill, MD is arrested on two counts of misconduct in office, after he allows the squad car issued to him to be photographed for a pornographic Internet website "Wetlands". One of the pictures shows Cherie Messner, wife of the Wetlands operator, apparently urinating on the squad car in question.



1823 - The poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (AKA The Night Before Christmas) is published in the Sentinel.

1913 - The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve.

1914 - World War I: The Australian and New Zealand troops (ANZACS) arrive in Cairo.

1916 - World War I: Battle of Magdhaba - Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

1938 - South Africa Discovery of the first modern coelacanth.

1940 - World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis (Υ-2) sinks the Italian motor ship Antonietta.

1941 - World War II: Japanese Imperial Army occupied Wake Island.

1954 - The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

1972 - The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.

2002 - A MQ-1 Predator was shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, making it the first time in history an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat.

2005 - Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18th attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.

Births

1951 - Anthony Phillips, British guitarist (Genesis)

1964 - Eddie Vedder, American musician (Pearl Jam)

Deaths

1948 - Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (hanged) (b. 1884)

1948 - Akira Muto, Japanese army commander (hanged) (b. 1883)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 24 1865
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-klan-air-th.jpg
Southern whitefolk unite together to form a service organization wherein they consort with other southern whitefolk. Members participate in festive cruciform fire ceremonies and lively negro butcherings. By the 1920's membership in the Ku Klux Klan reaches an astonishing 2 million.

Dec 24 1954
Rock musician Johnny Ace plays a little .45 calibre solitaire (Russian Roulette) at City Auditorium in Houston after a concert. Blammo. He thought it would impress his girlfriend, perhaps it did.

Dec 24 1985
Fidel Castro announces that he has given up cigars.

Dec 24 1989
Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega seeks asylum at the Papal Nunciature. American troops try blasting him with rock music and the sounds of rabbits being slaughtered, but he takes two weeks to emerge. The isthmus groundhog does not see his shadow and is taken by the US Army to Florida lockup where he still resides.

Dec 24 1997
It is revealed that actor Woody Allen (age 62) was married to his adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn (age 27) in Venice, Italy yesterday. She becomes her own stepmother, and Woody his own neurotic son in law.

Dec 24 1997
Disgruntled (former) postal worker David Lee Jackson takes seven hostages at a Denver mail sorting facility. He holds them for over nine hours before surrendering to police. Jackson had been fired 18 months previously for threatening his superior.

1777 - Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, was discovered by James Cook.

1800 - Assassination attempt on Napoleon Bonaparte's life.

1814 - The Treaty of Ghent was signed which ended the War of 1812.

1818 - "Silent Night" composed by Franz Xaver Gruber and Josef Mohr.

1914 - World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.

1939 - World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.

1941 - World War II: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese Imperial Army.

1941 - World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.

1942 - World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers

1943 - World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the Supreme Allied Commander.

1951 - Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.

1954 - Laos becomes independent from France.

1979 - The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to support the country's Marxist government.

Births

2-7 BC - Jesus Christ (d. 26/36) :rolleyes:

1166 - King John of England (d. 1216)

1923 - George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)

1945 - Lemmy, British singer, bassist (Motörhead)

1948 - Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player

Deaths

1992 - Bobby LaKind, American musician and singer (The Doobie Brothers) (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances

Christmas Eve

In Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Dominican Republic, among others, this is the day that presents are exchanged and opened. In some of these countries, presents are delivered to children by Santa Claus, personified by an adult dressed up as Santa who comes knocking on the door.

The Declaration of Christmas Peace takes place in the Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City, according to old traditions dating back to the Middle Ages.

People born on this day are believed to become Werewolves by Russian folklore.

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 25 272
First official public celebration of Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, a pagan Roman holiday that was later co-opted by Christians to celebrate the birth of their favorite Jew. Turning the holiday into "Christmas" (in 336 AD) was part of a pattern of the church stealing various pagan festivals and feast days.

Dec 25 1926
Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan.

Dec 25 1946
W.C. Fields dead at 67, due to the cumulative effects of his drinking and lifestyle.

Dec 25 1989
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-ceaucescu.jpg
An eager firing squad executes Romanian dictator Nikolai Ceaucescu and his wife Elena on live television. Ceaucescu had run Romania as his private communist fiefdom, garnering the animosity of nearly the entire population. The new government abolishes capital punishment shortly thereafter.

Dec 25 1995
Rat pack member Dean Martin dead at 78, a martini glass in his hand.


1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror as king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.

1100 - Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned as the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity

1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene.

1643 - Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary.

1650 - Thomas Cooper, former Usher of Gresham's School, England, hanged as a Royalist rebel.

1776 - George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the Kingdom of Great Britain's Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.

1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.

1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire.

1941 - Admiral Chester W Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet

1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong.

1950 - The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.

1979 - The Soviet Union airlifts forces into Afghanistan to begin its costly occupation.

1990 - The first successful communication between a client and server via the Internet is established.

1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.

2003 - The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe which was released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.

Births

1642 - Sir Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician (d. 1727)

1937 - O'Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer (The Isley Brothers) (d. 1986)

1944 - Kenny Everett, British comedian(d. 1995)

1954 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer (Eurythmics)

1957 - Shane MacGowan, Irish musician (The Pogues)

1962 - Darren Wharton, British Keyboardist (Thin Lizzy and Dare)

1967 - Jason Thirsk, American bass player (Pennywise)(d. 1996)

1971 - Dido, English singer

1971 - Noel Hogan, Irish musician (The Cranberries)

1976 - Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ & Producer

1982 - Rob Edwards, Welsh footballer

Deaths

1989 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (executed) (b. 1918)

1989 - Elena Ceauşescu, Romanian politician (executed) (b. 1916)

1995 - Dean Martin, American singer (b. 1917)

2006 - James Brown, American singer (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances

Christmas Day

Quaid-e-Azam's Day - Pakistan

Constitution Day - Republic of China now based in Taiwan

Yule

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 26 1893
Dictator Mao Tse-tung born in Hunan province.

Dec 26 1980
Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento" who drank the blood of two of his six victims, commits suicide on death row by overdosing on hoarded medication.

Dec 26 1985
"Gorillas in the Mist" author Dian Fossey killed with machete in Africa.

Dec 26 1996
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-jon-benet-ramsey.jpg
The body of Jon Benet Ramsey is found beaten and strangled in the Boulder, Colorado home of John and Patsy Ramsey. Her skull had an 8 inch crack, and the child's mouth was covered with duct tape. In late 1997 it was leaked to the media that a Taser gun may have been involved in the killing. The family remains under an "umbrella of suspicion":
Jon Benet's body was found only after police searched the house, and John Ramsey tainted the crime scene by moving the body
The garrote used in strangulation was made from one of Patsy's paintbrushes
A rough draft of the ransom note was found on Patsy's notepad. Handwriting comparisons between the note and the mother remain inconclusive In any event, the Ramsey's treatment of the six year old child by entering her in beauty contests dressed like a young adult nymph is perverse.

Dec 26 2004
A 9.15 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sumatra unleashes a series of powerful tsunamis. over 300,000 people are either killed or missing. The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake affects a huge geographical area from Indonesia to Bangladesh to Somalia, even triggering earthquakes in Alaska.


838 - A heavy storm surge causes floods in nearly all the coastal areas of the Low Countries.

1606 - First Performance of William Shakespeare's King Lear

1620 - Pilgrim Fathers land at what becomes New Plymouth in Massachusetts.

1776 - American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton.

1860 - The first ever inter-club football match takes place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at the Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England.

1861 - American Civil War: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain.

1862 - Four nuns who were volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover were the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship.

1862 - The largest mass-hanging in US history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, killing 39.

1870 - The 12.8-km long Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.

1883 - Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.

1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.

1906 - The Story of the Kelly Gang is released, widely considered to be the world's first feature film.

1933 - FM radio is patented.

1943 - World War II: The German warship Scharnhorst sinks off the coast of North Cape in Norway after being attacked by the Royal Navy late the previous evening.

1944 - World War II: U.S. troops repulse German forces at Bastogne.

1947 - Twenty-six inches of snow falls in 16 hours in New York City.

1979 - Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.

1979 - Opening night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon; a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot

1991 - Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR.

1997 - The Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore.

1998 - Iraq announced its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.

1998 - Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland cause widespread disruption and widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland.

Births

1953 - Henning Schmitz, German musician (Kraftwerk)

1963 - Lars Ulrich, Danish-born drummer (Metallica)

Deaths

1972 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)

1999 - Curtis Mayfield, American musician (b. 1942)

2006 - Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)

Holidays and observances

December 26 is a public holiday in most Christian countries of Protestantism tradition but is not in many Roman Catholic countries. It is not a public holiday in the United States unless Christmas Day falls on a Sunday like it did in 2005 and will again in 2011, in which it is the observed federal holiday. In Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Suriname and Scandinavia, Christmas Day and the following day are called First and Second Christmas Day.

Second day of Christmas in Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Suriname and Scandinavia - a holiday without work. The celebration is more or less the same as first day of Christmas, including the option going to Mass.

St. Stephen's Day, a public holiday in Alsace, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Ireland.

Synaxis of Theotokos and feast of St. Joseph,King and Prophet David and St. James the Just (Orthodox Christianity)

The first of the twelve days of Christmas in Western Christianity.

Boxing Day in the Commonwealth of Nations.

Wren day in Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Australia - Proclamation Day (South Australian public holiday), for the foundation of the Australian state of South Australia on December 28, 1836 but commemorated on this day.

South Africa - Day of Goodwill, a public holiday

In Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden, the 26th is known as the Second day of Christmas

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 27 1937
Mae West performs an "Adam & Eve" skit that gets her banned from NBC radio.

Dec 27 1985
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-abu-nidal.jpg
Abu Nidal gunmen open fire at Rome and Vienna airports in coordinated attacks, killing 18 holiday travelers.

Dec 27 1992
Harry Connick, Jr., was arrested at Kennedy Airport in New York City after telling authorities he had an unloaded 9mm pistol in his luggage, which he said he had forgotten that his sister had given to him.

Dec 27 2000
Quality Assurance Engineer Michael "Mucko" McDermott shot and killed seven of his coworkers (four men, three women) at Edgewater Technology, an Internet consulting company in Boston. Mucko, a quiet three-hundred-pound loner, fired off 37 rounds with his rifle and several with the shotgun, shooting his victims repeatedly in the head and back.

1512 - The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regards to native Indians in the New World.

1831 - Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, where he will formulate the theory of evolution.

1836 - The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.

1845 - Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia.

1945 - The World Bank is created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.

1949 - Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence.

1968 - Apollo Program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending humanity's first manned mission to the Moon.

1978 - Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.

1979 - The Soviet Union seizes control of Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin.

1996 - Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.

1997 - Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.

2002 - Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya.

Births

1941 - Michael Pinder, British musician (Moody Blues)

1944 - Mick Jones, British musician (Foreigner)

1952 - David Knopfler, British musician (Dire Straits)
1972 - Colin Charvis, Welsh Rugby Union player, former captain (flanker/ number 8)




Deaths

2007 - Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan prime minister (assassinated)

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 28 1908
An earthquake in Messina, Sicily kills 160,000. Nearly all of the city is destroyed. Countless art treasures are destroyed, as well as the Cathedral Annunziata dei Catalani.

Dec 28 1983
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-dennis-wilson-th.jpg
Dennis Wilson, original drummer of the Beach Boys, drowned while diving from a boat near Marquesas Pier. He was rather drunk at the time.

Dec 28 1987
R. Gene Simmons kills two coworkers and injures four others in Russellville Arkansas, and then surrenders. The busy man had killed 14 of his relatives over the Christmas holidays.

Dec 28 1991
Jack Ruby's pistol, used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, sells at auction at Christie's for $220,000.


1065 - Westminster Abbey is consecrated.

1836 - South Australia and Adelaide are founded.

1836 - Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.

1846 - Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.

1867 - United States claims Midway Island, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.

1869 - William E. Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio patents chewing gum.

1879 - The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passed over it, killing 75.

1895 - The Lumière brothers have their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines marking the debut of the cinema.

1912 - The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California.

1939 - First flight of the Consolidated XB-24 Liberator bomber prototype.

1945 - The Congress of the United States officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.

1973 - The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.

Births

1635 - Princess Elizabeth of England (d. 1650)

1856 - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, Nobel laureate (d. 1924)

1922 - Stan Lee, American comic book writer

Deaths

1694 - Queen Mary II of England (b. 1662), of the famed joint monarchy William and Mary.

1734 - Robert Roy MacGregor, Scottish folk hero (Rob Roy) (b. 1671)

Holidays and observances

The third day of Christmas in Western Christianity.

Proclamation Day in South Australia

[HeyBuddy]

Dec 28 1987
R. Gene Simmons kills two coworkers and injures four others in Russellville Arkansas, and then surrenders. The busy man had killed 14 of his relatives over the Christmas holidays.

http://tomgreen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/gene-simmons-book.jpg

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 29 1170
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is slashed to death by four of King Henry II's knights at the altar of the Virgin Mary. "Is there no one who will rid me from this turbulent priest", cried Henry in frustration earlier that month. It was apparently not a serious demand for Becket's death, but that did not stop his brains from being splattered in Canterbury Cathedral.

Dec 29 1890
The Wounded Knee Massacre took place in Wounded Knee, South Dakota as over 200 Sioux were killed by US troops sent to disarm them.


Dec 29 1916
Rasputin, famed Russian court mystic, is beaten, castrated, and his penis flung across the room. He is subsequently shot several times and thrown into a frozen river.

Dec 29 1972
Members of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes admit at a press conference that they survived by Cannibalism. This spawned a popular theme for bumper stickers, "Rugby Players Eat Their Dead". But best of all is the quote from one of the team, "If we had been soccer players, we would have died."

Dec 29 1975
Bomb explodes at LaGuardia airport in New York, killing 11 people and injuring many others.

Dec 29 1993
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-todd-bridges.jpg
Former child star Todd Bridges (who played Willis on "Different Strokes") arrested for transportation of methamphetamine. What you "tweaking" about willis?

Dec 29 1997
Male nurse Orville Lynn Majors is charged with six counts of murder at Vermillion County Hospital in Newport, MD. He is suspected of many other murders, likely over 100. Majors would apparently inject older patients with potassium chloride or other drugs, and frequently he expressed a dislike for elderlies. When off duty, hospital deaths occurred once every 551 hours; but on duty, once every 23 hours.
1812 - USS Constitution (Captain William Bainbridge) captures HMS Java off Brazil after a three hour battle.

1813 - British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.

1860 - The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, the HMS Warrior is launched.

1934 - Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

1937 - The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.

1940 - World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe firebombs City of London, killing almost 200 civilians.

1997 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.

1998 - Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million.

Births

1808 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)

1809 - William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)

1941 - Ray Thomas, British musician (The Moody Blues)

1946 - Marianne Faithfull, British singer

1947 - Cozy Powell, English rock drummer (d. 1998)

1961 - Jim Reid, Scottish singer (The Jesus and Mary Chain)

1965 - Dexter Holland, American musician (The Offspring)

1970 - Aled Jones, Welsh singer

Deaths

1170 - Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (assassinated) (b. 1118)

1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)

1986 - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)

Holidays and observances

The fourth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 30 1903
The worst theater fire in US history occurs at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, killing 602. Most of the exits were locked; no fire drills had ever been conducted; and no water was available for extinguishing the fire. But, a prominent sign displayed above the entrance to the edifice read: "Absolutely Fireproof".

Dec 30 1977
Ted Bundy escapes from a jail in Aspen, Colorado by using a hacksaw. He moves to Chicago, then Michigan, Atlanta, and finally Florida, where he commits a series of grotesque murders.

Dec 30 1989
Ignoring evidence to the contrary, Drug Enforcement Agency Director John Lawn orders that cannabis remain on the Schedule One narcotics list, reserved for drugs which have no known medical use.

Dec 30 1994
John C. Salvi III took things into his own hands and killed two employees at a Brookline, Mass., abortion clinic and wounded five others. John was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms on March 18.

Dec 30 1996
Actor Jack Nance (appeared in the Lynch productions Twin Peaks and Eraserhead) murdered.

1460 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield

1816 - The Treaty of St. Louis is proclaimed.

1853 - A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London.

1879 - The Pirates of Penzance is first performed (Paignton, Devon, England).

1880 - The Transvaal becomes a republic and Paul Kruger, its first president.

1897 - Natal annexes Zululand.

1906 - The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, which later laid down the foundations of Pakistan.

1919 - Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.

1922 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed.

1924 - Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.

1965 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines.

1993 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.

1995 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. This equalled the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on February 11, 1895 and January 10, 1982.

2006 - Saddam Hussein is executed by hanging.

Births

1740 - Princess Elizabeth Caroline of Wales (d. 1759)

1865 - Rudyard Kipling, British writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)

1942 - Michael Nesmith, American singer and musician (The Monkees)

1945 - Davy Jones, English singer (The Monkees)

1947 - Jeff Lynne, English musician (ELO)

1969 - Jay Kay, English musician (Jamiroquai)

1973 - Nacho Vidal, Spanish porn star

1981 - Haley Paige, American pornstar

Deaths

1984 - Massa (gorilla), oldest gorilla on record (b. 1930)

1992 - Ling-Ling, panda given to the USA by China (b. 1969)

2006 - Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi President (b. 1937) (executed)

Holidays and observances

The fifth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.

Philippines - Rizal Day

Freedom Day for Scientologists.

[Cymru am byth]

Dec 31 1898
Joseph Vacher, known as "Jack the Ripper of France", guillotined. He had a hideous appearance and suffered from Bell's Palsy, a partial paralysis of the face. Vacher killed and mutilated at least 14 victims, young men and women, and committed necrophilia on many of their corpses.

Dec 31 1916
Forty-five retarded girls die in a fire at the St. Ferdinand de Halifax convent asylum in Canada.

Dec 31 1970
The Beatles break up, as Paul McCartney files suit to dissolve their partnership.

Dec 31 1973
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/dec/rh-carlos-the-jackal-th.jpg
Carlos the Jackal tries to assassinate Teddy Zeiff, Jewish owner of a major English department store chain. His gun jams. But we all learn his name when he takes the OPEC ministers hostage two years later.

Dec 31 1980
Author and media pundit Marshall McLuhan dead at age 69.

Dec 31 1982
A coordinated series of four bombs planted by the Puerto Rican nationalist group FALN explode in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan inside of 90 minutes, injuring three police.

Dec 31 1984
The drummer from Def Leppard, Rick Allen, has his arm torn off in a car accident. He continues with the band single-handedly.

Dec 31 1985
Rock musician Ricky Nelson dies in an airplane crash in De Kalb, TX at age 45.

Dec 31 1999
Paris intends the Eiffel Tower to lay "a gigantic egg" at midnight to honor the coming millennium. What do they smoke in Paris?

1599 - British East India Company is chartered.

1660 - James II of England is created Duke of Normandy by King Louis XIV.

1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.

1775 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold.

1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada.

1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.

1891 - A new immigration depot is opened on Ellis Island, New York.

1904 - The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York.

1909 - Manhattan Bridge opens.

1923 - The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.

1944 - World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany.

1946 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.

1955 - General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over USD $1 billion in a year.

1960 - The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.

1961 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than USD $12 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.

1991 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is officially dissolved.

1997 - Quaker Oats settles a lawsuit involving the immoral use of child subjects in radioactivity experiments circa 1945-1956.

1998 - Exchange rates between the euro and legacy currencies in the Eurozone become fixed.

1999 - Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.

1999 - The United States Government handed Panama Canal control over to Panama as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties

2004 - The official opening of Taipei 101, the current tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 feet).

2006 - The United Kingdom pays final installment of Second World War debt to the United States.

Births

1720 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (d. 1788)

1937 - Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor

1942 - Andy Summers, British guitarist (The Police)

1943 - John Denver, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)

1943 - Pete Quaife, English bassist (The Kinks)

1951 - Tom Hamilton, American bassist (Aerosmith)

1963 - Scott Ian, American guitarist (Anthrax)

1980 - Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player

Deaths

2002 - Kevin MacMichael, American guitarist (Cutting Crew) (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

New Year's Eve on the Gregorian Calendar.

Hogmanay in Scotland.

Last Day of the Year Celebration, special non-working holiday in the Philippines.

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 1
Annual Catholic Feast of the Circumcision, to celebrate the removal of the Holy Foreskin.

Jan 1 1943
Josef Stalin appears as Time's 1942 "Man of the Year".

Jan 1 1946
Emperor Hirohito descends from being a divine being to mere mortal man. General MacArthur insisted on it.

Jan 1 1959
Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba from Fulgencio Batista. "Don't worry, Castro's regime can't last."

Jan 1 1966
The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 goes into effect. Cigarette companies are forced to label their product like so: "Caution: Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health"

Jan 1 1976
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-hollyweed-th.jpg
Potheads alter the "HOLLYWOOD" sign to read "HOLLYWEED". Way to go!

Jan 1 1993
During Hong Kong's new year's festivities, a stampede kills 20 and injures many more.

Jan 1 1995
Fred West, accused of committing England's "House of Horrors" killings, suicides by hanging himself in his prison cell.

Jan 1 1998
Michael Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, dies in Aspen of traumatic neck and head wounds resulting from an accident while playing "ski football".

404 - The last known gladiator competition in Rome takes place.

630 - Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that will capture it bloodlessly.

1600 - Scotland begins using the Julian calendar.

1651 - Charles II is crowned King of Scotland.

1772 - The first traveller's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London for the first time.

1788 - First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.

1801 - The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1804 - French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black republic and first country independent in the West Indies.

1808 - The importation of slaves into the United States is banned.

1818 - Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is published.

1833 - United Kingdom claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

1877 - Queen Victoria of Britain is proclaimed Empress of India.

1880 - Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.

1887 - Queen Victoria is proclaimed empress of India in Delhi.

1890 - First use of football goal nets in England.

1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin accepting immigrants to the United States.

1893 - Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.

1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England, is officially opened to traffic.

1898 - New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.

1901 - The French rugby team play their first Test against the New Zealand All Blacks.

1901 - Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.

1901 - The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.

1906 - British India officially adopts the Indian Standard Time

1908 - For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight.

1910 - Captain David Beatty was promoted to Rear Admiral, and became the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy, except for Royal family members, since Horatio Nelson.

1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.

1912 - The Republic of China is established.

1916 - German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.

1923 - Britains Railways are grouped into the Big Four, LNER, GWR, SR, LMSR.

1925 - The American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way.

1934 - Alcatraz Island becomes a United States federal prison.

1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".

1937 - Safety glass in windshields became mandatory in Great Britain.

1939 - William Hewlett and David Packard found Hewlett-Packard.

1939 - Sydney, Australia swelters in 45˚C (113˚F) heat, a record for the city.

[Cymru am byth]

Janury 1st continued

1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.

1945 - In retaliation of the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops massacre 30 SS prisoners at Chenogne.

1946 - The first civil flight from Heathrow Airport occurs.

1947 - The American and British occupation zones in Germany, after the World War II, merge to form the Bizone, that later became the Federal Republic of Germany.

1948 - British railways are nationalised to form British Rail.

1949 - The British Nationality Act 1948 comes into force.

1949 - United Nation cease-fire orders to operate in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.

1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1957 - George Town, Penang became a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

1958 - The European Community is established.

1960 - The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1962 - Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.

1962 - United States Navy SEALs established.

1964 - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.

1971 - Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.

1973 - The Kingdom of Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.

1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.

1984 - The Sultanate of Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.

1985 - The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.

1993 - Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.

1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.

1998 - The European Central Bank is established.

1999 - The Euro currency is introduced.

2000 - As the world celebrates, no major crisis arises from the dreaded Y2K computer 'millennium bug'.

2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.

2007 - Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, joining 20 other official languages.
Births

1950 - Morgan Fisher, English musician (Mott the Hoople)

1967 - John Digweed, English dance music DJ

Deaths

1995 - Fred West, British serial killer (suicide) (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

New Year's Day; often celebrated at 0:01 with fireworks.

The seventh day of Christmas

Cuba Liberation Day.

Czech Republic: Establishment of the Czech Republic.

Haiti Independence Day.

Scotland: Ne'erday.

Slovakia: Establishment of the Slovak Republic.

Sudan Independence Day.

Taiwan Founding of Republic of China Day.

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 2 1611
Elizabeth Bathory is charged with the murder of 610 people, which she apparently committed as Countess of Csejthe Castle. Bathory had the theory that the blood of youth would give her everlasting youth. An eviscerated victim would have blood drained into a vat for her bathing.

Jan 2 1878
While hunting, farmer John Martin spies a rapidly moving flying disk high in the sky near Denison, Texas. He is the first to use the word "saucer" to describe a UFO phenomenon.

Jan 2 1935
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-bruno-hauptmann.jpg
Bruno Richard Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., on charges of kidnapping and murdering the infant son of aviator Charles A. and Anne Lindbergh . (He would later be found guilty and executed for that crime.).

Jan 2 1939
Time magazine named chancellor Adolf Hitler its "Man of the Year."

Jan 2 1971
Sixty-six soccer fans are trampled or fall to their deaths during a panic in Ibrox Park Stadium, Glasgow.

Jan 2 1995
Marion Barry inaugurated as mayor of Washington, D.C., four years after leaving the office in disgrace to serve a six-month sentence for smoking crack.

1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India.

1788 - Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

1818 - The British Institution of Civil Engineers is formed.

1929 - Canada and the United States agree on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls.

1941 - World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.

1941 - World War II: The U.S. government announces its Liberty ship program to build freighters in support of the war effort.

1942 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces.

1942 - The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

1946 - Unable to resume rule after World War II, King Zog of Albania abdicates but retains his claim to the throne.

1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.

Births

1938 - Ian Brady, British serial killer

1975 - Reuben Thorne, New Zealand rugby union player

Holidays and observances

Second day of New Year: New Zealand, Slovenia, Ukraine, Japan.

Ancestry Day, Haiti

Second day of the Hogmanay Bank Holiday, Scotland

The eighth day of Christmas

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 3 1946
William Joyce, the "Lord Haw-Haw" who broadcasted Nazi propaganda to Britain during World War II, is hanged for treason in London.

Jan 3 1958
The editor of the scandal magazine Confidential, Howard Rushmore, murders his wife and then suicides in the back of a taxicab in NYC.

Jan 3 1961
Three technicians -- John Byrnes, Richard McKinley, and Richard Legg -- are killed when the SL-1 experimental nuclear reactor explodes in Idaho Falls, Idaho. McKinley's corpse is found stuck to the containment dome ceiling, impaled on a control rod. The crewmen's radioactive bodies are so hot they have to be buried in lead-lined caskets.

Jan 3 1962
Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.

Jan 3 1967
Jack Ruby dead of natural causes.

Jan 3 1987
Four non-cancerous polyps are removed from President Ronald Reagan's colon.

Jan 3 1990
Manuel Noriega surrenders at the Papal Nunciature. He is brought to Miami and charged with drug trafficking and money laundering.


1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.

1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.

1777 - American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.

1815 - Austria, Britain, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.

1833 - Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

1924 - English explorer Howard Carter discovers the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt.

1925 - Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.

1944 - World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.

1945 - Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself.

1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.

1961 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.

1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1988 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century.

1993 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Births

1883 - Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)

1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (d. 1973)

1946 - John Paul Jones, British musician (Led Zeppelin)

1975 - Thomas Bangalter, French DJ (Daft Punk)

Deaths

1946 - William Joyce, (Lord Haw Haw) American Nazi propagandist (executed) (b. 1906)

1967 - Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)

1979 - Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 4 1964 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-albert-de-salvo-th.jpg

The Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo kills his final victim, Mary Sullivan, age 19, at her Charles Street apartment.

Jan 4 1986
Phil Lynott, founder of heavy metal band "Thin Lizzy", dies from heart failure brought on by a drug overdose.

Jan 4 1997 Rumors run rampant through Israel, particularly over talk radio, that a UFO will land at Tel Aviv on the following day. The predictions are purported to have been made by spoonbender Uri Geller. Thousands flock to the beaches, but no saucers.


871 - Battle of Reading: Ethelred of Wessex fights, and is defeated by, a Danish invasion army.

1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey.

1642 - King Charles I of England sends soldiers to arrest members of Parliament, commencing England's slide into civil war.

1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.

1717 - The Netherlands, England, and France sign the Triple Alliance.

1762 - England declares war on Spain and Naples.

1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.

1885 - The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant on Mary Gartside.

1896 - Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.

1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.

1936 - Billboard magazine publishes its first pop music charts.

1941 - The animated short Elmer's Pet Rabbit is released: it marks the second appearance of Bugs Bunny and the first to have his name on a title card.

1944 - Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.

1944 - World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.

1948 - Burma regains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1972 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.

1973 - The world's longest running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine was first transmitted on BBC's Comedy Playhouse and is still running to date.

1989 - Second Gulf of Sidra incident: a pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.

2006 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Births

1643 - Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and natural philosopher (d. 1727)

1947 - Rick Stein, English chef and television presenter

1955 - Mark Hollis, English musician and composer (Talk Talk)

1956 - Bernard Sumner, English musician (New Order, Joy Division, Electronic)

1958 - Gary Jones, Welsh-born actor

1960 - Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M.)

1962 - Robin Guthrie, Scottish guitarist (Cocteau Twins)

1962 - Peter Steele, American musician (Type O Negative)

1963 - Till Lindemann, German singer (Rammstein)

1965 - Beth Gibbons, English singer (Portishead)

1965 - Cait O'Riordan, British musician (The Pogues)

Deaths

1986 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (Thin Lizzy) (b. 1949)

2007 - Grenfell (Gren) Jones, Welsh newspaper cartoonist (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

National Day of Burma

tenth day of Christmas in Western Christianity

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 5 1919
The Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei is founded by Anton Drexler and others at the Furstenfelder Hof tavern in Munich. So much of early Nazi history seems to center around beer halls and homosexuals.

Jan 5 1967
Two buses of pilgrims collide south of Manila, Philippines, killing 83 in the worst traffic accident thus far.

Jan 5 1981
The Yorkshire Ripper, murderer of 13 women, is arrested. Peter Sutcliffe concentrated mostly on hookers, but still managed to terrorize mainstream England in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

Jan 5 1995
Connie Chung broadcasts Kathleen Gingrich's opinion of Hillary Clinton: bitch. We suspect it's merely a case of the pot calling the kettle black, and you can include Connie Chung in that.

Jan 5 1996
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-yahya.gif
In Gaza, Israeli intelligence agents blow off the head of terrorist Yahya Ayyash, The Engineer, with a remote control cellphone bomb using plastic explosives. Ayyash purportedly ran the Hamas military wing, and was a proficient bomb maker; 100,000 people attended his funeral.

Jan 5 1998
Congressman Sonny Bono dead from blunt force trauma to his head after a direct collision with a pine tree at Heavenly Valley Ski Area. He is survived by his lesbian daughter Chastity and three other children.
1066 - Edward the Confessor, King of England dies.

1781 - American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.

1846 - The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.

1896 - An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Roentgen discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.

1900 - Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.

1919 - Free Committee for a German Workers Peace founded, which would become the Nazi party.

1933 - Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

1944 - The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.

1972 - President of the United States Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.

1993 - The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.

1997 - Russian forces withdraw from Chechnya.

Births

1949 - George Brown, American drummer (Kool & The Gang)

1950 - Chris Stein, American guitarist (Blondie)

1960 - Phil Thornalley, English bass guitarist (The Cure)

1964 - Grant Young, American drummer (Soul Asylum)

1981 - Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby player.

Deaths

1066 - Edward the Confessor, King of England (b. 1004)

1933 - John Calvin Coolidge, Jr., 30th President of the United States (heart attack)(b. 1872)

1938 - Amelia Earhart is presumed dead and the search for her and Fred Noonan has ended.

1941 - Amy Johnson, English aviator (drowned after bailing out over the Thames) (b. 1903)

Holidays and observances

The eleventh day of Christmas in Western Christianity

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 6 1969
Future Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter sees an Unidentified Flying Object in Leary, GA. Also witnessing the craft are his fellow Lions Club members.

Jan 6 1977
The Sex Pistols lose their EMI recording contract after a television host encourages them to spout obscenities on the air.

Jan 6 1982
William G Bonin, the truck driving "Freeway Killer", convicted in Los Angeles. He had murdered 14 boys and young men.

Jan 6 1993
Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev dead from AIDS.

Jan 6 1994
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-tonya-harding.jpg
Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked in the knees by a man in Detroit wielding a collapsible baton. It is later determined that her inferior rival Tonya Harding and her boyfriend were responsible for the attack.

Jan 6 1998
Vandals decapitate the bronze "Little Mermaid" statue in Copenhagen harbor. It is the first decapitation of the famous Edvar Eriksen statue since 1964, and the incident has the city horrified.


1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England.

1540 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.

1649 - The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.

1661 - The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.

1781 - In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey.

1806 - Horatio Nelson is laid to rest in Saint Paul's Cathedral in London.

1838 - Samuel Morse first successfully tests the electrical telegraph.

1912 - New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.

1929 - Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin a her work amongst India's poorest and diseased people.

1930 - The first diesel-engine automobile trip is completed (from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).

1931 - Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.

1941 - The keel of USS Missouri (BB-63) was laid at New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn.

1942 - Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world.

1950 - The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.

Births

1367 - Richard II of England (d. 1400)

1412 - Joan of Arc, Roman Catholic Saint and national heroine of France (legendary date) (d. 1431)

1905 - Idris Davies, Welsh poet (d. 1953)

1946 - Syd Barrett, English guitarist, singer and songwriter Pink Floyd (d. 2006)

1953 - Malcolm Young, Scottish-born Australian guitarist (AC/DC)

1980 - Hiromi Oshima, Japanese adult model

1986 - Alex Turner, English musician (Arctic Monkeys)

Deaths

1919 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)

Holidays and observances

Twelfth Day of Christmas, also known as Twelfth Day and Three Kings Day

Public holiday in Spain, Italy and Puerto Rico to mark Epiphany

Ireland - Little Christmas

Rastafari movement - Celebration of the ceremonial birthday of Haile Selassie

Armenian Christmas

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 7 1943
Nikola Tesla dead. The inventor of alternating current, Tesla was driven mad by Edison and spent his final days trying to invent a death ray.

Jan 7 1948
Residents of Maysville and nearby towns report UFO sightings, and at 2:45 PM, the US Air National Guard investigates. Capt. Thomas Mantell radios that the craft is "metallic and tremendous in size". It may have been a weather balloon. At 3:18 PM Mantell's P-51 goes down, the first UFO related fatality.

Jan 7 1950
Thirty-nine lunatics and one normal person die in the Mercy Hospital fire, Davenport IA.

Jan 7 1961
Young hoodlum Al Pacino arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. He and his compatriots were driving around a suburb of Providence RI, in the middle of the night, wearing masks and gloves. Not suspicious at all.

Jan 7 1989
Marine biologist Emperor Hirohito dead from cancer. Prior to his scientific career, Hirohito was the highest profile unindicted war criminal, presiding over such events as the Rape of Nanking and the unnecessary deaths of over 1 million Japanese in 1945 after it became quite clear the war was lost.
1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England.

1610 - Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.

1735 - Hieronimus de Salis marries hon. Mary ffane, at St. Margaret's Westminster.

1782 - The first American commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens.

1785 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.

1797 - The current flag of Italy is first used.

1835 - HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.

1904 - The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS".

1922 - Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64-57 vote.

1927 - First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London.

1935 - Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco–Italian Agreement.

1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.

1945 - World War II: British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.

1953 - President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.

1959 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

1990 - The interior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.

1999 - The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton begins.

Births

1796 - Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (d. 1817)

1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)

1959 - Kathy Valentine, American musician (The Go-Gos)

Deaths

2002 - Jon Lee, Welsh drummer (Feeder)(Suicide) (b. 1968)

Holidays and observances

Italy - Tricolour day (Festa del Tricolore)

Japan - Nanakusa (Seven Herbs Festival).

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 8 1880
Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, dead in San Francisco. Born Joshua A. Norton, he was adopted by the citizens of the city and issued frequent imperial proclamations.

Jan 8 1935
Elvis Aaron Presley born, Tupelo Mississippi.

Jan 8 1973
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-ed-kemper-th.jpg
Ed Kemper, Santa Cruz, California's own serial killer, shoots a hitchhiking co-ed. Her body is hidden at the home of Ed's mother to be molested and dismembered the next day.

Jan 8 1991
Guitarist "Smoking" Steve Clark from Def Leppard found dead from a drug and alcohol overdose. He was 31.

Jan 8 1992
George Bush, sick with the stomach flu, decides not to excuse himself at a Tokyo state dinner. He vomits in the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister while cameras are rolling, to the great amusement of everyone except the Prime Minister.

Jan 8 1998
Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski attempts to hang himself in his jail cell with his underwear. Let's hope for his mother's sake that the underwear he chose was clean.

871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army.

1297 - Monaco gains its independence.

1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.

1790 - George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address address in New York City.

1806 - Cape Colony becomes a British colony.

1815 - War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans - Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.

1835 - US national debt is 0 for the first and only time.

1838 - Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).

1877 - Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain (Montana Territory).

1900 - United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.

1912 - The African National Congress is founded.

1916 - World War I: Allied forces withdraw from Gallipoli.

1918 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.

1940 - World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.

2004 - RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

Births

1935 - Elvis Presley, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)

1937 - Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer

1941 - Graham Chapman, British comedian(Monty Pythons flying circus) (d. 1989)

1946 - Robby Krieger, American musician (The Doors)

1959 - Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Crowded House) (d. 2005)

1970 - Melissa Hill, American porn actress

Deaths

1107 - Edgar of Scotland (b. 1074)

1324 - Marco Polo, Italian explorer (b. 1254)

1642 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and scientist (b. 1564)

1935 - Jesse Garon Presley, stillborn twin brother of Elvis Presley

1991 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard)(O.D.) (b. 1960)

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 9 1349
All the jews of Basel Switzerland are rounded up and incinerated, because they caused the bubonic plague.


Jan 9 1570
Ivan The Terrible, thinking that the town of Novgorod on the verge of defecting to Poland, commences a massacre on its citizens that lasts five long weeks. Every day men, women, and children are brutally murdered by flame or thrown in the Volkhov river. Estimates vary between 15,000 and 60,000 killed.


Jan 9 1913
Richard Nixon born.


Jan 9 1914
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-gypsy-rose-lee.jpg
Birthday of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.


Jan 9 1972
The luxury liner Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbor.


Jan 9 2002
The DOJ confirms reports that a criminal investigation of mega-corporation Enron has begun. The Texas energy profiteers gave loads of cash to the Republican party before accounting fraud and insider trading caused thousands of Enron employees to lose their savings and pensions.



1431 - Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.

1768 - Philip Astley stages the first modern circus (London).

1788 - Connecticut becomes the fifth state to join the United States.

1799 - British Prime Minister William Pitt introduces income tax to raise funds for the war against Napoleon.

1806 - Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.

1816 - Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.

1863 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens -- between Paddington and Farringdon Street.

1905 - According to the Julian Calendar which was used at the time, Russian workers stage a march on the Winter Palace that ends in the massacre by Tsarist troops known as Bloody Sunday, setting off the Russian Revolution of 1905.

1916 - The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Çanakkale, as the last British troops are evacuated.

1917 - World War I: the Battle of Rafa occurs near the Egyptian border with Palestine.

1941 - First flight of the Avro Lancaster.

1941 - World War II: The Greek Triton (S.112) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.

1945 - The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.

1951 - The United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City.

1964 - Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the US-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between US military and Panamanian civilians.

1968 - The first and last time to date snow fell in Mexico City along with 10th and 11th.

1991 - The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.

Births

1913 - Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)

1944 - Jimmy Page, English guitarist (Led Zeppelin)

1948 - Cassie Gaines Backup Singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)

1950 - David Johansen American singer (New York Dolls)

1957 - Phil Lewis, English singer (L.A. Guns)

1965 - Eric Erlandson, American guitarist (Hole)

1967 - Steven Harwell, American singer and musician (Smash Mouth)

Deaths

1995 - Peter Cook, British actor and comedian (b. 1937)

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 10 1645
Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud is beheaded with an axe on Tower Hill despite his trial ending without a verdict and having been granted a royal pardon years earlier.

Jan 10 1883
A fire at the six-story Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee kills 71 people. Two famous midgets residing there, General Tom Thumb and Commodore Nut, are rescued by firefighters.

Jan 10 1939
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-linda-lovelace.jpg
Linda Lovelace's birthday. She starred in Deep Throat, the most profitable adult movie in history, and certainly one of the most groundbreaking. Linda's other credits include her first film Dog Fucker, a 1969 film where she gets it on with a German shepherd.

Jan 10 1982
The gayest Hollywood Square, Paul Lynde, dead naked in his West Hollywood home with a bottle of poppers (amyl nitrate, to relax muscles used during anal intercourse) next to the bed. By the next morning, Lynde's mysterious male companion had fled.

Jan 10 1998
German psychologist Heidi Fittkau-Garthe was charged in the Canary Islands with a plot of murder-suicide in which 31 cult followers, including five children, were to ingest poison. After the suicides they were to be picked up by spaceship for an unspecified destination.


1806 - Dutch settlers in Cape Town surrender to the British.

1810 - The marriage of Napoleon and Josephine is annulled.

1863 - The London Underground, the world's oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station.

1901 - The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.

1920 - The League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.

1922 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of the Irish Free State.

1929 - Tintin, a comic book character created by Hergé, makes his debut. He went on to be published in over 200 million comic books in 40 languages.

1941 - Lend-Lease is introduced into the US Congress.

1941 - World War II: The Greek army captures Kleisoura.

1946 - The first General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Fifty-one nations are represented.

1957 - Harold Macmillan becomes the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

1984 - The US and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations after 117 years.

1989 - Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola.

1990 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.

1992 - 29,000 bath toys owned by the American company First Days Inc. are washed overboard in the Pacific Ocean.

1999 - A large piece of the chalk cliff at Beachy Head collapses into the sea.

2000 - America Online announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion, the largest corporate merger in history at the time.

2001 - Wikipedia starts as part of Nupedia. It becomes a separate site five days later.

Births

1869 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (d. 1916)

1948 - Donald Fagen, American keyboardist, singer and songwriter (Steely Dan)

1949 - Linda Lovelace, American pornographic actress (d. 2002)

1953 - Pat Benatar, American singer

1955 - Michael Schenker, German guitarist (UFO)

Deaths

1862 - Samuel Colt, American inventor (b. 1814)

1917 - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American frontiersman (b. 1846)

1976 - Howlin' Wolf, American musician (b. 1910)

Holidays and observances

Margaret Thatcher day in the Falkland Islands

2008 - Islamic New Year

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 11 1892
After sampling the services of many adolescent women in the tropics, the fifty year old painter Paul Gauguin marries Tehura, an awfully cute 13 year old Tahitian girl.

Jan 11 1960
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-henry-lee-lucas.jpg
Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas kills his 74 year old mother. He tells Toledo police that he raped her corpse, but later recants this. The murder ends his career as a serial killer; he is variously attributed to having killed between 100 and 600 people. The truth is probably below 100.

Jan 11 1962
In the Peruvian Andes, an avalanche buries 3,000 people alive as the volcano Huascaran erupts.

Jan 11 1964
The US Surgeon General warns against smoking for the first time. It's amazing how many dumbshits need to be told that inhaling smoke is harmful.

Jan 11 1966
Numerous people, including the mayor of Wanaque and their police chief, observe a UFO over Wanaque Reservoir, burning holes in the ice. The Air Force explained it as a weather balloon, but later withdrew that claim and called it a helicopter.

1569 - First recorded lottery in England.

1693 - Mt. Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta

1879 - The Anglo-Zulu War begins.

1917 - The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.

1922 - First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.

1923 - Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its reparation payments.

1935 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

1942 - Japan declares war on the Netherlands and invades the Netherlands East Indies.

1942 - The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.

1943 - The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.

1949 - First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.

1957 - Mass-murderer Jack Gilbert Graham is executed via the Gas Chamber.

1972 - East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.

1973 - The Open University, Britain's distance-learning university, awards its first degrees.

1994 - The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin

2001 - The Federal Trade Commission approves the merger of AOL and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.

Births

1915 - Robert Blair Mayne, British soldier, co-founder Special Air Service (d. 1955)

1942 - Clarence Clemons, American musician (E Street Band)

1946 - Tony Kaye, British keyboard player (Yes)

1958 - Vicki Peterson, American musician (The Bangles)

1968 - Tom Dumont, American musician (No Doubt)

1981 - Tom Meighan, British singer (Kasabian)

1981 - Chris Edwards, British musician (Kasabian)

Deaths

1791 - William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh hymnist (b. 1717)

1836 - John Molson, Canadian brewer (b. 1763)

1914 - Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer and patron of the arts after whom the Carlsberg brewery was named (b. 1842)

2003 - Mickey Finn, English drummer (T. Rex) (b. 1947)

2005 - Spencer Dryden, American drummer (Jefferson Airplane) (b. 1938)

2005 - James Griffin, American musician (Bread) (b. 1943)

2008 - Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand adventurer, first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest (Heart attack)

Holidays and observances

Albania - Republic Day (1946)

Morocco - Independence Resistance Day

Nepal - Unity Day

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 12 1865
General William T. Sherman issues Special Field Order No. 15, entitling the household of each freed slave "a plot of no more than forty acres of tillable ground" along the Carolina coastline between Charleston and Jacksonville. After the Confederate surrender, the Johnson administration makes a halfhearted attempt to follow through on the acreage, but all efforts to parcel out the land in question are abandoned just a few months later.

Jan 12 1914
Industrialist Henry Ford offers the incredible sum of a $5 per day wage for unskilled labor (previously $2.34), but only to married white Christian men willing to subject themselves to surveillance and random home inspections by the company's Sociology Department.

Jan 12 1928
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-ruth-snyder-th.jpg
Murderer Ruth Snyder executed in the Electric Chair at Ossining. Photographer Thomas Howard catches the moment of death with a camera secretly strapped to his ankle, and the photo runs on the front page of the New York Daily News.

Jan 12 1965
At 10:58 a.m. PST, scientists conduct what they called a "controlled excursion", burning up a nuclear rocket in Nevada and putting a radioactive cloud over Los Angeles.

Jan 12 1966
Premiere on television of the homoerotic comedy "Batman" starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

Jan 12 1971
The first episode of "All in the Family" made television history by broadcasting the sound of a toilet flushing.

Jan 12 1979
One of the Hillside Stranglers, security guard Kenneth Bianchi, is arrested in Bellingham, Washington for a pair of rape/strangulations. After he moved north from Los Angeles he made the mistake of continuing his high profile hobby.

Jan 12 1993
A transcript of the infamous 1989 intercepted phone call between Camilla and Prince Charles is published by the Sun. "I'll just live inside your trousers or something". Good god.
1866 - The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.

1895 - The National Trust is founded in Britain.

1906 - Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet (which included amongst its members H.H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election.

1915 - The Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of U.S. Congress.

1940 - World War II: Russia bombs cities in Finland.

1942 - President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.

1945 - World War II: The Soviets begin a large offensive against the Nazis in Eastern Europe .

1964 - Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic.

1991 - Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.

1998 - Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.

2004 - The world's largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.

2006 - The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany declare that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have reached a dead end and recommend that Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council.

2006 - A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.

2006 - The French warship Clemenceau reaches Egypt and is barred access to the Suez Canal. Greenpeace activists board the ship.

Births

1893 - Hermann Göring, Nazi official (d. 1946)

1893 - Alfred Rosenberg, Nazi official (d. 1946)

1970 - Zack de la Rocha, American musician (Rage Against the Machine).


Deaths

1834 - William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)

2003 - Maurice Gibb, British singer, songwriter, and musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949)

Holidays and observances

Tanzania - Zanzibar Revolution Day

India - National Youth Day Swami Vivekananda's birthday

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 13 1943
Hitler declares "Total War".

Jan 13 1959
Raul Castro, brother of Fidel, lines up 71 Batista supporters in front of a trench and machine guns them. They are then buried by a tractor without any verification that the prisoners were killed.

Jan 13 1962
Television comedy pioneer Ernie Kovacs drives his "unsafe at any speed" Corvair into a utility pole on Santa Monica Boulevard, killing him instantly and turning The Nairobi Trio into a Duo.

Jan 13 1979
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-village-people.jpg
The Young Men's Christian Association files a libel suit against the Village People for their popular Y.M.C.A hit.

Jan 13 1987
New York mobsters Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno and Carmine "Junior" Persico sentenced to 100 years of prison for racketeering, along with six others. All were members of the Mafia "board of directors"

Jan 13 1991
Forty-two people are killed in a soccer stampede and melee at Johannesburg, South Africa.

Jan 13 1998
A woman taking a tour of the White House applies spray paint to two early 19th century marble busts modeled by Giuseppi Ceracchi. No clear motive exists for the vandalism, and it it not clear how spray paint was brought through White House security. Spokesman Mike McCurry stated, "it looks like a bad rouge job on the busts".



1328 - Edward III of England marries Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault.

1547 - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death.

1602 - William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is published.

1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th moon of Jupiter.

1622 - Work on the printing of the First Folio of William Shakespeare is suspended.

1625 - John Milton is admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge at the age of 16.

1733 - James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina.

1785 - John Walter publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times).

1842 - Dr. William Brydon, a surgeon in the British Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 16,500 when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.

1847 - The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.

1893 - The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting.

1893 - U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.

1930 - The Mickey Mouse comic strip makes its first appearance.

1935 - A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.

1938 - The Church of England accepts the theory of evolution.

1942 - Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.

1942 - The United States begins Japanese American internment.

1942 - World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.

1953 - Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen as President of Yugoslavia.

1957 - The Wham-O Company produces the first Frisbee.

1964 - Hindu-Muslim rioting breaks out in the Indian city of Calcutta - now Kolkata - resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people.

1964 - Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, is appointed archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

1968 - Johnny Cash records his landmark album At Folsom Prison live at Folsom State Prison.

1991 - Soviet Union military troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius.

1992 - Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.

Births

1954 - Trevor Rabin, South African guitarist (Yes)

1959 - James Lomenzo, American musician (Megadeth)

1961 - Graham McPherson, (Suggs) English singer (Maddness)

1961 - Wayne Coyne, American singer (The Flaming Lips)

1981 - Jason James, Welsh Bassist (Bullet for My Valentine)

Deaths

1929 - Wyatt Earp, American Western lawman (b. 1848)

2004 - Harold Shipman, British serial killer (suicide)(b. 1946)

Holidays and observances

In Sweden, Christmas ends on the 20th day, St. Knut's Day or Tjugondag Knut.

In UK, as proposed by comedian Bob Mills on BBC Radio 5 Live's Fighting Talk this is the day beyond which the penalty for wishing someone a Happy New Year should be death.

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 14 1601
Authorities of the Catholic Church burn a large percentage of the Hebrew books in Rome. Monks targeted the books because they felt they portrayed Jesus in a blasphemous manner. It would have been healthier to burn the monks.

Jan 14 1943
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-frances-farmer-th.jpg
Actress Frances Farmer forcefully taken to jail for parole violations with regard to her drunk driving conviction. She states her occupation as "cocksucker", receives a 180 day sentence, and some days later is committed to an insane asylum where she receives a lobotomy five years later.

Jan 14 1967
The New York Times reports that the Army is conducting biological germ warfare experiments in secret.

Jan 14 1978
Serial killer Ted Bundy stuns the nation when he breaks into a sorority at Florida State University in Tallahassee, killing two girls and attacking three others. One of the dead girls, Lisa Levy, was found with a Clairol hairspray bottle rammed into her vagina. The bite mark on her buttocks would later be used as evidence to help convict Bundy.

Jan 14 1984
The BBC announces that it will no longer play Frankie Goes To Hollywood single "Relax", because of its obscene lyrics catapulting it to number one in the singles chart.

Jan 14 1990
Debut of The Simpsons on Fox.

Jan 14 1991
Tyne Daly (the fat one from "Cagney and Lacy") is arrested for drunk driving in Van Nuys, CA.

Jan 14 1998
Jewish extremists Avigdor Eskin and Haim Pakovich are charged in a plot to catapult a pig's head containing the Koran into Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock mosque, in order to spark tensions between Jews and Arabs. It is the latest in a series of pig and pighead incidents by Jewish agitants.

Jan 14 1998
A spokesman for the National Criminal Intelligence Service (United Kingdom) announced to the media that it had encountered ecstasy pills bearing the names of Lady Diana and Dodi Fayed, as well as some displaying the Mercedes logo, the brand of car involved in the fatal accident. The reverse side shows the letters "RIP".



1761 - The Third Battle of Panipat was fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marhatas. The Afghan victory changed the course of Indian History.

1784 - American Revolutionary War: The United States ratifies a peace treaty with England.

1858 - Napoleon III of France escapes an assassination attempt.

1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill begin the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of the war.

1943 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to travel via airplane while in office (Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill to discuss World War II).

1950 - The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.

1967 - Counterculture of the 1960s: The Human Be-In, takes place in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love. Between 20,000 to 30,000 people attend.

1969 - An explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 27 people.

1994 - U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin sign the Kremlin accords.

2000 - A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Muslims in a Bosnian village.

Births

1741 - Benedict Arnold, American general notorious for treason (d. 1801)

1959 - Geoff Tate, American musician (Queensrÿche)

1967 - Zakk Wylde, American musician (Black Label Society)

1969 - David Grohl, American drummer, Guitarist, singer(Nirvana, Foo Fighters)

1982 - Caleb Followill, American musician (Kings of Leon)

Deaths

1898 - Lewis Carroll, English writer and mathematician (b. 1832)

1977 - Anthony Eden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1897)

[ICE420]

Jan 14 1943
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-frances-farmer-th.jpg
Actress Frances Farmer forcefully taken to jail for parole violations with regard to her drunk driving conviction. She states her occupation as "cocksucker", receives a 180 day sentence, and some days later is committed to an insane asylum where she receives a lobotomy five years later.

Funny, I was talking with my Grandmother the other day about Frances Farmer. The story of her life seem´s a little like Britney Spears life at the moment.

I don´t think she had a Lobotomy though, but I think Britney may have:1orglaugh: .

Sensationalized accounts

In the years following Farmer's death in 1970, her treatment at Western State was the subject of serious discussion and wild speculation. Kenneth Anger included a chapter relating her breakdown in Hollywood Babylon. Farmer's ghostwritten, posthumously published autobiography Will There Really Be A Morning described a brutal incarceration. It claimed Farmer had been brutalized and mistreated in numerous ways. Farmer's ghostwriter and friend Jean Ratcliffe later admitted she had written the version to be marketable and saleable.
In 1978, Seattle film reviewer William Arnold published Shadowland, which for the first time alleged that Farmer had been the subject of a transorbital lobotomy. Scenes of Farmer being subjected to this lobotomy procedure were part of the 1982 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982) film Frances (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances), which had initially been planned as an adaptation of Shadowland, though its producers ultimately reneged on their agreement with Arnold. During a court case against Brooksfilms (the film's producers), Arnold revealed that the lobotomy episode and much of his biography about Farmer was "fictionalized". Years later, on a DVD commentary track of the film Frances, director Graeme Clifford stated, "We didn't want to nickel and dime people to death with facts."
In The Lobotomist, his biography of Walter Freeman, author Jack El-Hai, who had access to all of Freeman's patient records, found no mention of Farmer whatsoever. Farmer's sister, Edith, denied that the procedure was done. She said the hospital asked her parents permission to perform the lobotomy, but her father was “horrified” by the notion and threatened legal action "if they tried any of their guinea pig operations on her."

Medical archives

Western State Hospital recorded all the lobotomies performed during Farmer's period there. Since lobotomies were considered ground-breaking medical procedure, the hospital did not attempt to conceal its work. Although nearly 300 patients received the procedure, no evidence supports a claim that Farmer was among them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Farmer

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 15 1919
In Boston, an immense storage tank alongside a rum distillery suddenly explodes, producing a flash flood of 2.3 million gallons of sticky molasses. Whole buildings are knocked off their foundations and reduced to rubble by an eight-foot wall of liquid traveling 35 miles per hour. 21 killed and 150 injured as a result of this industrial accident.

Jan 15 1947
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-black-dahlia.jpg
The body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short is discovered in a vacant lot, her mutilated corpse chopped in half at the waist. Her murder is known as The Black Dahlia Murder, one of the most lurid murder cases in Los Angeles history. The murderer was never found.

Jan 15 1951
A gaseous volcanic "Cloud of Death" descends from Mount Lamington, New Guinea, killing 5,000.

Jan 15 1974
The first episode of Happy Days airs.

Jan 15 1983
Meyer Lansky, retired Jewish organized crime genius, Godfather of the Mafia, dead of a fatal nosebleed at Mount Sinai Hospital. It is not clear where Lansky's estimated $300 million fortune went.

Jan 15 1988
Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder's racist statements regarding the breeding history of slaves and black athletes costs him his job at CBS.

1559 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of Carlisle, instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

1759 - The British Museum opens.

1943 - World War II: The Japanese are driven off Guadalcanal.

1943 - World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.

1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.

1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in West Germany.

1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

1975 - Portugal grants independence to Angola.

1976 - Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.

1991 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.

2001 - Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.

2005 - An intense solar flare blasts X rays across the solar system.

Births

1893 - Ivor Novello, Welsh composer,singer & actor (d. 1951)

1929 - Martin Luther King Jr, American civil rights leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1968)

1941 - Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, American musician and visual artist

1948 - Ronnie Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)

1959 - Pete Trewavas, English bass guitarist (Marillion)

1965 - Adam Jones, American musician (Tool)

1971 - Teanna Kai, American porn star

1972 - Kobe Tai, American porn star

Deaths

1947 - Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia (b. 1924)

2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein (b. 1951) (executed)

2007 - Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court (b. 1945) (executed)
Holidays and observances

Malawi - John Chilembwe Day.

North Korea - Korean Alphabet Day.

United States - Traditionally, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Kerala in India - Makaravilakku or Makara Sankranthy at Sabarimala.

Jallikattu in South India.

Pongal in Tamil Nadu (2007).

Nigerian Armed Forces Rememberance day

[tgd_02]

ah kobe tai was born <3
such awesomeneses

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 16 1936
Serial killer cannibal Albert Fish executed at Sing Sing. God wanted him to castrate boys, and who was he to disagree. At his electrocution, the twenty-nine needles he had inserted into his crotch meant he needed a second jolt.

Jan 16 1942
Raising money for the war, actress Carol Lombard and her mother are killed along with a score of others in a Las Vegas airplane crash.
Jan 16 1969
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-jan-palach.jpg
Jan Palach self-immolates in Wenceslas Square, Prague, to protest the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. His gasoline powered sacrifice starts a wave of copycat suicides, seven of which are successful.

Jan 16 1987
President Leon Cordero of Ecuador is kidnapped by followers of Gen. Frank Vargas, held in a Quito prison for a 1986 coup attempt. Vargas is free and so was the President. Lesson: crime pays.

Jan 16 1989
Three days of race riots begin in Overtown, Miami when a black man fleeing on motorcycle is killed by a Hispanic police officer. 125 blocks are sealed off during the riots.

Jan 16 1991
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-baghdadcam.jpg
Operation Desert Storm commences as Baghdad is pummeled live on CNN. Targeted with smartbombs are "command and control facilities" and Saddam Hussein himself. We seem to miss both, but do manage to kill about 100,000 Iraqi soldiers in the surreal bombardments that follow.

Jan 16 1997
Bill Cosby's 27 year old son Ennis William Cosby is shot to death at Skirball Center in Sepulveda Pass, near Los Angeles CA. It was a robbery attempt while he was attempting to change a flat tire.


1362 - A great storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German island of Strand and the city of Rungholt.
1547 - Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar of Russia.

1572 - The Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.

1581 - The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.

1707 - The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving way for the creation of Great Britain.

1761 - British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.

1809 - Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.

1896 - Defeat of Cymru Fydd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymru_Fydd) at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.

1900 - The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.

1919 - Temperance movement: The United States of America ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.

1945 - Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.

1956 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.

2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which will be its final one. Columbia disintegrates 16 days later on re-entry.

2005 - Adriana Iliescu becomes the oldest woman in the world to give birth, at age 66.

Births

1961 - Paul Raven, English musician (Killing Joke) (d. 2007)

1962 - Paul Webb, British musician (Talk Talk, .O.rang)

1981 - Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)

1982 - Samuel Preston, British singer (The Ordinary Boys)

Deaths

1815 - Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of Horatio Nelson (b. 1765)

1898 - Charles Pelham Villiers, longest-serving MP in the British House of Commons (b. 1802)

Holidays and observances

Teacher's Day in Thailand

National Religious Freedom Day in the United States

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 17 1893
White people, businessmen and sugar planters helped by U.S. troops, overthrow Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii. The islands become the Republic of Hawaii before being annexed by the U.S. in 1898.

Jan 17 1899
Al Capone's birthday.

Jan 17 1950
Seven men wearing Halloween masks rob the Brink's office in Boston of $1.2M cash, and $1.5M securities. One of the robbers confesses to the job in 1953, eleven days before the statute of limitations was to expire.

Jan 17 1961
President Eisenhower warns us of the evils of the "military industrial complex". Did we listen carefully enough?

Jan 17 1966
An American B-52 collides with its tanker aircraft during refueling over the town of Palomares, Spain. Seven crew members are killed in the resulting jet fuel explosion. Also, three 10-megaton hydrogen bombs crash near the town. Although none of them detonates, two rupture, scattering powdered plutonium over 558 acres of farmland. The USA hauls away 1,600 tons of soil and tomato plants and disposes of them in Aiken, South Carolina.

Jan 17 1977
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-gary-gilmore.jpg
After refusing appeals and demanding his death sentence, double murderer Gary Gilmore is given a hood and shot by a Utah Firing Squad in the first U.S. execution in ten years.

Jan 17 1994
The massive "Northridge Earthquake" strikes Los Angeles, producing a ground pulse far greater than its 6.7 magnitude would indicate. It causes 61 deaths and damages reaching $20 billion. The quake is by far the most expensive cataclysm in U.S. history.

Jan 17 1995
One year after the Northridge quake in California, a large 7.2 quake strikes Kobe Japan, killing 5,090, leaving 1.5 million homeless, and causing damage of approximately $200 billion dollars. It is the most destructive quake in Japan since the 1923 Kanto disaster.

1595 - Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.

1648 - England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.

1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens - Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.

1885 - A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.

1912 - Sir Robert Falcon Scott (Scott of the Antarctic) reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.

1917 - The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.

1941 - Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after WWII.

1945 - Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.

1945 - The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.

1985 - British Telecom announces the retirement of the United Kingdom's red telephone boxes.

1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.

1996 - The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.

1998 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.

2007 - Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to N. Korea nuclear testing

Births

1706 - Benjamin Franklin American statesman (d. 1790)

1863 - David Lloyd George, (the only Welsh) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945)


1899 - Al Capone, American gangster d. 1947)
1948 - Mick Taylor, British musician (The Rolling Stones)

1959 - Susanna Hoffs, American musician (The Bangles)

1963 - Kai Hansen, German musician/singer (Helloween)

1964 - Andy Rourke, English bass guitarist (The Smiths)

1966 - Shabba Ranks, Jamaican singer

1967 - Richard Hawley, English singer, guitarist and songwriter (Pulp, The Longpigs)

1969 - Tijs Verwest, (DJ Tiësto) Dutch Dance music DJ

1971 - Kid Rock, American singer

1971 - Richard Burns, English rally driver (d. 2005)

Deaths

1893 - Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822)

[MACH ll]

Pretty good stuff here....

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 18 1945
The Auschwitz Death March began.

Jan 18 1978
"Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read. -- Frank Zappa, Chicago Tribune

Jan 18 1983
During a broadcast of "The Magic Christian," Bruce Blackman shoots and kills his family. He claims that he acted on orders received while watching the movie.

Jan 18 1990
Rusty Hamer, the actor who played Danny Thomas's son on Make Room For Daddy, shoots himself in the head with a .357 Magnum in DeRidder, Louisiana. Rusty was 42 years old.

Jan 18 1990
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-marion-barry.jpg
Washington DC mayor Marion Barry is arrested on cocaine possession charges at the Vista International Hotel, as he tokes on a glass crack pipe while being videotaped with his mistress Rasheeda.

Jan 18 1991
The United States admits that the CIA paid Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega over $300,000 during his career as undercover narc.

Jan 18 1998
An advertisement in Norway's primary daily newspaper Verdens Gang today depicted a used tampon made to resemble the Japanese flag, with the caption "We wish the female participants luck in Nagano" (the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics). The Japanese Embassy in Oslo filed a protest.

1486 - King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.

1670 - Welsh privateer Captain Henry Morgan captures Panama.

1778 - James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".

1788 - The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay.

1871 - Wilhelm I of Germany is proclaimed the first German Emperor in the 'Hall of Mirrors' of the Palace of Versailles towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War. The empire was known as The Second Reich to the Germans.

1884 - Dr William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the UK.

1886 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.

1896 - The X-ray machine is exhibited for the first time.

1903 - Theodore Roosevelt, the President of the United States, sends a radio message to King Edward VII: the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States.

1911 - Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco harbor, marking the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.

1919 - Bentley Motors Limited is founded.

1943 - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.

1944 - Soviet forces liberate Leningrad, effectively ending a three year Nazi siege, known as the Siege of Leningrad.

1945 - Liberation of the Budapest ghetto by the Red Army

1964 - Plans are revealed for the World Trade Center in New York City.

1967 - Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life in prison.

1974 - A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.

1977 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease.

1978 - The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.

2002 - Sierra Leone Civil War is finally declared over.

2007 - The strongest storm in the UK for 17 years kills 14 people, Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Hurricane Kyrill, causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe. Other losses include the Container Ship MSC Napoli destroyed by the storm of the coast of Devon, England.

Births

1882 - A. A. Milne, English author (Winnie the Pooh) (d. 1956)

1971 - Jonathan Davis, American singer (KoЯn)

1984 - Cho Seung-Hui, Korean-American mass murderer (Virginia Tech Massacre) (d. 2007)

Deaths

1862 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (b. 1790)

1936 - Rudyard Kipling, British writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1865)

Holidays and observances

Winnie The Pooh Day (in observance of the birthday of Alan Alexander Milne, 1882.)

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 19 1847

A group of Mexicans and Indians enters the Taos home of New Mexican Territory Governor Charles Bent, and scalps him.

Jan 19 1985
Houston daredevil Karel Soucek is dropped in a barrel from the roof of the Astrodome. Though he was aiming for a water tank on the field, his barrel strikes the edge of the tank. He suffers a fatal skull fracture.

Jan 19 1991 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-wendy-o-williams-th.jpg

Wendy O. Williams, of the Plasmatics, arrested for masturbating herself onstage with a sledgehammer.

Jan 19 1995
The eternally skanky Singaporan porn star Annabel Chong has sex with 80 men a total of 251 times, in a single day. She was paid $12,000 for this appearance in World's Biggest Gang Bang I.

Jan 19 1997 Todd Bridges, "Willis" on Diff'rent Strokes, booked in Marina Del Rey on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He repeatedly rammed the weapon, his car, into another vehicle after an argument in a video arcade.


1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy.

1764 - John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.

1788 - Second group of ships of the First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay.

1806 - The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope.

1812 - Peninsular War: After a ten day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, orders British soldiers of the Light and third divisions to storm Ciudad Rodrigo.

1839 - British East India Company captures Aden.

1840 - Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming what became known as Wilkes Land for the United States.

1883 - The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Eddison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.

1899 - Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.

1915 - Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.

1915 - World War I: German zeppelins bomb the cities of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing more than 20, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.

1917 - German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann sends the Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico, proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the United States.

1917 - Silvertown explosion: 73 are killed and 400 injured in an explosion in a munitions plant in London.

1920 - The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.

1941 - World War II: British troops attack Italian-held Eritrea.

1942 - World War II: Japanese forces invade Burma.

1945 - World War II: Soviet forces liberate the ghetto of Łódź. Out of 230,000 inhabitants in 1940, less than 900 had survived Nazi occupation.

1946 - General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.

1949 - Cuba recognises Israel.

1977 - President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose").

1977 - Snow falls in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that snowfall has occurred. It also fell in the Bahamas.

1978 - The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America will continue until 2003.

1983 - Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia.

Births

1809 - Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet (d. 1849)

1943 - Janis Joplin, American singer (d. 1970)

1947 - Rod Evans, British musician (Deep Purple)

1949 - Robert Palmer, English singer and guitarist (d. 2003)

Deaths

1999 - Ivan Francescato, Italian Rugby Union star (b. 1967)

2007 - Denny Doherty, Canadian singer (The Mamas and the Papas) (b. 1940)

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 20 1936
King George V of England is euthanized with injections of cocaine and morphine, after a painful cancer illness. His physician was motivated not only to ameliorate the king's suffering, but also to break the story in the morning edition of the newspapers, "rather than the less appropriate evening journals."

Jan 20 1942
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-eternaljew.jpg
The Wannsee Conference is held in Berlin, determining the Final Solution of European Jews.

Jan 20 1969
Richard M. Nixon inaugurated at 35th president.

Jan 20 1982
Rock musician Ozzy Osbourne is hospitalized in Des Moines IA after he bites the head off of a dead bat. The bat was tossed on stage by a fan during a live performance.

Jan 20 1998
Nepalese police seized a shipment of 272 human skulls in Kathmandu, stashed atop a bus, apparently destined for sale to tourists as curios.

1156 - According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland.

1265 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now also known as the "Houses of Parliament".

1356 - Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scotland.

1502 - The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored.

1649 - Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes".

1783 - The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.

1788 - The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides Botany Bay is unsuitable for location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson.

1841 - Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.

1885 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.

1887 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

1936 - Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.

1937 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. This is the first inauguration scheduled on January 20, following adoption of the 20th Amendment. Previous inaugurations were scheduled on March 4.

1942 - World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin agree on the "final solution to the Jewish problem".

1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.

1945 - Hungary ends its involvement in the Second World War, agreeing an armistice with the Allies.

1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.

1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.

1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr., day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

1986 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.

1987 - Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.

Births

1945 - Eric Stewart, English musician and songwriter (10cc)

1951 - Ian Hill, British bassist (Judas Priest)

1952 - Paul Stanley, American singer & guitarist (Kiss)

1960 - Scott Thunes, American bassist (Frank Zappa)

1965 - Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)

1966 - Tracii Guns, American guitarist (Founder member of Guns N Roses)

1969 - Nicky Wire, Welsh bassist (Manic Street Preachers)

1971 - Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)

1979 - Rob Bourdon, American drummer (Linkin Park)

1980 - Matthew Tuck, Welsh guitarist (Bullet for My Valentine)

Deaths

1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)

Holidays and observances

Presidential Inauguration Day in the United States, held every four years since 1937.

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 21 1793
The King of France, Louis XVI, is guillotined at age 39. An early "urban legend" has the King months earlier suggesting a slant and bevelling of the blade, for better cutting action.

Jan 21 1924
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-lenincorpse-th.jpg
Lenin dead of stroke -- they keep him on ice, expertly preserved. Now after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian gangsters employ the use of the same scientists who taxidermied Lenin to preserve each other after they get whacked.

Jan 21 1959
Former Our Gang child star Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer (age 32) was shot to death in a knifefight in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California.

Jan 21 1960
At Coalbrook, South Africa, a mine collapse traps 437 miners, 417 of whom die from methane poisoning.

Jan 21 1960
The U.S. sends a space monkey, "Miss Sam", nine miles high aboard a Mercury rocket. The six pound monkey is successfully returned to Earth.

Jan 21 1992
Former child star Dana Plato (Diff'rent Strokes) arrested on charges of armed robbery for holding up a video store in Las Vegas. She served 200 hours of community service as sentence.

1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.

1643 - Abel Tasman was the first European to reach Tonga.

1864 - The Tauranga Campaign starts during the Maori Wars.

1887 - Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.

1924 - Vladimir Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin begins to purge his rivals to clear way for his leadership.

1925 - Albania declares itself a republic.

1941 - World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.

1954 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.

1999 - War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kgs (9,500 pounds) of cocaine on board.

2007 - Awashima Marine Park in Japan catches a video tape of the rare frilled shark.

Births

1966 - Robert Del Naja, English trip-hop musician (The wild bunch, Massive attack, UNKLE)

1977 - Al Baxter, Australian rugby union footballer

1979 - Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby union footballer

Deaths

1924 - Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary (Stroke) (b. 1870)

Holidays and observances

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - United States (2008)

Flag Day - Quebec

Mauritius - Thaipoosam Cavadee

Errol Barrow Day - Barbados

UN Arms Day

International Spicy Food Day

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 22 1905
In 1905, thousands of demonstrating Russian workers were fired on by Imperial army troops in St. Petersburg on what became known as "Red Sunday" or "Bloody Sunday". 96 people were killed, and over 300 were wounded. This incident marks the beginning of the so-called 1905 revolution.

Jan 22 1918
Manitoba, Canada film censor board decides to ban comedies, on the grounds that they make audiences "too frivolous".

Jan 22 1951
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's baseball career is ended after he is thrown out of a winter league game, during the tryouts for the Washington Senators.

Jan 22 1957
Mad Bomber captured and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.

Jan 22 1972
In an interview with Melody Maker, musician David Bowie announces that he is gay. Actually he is bisexual, and his wife Angela did catch him in bed with Mick Jagger.

Jan 22 1973
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Texas' [Abortion|abortion]] laws, settling the debate once and for all.

Jan 22 1973
176 people are killed in Kano, Nigeria when a Nigerian Airlines flight crashes on its way back from Mecca.

Jan 22 1987
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-budd.jpg
The State Treasurer of Pennsylvania, R. Budd Dwyer, proclaims his innocence to fraud charges at a crowded press conferences and then pulls a gun out of an envelope and blows his fucking brains out.

1506 - The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrived at the Vatican.

1771 - Spain cedes Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands to England.

1824 - Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast.

1840 - British colonists reach New Zealand.

1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Isandlwana - Zulu troops defeat British troops.

1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Rorke's Drift - 139 British soldiers successfully defended their garrison against an intense assault by four to five thousand Zulu warriors.

1901 - Edward VII becomes King after his mother, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, dies.

1917 - World War I: President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.

1924 - Ramsay MacDonald becomes the UK's first Labour Prime Minister.

1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom captures Tobruk from Nazi forces.

1944 - World War II: Allies begin Operation Shingle (an assault on Anzio, Italy).

1973 - George Foreman breaks Joe Frazier's professional career undefeated heavyweight world boxing champion status.

2007 - The jury portion of the trial against Robert Pickton, accused of being Canada's worst serial killer, opens in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada


Births

1949 - Steve Perry, American singer and musician (Journey)

1960 - Michael Hutchence, Australian singer (INXS) (d. 1997)

1965 - Steven Adler, American drummer (Guns N' Roses)

1977 - Jono Gibbes, New Zealand rugby union footballer

1980 - Ben Moody, American guitarist (Evanescence)

Deaths

1901 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (b. 1819)

1973 - Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (b. 1908)

[KyleABC]

Pretty cool stuff, go to know some facts that i didnt know

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 23 1556
The most devastating earthquake in history kills 830,000 people in Shanxi province, China. Many were killed when their clay caves, carved from cliffs, collapsed.

Jan 23 1812
A huge 7.8 magnitude earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri.

Jan 23 1968
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-uss-pueblo-th.jpg
North Koreans seize the CIA intelligence ship U.S.S. Pueblo while it is in their waters and hold its crew hostage. After a humiliating series of trials, the crew is released.

Jan 23 1972
An unscrupulous New Delhi bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party, killing 100 guests.

Jan 23 1978
Terry Kath of band Chicago accidentally suicides in Woodland Hills. Moral: don't pretend to play Russian Roulette.

Jan 23 1989
Salvador Dali dead.

Jan 23 1996
A professional bungee jumper practicing for the Superbowl was killed during rehearsal. Laura Patterson, 43, died of massive head injuries at the New Orleans Superdome. Way to go, Laura!

Jan 23 1998
Montana hermit Ted Kaczynski admits to four Unabomber attacks, pleading guilty in in a federal plea bargain that spares him the death penalty, but denies him the right of appeal.

1510 - Henry VIII of England, then 18 years old, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond, and is applauded for his jousting before he reveals his identity.

1533 - Anne Boleyn, mistress of Henry VIII of England, discovers herself pregnant.

1570 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war.

1571 - The Royal Exchange opens in London.

1855 - The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.

1870 - In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Indians, mostly women and children, in the Marias Massacre.

1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke's Drift ends.

1897 - Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.

1912 - The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.

1920 - The Netherlands refuses to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.

1937 - In Moscow, 17 leading Communists go on trial accused of participating in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime and assassinate its leaders.

1941 - Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.

1943 - World War II: British forces capture Tripoli in Libya from the Nazis.

1943 - Jewish-led Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

1943 - World War II: Australian and American forces finally defeat the Japanese army in Papua. This turning point in the Pacific War marks the beginning of the end of Japanese aggression.

1945 - World War II: Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal.

1950 - The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

1973 - President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.

1978 - Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, believed to be damaging to earth's ozone layer.

2002 - "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh returns to the United States in FBI custody.

2002 - Reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped -- and subsequently murdered in Karachi, Pakistan.

Births

1950 - Danny Federici, American musician (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band)

1950 - John Greaves, English musician (Henry Cow, National Health)

1952 - Robin Zander, American singer (Cheap Trick)

Deaths

1803 - Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (b. 1725)

1806 - William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)

1990 - Allen Collins, American guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (b. 1952)

Holidays and observances

Bounty Day, celebrating the burning of HMAV Bounty in 1790, Pitcairn Island

[KyleABC]

Wow u rly good at this

[Cymru am byth]

Wow u rly good at this

:xyxthumbs: TY

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 24 41

Roman emperor Caligula is assassinated by his bodyguards.


Jan 24 1908
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-baden-powell-th.jpg
The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by its founder, Robert Baden-Powell.

Jan 24 1978
The nuclear-powered Soviet Cosmos 954 satellite plunges through Earth's atmosphere and disintegrates, scattering radioactive debris over parts of Canada's Northwest Territories. Much of the satellite lands in the Great Slave Lake; only about 1% of the radioactive material is recovered.

Jan 24 1986
Crackpot and founder of the Scientology movement, L. Ron Hubbard dies. His bad science fiction writing has grown alarmly prolific in the years since his death.

Jan 24 1989
Ted Bundy put to death in the Electric Chair for the murder of Kimberly Leach, after ten years trying to appeal. Here is a post-mortem picture of the burns on Bundy's head.

http://www.dailyrotten.com/today/jan/bundy-burns.jpg
A close up of the burns on Ted Bundy after the electric chair. Also visible is an incision made to inspect his brain.

1679 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.


1924 - Petrograd, formerly St. Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad.


1927 - Director Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England.

1935 - The first cans of beer are sold in the US (Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale).

1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.

1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.

Births

1941 - Neil Diamond, American singer

1958 - Jools Holland, British musician (Squeeze)

1967 - John Myung, American musician (Dream Theater)

1968 - Michael Kiske, German musician (Helloween)

Deaths

1948 - Arthur Liebehenschel, Commandant at Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1901)

1965 - Sir Winston Churchill, soldier, politician, historian, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Nobel laureate (b. 1874)

1986 - L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)

1989 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (Electocution) (b. 1946)

2005 - Chalkie White, English rugby union coach (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

Wales - Saint Cadoc

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 25 1485
The Chief Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, Peter Arbues, was bludgeoned from behind as he prayed inside the cathedral at Saragossa, Spain. A fortnight later blood of the martyr liquefied on the floor of the cathedral -- a miracle! -- and numerous testimonies of healing occurring at his coffinside. The Catholic church canonized this brutal man in 1867.

Jan 25 1947
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-alcapone.jpg
The infamous mobster Al Capone dead in Florida, his mind in dementia from long untreated syphilis. Capone was Alcatrazed for eight years of his eleven year sentence for tax evasion, but had to be released due to deteriorating health.

Jan 25 1960
Actress Diana Barrymore commits suicide with alcohol and sleeping pills.

Jan 25 1971
Idi Amin Dada, everybody's favorite tyrant, comes to power in Uganda.

Jan 25 1971
Charles Manson and three of his followers are convicted in Los Angeles of the Tate and LaBianca murders. All were sentenced to the gas chamber, with sentences commuted to life imprisonment when the death penalty was temporarily abolished.

Jan 25 1980
Beatle Paul McCartney is deported from Japan for possession of nearly a half pound of marijuana. It is Paul's third pot bust and his second deportation, an earlier one occurring in Germany 20 years previously after setting fire to a condom.

Jan 25 1990
Avianca Flight 52, a Boeing 707 from Colombia, runs out of fuel over Cove Neck, New York. The crash splits the plane into four pieces and scatters bodies throughout the wreckage. 73 of the 161 passengers die, nobody on the ground is hurt.

Jan 25 1993
Pakistani Mir Aimal Kasi fires a rifle at CIA headquarters parking lot at rush hour in Langley, VA, killing two agents and wounding three others. Kasi wanted to punish the U.S. for acting against Iraq during the Gulf War, and other acts against unspecified islamic countries.

Jan 25 1994
Michael Jackson pays $10M in an out of court settlement to the family of 14 year old Jordy Chandler, who accused him of child molestation. Quote from the affidavit, citing May 1993 as the time period: "That's when the whole thing really got out of hand. We took a bath together. This was the first time that we had seen each other naked. Michael Jackson named certain of his children friends who had masturbated in front of him."

1327 - Edward III becomes King of England.

1533 - Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.

1554 - Founding of São Paulo city, Brazil.

1791 - The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.

1792 - The London Corresponding Society is founded.

1858 - The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.

1881 - Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

1915 - Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service.

1917 - The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million.

1919 - The League of Nations is founded.

1942 - Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.

1945 - Battle of the Bulge ends.

1949 - The first Israeli election -- David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister.

1955 - Soviet Union ends state of war with Germany.

1995 - The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.

Births

1759 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet (d. 1796)

1955 - Terry Chimes, English musician (The Clash)

1956 - Andy Cox, English musician (The Beat, Fine Young Cannibals)

Deaths

2006 - Anna Malle, adult film star (b. 1967)

Holidays and observances

Burns Night - Burns suppers are held in many parts of the world around this date. (Originated in Scotland)

St. Dwynwen's Day - Welsh celebration of love Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen.

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 26 1948
A man with a "Sanitation" armband enters Teikoku Bank in Tokyo and injects the staff with a potassium cyanide solution, claiming to be administering immunizations for amoebic dysentery. Twelve people die, and the bank is robbed of a mere $500. Artist Sadamichi Hirasawa is later found guilty of the killings.

Jan 26 1962
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-luciano.jpg
Mafia boss Lucky Luciano dead of natural causes at the Naples airport, where he was to meet a film producer to discuss his life story. Luciano dropped dead as he was about to shake hands.

Jan 26 1979
Dukes of Hazzard premiere, titled "One Armed Bandits". A shipment of slot machines is hijacked. High comedy.

Jan 26 1979
70-year-old multi-billionaire Nelson Rockefeller is stricken by a massive heart attack while fucking his 27-year-old research assistant, Megan Marshak. The former Vice President dies during the ambulance ride. Rockefeller's will leaves Marshak $50,000 and the deed to a Manhattan townhouse.

Jan 26 1984
Michael Jackson's hair is ignited by a magnesium flash bomb at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles during the filming of a Pepsi television commercial, causing third-degree scalp burns.

Jan 26 1996
Insane madman millionaire John E. du Pont shoots Olympic wrestler David Schultz three times, killing him. A two day police standoff follows at the Foxcatcher estate and wrestling compound, with SWAT teams biding their time under the assumption that du Pont, an expert marksman, possessed an arsenal at his disposal.

Jan 26 1998
Residents of the Japanese town of Ito are attacked by a pack of raving wild monkeys. A total of 26 were injured and had to receive rabies shots. It remains unclear why the monkeys chose to attack.

1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France.

1564 - The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

1788 - The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Sydney Harbour to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day

1808 - Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.

1837 - Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.

1838 - Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States

1841 - The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China later formally ceded.

1905 - The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.

1907 - The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British Military Service, and remains the oldest military rifle still in official use.

1934 - German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.

1939 - Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.

1942 - World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.

1965 - Hindi becomes the official language of India.

1966 - The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.

1980 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.

1992 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.

1998 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

2000 - Rap-metal band Rage Against the Machine plays in front of Wall Street, prompting an early closing of trading due to the crowds.

2004 - A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing Sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion.

Births

1960 - Charlie Gillingham, American keyboard player (Counting Crows)

1986 - Matt Heafy, American singer & guitarist (Trivium)

Deaths

1962 - Lucky Luciano, American mobster (b. 1897)

Holidays and observances

Australia - Australia Day.

India - Republic Day - One of only three national holidays in India, celebrated with pomp and a military parade in New Delhi & across Nation.

Uganda - Liberation Day.

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 27 1343

A papal bull by Clement VI expresses the doctrine that indulgences gain their validity and power from the accumulation of merit in the manifestation of the Catholic Church.

Jan 27 1945
Soviet troops liberate the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in Nazi occupied Poland.

Jan 27 1967
A launchpad flash fire in the Apollo I capsule kills the astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward H White, and Roger B Chaffee, at Cape Canaveral.

Jan 27 1992
Boxer Mike Tyson on trial for rape.

Jan 27 1992
Candidate Bill Clinton and Gennifer Flowers mutually accuse each other of lying about whether or not they had a 12 year affair. Of course from Clinton's testimony in 1998 we know they did have such an affair, but that is the least of the President's problems. Can you say "sperm soaked dress"?

Jan 27 1992
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-aileen.jpg
Prostitute Aileen Wuornos found guilty after she killed seven "johns", often leaving cum-filled condoms near their bodies. She claimed self defense but is still sentenced to death. Oddly, prosecutors had arranged movie deals before an arrest had even been made.

Jan 27 1997 Pat Boone goes heavy metal releasing In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, a collection of heavy metal covers. To promote the album, he appeared at the American Music Awards in black leather, shocking audiences and losing his respectability among his largest constituency, conservative Christians.


1606 - Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, and ending in their execution on January 31.

1678 - The first fire engine company in the United States went into service.

1880 - Thomas Edison files a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

1915 - United States Marines occupy Haiti.

1926 - John Logie Baird makes the first television broadcast.

1939 - First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

1941 - World War II: Fighting at Derna, Libya, begins. Following the capture of Tobruk, two brigades of the 6th Australian Division under Major General Iven Mackay pursue the Italians westwards and encounters an Italian rear guard at Derna.

1943 - World War II: The Greek destroyer Adrias is believed to have sunk the German U/Boat U-553 near Cape Finisterre.

1943 - World War II: Fifty bombers mount the first entirely American air raid against Germany, targeting Wilhelmshaven.

1944 - World War II: The two-year Siege of Leningrad is lifted.

1945 - World War II: The Red Army arrives at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.

1945 - World War II: Lt.Col. Mucci comades Army Rangers to liberate the prisoners of the Cabanatuan POW camp.

1951 - Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flats.

1967 - More than sixty nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning Nuclear weapons in space.

1973 - Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War, Colonel William Nolde falls, becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.

1977 - Record company EMI sacks the controversial British punk rock group the Sex Pistols.

1996 - Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

1997 - It is revealed that French museums have nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.

Births

1741 - Hester Thrale, Welsh diarist (d. 1821)

1850 - Edward J. Smith, English captain of the Titanic (d. 1912)

1859 - Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany (Kaiser Bill)(d. 1941)

1944 - Nick Mason, English drummer (Pink Floyd)

1951 - Brian Downey, Irish musician (Thin Lizzy)

1957 - Janick Gers, British guitarist (Iron Maiden)

1961 - Gillian Gilbert, British musician (New Order)

1968 - Mike Patton, American singer (Faith No More)

1968 - Tricky, English Trip Hop artist

1972 - Keith Wood, Irish rugby player (Hooker)

Deaths

1910 - Thomas Crapper, English inventor (b. 1836)

Holidays and observances

UN — International Holocaust Remembrance Day

United Kingdom — Holocaust Memorial Day.

Germany — Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Commemoration Day for the Victims of National Socialism).

Poland — Dzień Pamięci Ofiar Nazizmu (Memorial Day for the Victims of Nazism).

Italy — Giorno della Memoria (Memorial Day).

Denmark — Auschwitzdag (Auschwitz Day; commemoration day for the victims of the Holocaust and other genocide).

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 28 814
Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne dies at the age of 71. Though he had conquered much of Europe, his legacy was considerably reduced after his death from mismanagement and incompetence.

Jan 28 1958
Brooklyn Dodger catcher Ray Campanella paralyzed in a car wreck.

Jan 28 1977
Star of TV's "Chico and the Man" Freddie Prinze blows his brains out at age 23.

Jan 28 1978
"Vampire of Sacramento" Richard Chase is arrested. Miscellaneous human organs are found in his refrigerator. He managed to kill six people, drinkingthe blood of two of his victims.

Jan 28 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates 74 seconds into its flight, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the crew. Their capsule plunged intact into the ocean, pulverizing everyone on impact.


1547 - Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.


1624 - Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on Saint Kitts.

1813 - Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.

1846 - Battle of Aliwal, India won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.

1855 - The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the Panama Railway.

1871 - Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.

1909 - United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War.

1915 - An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.

1921 - A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honour the unknown dead of World War I.

1945 - World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.

1953 - Derek Bentley hanged for a murder carried out by Christopher Craig.

1958 - Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.

2004 - Lord Hutton publishes his report into the death of UN weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly.

Births

1457 - King Henry VII of England (d. 1509)

1784 - George Hamilton Gordon Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)

1841 - Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-born explorer and journalist (d. 1904)

1959 - Dave Sharp, Welsh guitarist (The Alarm)

1963 - Dan Spitz, American guitarist for Anthrax

1968 - Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer and songwriter

1968 - DJ Muggs, American musician (Cypress Hill)

Deaths

1547 - King Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)

1596 - Sir Francis Drake, English explorer and soldier

1859 - Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)

1986 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger:

Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)

Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)

Ronald McNair (b. 1950)

Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)

Judith Resnik (b. 1949)

Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)

Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances

World Leprosy Day

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 29 1919
Prohibition begins, and with it the rise of organized crime.

Jan 29 1943
Nazi police discover necrophiliac Bruno Ludke committing a crime against nature on the fresh corpse of a young female victim. He confesses that he has murdered no fewer than 85 and committed indecencies with most of their corpses. Ludke is committed to a hospital in Vienna for experiments, where he is killed in April of 1944.

Jan 29 1964
Premiere of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Jan 29 1975
The men's room in a U.S. State Department office in Washington, D.C. explodes causing extensive damage to four floors. A group calling themselves the "Weather Underground Organization" takes responsibility for the blast by giving advance warning of the bomb to major news organizations earlier in the day.

Jan 29 1979
"I don't like Mondays" killing -- Brenda Spencer fires repeatedly at the school across from her residence in San Diego, killing 2 and wounding 8 children. The reason she gave inspired the Boomtown Rats song.

1595 - William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is probably first performed.

1814 - France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.

1834 - US President Andrew Jackson orders first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.

1845 - "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe is published in the New York Evening Mirror.

1856 - Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.

1861 - Kansas admitted as the 34th U.S. state.

1886 - Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

1916 - World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.

1943 - The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, U.S. cruiser Chicago is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.

1944 - USS Missouri the last battleship commissioned by the US Navy is launched.

1944 - World War II: The Battle of Cisterna takes place in central Italy.

1944 - World War II: About 38 men, women, and children die in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland.

1944 - In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio is destroyed in an air-raid bombing

1996 - President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.

2002 - In his State of the Union Address, United States President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of Evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

2004 - Cannabis and cannabis resin downgraded from Class B to Class c in United Kingdom

Births

1843 - William McKinley, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)

1947 - David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (d. 1985)

1952 - Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-born musician and record producer (The Ramones)

1964 - Roddy Frame, singer, Scottish New Wave band Aztec Camera

Deaths

1820 - King George III of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)

2005 - Eric Griffiths, Welsh guitarist (The Quarrymen) (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances

Gibraltar - Constitution Day

[KyleABC]

so thats 413 yrs since the first play of Romeo And Juliet such a long time

[YourAfuckingMoron]

1/30/08

'YourAfuckingMoron' SETS THE RECORD FOR MOST NEGATIVE REP ON FILECABI.NET

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 30 1649
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/nov/rh-charles-i.jpg
Oliver Cromwell beheads the British monarch King Charles I, at Whitehall.

Jan 30 1835
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-twenty.jpg
Andrew Jackson is the subject of the first recorded assassination attempt on a U.S. president. After a man fires shots at him, Jackson beat the shit out of his would-be assassin.

Jan 30 1945
The largest maritime disaster in history leaves around 9,000 refugees dead after a Soviet submarine torpedoes the Nazi ship Wilhelm Gustloff .

Jan 30 1948
Mohandas K. Gandhi assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse.

Jan 30 1962
Two of the Flying Wallendas die when their human pyramid of seven people collapses in Detroit.

Jan 30 1968
North Vietnam launches the Tet Offensive, in which they suffer a defeat and 46,000 dead, but shocks the complacent American television viewer who had been led to believe the war was won.

Jan 30 1972
British Paratroopers kill 13 unarmed marchers in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. This incident becomes known as "Bloody Sunday" and marks the beginning of a new extended round of violence.

Jan 30 1973
G. Gordon Liddy found guilty of Watergate charges.

Jan 30 1976
George HW Bush becomes directory of the Central Intelligence Agency, a position which he holds until 1977. Perhaps he knows who killed Kennedy.

1661 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years.

1790 - The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.

1820 - Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.

1826 - The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys mon) to the north West coast of Wales is opened.

1862 - The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.

1911 - The destroyer USS Terry (DD-25) makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.

1911 - The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy.

1913 - The United Kingdom's House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill.

1933 - Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.

1943 - World War II: Second day of the Battle of Rennell Island. TheUSS Chicago (CA-29) is sunk and a U.S. destroyer is heavily damaged by Japanese torpedoes.

1943 - Holocaust in Letychiv, Ukraine: The Nazi Gestapo commences mass shootings of Jews from Letychiv Ghetto. 200 surviving Jews from Letychiv slave labor camp are ordered to undress and are shot with a machine-gun into a ravine. Some 7,000 Jews were murdered in Letychiv.

1944 - World War II: United States troops land on Majuro.

1945 - The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, leading to the deadliest maritime disaster in known history, killing roughly 9,000 people.

1945 - World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: 126 American Rangers and Filipino resistance liberate 500 prisoners from the Cabanatuan POW camp.

1945 - World War II: Hitler gives his last ever public address, a radio address on the 12th anniversary of his coming to power. (A subsequent address on February 24 was not read by Hitler.)

1956 - American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1969 - The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.

1972 - Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.

1982 - Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".

1989 - The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.

1996 - Gino Gallagher, the suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army, is killed while waiting in line for his unemployment benefit.

2003 - Belgium legally recognizes same-sex marriage.

Births

1882 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)

1947 - Steve Marriott, English musician (The Small Faces) (d. 1991)

1951 - Phil Collins, English musician

1974 - Christian Bale, Welsh actor

Deaths

1649 - King Charles I of England (executed) (b. 1600)

1730 - Tsar Peter II of Russia (b. 1715)

1948 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1869)

1948 - Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer (b. 1871)

[Cymru am byth]

Jan 31 1945
Private Eddie Slovik executed by firing squad in France during World War II. He is the first U.S. soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War. The order for execution, signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, is not applied to other deserters. It is not known why Private Slovik was singled out.

Jan 31 1950
President Truman gives the go-ahead for the development of Edward Teller's hydrogen bomb.

Jan 31 1961
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-ham-chimp.jpg
The United States sends its first monkey into space, Ham the chimpanzee. His Mercury/Redstone 2 achieves an altitude of 158 miles, a 19-minute ride that subjects Ham to a force of 16 times gravity. The space ape splashes down safely, his capsule is plucked from the ocean by the USS Donner.

Jan 31 1974
Ted Bundy commits what is sometimes regarded as his first murder, Lynda Ann Healy, a 21 year old senior at the University of Washington. Her skull is not found until a year later. By the time he was executed, Bundy had committed nearly 30 murders, mostly women with dark long hair. It is believed that he may have murdered as early as 1961, when he was 15, but proof is at best circumstantial.

Jan 31 1989
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-latoya-snakes.jpg
Copies of the March Playboy with LaToya Jackson posing with... snakes! hit the newsstands. She also has a snake tattoo. Face it, the lady really really likes snakes.

1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.

1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.

1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom (following legislation in 1846).

1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.

1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russia

1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.

1918 - A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.

1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.

1941 - Layforce (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layforce) set sail.

1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.

1944 - World War II: Anzio campaign. (Darby's Rangers) 1st Ranger Battalion The entire 6615th Ranger Force (Provisional) was destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Cisterna, Italy.

1990 - The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, USSR.

1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.

2001 - In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

2007 - Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.

Births

1940 - Kitch Christie, South African rugby union coach (d. 1998)

1951 - Phil Manzanera, English guitarist (Roxy Music, Quiet Sun, 801)

1954 - Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch musician (Whitesnake)

1956 - John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, English singer (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.)

1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer

1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American musician (Slayer)

Deaths

1606 - Gunpowder Plot conspirators:

Guy Fawkes (b. 1570)

Ambrose Rokewood (b. c. 1578)

Thomas Wintour (b. 1571)

[HeyBuddy]

A great day for Sex Pistols fans.

[YourAfuckingMoron]

1/31/08

THE DAY AFTER 'YourAfuckingMoron' SETS THE RECORD FOR THE MOST NEG REP EVER RECEIVED.

[Cymru am byth]

HEHE i just made you get another red box :1orglaugh: :angry-smiley-056:

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 1 1861
Texas secedes from the Union, becoming independent once again. Since the articles of statehood passed by the U.S. Congress give Texas this right, it is perhaps the only state whose secession was legal.

Feb 1 1964
Governor Matthew Welsh of Indiana declares "Louie, Louie" as recorded by The Kingsmen (originally by Richard Berry & The Pharaohs) "pornographic". And while the FCC couldn't figure out the lyrics, the governor's move backfires by making the song one of the most covered titles in existence.

Feb 1 1968
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-loan.jpg
In Saigon, South Vietnam's national police chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan summarily executes an accused Viet Cong spy with a bullet to the head. Unfortunately for the general, he happens to shoot him right in front of NBC cameraman Vo Suu and Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams.

Feb 1 1970
US Government report reveals that 31% of college students have tried pot, man.

Feb 1 1974
A fire on the 12th floor of the 25 story Joelma Bank Building in Sao Paulo Brazil, killing 177 and seriously burning 293. A crowd of 10,000 spectators hampered firefighters near the building. The new building's cheap construction was primarily at fault.

Feb 1 1976
Werner Karl Heisenberg died.

Feb 1 1998
Michael King of Clayton, Georgia is charged with the baseball bat beating death of Kenneth Paul Smith. King urinated in Smith's front yard, and after the property owner complained, he was severely beaten with a bat kept in King's Ford Mustang.

Feb 1 2003
The Space Shuttle Columbia blows up on re-entry, with its debris hitting homes and businesses in Nacogdoches Texas.

Feb 1 2004
During the MTV-provided halftime show of the Superbowl, former boy band member Justin Timberlake conducts an obviously pre-scripted move to expose Janet Jackson's right tit, which oddly sports a ninjitsu-style throwing star as a pasty. The nation is shocked, simply shocked, that a pristine, noncommercial event such as the Superbowl could be ruined by a Jackson.

Feb 1 2006
Singer Mary J. Blige reveals on The Oprah Winfrey Show that she was molestered by a family friend when she was a child.

1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.

1790 - In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.

1793 - French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

1796 - The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.

1884 - Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.

1913 - New York City's Grand Central Terminal opens as the world's largest train station.

1920 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.

1924 - United Kingdom recognizes USSR.

1929 - Frenchman Charles Rigoulet is the first weightlifter to lift over 400 lb. (182 kg) in the "clean and jerk" method.

1943 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Premier of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.

1965 - Churchill River, Newfoundland - Hamilton River in Labrador renamed Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill.

1968 - Official unification of the three military services of Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, into the Canadian Forces.

1969 - Saturday mail delivery in Canada eliminated.

1978 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.

1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.

1994 - In Portland, Oregon Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly pleads guilty for his role in attacking figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.

2004 - 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

2005 - Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage.

Births

1942 - Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer (Monty Pythons Flying Circus)

1950 - Mike Campbell, American guitarist and producer (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

1954 - Chuck Dukowski, American bassist (Black Flag)

1969 - Patrick Wilson, American drummer (Weezer)

1971 - Jill Kelly, American porn actress

Deaths

2003 - The crew of the STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster), astronauts:

Michael P. Anderson (b. 1959)

David Brown (b. 1956)

Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961)

Laurel Clark (b. 1961)

Rick D. Husband (b. 1957)

Willie McCool (b. 1961)

Ilan Ramon (b. 1954)

Holidays and observances

The start of Black History Month in the United States.

Imbolc - the first day of Spring in Ireland (Irish Calendar) and one of the four Gaelic seasonal (and sometimes religious) festivals. Also part of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year.

The start of LGBT History Month (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_History_Month) in the United Kingdom.

[Big Ozzie]

Feb 1 1968
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-loan.jpg
In Saigon, South Vietnam's national police chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan summarily executes an accused Viet Cong spy with a bullet to the head. Unfortunately for the general, he happens to shoot him right in front of NBC cameraman Vo Suu and Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams.

DAMN!
40 years ago today, huh?
I remember seeing that shit on the Evening News, my mom screamed when she saw it, I was like "What the Fuck?" and felt kind of queasy because it was the first time I ever saw someone killed for real...even if it was on TV!
Yeah....that was pretty nasty, the guy was standing there and they were yelling at him, all of a sudden, the South Vietnamese Officer pulls a gun and shoots him. Then they showed him fall and a big puddle of blood formed on the ground.
Up until then, you never saw stuff like that on TV. Later that year was the Tet Offensive...Bobby Kennedy and Martin King were also killed in front of Cameras.....oh yeah, Kent State too!

[JACKASS2010]

Bobby Kennedy and Martin King were also killed in front of Cameras.....oh yeah, Kent State too!

budd dwyer too.

[Big Ozzie]

budd dwyer too.


Not in 1968...I made a mistake, Kent State University incident took place later in the War....May of 1970.
Bunch of innocent Hippie type War Protesters doin their protesting thing and along came the Ohio National Guard and shot and killed 4 of 'em.

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 2 1793
Czech composer Franz Kotzwara, who penned "The Battle of Prague," dies from autoerotic asphyxiation in a London brothel.

Feb 2 1852
The first public toilet is inaugurated, located at 95 Fleet Street in London, by the Society of Arts.

Feb 2 1971
Idi Amin Dada assumes power in Uganda, taking the government from President Milton Obote. One of his favorite pastimes seems to have been eating the brains of live prisoners. Also while in office, he eats one of his own sons.

Feb 2 1979
Sid Vicious, bassist for the Sex Pistols, dies in his sleep of a heroin overdose. He was waiting to stand trial for the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.

Feb 2 1982
President Hafiz al-Asad orders destruction of Syrian city of Hama after its occupation by Muslim Brotherhood forces seeking to topple the Syrian regime. Estimates of total deaths in this city of 180,000 ranged from 10,000 to 25,000 killed.

Feb 2 1997
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-marv.jpg
Marv Albert, nationally known sportscaster, allegedly bites a 42 year old woman after an evening of watching pornographic movies. By September he is on trial for sodomy.

Feb 2 1998
Actor Daniel Baldwin is discovered by police in his Plaza Hotel room totally naked and disoriented, with a porno movie playing at high volume. He was checked into a New York hospital in critical condition, apparently coming down from a cocaine binge. It is not clear why any Baldwin would be unable to handle his cocaine.

1653 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated.

1709 - Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

1787 - Arthur St. Clair is elected the 9th President of the United States in Congress Assembled in the midst of Shays' Rebellion.

1812 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, along the California coast.

1848 - Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the war.

1848 - California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in California's gold country arrive in San Francisco.

1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey.

1899 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.

1901 - The Funeral of Queen Victoria.

1922 - Ulysses by James Joyce published in Paris

1933 - Adolf Hitler dissolves the German Parliament.

1943 - World War II: The last German forces surrender to the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.

1945 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leave to meet with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference.

1972 - The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday.

1974 - The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.

1989 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.

1989 - Satellite television service Sky Television plc launched in Europe.

1990 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.

Births

1942 - Graham Nash, English rock musician (The Hollies, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)

1949 - Ross Valory, American musician (Journey)

1963 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)

1966 - Robert DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)

Deaths

1461 - Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty of England

1979 - Sid Vicious, English musician (Sex Pistols) (b. 1957)

1990 - Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934)

2002 - Paul Baloff, American singer (Exodus) (b. 1960)

Holidays and observances

Czech Republic - Hromnice.

France - Crêpe Day

Paganism - Imbolc (in northern hemisphere), Lughnasadh (in southern hemisphere).

Scotland - A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas).

United States and Canada - Groundhog Day.

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 3 1882
P.T. Barnum purchases the elephant Jumbo. He keeps him for three years until the animal's skull is crushed by a train. After his death, Jumbo gets extra exposure, as his stuffed skin and skeleton are shown separately.

Feb 3 1913
In one of the blackest days in U.S. history, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. This amendment created the income tax.

Feb 3 1959
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-buddy-holly-crash.jpg
The Day the Music Died: A small plane carrying The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens crashes near Mason City, Iowa, while en route to a show in Fargo, North Dakota.

Feb 3 1998
The tail of a U.S. marine tactical surveillance jet on a training mission severs a tram cable at a ski resort near Trento in northern Italy, sending 20 skiers nearly 300 feet to their deaths.

Feb 3 1998
Female axe murderer Karla Faye Tucker executed by lethal injection at Huntsville State Prison, Texas. Tucker had brutally murdered Jerry Dean and Deborah Thornton with a pickaxe in 1983. The last woman executed in Texas was also an axe murderer, Chipita Rodriguez, who was hanged in 1863.

1488 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south.

1690 - The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.

1783 - American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence.

1807 - A British military force, under Brig-Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the city of Montevideo, then part of the Spanish Empire now capital of Uruguay, following a siege.

1809 - Illinois Territory is created.

1815 - The first commercial cheese factory is founded (Switzerland).

1916 - Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burn down.

1917 - World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany a day after Germany announces a new policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

1941 - World War II: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy, France.

1944 - World War II: United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.

1945 - World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan.

1945 - World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17's of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin.

1967 - Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia, is hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 - In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1989 - After a stroke, P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

2007 - The Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.

Births

1830 - Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)

1947 - Dave Davies, British musician (The Kinks)

1956 - Lee Ranaldo, American musician (Sonic Youth)

1959 - Laurence Tolhurst, British musician (The Cure)

Deaths

1924 - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, Nobel laureate (b. 1856)

1959 - Also known as The Day the Music Died because of the deaths of:

Buddy Holly, American singer (b. 1936)

Ritchie Valens, American singer (b. 1941)

J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, American singer (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances


Mozambique - Heroes' Day.

United States - Four Chaplains Day.

United States - the earliest calendar day that Mardi Gras can occur.

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 4 1783
A large earthquake in Calabria Italy leaves 50,000 dead.

Feb 4 1899
On patrol in the city of Manila, Private William Grayson shoots three Filipino soldiers when they fail to halt. The next morning, U.S. forces launch an artillery assault on the Filipino army, killing 3,000. Thus begins the three-year Philippine-American War, a brutal and disastrous campaign foreshadowing the Vietnam War.

Feb 4 1974
Patty Hearst kidnapped

Feb 4 1983
Karen Carpenter dies of anorexia nervosa. She frequently took laxatives and induced vomiting to prevent weight gain. At the time of her death she was pencil thin.

Feb 4 1987
Pianist Liberace dead from AIDS in Palm Springs, California.

Feb 4 1998
Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates is assaulted with a direct hit by a fluffy cream pie during a three-pronged attack in Brussels. He was in Belgium attending meetings with industry and government leaders. Rumor is that the attack was engineered by Noel Godin, infamous for his other pie throwings at government officials.

1783 - American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America.

1789 - George Washington is unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.

1792 - George Washington is unanimously elected to a second term as President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.

1794 - The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.

1810 - British Navy seizes Guadeloupe.

1915 - Germany establishes a submarine blockade around the UK and declares any vessel in it a legitimate target.

1932 - World War II: Japan occupies Harbin, China.

1936 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.

1941 - World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad ends.

1945 - World War II: The Yalta Conference begin .

1948 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.

1957 - USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, logs her 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne's novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

1969 - Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Births

1941 - John Steel, British musician (The Animals)

1948 - Alice Cooper, American musician

1960 - Tim Booth, British singer (James)

1964 - Noodles, American guitarist (The Offspring)

1988 - Eoin McDowell, Irish rugby player (flanker/lock)

Deaths

1983 - Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (The Carpenters) (b. 1950)

1987 - Liberace, American musician (b. 1919)

Holidays and observances

Independence Day in Sri Lanka (1948).

Angola - Anniversary of the Outbreak of Armed Struggle against Portuguese Colonialism.

World Cancer Day

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 5 1861
The "Peep Show" machine patented by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati.

Feb 5 1914
Beat author William S. Burroughs born in St. Louis, MO.

Feb 5 1958
The US Air Force manages to lose an H-bomb somewhere off the coast off Savannah, Georgia. Way to go!

Feb 5 1979
Woodrow Bussey files suit against the Adolf Coors Brewing Company for failing to warn him that their product, Coors Beer, is an intoxicating beverage.

Feb 5 1998
The cold war era Checkpoint Charlie sign -- "You Are Leaving The American Sector" -- is stolen in Berlin.

1631 - Roger Williams emigrates to Boston.

1778 - South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

1782 - Spanish defeat British forces and capture Minorca.

1885 - King Léopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession.

1900 - The United States and the United Kingdom sign treaty for Panama Canal

1917 - The Congress of the United States passes a law, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, banning most Asian immigration to the United States.

1924 - The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".

1945 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.

1962 - French President Charles De Gaulle calls for allowing Algeria to be an independent nation.

1988 - Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.

1988 - Comic Relief holds the first "Red Nose Day", which raises £15 million in the United Kingdom for charity.

1997 - The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.

2004 - Twenty-three Chinese people drown when a group of 35 cockle-pickers are trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. Twenty-one bodies are recovered.

Births

1788 - Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1850)

1964 - Duff McKagan, American bassist (Guns n Roses, Velvet Revolver)

1969 - Michael Sheen, Welsh actor

Deaths

1976 - Rudy Pompilli, American musician (Bill Haley and His Comets) (b. 1926)

1998 - Tim Kelly, American guitarist (Slaughter) (b. 1963)

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 6 1911
Ronald Reagan, who appeared in such films as Jap Zero, Girls on Probation, and Bedtime for Bonzo, born in Tampico IL.

Feb 6 1917
Zsa Zsa Gabor born in Budapest.

Feb 6 1943
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-errol.jpg
Actor Errol Flynn acquitted of raping an adolescent. The woman had actually tried this shakedown with other celebrities and wasn't quite an adolescent despite her testifying with pigtails and a lollipop. Flynn had just finished a film called "Gentleman Jim" and at the end of the film when he says to Maureen O'Hara: "I never said I was a Gentleman." Peals of knowing laughter rang out from audiences.

Feb 6 1951
Radio personality Paul Harvey is arrested for trying to break into Argonne Atomic Lab.

Feb 6 1983
Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyon" who had been living as a mild-mannered Bolivian businessman, charged with Nazi war crimes. He is later sentenced to life imprisonment and dies in 1991.

Feb 6 2004
President and Alzheimer's sufferer Ronald Reagan dies from pneumonia in Los Angeles, CA. Praise for the man gushes in from all over the world, dominating the news cycle for a week.

1685 - James II of England and VII of Scotland becomes King upon the death of his brother Charles II.

1819 - Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.

1840 - Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, founding document of New Zealand.

1922 - The Washington Naval Treaty was signed in Washington, DC, limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.

1933 - The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution goes into effect.

1952 - Elizabeth II becomes Queen upon the death of her father George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.

1958 - Eight players of Manchester United were killed in the Munich air disaster.

1959 - At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.

2004 - In Russia, a suicide-attack in a Moscow metro kills 40 commuters, and injures a hundred and twenty-nine. The blast is blamed on Chechen separatist groups.

Births

1665 - Queen Anne of Great Britain (d. 1714)

1911 - Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States (d. 2004)

1912 - Eva Braun, German mistress and wife of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945)

1945 - Bob Marley, Jamaican musician (d. 1981)

1962 - W. Axl Rose, American singer (Guns N' Roses)
1966 - Rick Astley, British singer :40: You've been rick rolled

Deaths

1685 - King Charles II of England (b. 1630)

1899 - Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (b. 1874)

1952 - George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)

1958 - Munich air disaster:

David Pegg, English footballer (b. 1935)

Tommy Taylor, English footballer (b. 1932)

Geoff Bent, English footballer (b. 1932)

Roger Byrne, English footballer (b. 1929)

Eddie Colman, English footballer (b. 1936)

Mark Jones, English footballer (b. 1933)

Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (b. 1913)

Walter Crickmer, Manchester United club secretary

1998 - Falco, Austrian singer (b. 1957)

1998 - Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances

Bob Marley Day in Rastafarianism (Jamaica and Ethiopia)

Waitangi Day (National Holiday) in New Zealand

Sami National Day in Finland and Scandinavia

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 7 1812
New Madrid earthquake shakes Missouri with an estimated magnitude of 8.2, as strong as any in the West. The quake destroys 150,000 acres of forest, and would have caused massive damage had it occurred in modern times.

Feb 7 1845
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-portland-vase.jpg
A drunken visitor to the British Museum smashes the irreplaceable Portland Vase into over 200 pieces. The elaborate glass amphora was created when Augustus was Caesar and is about ten inches high. It takes months to repair.

Feb 7 1968
"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." -- U.S. Army Major, regarding the village of Ben Tre, Vietnam, in an AP dispatch.

Feb 7 1969
Beatle George Harrison has his tonsils removed. He had them destroyed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.

Feb 7 1989
Washed up tennis player Bjorn Borg has his stomach pumped after he overdoses on sleeping pills in Madrid, Spain.

Feb 7 1991
Mortar rounds are fired by the IRA at No. 10 Downing Street, the residence of British Prime Minister John Major. No injuries resulted but the door was severely dented.

Feb 7 1995
Rapper Tupac Shakur sentenced to 4.5 years for grabbing somebody's ass (sexual abuse, "forcibly touching the buttocks").
1301 - Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.

1795 - The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.


1856 - The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot. [1]

1863 - HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.

1882 - The last heavyweight boxing championship bare-knuckle fight takes place in Mississippi City, Mississippi.

1904 - A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.

1914 - Charlie Chaplin first appears as "The Tramp", as his first film Kid Auto Races at Venice is released at Keystone Studios.

1944 - World War II: In Anzio, Italy German forces launch a counteroffensive.

1944 - World War II: American Aircraft carrier strike on Truk.

1948 - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff and was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.

1962 - The United States Government bans all Cuban imports and exports.

1974 - Grenada becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

1986 - Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.

1990 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power.

1991 - Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.

1992 - The Maastricht Treaty is signed, which will lead to the creation of the European Union.

1995 - Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.

1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah become the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.

Births

1812 - Charles Dickens, English novelist (d. 1870)

1945 - Gerald Davies, Legendary Welsh Rugby union player

1949 - Joe English, American drummer (Wings)

1956 - Mark St. John, American guitarist (Kiss) (d. 2007)

1962 - David Bryan, American musician (Bon Jovi)

1967 - Richie Burnett, Welsh darts player

1968 - Sully Erna, American singer (Godsmack)

Deaths

1979 - Dr. Josef Mengele, German, accused Nazi war criminal (b. 1911)

Holidays and observances

Independence Day in Grenada (1974).

Sapporo Snow Festival in Sapporo, Japan (2005).

International Men's Day in Malta.

Traditional Lunar New Year begins for several Asian cultures (2008), Year of the Rat

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 8 1910
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/jan/rh-baden-powell-th.jpg
Boy Scouts founded by Lord Robert Baden-Powell.

Feb 8 1924
Gee Jong is the first man to die in the gas chamber, at Nevada State Prison in Carson City. A pound of sodium cyanide crystals was lowered into a vessel of diluted sulfuric acid, producing hydrogen cyanide gas which asphyxiated Jong. "At first there is evidence of extreme horror, pain, and strangling. The eyes pop. The skin turns purple and the victim begins to drool."

Feb 8 1960
Beer heir Adolph Coors III (who was ironically allergic to beer), killed after a failed kidnapping attempt in Colorado. By October, Joseph Corbett Jr. is arrested in Canada after an national manhunt.

Feb 8 1990
After "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney expresses his view that "blacks have watered down genes because the less intelligent ones are the ones that have the most children", he is suspended for a month by CBS. Rooney claims the remarks are fabricated.

Feb 8 1994
During an argument Jack Nicholson destroys the windshield of a car with a golf club, screaming "You cut me off!" Charges were dismissed on May 2 after the matter was settled privately. Nicholson did this one month before he was to host the annual Los Angeles Police-Celebrity Golf Tournament. D'oh!

1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots was executed at suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.

1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England - revolt is quickly crushed.

1622 - King James I of England disbands the English Parliament.

1692 - A doctor in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony suggests that two girls in the family of the village minister may be suffering from bewitchment, leading to the Salem witch trials.

1693 - The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.

1855 - The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.

1865 - In the U.S., Delaware voters reject the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and vote to continue the practice of slavery. (Delaware finally ratifies the amendment on February 12, 1901.)

1900 - British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Army encircles the troops of Paulus. The Germans surrender.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - United States forces defeat Japanese troops.

1960 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor".

1962 - Charonne massacre. 9 trade unionists are killed by French police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Paris Prefecture of Police.

1963 - Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.

Births

1961 - Vince Neil, American singer (Mötley Crüe)

1974 - Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, French disc jockey (Daft Punk)

1977 - Dave Farrell, American bassist (Linkin Park)

1980 - Cameron Muncey, Australian guitarist (Jet)

Deaths

1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)

1772 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (b. 1719)

2005 - Keith Knudsen, American drummer, vocalist and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers) (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances

Nirvana Day - an annual Buddhist festival.

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 9 1909
The first federal law prohibiting the importation of opium is enacted, aimed not particularly at the ravages the drug was having on American society (none: white people weren't using opium), but at the hated Chinese.

Feb 9 1950
Senator Joseph McCarthy announces he has a list of 205 State Department employees who are Communist Party members. He did not mention that J. Edgar Hoover likes to wear garters and pumps.

Feb 9 1968
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-doctor-zaius-th.jpg
"Planet of the Apes" opens.

Feb 9 1979
Serial killer Ted Bundy abducts, rapes, and murders twelve year old Kimberly Leach of Lake City, Florida. He takes her from her junior high school, where she had been elected runner-up Valentine Queen the day before. Kimberly's remains aren't found for eight weeks. It is for this murder that Ted Bundy is sent to the Electric Chair ten years later.

Feb 9 1989
Officials for the World Wrestling Federation testify before the New Jersey Senate that their matches are actually rigged. Say it ain't so!

Feb 9 1990
Singer Del Shannon commits suicide with a .22 rifle. He is most remembered for his 1961 hit, Runaway.

1555 - Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake.

1775 - American Revolutionary War: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.

1822 - Haiti invades the newly founded Dominican Republic.

1825 - After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States.

1942 - World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.

1942 - Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States.

1943 - World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal.

1945 - The Battle of the Atlantic the HMS Venturer sinking U-Boat 864 off the coast of Norway. The first sinking of a submarine by another submarine while both are submerged.

1962 - Jamaica becomes independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations.

1964 - The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.

1965 - Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.

1991 - Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.

1996 - The Irish Republican Army declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire shortly followed by a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf.

2001 - The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.

Births

1773 - William Henry Harrison, President of the United States (d. 1841)

1940 - Brian Bennett, British drummer (The Shadows)

1960 - Holly Johnson, British singer (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)

1981 - The Reverend Tholomew Plague, drummer (Avenged Sevenfold)

Deaths

1981 - Bill Haley, American musician (Bill Haley & His Comets)(Brain tumor)(b. 1925)

1997 - Brian Connolly, Scottish singer (Sweet)(Liver failure) (b. 1945)

2002 - Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (Stroke) (b. 1930)

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 10 1863
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-tom-thumb-wedding.jpg
Midgets Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren married in a ceremony promoted and orchestrated by P.T. Barnum, reception tickets $75 (adjusted for inflation, $1250 in today's dollars). Commodore Nutt served as best man.

Feb 10 1920
Major League Baseball bans the spitball. Pitchers who had been throwing spitballs could continue, and the practice ended completely in 1934 when the last one, Burleigh Grimes, retired.

Feb 10 1981
Eight people were killed, 198 injured, when fire broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino. (A busboy was later found guilty of setting the fire.)

Feb 10 1993
In a TV interview, former negro Michael Jackson tells Oprah Winfrey that he suffers from a skin disorder causing it to whiten.

1355 - The St. Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.

1542 - Queen Catherine Howard of England is confined in the Tower of London to be executed three days later for treason (adultery).

1567 - An explosion destroys the Kirk o' Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland. The second husband of Mary Queen of Scots, Lord Darnley is found strangled, in what many believe to be an assassination.

1763 - French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.

1840 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

1846 - First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon - British defeat Sikhs in final battle of the war

1906 - HMS Dreadnought (1906) is launched

1931 - New Delhi becomes the capital of India.

1954 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.

1962 - Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

1964 - Melbourne-Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.

1967 - The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified.

Births

1894 - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)

1962 - Cliff Burton, American bassist (Metallica) (d. 1986)

Deaths

1722 - Bartholomew Roberts,(Black Bart) Welsh pirate (b. 1682)

[UnregisteredSexOffender]

1962 - Cliff Burton, American bassist (Metalica) (d. 1986)

A legend was born!!! http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/dino195/rock-1.gif

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 11 1929
The Lateran Treaty is signed -- Mussolini granted recognition to the Vatican in return for their support of his fascist dictatorship.

Feb 11 1933
Nineteen year old Japanese schoolgirl Kiyoko Matsumoto committed suicide by jumping into the thousand foot crater of a volcano on the island of Oshima. This act started a bizarre fashion in Japan and in the ensuing months three hundred children did the same thing.

Feb 11 1936
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-burtbutt-th.jpg
Burt Reynolds' birthday. He's not the one who squealed like a pig in "Deliverance". But his hairpiece is much younger than he is.

Feb 11 1986
Frank Herbert, author of Dune, dead from pancreatic cancer.

Feb 11 1992
"I'd like to thank my family for loving me and taking care of me. And the rest of the world can kiss my ass." -- Last words of Johnny Frank Garrett, executed by lethal injection.

Feb 11 1993
Clinton nominates the beautiful Janet Reno to be US Attorney General.

Feb 11 2004
Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling arrested by the FBI. He is later found guilty of no less than 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud, making false statements and insider trading.

Feb 11 2006
During a quail hunting trip, Vice-President Dick Cheney takes aim at a small bird but instead manages to shoot his friend Harry Whittington in the face. As a result of being peppered with birdshot, Whittington has a minor heart attack but lives to apologize to his friend.

1531 - Henry VIII of England recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.

1826 - University College London is founded under the name University of London.

1895 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record was equalled on 10 January 1982 and again on 30 December 1995.

1938 - BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term "robot".

1939 - Lockheed P-38 flies from California to New York in 7 hours 2 minutes.

1941 - First Gold record presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".

1942 - The Battle of Bukit Timah was fought in Singapore during World
war II.

1943 - General Dwight Eisenhower selected to command the allied armies in Europe.

1953 - The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.

1964 - The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.

1968 - Israeli-Jordanian border clashes.

1971 - Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.

1973 - Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.

1978 - Censorship: the People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.

1979 - Islamic revolution of Iran achieved victory by leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

1990 - Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.

Births

1466 - Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII of England (d. 1503)

1972 - Craig Jones, American musician (Slipknot)

1977 - Mike Shinoda, American singer (Linkin Park)

Deaths

1503 - Elizabeth of York, queen consort of Henry VII of England (b. 1466)

Holidays and observances

National Foundation Day in Japan

Anniversary of Islamic revolution in Iran.

National Youth Day in Cameroon.

National Inventors' Day in the United States.

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 12 1554
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-lady-jane-grey.jpg
The sixteen year old Lady Jane Grey, puppet Queen of England for nine days, beheaded in the Tower of London. Questions arose as to where to bury this semi-queen, until it was decided to place her among the beheaded former wives of Henry VIII.

Feb 12 1789
Ethan Allen dies in a drunken sleigh accident while crossing the frozen Lake Champlain, reminiscing with friends and rye. Much of the circumstance remains a mystery.

Feb 12 1967
Police in London arrest Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Marianne Faithfull after they discover amphetamine pills, cannabis resin and Marianne scandalously naked but for a fur rug. The two Rolling Stones received jail sentences which were successfully appealed.

Feb 12 1976
Actor Sal Mineo killed in the carport of his West Hollywood home. There were rumors of a gay crime of passion but in 1979 it turned out to be a routine mugger who stabbed him for his money.

1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stuart in the Battle of Rouvray (also known as the Battle of the Herrings).

1554 - A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.

1689 - The Convention Parliament convenes and declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.

1733 - Englishman James Oglethorpe founds the 13th United States colony of Georgia, and its first city at Savannah (known as Georgia Day).

1946 - Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.

1999 - President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.

Births

1809 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)

1939 - Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (The Doors)

1950 - Steve Hackett, English guitarist (Genesis)

1956 - Brian Robertson, Scottish musician (Thin Lizzy and Motörhead)

1970 - Jim Creeggan, Canadian bassist (Barenaked Ladies)

1976 - Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby union footballer

1978 - Gethin Jones, Welsh television presenter

Deaths

1554 - Lord Guilford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (b. 1536)

1554 - Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the English throne (b. 1537)

1935 - Auguste Escoffier, French chef (Father of classical French cuisine) (b. 1846)

1993 - James Bulger, English murder victim (killed by 2 10 year old boys)(b. 1990)

Holidays and observances

United States - Lincoln's Birthday

Georgia Day in the U.S. state of Georgia

National Freedom to Marry Day (unofficial)

Darwin Day

Red Hand Day

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 13 1917
Mata Hari is arrested for spying.

Feb 13 1945
An estimated 135,000 people, mostly women and children, die in the RAF firebombing of the 13th-century city of Dresden, a revenge bombing that had no real military justification.

Feb 13 1953
Transsexual Christine (formerly George) Jorgenson arrives in New York with much fanfare. She had had sex change operations performed in Denmark by Dr. Christian Hamburger, becoming the first successful surgical transgender. Upon return, she becomes a cabaret actress.

Feb 13 1959
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-barbie.jpg
The first Barbie Doll is introduced by Mattel in California.

Feb 13 1985
Japan's New Amusement Business Control and Improvement Act comes into effect. The law brings an end to Japan's innovative sex businesses (i.e., glory holes, strip bars, and public bondage), while protecting the traditional brothel industry. That's an improvement?

Feb 13 1990
Male prostitute Kevin Lee Kite accuses Rev. Bruce Ritter, founder of Covenant House (a place for wayward boys) and a respected member of the Meese commission on Pornography, of paying for homosexual sex. An internal investigation by Covenant House reveals a pattern of sexual misconduct with underage boys going back 20 years, and revealed a relationship with a 15 year old boy going back 14 months. Superiors at the Franciscan Order had been aware of Ritter's behavior patterns for some years, but did nothing.

1542 - Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.

1633 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.

1689 - William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.

1692 - Massacre of Glencoe : About 78 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.

1866 - Jesse James and his gang commit the first armed bank robbery in United States history during peacetime in Liberty, Missouri.

1945 - World War II: Red Army forces take Budapest, Hungary from Wehrmacht forces.

1945 - World War II: The Royal Air Force bombers were dispatched to Dresden, Germany to raid the city by massive aerial bombardment

1955 - Israel obtains 4 of the 7 Dead Sea scrolls.

1960 - Nuclear testing: France tests its first atomic bomb.

1990 - German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

1991 - Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy a bunker in Baghdad. The bunker was being used as a military communications outpost and unknown to allied forces, as a shelter for Iraqi civilians.

Births

1891 - Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (d. 1985)

1942 - Peter Tork, American musician and actor (The Monkees)

1950 - Peter Gabriel, English musician (Genesis)

1956 - Peter Hook, English bassist (Joy Division and New Order)

Deaths

858 - Kenneth I of Scotland

[jammin91]

February 14, 1929 St. Valentine's Day, five members of George 'Bugs' Moran's gang, a gang "follower", and a mechanic who happened to be at the scene were lined up against the rear inside wall of the garage of the SMC Cartage Company in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago's North Side. They were then shot and killed by four members of Capone's gang (two of them dressed as police officers). When one of the dying men, Frank Gusenberg, was asked who shot him, he replied, "I'm not gonna talk - nobody shot me." Capone himself had arranged to be on vacation in Florida at the time.

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 14
The eve of the Roman feast of Lupercalia. Naked youths would run through Rome, anointed with the blood of sacrificed dogs and goats, waving thongs cut from the goats. If a young woman was struck by the thong, fertility was assured. Pope Gelasius I decided this was a bit too much, and co-opted the Roman holiday to be the Feast of St. Valentine in 484 A.D.

Feb 14 1779
English explorer Captain James Cook and some of his crew are slaughtered by angry Hawaiian islanders, after he tried to take a Hawaiian chief hostage over a dispute regarding a stolen boat.

Feb 14 1929
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-valentines.jpg
The Capone gang kills six members of the "Bugs" Moran gang and one other person at the S.M.C. Cartage company in Chicago, in an event known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Bogus police officers were used so that it appeared to be a routine police bust. Except for all the bodies.

Feb 14 1979
Walter Carlos, the musician who created "Switched on Bach" and the score of "A Clockwork Orange", reveals to the world that he has had a sex change operation and is henceforth to be referred to as Wendy.

Feb 14 1989
Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwar against Salman Rushdie, for his writings in the Satanic Verses. The act propels the otherwise uninteresting book into a bestseller.

1349 - Approximately 2,000 Jews were burned to death by mobs or forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg.

1556 - Thomas Cranmer (former Archbishop of Canterbury) is declared a heretic.

1743 - Henry Pelham becomes British Prime Minister.

1778 - The United States Flag was formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.

1779 - James Cook was killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.

1797 - French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent - John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent & Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) led the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.

1859 - Oregon admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.

1912 - Arizona admitted as the 48th U.S. state.

1943 - World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.

1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass - German General Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps launch an offensive against Allied defenses in Tunisia.

1944 - World War II: Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.

1945 - On the second day of the Bombing of Dresden in World War II the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony.

1945 - Bombing of Prague - probably due to a mistake in the orientation of the pilots bombing Dresden.

1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially starting the U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relationship.

1945 - Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans.

1946 - The Bank of England is nationalized.

1949 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) first convenes.

1966 - Australian currency is decimalised.

Births

1890 - Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (d. 1956)

1962 - Philippe Sella, French rugby player

1972 - Rob Thomas, American musician (Matchbox Twenty)

Deaths

270 - St. Valentine marking Valentines Day

1400 - King Richard II of England (murdered) (b. 1367)

1779 - James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (b. 1728)

Holidays and observances

Bulgaria - Trifon Zarezan (Wine-grower’s Day)

Mexico - Day of National Mourning (1831).

Arizona - Admission Day (1912).

Oregon - Admission Day (1859).

Western World - St. Valentine's Day.

Norway - Ballantine's Day.

Iraq - 'Communist Martyrs Day' celebrated by Iraqi Communist Party.

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 15 1898 The battleship U.S.S. Maine blows up in Havana Harbor, commencing a splendid little war against Spain that ends with the United States owning a colonial empire and Cuba under martial law.

Feb 15 1933 An unsuccessful attempt on Franklin D. Roosevelt's life by Joseph Zangara in Miami leaves Chicago mayor Anton Czermak dead. Zangara is electrocuted the following month.

Feb 15 1936 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-nazi-vw.jpg At a speech in Berlin, Hitler confronts German industry with the challenge of creating the Volkswagen. Thus Ferdinand Porsche designs the Beetle which is now widely seen as the final solution to fahrvergnugen. But neither Hitler nor Porsche would have the foresight to realize how groovy the Beetle would be, man.

Feb 15 1954 Ronald Reagan opens his stand-up act at the Las Vegas Ramona Room with the "Honey Brothers", a wacky slapstick troupe. His show was a smashing success.

Feb 15 1961 The U.S. figure skating team is obliterated when their Sabena Airlines 707 crashes in Belgium.

Feb 15 1992 Jeffrey Dahmer sentenced to fifteen consecutive life terms for the murder of fifteen young and mostly ethnic boys. He completed his sentence when he was beaten to death in the shower by other inmates.

Feb 15 1995 The most wanted computer hacker in history, Kevin Mitnick, is arrested in Raleigh North Carolina for various offenses, one of which was breaking into security specialist Tsutomu Shimomura's computer.

399 BC - The philosopher Socrates sentenced to death.
1852 - Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits its first patient.

1906 - The British Labour Party organized.

1942 - World War II: The Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. The Sook Ching massacre begins.

1944 - World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.

1950 - The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty.

1952 - King George VI buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

1965 - A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.

1971 - Decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day.

1989 - Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops had left Afghanistan.

2000 - Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York State vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator fails.

2002 - At the Tri-State Crematory in La Fayette, Georgia, investigators find uncremated bodies disposed of in the woods and buildings on the crematorium's property. The discovery reveals one of the worst incidents of abuse in the funeral service industry.

2003 - Protests against the Iraq war occur in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between 8 million to 30 million people took part, making this the largest peace demonstration in the history of the world.

2005 - YouTube, the popular Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States.

Births

1944 - Mick Avory, British drummer (The Kinks)

1945 - John Helliwell, British musician (Supertramp)

1947 - David Brown, American musician (Santana) (d. 2000)

1959 - Ali Campbell, British singer and songwriter (UB40)

1976 - Brandon Boyd, American musician (Incubus)

1976 - Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American musician (The Killers)

Deaths

1844 - Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1757)

1928 - H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)

1965 - Nat King Cole, American singer and musician (b. 1919)

Holidays and observances

Total Defence Day in Singapore

Flag Day in Canada

National Day in Serbia

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 16 1923
Lord Carnarvon opens King Tut's tomb, revealing one of the most well-preserved treasures from the ancient world. While it has been frequently reported that a curse killed 13 of the 20 people present at the opening of the tomb, there was no curse and no unusual death patterns occurred.

Feb 16 1959
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-fidel-at-bat.jpg
Failed baseball player Fidel Castro is sworn in as President For Life of Cuba. During his first year of rule 500 are put to the firing squad, an RBI record any dictator would be proud of.

Feb 16 1978
The first computer bulletin board system goes live on an S-100 motherboard and CP/M, and a Hayes 300 baud modem. Ward Christensen and Randy Seuss's Computerized Bulletin Board System still kinda runs to this day, but the Internet has taken the place that BBS's used to have.

Feb 16 1988
Richard Farley, a man obsessed with the lovely and petite Laura Black, entered his former workplace in Sunnyvale, California, and killed 7 employees as he made his way towards Laura's office. A hearing was scheduled regarding her restraining order against him for the following day. Farley fails in his attempt to kill her, leaving Laura critically wounded.


1568 - The entire population of the Netherlands - three million people - was sentenced to death by the Roman Catholic Church for heresy.
1646 - Battle of Great Torrington, Devon - the last major battle of the first English Civil War.

1742 - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.

1937 - Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for nylon.

1940 - World War II: Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.

1943 - World War II: USSR reconquers Kharkov.

1945 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.

1945 - World War II: First American Aircraft carrier strikes on Tokyo.

1945 - American forces recapture the Bataan Peninsula.

1947 - Canadians granted Canadian citizenship after 80 years of being British subjects. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.

1957 - The "Toddlers' Truce", a controversial television closedown between 6.00pm and 7.00pm was abolished in the United Kingdom

1983 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 71 people in Australia's worst ever fires.

1985 - The founding of Hezbollah.

2006 - The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

Births

1960 - Pete Willis, English guitarist (Def Leppard)

1963 - Dave Lombardo, Cuban drummer (Slayer)

Holidays and observances

Lithuania - Independence Day (1918)

Kyoto Protocol Day (2005)

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 17 1600
Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno burned at the stake at Campo di Fiore in Rome, likely because ecclesiastical authorities were alarmed at his rambling and somewhat insane ideas, coupled with rejection of accepted authority. Exactly what the charges against him were are lost to history, but likely involve theological heresies rather than astronomical.

Feb 17 1974
Forty-nine people trampled to death at a soccer stampede in Cairo, after crowds tear down entry barriers to the Zamalek vs Dukla game.

Feb 17 1989
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/feb/rh-bill-and-ted.jpg
The cinematic masterpiece "Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure" starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter opened in theaters. Pictured above, Bill and Ted's Excellent Breakfast Cereal.

Feb 17 1993
An overcrowded ferry carrying up to 1,500 people sank off Haiti. Only 285 people were known to have survived.

Feb 17 1994
The decomposing corpse of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first president of the Republic of Georgia, is exhumed from a temporary grave in Djikhaskari. His wife refuses an autopsy, but western journalists note a bullet wound in the side of Zviad's head. Officially listed as suicide, the wife also claims he was murdered. Another government minister oddly states the death was by cancer with the head shot administered post-mortem.

1621 - Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.

1854 - The British recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.

1864 - American Civil War: H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.

1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.

1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.

1936 - The world's first superhero, The Phantom, makes his first appearance in comics.

1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.

1944 - World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk (Chuuk), Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.

1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.

2000 - Microsoft releases Windows 2000

2003 - The London Congestion Charge scheme begins.

Births

1940 - Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)

1944 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer

1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American musician (Green Day)

1972 - Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters)

1981 - Paris Hilton, American actress :1orglaugh: and heiress

Deaths

1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)

1912 - Edgar Evans, Welsh naval officer (b. 1876)

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 18 1933
Yoko Ono born.

Feb 18 1965
Dre Day: Rapper and hip hop producer Dr. Dre (AKA André Romel Young) born in Los Angeles, California.

Feb 18 1967
J. Robert Oppenheimer dies.

Feb 18 1991
Killer/Cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer strangles a 19-year-old man, marking his tenth (of 17) victims. Jeffrey dismembers the body and keeps the skull in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment.

Feb 18 2001
During the Daytona 500, NASCAR phenom Dale Earnhardt crashes into the wall and dies instantly. His widow later files a lawsuit to keep his autopsy photos sealed, and Florida subsequently passes a law to prevent them from ever being released.

3102 BC - Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga- Lord Krishna is believed by Hare Krishnas and Hindus to have left the planet on this day.


1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is privately executed in the Tower of London.

1797 - Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.

1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.

1901 - Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.

1911 - The first official flight with air mail takes place in Allahabad, British India, when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 km away.

1929 - First Academy Awards are announced.

1932 - The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China.

1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.

1943 - Joseph Goebbels delivers the Sportpalast speech.

1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.

1957 - Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan rebel leader is executed by the British colonial government.

1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

1979 - Snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the first and only recorded time in history.

1991 - The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.

1998 - Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.

2005 - The United Kingdom law banning fox hunting, hare coursing and other sports which kill wild mammals is enforced from this date.

Births

1516 - Queen Mary I of England (d. 1558)

1933 - Yoko Ono, widow of John Lennon

1948 - Keith Knudsen, American drummer and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers) (d. 2005)

1953 - Robbie Bachman, Canadian drummer (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

1958 - Gar Samuelson, American drummer (Megadeth) (d. 1999)

1964 - Paul Hanley, British musician (The Fall, Tom Hingley and the Lovers)

1968 - Tommy Scott, British musician (Space)

1969 - Jason Sutter, American drummer (Smash Mouth, American Hi-Fi)

Deaths

1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (executed) (b. 1449)

1546 - Martin Luther, German religious reformer (b. 1483)

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 19 1942
Roosevelt signs E.O. 9066, the internment order permitting Japanese Americans to be held in concentration camps for the duration of the war.

Feb 19 1969
Marianne Faithfull was found in a coma after a suicide attempt in Australia.

Feb 19 1983
Benjamin Ng and Willie Mak kill 13 in a Seattle robbery attempt.

Feb 19 1995
Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee married. Video hijinks ensue.

Feb 19 1998
Lt. Col. Larry Wayne Harris (Aryan Nations) and William Leavitt are arrested in Henderson, NV for possession of the biological toxin anthrax, military grade, enough to kill an entire city. Their Mercedes is hermetically sealed by authorities and brought to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for hazmat.

1674 - England and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York.

1819 - British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.

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 Texas' annexation by the United States.

1878 - The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.

1881 - Kansas became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.

1915 - World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli began.

1915 - World War I: Plans for mutiny in the British Indian army, the Ghadar Conspiracy, is uncovered in India.

1941 - World War II: The Afrika Korps, the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in North Africa, was formed.

1942 - World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.

1942 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.

1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.

1945 - World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.

1959 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence, which is then on formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.

1968 - Egyptian commando forces attempt to intervene in a hijacking situation at Larnaca International Airport, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.

1985 - Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.

1986 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station.

2004 - Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity."

2006 - The Rolling Stones made the largest show open to the public of the world in Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1.3 million people went to the show.


2007 - Fidel Castro steps down as president of Cuba.

Births

1940 - Smokey Robinson, American singer

1948 - Mark Andes, American musician (Heart)

1948 - Tony Iommi, British guitarist (Black Sabbath)

1950 - Andy Powell, British guitarist (Wishbone Ash)

1957 - Falco, Austrian singer (d. 1998)

1963 - Seal, English singer

Deaths

197 - Clodius Albinus, Roman governor of Britain (Suicide after defeat)

1980 - Bon Scott, Scottish/Australian singer (acute alcohol poisoning) (AC/DC) (b. 1946)

[Cymru am byth]

Feb 20 1947
A chemical mistake at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Co. in Los Angeles causes a huge explosion, killing 17 and leaving a 22 foot crater. Four city blocks suffer severe devastation, with over 100 buildings damaged.


Feb 20 1971
An erroneous warning is emitted on the Emergency Broadcast System causing a number of stations to go off the air, and others to completely ignore the alert (thus pointing out that many key stations would not react to any emergency broadcast over the system.)


Feb 20 1984
Ballerina Julia Pak marries the ghost of Sun Myung Moon's dead son, Heung Jin Moon, in a tasteful necro-ceremony. The couple were engaged to be married, but a car accident in December intervened. Unfortunately in the Moonie religion, only married couples may enter Heaven, hence the need for this awkward rite.


Feb 20 1987
A paper bag at a Salt Lake City computer store explodes, injuring store owner Gary Wright. It is the second time the Unabomber has used the old "paper bag in the parking lot" trick.


Feb 20 1997
Victor Willis, the "cop" in the Village People is charged in Nevada on drug possession (45 grams of cocaine), possession of drug paraphernalia, and strong armed robbery. The events occurred February 15. Willis, 45, listed his occupation as "unemployed" and generously gave approval for his hotel room to be searched.


Feb 20 2003
A fire at a West Warwick, R.I. performance of eighties hairspray legends Great White caused by the band's indoor pyrotechnics leaves 100 dead. The pyrotechnics were illegal in that nightclub venue, and use of them by the band had been forbidden by other local venues. Guitarist Ty Longley is among the dead, his last journal entry containing the words: "I say we send a bunch of bands, food, artists, strippers, bartenders, proctologists, psychologists and lots of love over to Iraq and North Korea for a big party!"


Feb 20 2005
Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson blows his brains out with a shotgun in his Woody Creek, Colorado home. Family members are in the house when the gun goes off but mistake the sound for a falling book. Rolling Stone releases his final written words: "No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun—for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax—This won't hurt."


1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a dowry payment.

1547 - Edward VI of England crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.

1944 - World War II: "Big Week" ended with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.

1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.

1947 - State of Prussia ceases to exist

Births

1950 - Walter Becker, American guitarist (Steely Dan)

1951 - Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1951 - Randy California, American guitarist (Spirit) (d. 1997)

1953 - Poison Ivy, American guitarist (The Cramps)

1954 - Jon Brant, American bassist (Cheap Trick)

1963 - Ian Brown, English singer (The Stone Roses)

1967 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)

1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby union footballer

Deaths

2003 - Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White) (b. 1971)

[Cymru am byth]

21st February

1743 - The premiere of George Frideric Handel's oratorio, "Samson" takes place in London.

1804 - The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks in Wales.

1842 - John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.

1848 - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish the Communist Manifesto.

1885 - The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.

1912 - Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.

1916 - World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.

1918 - The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.

1937 - The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.

1945 - World War II: Japanese Kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier Bismarck Sea and damage the Saratoga.

1952 - The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free".

1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson discover the structure of the DNA molecule.

1958 - The Peace symbol is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.

1960 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro nationalizes all businesses in Cuba.

1965 - Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.

1971 - The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.

1973 - Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down a Libyan Airlines jet killing 108.

1974 - The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.

Births

1860 - Goscombe John, Welsh sculptor

1943 - David Geffen, American record producer

1945 - Paul Newton, British bassist (Uriah heep)

1951 - Vince Welnick, American musician (The Grateful Dead) (d. 2006)

1949 - Jerry Harrison, American keyboardist/guitarist (Talking Heads)

1952 - Jean Jacques Burnel, British bassist (The Stanglers)

1954 - Mike Pickering, English dance music DJ and musician

1958 - Jake Burns, Irish singer (Stiff little fingers)

1969 - James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer/guitarist (Manic Street Preachers)

1984 - Andrew Ellis, New Zealand rugby union player

1986 - Charlotte Church, Welsh singer

Deaths

1437 - King James I of Scotland (assassinated)(b. 1394)

1965 - Malcolm X, American black activist (assassinated)(b. 1925)

2004 - John Charles CBE, Welsh footballer (Heart) (b. 1931)

22nd February

1819 - By the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.

1847 - Mexican-American War: The Battle of Buena Vista - 5,000 American troops drive off 15,000 Mexicans.

1879 - In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and 10-cent Woolworth stores.

1889 - President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.

1904 - The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina, the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.

1915 - World War I: Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.

1942 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapses.

1943 - Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.

1944 - American aircraft bombard the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer by mistake, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.

1948 - Communist coup in Czechoslovakia.

1958 - Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.

1979 - Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.

1994 - Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.

1997 - In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.

2006 - At least six men stage Britain's biggest robbery ever, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or 78€ million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

Births

1732 - George Washington, First President of the United States (d. 1799)

1857 - Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English founder of the Boy Scouts (d. 1941)

1969 - Byron Stroud, American bassist (Fear Factory)

1976 - Faan Rautenbach, South African rugby player

1982 - Jenna Haze, American pornographic actress

Deaths

1371 - King David II of Scotland (b. 1324)

1987 - Andy Warhol, American artist, director, and writer (Heart attack) (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

United States — Washington's Birthday.

Saint Lucia — independence (1979).

[Cymru am byth]

23rd February

1455 - Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type

1836 - The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.

1847 - Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista - In Mexico, American troops under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1854 - The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.

1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland.

1903 - Cuba leases Guantanamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".

1904 - The United States gains control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million.

1909 - The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.

1917 - First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.

1918 - First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser's German troops near Narva and Pskov. Since 1923 this date become the Day of Red Army in honour of this victory.

1919 - Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in Italy.

1941 - Plutonium was first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.

1945 - World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo would later win a Pulitzer Prize.

1945 - World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.

1945 - World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań, the city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.

1945 - World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379 British bombers.

1945 - World War II: The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is bombed by Allied forces. It would later be re-opened in 1975.

1991 - Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabia border and enter Iraq, thus starting the ground-phase of the war.

1998 - Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.

2008 - a B-2 Spirit of the USAF crashes at Guam. The crew survived but the aircraft was written off, making it the most expensive air crash in human history (the aircraft alone cost $1.2Bn).

Births

1723 - Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)

1952 - Brad Whitford, American guitarist (Aerosmith)

1962 - Michael Wilton, American guitarist (Queensrÿche)

1964 - John Norum, Norwegian guitarist (Europe)

1973 - Lars-Olof Johansson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)

1983 - Mirco Bergamasco, Italian rugby player

Deaths

1848 - John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)

2003 - Howie Epstein, American bass guitarist (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) (b. 1955)

Holidays and observances

Russia - Defender of the Fatherland Day (formerly Red Army Day or Day of Soviet Army and Navy).

Brunei - National Day.

Ukraine - The Defender Day


24th February

1804 - London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute.

1826 - The signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo marks the end of the First Burmese War.

1863 - Arizona is organized as a United States territory.

1868 - The first parade to have floats is staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1917 - World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States.

1918 - Estonian Declaration of Independence.

1920 - The Nazi Party is founded.

1981 - Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

1989 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.

2008 - Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years.

Births

1942 - Paul Jones, English singer (Manfred Mann)

1962 - Teri Weigel, American pornographic actress

1976 - Matt Skiba, American guitarist (Alkaline Trio,Heavens)

1976 - Eric Griffin, American rock bassist (Murderdolls)

Deaths

616 - King Ethelbert of Kent

[Cymru am byth]

25th February

1570 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England.

1793 - George Washington holds the first Cabinet meeting as President of the United States.

1797 - Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000-1500 soldiers surrender after the Last Invasion of Britain

1836 - Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver.

1932 - Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.

1933 - The USS Ranger is launched, becoming the first custom-built aircraft carrier.

1941 - February strike: First general & physical protest against Nazi anti-Jewish behaviour & -laws (Amsterdam)

1945 - World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.

1991 - Gulf War: An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.

2006 - The world's estimated population reaches 6.5 billion.

Births

1943 - George Harrison, English musician (The Beatles) (d. 2001)

1947 - Doug Yule, American bass guitarist (The Velvet Underground)

1959 - Mike Peters, Welsh musician (The Alarm)

1976 - Chris Pitman, American keyboardist (Guns N' Roses)

1982 - Bert McCracken, American singer (The Used)

1985 - Benji Marshall, New Zealand rugby player

Deaths

1246 - Dafydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd

Holidays and observances

Kuwait's national day.

People Power Day, special holiday in the Philippines.


26th February

1797 - The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes.

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.

1935 - The Luftwaffe is re-formed.

1935 - The Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.

1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.

1991 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

1993 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.

1995 - The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.

2001 - The Taliban destroy two giant Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan.

Births

1928 - Fats Domino, American musician

1932 - Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)

1950 - Jonathan Cain, American musician (Journey, Bad English, The Babys)

1960 - Jaz Coleman, British musician (Killing joke)

1977 - Shane Williams, Welsh International Rugby Player & joint Welsh record try scorer (40 tries so far)

1987 - Julia Bond, American porn star

Deaths

1813 - Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)

Holidays and observances

Liberation Day in Kuwait (1991).

[Cymru am byth]

27th February

1560 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland.

1700 - The island of New Britain is discovered.

1812 - Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.

1844 - The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.

1860 - Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.

1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje at the Battle of Paardeberg.

1900 - The British Labour Party is founded.

1933 - Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire.

1942 - World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an allied (ABDA) strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies

1991 - Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated".

2003 - Archbishop of Wales Rowan Williams is enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in the Anglican church.

Births

1951 - Steve Harley, British rock musician (Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel)

1954 - Neal Schon, American musician (Journey)

1957 - Adrian Smith, English musician (Iron Maiden)

1958 - Naas Botha, South African rugby union footballer

1958 - Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious (d. 1978)

1959 - Johnny Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

1973 - Mark Taylor, Welsh rugby union footballer (First player to score a try at the newly built Millenium Stadium, v South Africa in 1999)

Deaths

2002 - Spike Milligan, Irish comedian (b. 1918)


28th February

1900 - The Second Boer War: The 118-day "Siege of Ladysmith" is lifted.

1922 - The United Kingdom accepts the independence of Egypt.

1933 - Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire.

1935 - Nylon is invented by Wallace Carothers.

1985 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.

1991 - The first Gulf War ends.

1993 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

Births

1155 - Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (d. 1183)

1942 - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (d. 1969)

Deaths

1985 - David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (b. 1947)

2008 - Mike Smith, English musician (The Dave Clark Five) (b. 1943)


29th February

1504 - Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.

1704 - Queen Anne's War: French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 100 men, women, and children.

1944 - World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer led by American General Douglas MacArthur.

1952 - The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.

1988 - South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town

Births

1972 - Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002)

[Cymru am byth]

1st March, St Davids day (Dydd Dewi Sant)

1565 - The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.

1628 - Writs are issued in February by Charles I of England mandating that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.

1692 - Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.

1790 - The first United States census is authorized.

1803 - Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state.

1815 - Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.

1845 - President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.

1867 - Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state; Lancaster, Nebraska is renamed Lincoln and becomes the state capital.

1872 - Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.

1896 - Battle of Adowa: an Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo–Ethiopian War.

1896 - Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity.

1912 - Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.

1936 - The Hoover Dam is completed.

1941 - World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Bismarck Sea begins.

1946 - The Bank of England is nationalised.

1950 - Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.

1953 - Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses. He dies four days later.

1954 - Nuclear testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.

1975 - Colour television transmissions begin in Australia.

1992 - Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Yugoslavia.

2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.

2004 - Terry Nichols is convicted of state murder charges and being an accomplice to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Births

1904 - Glenn Miller, American bandleader (d. 1944)

1905 - Doris Hare, Welsh actress (d. 2000)

1944 - Mike d'Abo, English singer (Manfred Mann)

1944 - Roger Daltrey, English musician (The Who)

1963 - Rob Affuso, American drummer (Skid Row)

1969 - Dafydd Ieuan, Welsh drummer (Super Furry Animals)

1973 - Ryan Peake, Canadian guitarist (Nickelback)

Deaths

58b9 - Saint David (Dewi Sant), Patron Saint of Wales (b. 500)

1244 - Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr, son of Llywelyn the Great (b. 1200)

Holidays and observances

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Independence Day

Iceland - Beer day - This day in 1989 beer was allowed again

Korea - Independence Movement Day

Tasmania - Eight Hours Day

Wales - Saint David's Day

Western Australia - Labour day

Self Injury Awareness Day

[Cymru am byth]

2nd March

1815 - Signing of Kandyan treaty by British invaders and Sri Lankan King.

1836 - Texas Revolution: Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.

1888 - The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace.

1896 - Ethiopia defeats Italy in the Battle of Adwa, marking the first victory of an African nation over a colonial power.

1941 - World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joined the Axis Pact.

1943 - World War II: Battle of the Bismarck Sea - United States and Australian forces sink Japanese convoy ships.

1969 - In Toulouse, France the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.

1970 - Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.

1989 - Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.

1991 - Battle at Rumaila Oil Field brings end to the 1991 Gulf War.

1990 - Nelson Mandela elected deputy President of the African National Congress.

2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).

2004 - War in Iraq: Al Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.

Births

1316 - Robert II of Scotland, (d. 1390)

1931 - Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

1942 - Lou Reed, American singer and guitarist (Velvet Underground)

1943 - Tony Meehan, English drummer (The Shadows) (d. 2005)

1949 - J. P. R. Williams, Welsh Rugby Union legend

1956 - Mark Evans, Australian bassist (AC/DC)

1958 - Ian Woosnam, Welsh golfer

1964 - Megan Leigh, American porn star (d. 1990)

1977 - Chris Martin, English musician (Coldplay)

1985 - Luke Pritchard, British singer (The Kooks)

Deaths

1999 - Dusty Springfield, English singer (b. 1939)

2008 - Jeff Healey, Canadian musician (b. 1966)

Holidays and observances

Texas Independence Day (1836).


3rd March

1845 - Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.

1857 - Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.

1877 - Rutherford B. Hayes is privately inaugurated as the 19th President of the United States (his public inauguration coming on March 5).

1904 - Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's cylinder.

1918 - Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

1931 - The United States officially adopts "The Star-Spangled Banner" as its national anthem.

1933 - Mount Rushmore National Memorial is dedicated.

1938 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.

1942 - World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia killing more than 100 people.

1943 - World War II: In London, England, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.

1944 - The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov were instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.

1945 - World War II: Previously neutral Finland declares war on the Axis powers.

1985 - Arthur Scargill declares that the National Union of Mineworkers national executive voted to end the longest-running industrial dispute in Great Britain without any peace deal over pit closures.

1985 - Censorship: Women Against Pornography award their "Pig Award" to Huggies Diapers, claiming that the television ads had "crossed the line between eye-catching and porn."

1991 - An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.

Births

1847 - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor (Telephone) (d. 1922)

1863 - Arthur Machen, Welsh-born author (d. 1947)

1948 - Snowy White, British guitarist (Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters)

Holidays and observances

Hinamatsuri (Girl's Day) - Japanese celebration day for girls.

Bulgaria - Liberation Day.

Australia - Labour Day.

[Cymru am byth]

4th March

1215 - King John of England makes an oath to the Pope as a crusader to gain the support of Innocent III.

1275 - Chinese astronomers observe a total eclipse of the sun.

1461 - Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his Yorkist cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.

1492 - King James IV of Scotland concludes an alliance with France against England.

1493 - Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal aboard his ship Niña from his discovery voyage to America. He returned to Spain on March 15.

1629 - Massachusetts Bay Colony, which had the role of colonizing the Americas, is granted a Royal charter.

1634 - Samuel Cole opens the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts.

1665 - English King Charles II declares war on The Netherlands which marked the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

1681 - Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.

1776 - The American War of Independence: The Americans capture "Dorchester Heights" dominating the port of Boston, Massachusetts.

1778 - The Continental Congress voted to ratify both the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance with France. The two treaties were the first entered into by the United States government.

1789 - In New York City, the first U.S. Congress meets and declares the new Constitution of the United States is in effect.

1791 - Vermont is admitted as the 14th U.S. state.

1791 - A Constitutional Act is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario)

1794 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress.

1797 - In the first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times, John Adams is sworn in as President of the United States, succeeding George Washington.

1804 - The Battle of Vinegar Hill, colony of New South Wales (Australia), when Irish convicts (some of whom had been involved in Ireland’s Battle of Vinegar Hill in 1798) led the colony’s only significant convict uprising.

1882 - Britain's first electric trams run in East London.

1890 - The longest bridge in the United Kingdom, the Forth Bridge (railway) (1,710 ft) in Scotland is opened by the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII.

1941 - The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands, during World War II.

1941 - Adolf Hitler applies pressure on Yugoslavia to join the Tripartite Pact.

1944 - First U.S. daylight bombing of Berlin and Anti-Germany strikes in northern Italy.

1945 - In the United Kingdom, Princess Elizabeth, later to become Queen Elizabeth II, joins the British Army as a driver.

1945 - Lapland War: Finland declares war on Nazi Germany.

1954 - Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announces the first successful kidney transplant.

1976 - The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London via the British parliament.

2001 - 4 March 2001 BBC bombing: a massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring 11 people. The attack was attributed to the Real IRA.

2002 - Multinational Force in Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers are killed as they attempt to infiltrate the Shahi Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.

2005 - The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by US soldiers in Iraq, causing the death of an Italian Secret Service Agent and injuring two passengers.

Births

1948 - Chris Squire, English bassist (Yes)

1948 - Shakin' Stevens, Welsh singer

1951 - Chris Rea, English singer

1955 - Rowland Charles Gould (Boon Gould) English musician (Level 42)

1963 - Jason Newsted, American bassist (Metallica)

1967 - Evan Dando, American musician (The Lemonheads)

1971 - Fergal Lawler, Irish drummer (The Cranberries)

1972 - Alison Wheeler, British singer (The Beautiful South)

1973 - Summer Cummings, American porn actress

1978 - Denis Dallan, Italian rugby union footballer

1979 - John Lawler (John Fratelli), Scottish singer (The Fratellis)

1981 - Donny Tourette, English punk rock singer (Towers of London)

Deaths

2004 - John McGeoch, Scottish musician (b. 1955)
(Visage, Public Image Ltd and Siouxsie & the Banshees)

[Cymru am byth]

5th March

1496 - England King Henry VII issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to explore unknown lands.

1770 - Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including a black man named Crispus Attucks, and a boy are killed by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War five years later.

1824 - First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.

1836 - Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.

1850 - The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon) and the mainland of Wales is opened.

1912 - Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.

1915 - World War I: The LZ 33, a zeppelin, is damaged by enemy fire and stranded south of Ostend.

1933 - In Germany, the Nazis win 44 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections.

1936 - First flight of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft.

1940 - Members of Soviet politburo sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, known also as the Katyn massacre.

1943 - First flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft in the United Kingdom.

1945 - World War II: The "Battle of the Ruhr" begins.

1946 - Winston Churchill uses the phrase "Iron Curtain" in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.

1965 - March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.

1970 - The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.

1974 - Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.

1976 - The British pound falls below $2 USD for the first time.

1991 - Iraq releases all Gulf War prisoners.

1998 - NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water to support a human colony.

Births

1133 - King Henry II of England (d. 1189)

1324 - King David II of Scotland (d. 1371)

1723 - Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)

1948 - Eddy Grant, Guyana-born singer

1952 - Alan Clark, English keyboardist (Dire Straits)

1957 - Mark E. Smith, English singer (The Fall)

1962 - Charlie and Craig Reid, Scottish musicians (The Proclaimers)

1970 - John Frusciante, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

1971 - Evil Jared Hasselhoff, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)

1982 - Daniel Carter, New Zealand Rugby player

Deaths

1953 - Joseph Stalin, Georgian leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1879)

Holidays and observances

St Piran's Day - Cornwall's national day.


6th March

1788 - The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.

1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo - After a thirteen day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort is captured.

1940 - Winter War: An armistice is signed by Finland and the Soviet Union.

1957 - United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana.

1957 - Israel withdraws its troops from the Sinai Peninsula.

1964 - Prophet Elijah Muhammad officially gives Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali meaning "beloved of Allah".

1984 - Twelve-month-long strike in British coal industry begins.

1987 - The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds killing 193.

1988 - Three unarmed members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army are killed by the SAS on the territory of Gibraltar in the conclusion of Operation Flavius.

1992 - The Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers.

Births

1946 - David Gilmour, British musician (Pink Floyd)

1964 - Madonna Wayne Gacy, American musician (Marilyn Manso)

Deaths

1754 - Henry Pelham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1694)

1836 - Davy Crockett, American frontiersman (b. 1786)

1836 - Jim Bowie, American pioneer and soldier (b. 1796)

1951 - Ivor Novello, Welsh actor, musician, and composer (coronary thrombosis)(b. 1893)

2005 - Tommy Vance, British radio disc jockey (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show 1978-1993)(b. 1943)

Holidays and observances

Ghana - Independence Day (from Britain, 1957)

Alamo Day in Texas

[Cymru am byth]

7th March

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the telephone (patent # 174,465).

1911 - Revolution in Mexico.

1912 - Roald Amundsen first announces to the world that his expedition has reached the South Pole, though they had arrived on December 14, 1911.

1918 - World War I: Finland forms an alliance with Germany.

1936 - World War II: In violation of the Locarno Pact and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.

1945 - World War II: American troops seize the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, establish a bridgehead on Germany soil and in desperate fighting begin to establish a lodgement, which events shakes up the whole Western Front and greatly hastens the end of WW-II.

1989 - Iran and the United Kingdom break diplomatic relations after a row over Salman Rushdie and his controversial novel.

1989 - The State Council of the People's Republic of China declares martial law in Lhasa, Tibet.

2006 - Apple Inc. is granted the patent to the iPod.

2007 - British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber, the House of Lords, 100% elected.

Births

1671 - Robert Roy MacGregor,(Rob Roy) Scottish folk hero (d. 1734)

1943 - Chris White, British musician (The Zombies)

1946 - Matthew Fisher, British musician (Procol Harum)

1976 - Chelsea Charms, American adult actress

1977 - Ronan O'Gara, Irish rugby union footballer

1984 - Dani Woodward, American Pornographic Star

8th march


Mar 8 1968

A Soviet submarine sinks in the Pacific Ocean, killing all 97 crew members aboard. Later in the year a U.S. submarine secretly retrieves an encryption machine, codebooks, and nuclear warheads from the Soviet vessel. A further bold attempt is made in 1974 to bring up the entire submarine using the CIA ship Glomar Explorer, built by Howard Hughes. That mission supposedly fails, and is made public by the Los Angeles Times to the great embarrassment of the Agency.

Mar 8 1973

Paul McCartney is fined 100 UKP for growing marijuana at his farm on the Mull of Kintyre.

Mar 8 1997

Chad Lamansky and Daniel Myers, a pair of teenagers in Davis County, Iowa, slip into an animal shelter at night and beat 16 cats to death with a baseball bat. A jury later determined that the cats had a value less than $30 each, ruling out the possibility of a felony conviction.

Mar 8 1998

In Ladson, South Carolina, Daniel Rudolph -- brother of Olympic Games bombing and abortion clinic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph (a fugitive) -- videotapes himself severing his own hand with a power saw in order to "send a message to the FBI and the media". Mmmm, inbreeding?


Mar 8 2000

Porn superstar Lolo Ferrari dies at age 30 in the French Riviera. Lolo is a French pioneer of plastic macromammary surgery, having achieved a bustline of 71 inches, a well known porn star and cocksucker. She is a resident of Cannes, her recent venture into music (with single "Air Bag Generator") created somewhat of a nonsensation.


1702 - Anne Stuart, the sister of the childless Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland after the death of William III of Orange.

1765 - The British House of Lords passes the Stamp Act to tax the American colonies.

1775 - Thomas Paine's "African Slavery in America" was published. It was the first article in the United States calling for the emancipation of all slaves and the abolition of slavery.

1782 - Gnadenhütten massacre: Some 90 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity had their skulls crushed with mallets by Pennsylvanian militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.

1817 - The New York Stock Exchange is founded.

1917 - Riots and strikes break out in St. Petersburg, Russia, marking the start of the Russian Revolution.

1942 - World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.

1942 - World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.

1942 - World War II: British bombers begin a new style of air raid, using incendiary bombs to light the way for a nighttime attack on the Krupp armament works in Essen. The long series of attacks reduce the city to ruins.

1943 - World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that would last five days.

1945 - Allied forces move large numbers of troops across the Rhine River to significantly reinforce and expand their tenuous hold on the captured Ludendorff Bridge (Bridge at Remagen), allowing them to push armor across the river and better secure the nascent lodgement.

1950 - Marshal Voroshilov announces that the Soviet Union possesses an atomic bomb.

1957 - Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.

1966 - A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.

1971 - Joe Frazier becomes the undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion by winning a unanimous 15-round decision over Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1974 - Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.

1983 - President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an "evil empire."

1983 - The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee endorses a nuclear weapons freeze with the Soviet Union, a move denounced by President Ronald Reagan.

Births

1939 - Robert Tear, Welsh tenor

1945 - Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)

1946 - Randy Meisner, American musician (The Eagles)

1957 - Clive Burr, British musician, former drummer for Iron Maiden

1958 - Gary Numan, British singer

1971 - Kit Symons, Welsh footballer

1976 - Gaz Coombes, English singer (Supergrass)

1979 - Tom Chaplin, English singer (Keane)

Deaths

1702 - William III of England (b. 1650)

1874 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)

1930 - William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)

1973 - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American musician (Greatful dead) (b. 1945) (gastrointestinal hemorrhage)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 9 1170
In Essex, a UFO is spotted over St. Ostwyth, manifesting itself as a "wonderfully large dragon ... borne up from the Earth through the air". The craft kindled the air and destroyed a house.

Mar 9 1556

David Rizzio, the secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, stabbed 56 times by a gaggle of Scottish nobles. Her husband Henry Lord Darnley had orchestrated the murder with Mary witnessing, hoping to precipitate a miscarriage.

Mar 9 1967

Josef Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, walks into the U.S. Embassy at New Delhi and asks to defect.

Mar 9 1995

Jon Schmitz (straight) kills Scott Amedure (gay) three days after an appearance on the trashy Jenny Jones TV talk show, where Amedure admitted having a crush on Schmitz. Allegedly the two men had an affair that evening after the show, but the backlash from their rural community was going to be so severe that Schmitz panicked to defend his manlihood, filling his admirer with buckshot. Amedure's famly later sued the Jenny Jones show for $50M.

Mar 9 1997

Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) killed in a drive-by outside the Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles. The murder has never been officially solved, though an ongoing feud with Death Row Records may have had something to do with it.

1566 - David Rizzio, the private secretary to Mary I of Scotland, is murdered in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1796 - Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.

1834 - French Foreign Legion is founded.

1925 - Pink's War, the first RAF operation conducted independently of the Army or Navy, begins.

1935 - Adolf Hitler announces the creation of a new air force.

1945 - World War II: Bombing of Tokyo - American B-29 bombers attack Tokyo, Japan with incendiary bombs. The resulting fire storm kills over 100,000 people. The attack begins March 9 and continues into March 10.

1986 - United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily-damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger. The bodies of all seven astronauts were still inside.

1993 - Rodney King testifies at the federal trial of four Los Angeles, California police officers accused of violating King's civil rights when they beat him during an arrest.

Births

1942 - John Cale, Welsh musician (The Velvet Underground)

1945 - Robin Trower, British rock musician (Procol Harum)

1946 - Jim Cregan, British rock musician (Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel)

1970 - Martin Johnson, English rugby player

Deaths

1997 - The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (Shot)(b. 1972)

2007 - Brad Delp, American singer (Boston)(carbon monoxide poisoning[suicide])(b. 1951)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 10 1948

Czech foreign minister Jan Masaryk thrown from a window at his apartment in Prague under mysterious circumstances. His death was ruled "suicide" and later by the communists, to have "fallen accidentally while sitting in a yoga position on a window sill to combat insomnia". But most likely he was suffocated first, judging from the fact that he had lost control of his bowels.

Mar 10 1974

Second Lt. Hiroo Onoda of the Imperial Japanese Army surrenders to Philippine authorities. He believed World War II was still underway and continued a 30 year guerrilla battle with other islanders. His final capitulation came when his senior officer, Maj. Taniguchi, ordered his surrender. Upon return to the Japanese homeland, Onoda was treated as a hero, but had difficulty coping with his "postwar" life.

Mar 10 1977

Roman Polanski gives a thirteen-year old girl Quaaludes and has sex with her during a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson's home. He later flees the country to avoid statutory rape charges.

Mar 10 1987

Jeffrey Dahmer is convicted of lewd and lascivious behavior for urinating in front of several children. He was sentenced to one year's probation for the incident. Jeffrey would go on to kill eighteen young men in Milwaukee.

Mar 10 1988

Highly insipid rock vocalist Andy Gibb dies of heart trouble at age 30. He put a lot of drugs into his body, primarily cocaine.

Mar 10 1994

Tupac Shakur gets a 15-day jail sentence for assaulting director Allen Hughes.

Mar 10 1997

The Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, is stabbed in both eyes during an altercation with another inmate at Broadmoor Hospital. Peter is serving a sentence for killing 13 women.

1629 - Charles I of England dissolves Parliament, starting the Eleven Years Tyranny in which there was no parliament.

1801 - First census in Great Britain

1804 - Louisiana Purchase: In St. Louis, a formal ceremony is conducted to transfer ownership of Louisiana Territory from France to the United States.

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."

1902 - Second Boer War: South African Boers win their last battle over British forces, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.

1902 - A United States court of appeals rules that Thomas Edison did not invent the movie camera.

1922 - Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, although he is released after two years of the sentence, being released in February 1924 after an operation for appendicitis.

1923 - Lenin suffers a stroke (not the stroke that killed him)

1945 - The United States Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting firestorm kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.

1959 - Tibet leads an unsuccessful uprising against ten years of Chinese occupation in Lhasa. Thousands massacred by the occupying Chinese army.

1969 - In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He would later retract his guilty plea.

Births

1963 - Jeff Ament, American musician (Pearl Jam)

1964 - Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

Deaths

1792 - John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1713)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 11 1669 After a series of premonitional earthquakes near Mount Etna, the largest volcano in Europe spectacularly erupts, destroying the Sicilian town of Nicolosi and killing 20,000 people. Mar 11 1938 Germany enters Austria in the "Anschluss", to annex it as part of Grossdeutchland. Mar 11 1958 A B-47 bomber drops a nuclear bomb in the town of Mars Bluff in South Carolina. While it did not detonate a nuclear explosion, conventional explosives within the bomb left a 75 foot crater, destroying one house and damaging five others. Mar 11 1970 Actress Suzanne Somers arrested (and strip searched!) for writing bad checks. She was not prosecuted. Mar 11 1990 http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-quayle-96.jpg Vice President Dan Quayle sends a Secret Service agent proxy into a Chilean tourist shop to purchase a wooden male, anatomically correct "peekaboo" statuette. Mar 11 1998 The town of Cicero, IL agrees to donate $10,000 towards the printing of KKK literature to be mailed to its residents, in return for the Klan not holding a scheduled rally. 1702 - The first regular English language newspaper, The Daily Courant, is published in London, England.

1708 - Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.

1845 - The Flagstaff War: In New Zealand, Chiefs Hone Heke and Kawiti lead 700 Māoris to chop down the British flagpole and drive settlers out of the British colonial settlement of Kororareka because of breaches of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

1845 - British baker Henry Jones invents self-raising flour.

1864 - The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield.

1900 - Second Boer War: Boer leader Paul Kruger's peace overtures are rejected by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Lord Salisbury.

1917 - World War I: Baghdad falls to the Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Stanley Maude.

1936 - British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin pardons five convicted Irish militants who promise to join growing conflict with Germany.

1941 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.

1942 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur abandons Corregidor.

1945 - World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.

1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the Soviet Union's leader.

1988 - Iran-Iraq War: Iran and Iraq agree to stop attacking civilian centers.

1990 - Lithuania declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.

2004 - Madrid Train Bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid (Spain) kill 192 people.

Births

1916 - Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)

1959 - Nina Hartley, American porn star

1964 - Vinnie Paul, American drummer (Pantera)

1981 - Russell Lissack, English musician (Bloc Party)

Deaths

1955 - Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, Nobel laureate (b.1881)( penicillin)

Holidays and observances

United States - Johnny Appleseed Day.

Lithuania - Reestablishment of Lithuania's Independence.

Lesotho - Moshoeshoe Day.

Zambia - Youth Day.

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 12 1888

The massive and unexpected Blizzard of 1888 strikes the East coast of the United States, paralyzing New York and many other cities and leaving at least 400 dead. Snowdrifts fifty feet high were reported, and New York received over 40 inches of snow.

Mar 12 1928

The two-year-old St. Francis Dam north of Los Angeles fails catastrophically just before midnight, unleashing 52 million tons of water on the city of Santa Paula. 437 people are killed by the torrent, including 19 families with no survivors whatsoever.

Mar 12 1945

Anne Frank dies at Auschwitz.

Mar 12 1964

Malcolm X withdraws from the Nation of Islam after he finds out that Elijah Mohammad has been porking his secretaries.

Mar 12 1980
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-gacy-th.jpg A Chicago jury finds John Wayne Gacy guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. The next day, he is sentenced to death; after years on death row, Gacy is finally executed in May 10, 1994.

Mar 12 1993

A series of bomb explosions rock western India. The first kills 50 at the Bombay Stock Exchange, and many other explosions target theaters, offices, and shopping areas. It is suspected that the acts were intended to destabilize India's government.

Mar 12 2000

Pope John Paul II asks God's forgiveness for the many wrongs committed by the Roman Catholic Church. The pardon he requested divided into seven categories of Church sin, including sins against the Jews, against native peoples of the world, the crimes of the Inquisition, and general crimes against humanity. This pardon was requested only for past sins, and apparently does not apply to the Church's many ongoing sins.

Mar 12 2007

Two weeks after the incident, it is revealed that Israel's Ambassador to El Salvador Tzuriel Rafael had been recalled after police discovered him in his backyard, drunk and naked save for bondage gear and a ball gag.

1664 - New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain.

1868 - Henry James O'Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

1881 - Andrew Watson made his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain.

1894 - Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.

1913 - Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia was officially named Canberra. (Melbourne remained temporary capital until 1927 while the new capital was still under construction.)

1918 - Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg held this status for 215 years.

1930 - Mahatma Gandhi leads a 200-mile march known as Dandi March to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.

1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.

1940 - Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population are immediately evacuated.

1968 - Mauritius achieves independence from Great Britain.

1992 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

1993 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites.

1994 - The Church of England ordains its first female priests.

1999 - Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.

Births

1953 - Ron Jeremy, American pornographic actor

1956 - Steve Harris, English bassist (Iron Maiden)

1969 - Graham Coxon, English musician (Blur)

Deaths

1998 - Judge Dread, English musician (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances

Mauritius - National Day.

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 13 1881
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-alexander-ii.jpg
An anarchist from the radical group People's Will throws a bomb which disrupts Czar Alexander II's motorcade. After he thanks God for his deliverance, the anarchist yells "It is too early to thank God" and throws a second bomb, causing injuries from which Alexander bleeds to death.

Mar 13 1923
Twenty-two persons killed in a poison rice episode, China. Five cooks are blamed.

Mar 13 1964
At 3:15am, bar manager Catherine "Kitty" Genovese is raped and stabbed to death outside her apartment building in Queens, NY. None of her 38 neighbors who witness the 32-minute ordeal even bothers to call the cops. Later in court, several testify hearing her scream: "Oh my God! He stabbed me! Please help me! I'm dying!"

Mar 13 1996
Salim and Ruksana Patel find the arabic word for Allah spelled in the seeds of an aubergine (a Persian eggplant variant) which they intended for a casserole at their home in Bolton, England. Their local mullah declares it a miracle.

Mar 13 1997
Hassan Abdullah's wife accidentally severs her husband's penis while she was "dreaming about strangling him". Luckily for Abdullah doctors in Malaysia were able to successfully reattach his endangered manhood, but not so lucky is the fact that he sleeps with a woman who keeps a knife in bed and dreams about strangling her husband.

Mar 13 2001
One-eyed, mom-hating serial killer/drifter Henry Lee Lucas dies. Lucas was a serial murderer known for making bogus confessions which prompted police across the country to try and clear hundreds of unsolved cases by dumping them on Henry. He later recanted, saying that his goal was to make the police look stupid. Physical evidence only linked Henry to two of the murders.
1639 - Harvard College was named for clergyman John Harvard.

1900 - Boer War: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.

1925 - Scopes Trial: A law in Tennessee prohibits the teaching of evolution.

1940 - Russo-Finnish Winter War ended.

1943 - World War II: In Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.

1943 - The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.

1986 - Microsoft has its Initial public offering.

1991 - The United States Justice Department announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

1996 - The Dunblane Massacre: in Dunblane, Scotland, 16 children and 1 adult teacher are shot dead by Thomas Watt Hamilton who then commits suicide.

Births

1764 - Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1845)

1942 - Scatman John, (real name John Larkin) American singer (d. 1999)

1960 - Adam Clayton, Irish bassist (U2)

1973 - David Draiman, American musician and songwriter (Disturbed)

1979 - Spanky G, American drummer (Bloodhound Gang)

Deaths

1901 - Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (b. 1833)

1988 - John Holmes, American porn star (AIDs)(b. 1944)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 14 1883
Karl Marx dies of bronchitis in London.

Mar 14 1932
George Eastman, the founder of Kodak Corporation, kills himself after a long illness. His suicide note states "To my friends: My work is done. Why wait?"

Mar 14 1945
"I am going to jump into my grave laughing because the knowledge that I have the deaths of millions of people on my conscience is a source of extraordinary satisfaction to me." Adolf Eichmann.

Mar 14 1967
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-thalidomide.jpg
Nine German executives of the manufacturer of thalidomide, Grunethal, are charged with breaking their country's drug laws. Thalidomide, a sedative, caused over 12,000 babies in late 1950's Europe to be born with flippers instead of limbs.

Mar 14 1968
Nerve gas leaks from the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, near Skull Valley Utah. The gas killed 1600 sheep on the Goshute indian reservation and made hundreds more sick. Dugway is a test center for chemical and biological agents.

Mar 14 1997
A tank illegally stored at the federal government's Hanford nuclear facility in Washington state explodes, causing the release of 30,000 gallons of plutonium into the environment. The government tried to cover up the incident, going so far as having the Department of Energy deny the release of any contamination.
1757 - On-board the HMS Monarch, Admiral John Byng is executed by firing squad for neglecting his duty.

1915 - World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the disastrous Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden is abandoned and scuttled by her crew.

1939 - German troops fully occupy the Czechoslovak provinces of Bohemia and Moravia.

1942 - John Bumstead and Orvan Hess became the first in the world to successfully treat a patient, Anne Miller, using penicillin.

1943 - World War II - The Kraków Ghetto is 'liquidated'.

1964 - A jury in Dallas, Texas finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of John F. Kennedy.

1967 - The body of President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.

1984 - Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.

Births

1980 - Ben Herring, New Zealand rugby union player

1985 - Eva Angelina, American porn star

Deaths

1811 - Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1735)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 15
Today is the International Day Against Police Brutality, first observed in 1997 after Swiss police beat two children age 11 and 12 to death.

Mar 15
Beware the Ides of March.

Mar 15 44
Julius Caesar, already warned to be wary on this the Ides of March by the astrologer Spurinna, assassinated with pointy knives by a group of Senators at the Pompey theater.

Mar 15 1812
Luddites attack Frank Vickerman's wool processing factory at Taylor Hill in West Yorkshire, resulting in general destruction and attempted arson. The rampaging Luddites were incensed because his machines replaced workers, but Vickerman was primarily targeted because of involvement in an Anti-Luddite committee.

Mar 15 1894
Jean Pauwels is killed walking into the Madeline church in Paris, when a bomb in his pocket suddenly goes off. The Belgian anarchist is later determined to have been responsible for two other explosions in February, one of which killed a pedestrian.

Mar 15 1937
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-lovecraft.jpg
H P Lovecraft dies from cancer and Bright's disease in Rhode Island.

Mar 15 1998
White House aide Kathleen Willey claims on the TV program 60 Minutes that President Bill Clinton kissed her, touched her breasts and made her touch his "no-no place." Clinton of course denies this version of events.
1493 - Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.

1672 - Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.

1776 - South Carolina became the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government.

1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse - Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400.

1906 - Rolls-Royce Ltd. is registered.

1922 - After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.

1939 - World War II: German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.

1943 - World War II: Third Battle of Kharkov - the Germans retake the city of Kharkov from the Soviet armies in bitter street fighting.

1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Allied aircraft bomb the German-held monastery and stage an assault.

1952 - In Cilaos, Réunion, 73 inches (1870 mm) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.

1961 - South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.

1985 - The first Internet domain name is registered (symbolics.com).

1988 - The Halabja poison gas attack of the Iran-Iraq War begins.

1991 - Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.

2008 - Wales win the 2008 RBS 6 Nations rugby union tournament Grandslam with a 29 - 12 victory over World Cup semi finalists France.

2008 - Welsh rugby winger Shane Williams becomes Wales' record try scorer with 41 tries in 56 games, he is also joint 8th top try scorer in international rugby.

Births

1767 - Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States (d. 1845)

1779 - Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, (d. 1848)

1940 - Phil Lesh, American musician (Grateful Dead)

1941 - Mike Love, American musician (The Beach Boys)

1946 - Howard E. Scott, American musician (War)

1947 - Ry Cooder, American guitarist

1955 - Dee Snider, American singer (Twisted Sister)

1963 - Bret Michaels, American musician (Poison)

Deaths


44 BC - Julius Caesar (b. 100 BC)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 16
St. Urho's Day, Patron saint of Finnish vineyard workers. Attributed to him is the miracle of banishing grasshoppers from Finland which he accomplished with a few choice Finnish phrases, thereby saving the season's grape crop. But in reality a bunch of very drunk people made this up in 1956.

Mar 16 1190
More than 150 and perhaps as many as 500 Jews, secured in Clifford's Tower at York, die from suicide and massacre after they are sieged by townspeople under Richard Malebys. Malebys was a nobleman who owed money to the Jews; after their siege all records relating to moneylending were destroyed. It is the largest massacre of Jews in the history of the United Kingdom.

Mar 16 1792
At a masquerade ball, a disgruntled Captain Jacob Johan Ankarstroem shoots Swedish King Gustav III near the heart with a bullet composed of lead and carpet tacks. The king dies twelve days later, and as punishment the Captain is decapitated, drawn, and quartered.

Mar 16 1949
Erik Estrada's birthday.

Mar 16 1968
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-my-lai-massacre.jpg
Soldiers of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade Americal Division massacre over 300 civilian men, women, and children in the village of My Lai in South Vietnam.

Mar 16 1978
Italian Red Brigades kidnap former Italian Premier Aldo Moro for release of imprisoned comrades. Moro was murdered and his body found on 9 May 1978.

Mar 16 1984
The CIA's station chief in Beirut, William Buckley, is kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad and later murdered.

Mar 16 1994 Figure skater Tonya Harding arrested for obstruction of prosecution during the fallout from the Nancy Kerrigan figure skate clubbing.

1322 - Battle of Boroughbridge in the First War of Scottish Independence.

1621 - Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."

1660 - The Long Parliament disbands.

1689 - The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded. (now known as 1st battalion Royal Welsh)

1802 - The United States Military Academy West Point is established.

1812 - Battle of Badajoz (March 16 - April 6) - British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.

1872 - The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1-0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.

1912 - Captain Lawrence Oates, ill member of Scott's South Pole expedition leaves the tent saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time."

1935 - Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Conscription was reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.

1939 - From Prague Castle Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

1942 - History of Rocketry: First V-2 rocket test launch (exploded at liftoff)

1945 - World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.

1945 - Würzburg, Germany is 90% destroyed, with 5,000 dead, in only 20 minutes by British bombers.

1976 - UK Prime Minister, Harold Wilson resigns.

1988 - Halabja poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing thousands of people.

1995 - Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The thirteenth amendment was officially ratified in 1865.

1998 - Pope John Paul II apologises for inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.

2003 - Largest coordinated worldwide vigil, as part of the global protests against Iraq war.

Births

1751 - James Madison, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)

1948 - Michael Bruce, American musician. Guitarist and keyboard player for Alice Cooper

1954 - Nancy Wilson, American guitarist, singer, and actress (Heart)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 17 965
Pope Leo VIII dies of a stroke during sexual intercourse. Perhaps the best way for a man to die, but not a very appropriate choice for the Bishop of Rome.

Mar 17 1942
John Wayne Gacy, part time clown, serial killer, and sodomizer of dozens of boys, is born in Chicago. His father was convinced Gacy was a "sissy", but friends and family didn't really suspect anything untoward was afoot until his 1968 arrest for coercing a teenage boy employee into committing multiple homosexual acts.

Mar 17 1948
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-hells-angels.jpg
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is founded in San Bernardino, California by veterans of World War II who were former members of the Pissed Off Bastards. Hell's Angels has 100 chapters globally, with more than 1600 members.

Mar 17 1966
U.S. midget submarine Alvin located a missing hydrogen bomb which had fallen from an American bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain.

Mar 17 1999
Six members of the International Olympic Committee are expelled for corruption, all from poor third world countries. They received bribes from Salt Lake City totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, a practice that had been going on for years. It should also be noted that the IOC Vice President at the time was named "Dick Pound".
624 - Muhammad wins a key victory over his Meccan adversaries in the Battle of Badr.

1337 - Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy made in England.

1577 - The Cathay Company is formed to send Martin Frobisher back to the New World for more gold.

1756 - St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern).

1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery overlooking the city.

1845 - The rubber band is patented.

1886 - Carrollton Massacre: 20 African Americans are killed in Mississippi.

1891 - The British steamship SS Utopia sinks off the coast of Gibraltar, killing 574.

1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling.

1942 - Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lviv Ghetto (western Ukraine) are gassed at the Belzec death camp (eastern Poland).

1945 - The strategically important captured railway Bridge at Remagen, having sped the end of WW-II, but ironically no longer taking artillery fire, collapses ten days into the battle rendering the lodgement on the Germany bank of the Rhine dependent entirely on pontoon bridges.

1948 - Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the NATO Agreement.

1985 - Serial killer Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker", commits his first two murders in Los Angeles, California murder spree.

2003 - British Cabinet Minister Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for war with Iraq.

Births

1473 - King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)

1951 - Scott Gorham, American musician (Thin Lizzy)

1967 - Billy Corgan, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)

1975 - Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)

1979 - Stormy Daniels, American pornographic actress

Deaths

1040 - Harold Harefoot, King of England

1058 - King Lulach I of Scotland

1990 - Ric Grech, British bass player (Blind Faith - Traffic) (b. 1946)

1995 - Ronnie Kray, British gangster (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances

Feast day of St Patrick: a public holiday in Ireland (National feast), Montserrat and the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated elsewhere in North America and worldwide

Boston, Massachusetts - Evacuation Day

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 18 1314
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-de-molay.jpg
Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake during the final purge of the Templars in France. Among the things de Molay admitted to the Inquisitor panel (though possibly coerced) were the obligation of Templars to deny Christ when they joined, and a sacrament that involved spitting on a crucifix.

Mar 18 1965
The Rolling Stones are fined 5 UKP for urinating on a Stratford garage wall at the ABC, Romford.

Mar 18 1970
Country Joe McDonald (of Country Joe and the Fish) is convicted on obscenity charges after he asks for an F, a U, a C, and one other letter at a concert in Massachusetts.

Mar 18 1980
A significant percentage of the Soviet space program's scientists are killed when a Vostok rocket explodes on the launch pad. Fifty people die at the Plesetsk Space Center.

1241 - Kraków is ravaged by Mongols.

1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which was very unpopular in the British colonies.

1834 - Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.

1915 - World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British & French naval attack on the Dardanelles.

1922 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.

1938 - Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.

1940 - World War II: Axis Powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.

1945 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.

1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.

2003 - war in Iraq. About $1 billion was taken from Iraq's Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family, just hours before the United States began bombing Iraq, biggest bank robbery in history.

2003 - British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language.

Births

1837 - Grover Cleveland, 22nd & 28th President of the United States (d. 1908)

1869 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)

1947 - B.J. Wilson, English drummer (d. 1990) (Procol Harum)

Deaths

978 - King Edward the Martyr of England

1745 - Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)

2001 - John Phillips, American musician (The Mamas and the Papas) (b. 1935)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 19 1935
Rioting breaks out in Harlem after rumors that a shoplifter was beaten or killed by police in the basement of Kress's department store, neither of which was actually true. But still an estimated 10,000 rioters cause $2M damage to whitey's businesses.

Mar 19 1945
Adolf Hitler orders all military and industrial facilities within the Third Reich destroyed. Albert Speer does everything he can to stop this from happening, in direct defiance of Hitler.

Mar 19 1957
Elvis Presley tours and then immediately agrees to purchase the 14 acre Graceland estate from Ruth Moore for $100,000. It is now his cemetery.

Mar 19 1982
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-rhoads.jpg
The guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, dies during the Diary of a Madman tour after the plane he is flying in buzzes the band's tour bus and clips the wing of the plane, crashing into a nearby farmhouse.

Mar 19 1987
Televangelist Jim Bakker resigns his PTL ministry after it is revealed he nailed former church secretary Jessica Hahn.

Mar 19 1990
Andrew Wood, lead singer of influential but now mostly forgotten Seattle band "Mother Love Bone" dies of a smack overdose.

1831 - The City Bank of New York becomes the site of the first bank robbery in United States history ($245,000 taken).

1861 - The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.

1920 - The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (first time was on November 19, 1919).

1931 - Gambling is legalized in Nevada.

1932 - The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.

1941 - World War II: The 99th Pursuit Squadron also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of the Army Air Corp, is activated.

1944 - World War II: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.

1945 - World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.

1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.

1982 - Falklands War: Argentines land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.

2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.

Births

1813 - David Livingstone, Scottish missionary and explorer (d. 1873)

1921 - Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (d. 1984)

1946 - Paul Atkinson, British musician (The Zombies) (d. 2004)

1953 - Billy Sheehan, American musician (Mr. Big)

Deaths

1930 - Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1848)

1976 - Paul Kossoff, English guitarist (Free) (b. 1950)

1982 - Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne) (b. 1956)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 20 1899
Martha M. Place, the first woman to be honored by a seat in the electric chair, dies at Sing-Sing Prison, executed for murder.

Mar 20 1960
South African police massacre 69 black civil rights demonstrators in Sharpeville incident, which moves African National Congress to abandon its policy of nonviolence.

Mar 20 1968
The U.S. goes off the gold standard, turning paper dollars into paper tigers.

Mar 20 1969
John Lennon and Yoko Ono get married in Gibraltar. The pair go on to make, uh, beautiful music together until Lennon manages to get himself shot in New York.

Mar 20 1995
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-shoko.jpg
Members of the Aum cult release Sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subway. Eleven people die and 5,500 are injured. The cult's doctrine of "Poa" make mass murder the way to save their own souls. They had intended eventually to produce 70 tons of the gas.

Mar 20 1995
Last words of Thomas J. Grasso, executed in Oklahoma by lethal injection: "I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this."

Mar 20 1996
Erik and Lyle Menendez convicted of First Degree Murder. They killed their parents for their money, and then lied all about it.

1616 - Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years imprisonment.

1916 - Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.

1942 - In Zgierz, Poland, 100 Poles are taken from a labor camp and shot by the Germans.

1942 - Holocaust: in Rohatyn, western Ukraine, German SS murder 3,000 Jews, including 600 children, annihilating 70% of Rohatyn's Jewish ghetto.

1942 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".

1952 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.

1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France.

1974 - A failed kidnap attempt is made on Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.

1993 - A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Warrington, northwest England, killing two children.

2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Denmark and Poland begin military operations in Iraq.

Births

1950 - Carl Palmer, English drummer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)

1961 - Slim Jim Phantom, American musician (Stray Cats)

1976 - Chester Bennington, American musician (Linkin Park)

1979 - Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player

1982 - Nick Wheeler, American guitarist (The All-American Rejects)

Deaths

1413 - King Henry IV of England (b. 1367)

1991 - Conor Clapton, son of Eric Clapton (b. 1986)

Holidays and observances

Canberra Day - Australia

World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling, celebrated every year on March 20.

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 21 1843
According to Biblical crackpot William Miller, Christ would return sometime in the year following this day in 1843. After Jesus failed to appear by the next March, Miller claimed it was the result of an arithmetic error and recalculated the deadline to be October 22, 1844. The Lord was AWOL on that date also.

Mar 21 1962
In 1962, A bear becomes the first creature to be ejected at supersonic speeds. :eek7:

Mar 21 1963
Alcatraz Prison closed

Mar 21 1976
In 1976, David Bowie and Iggy Pop were arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession in New York. They were released on $2,000 bail. The charges were dropped.

Mar 21 1980
Mobster Angelo Bruno killed with a shotgun blast to the head while he waits in his car after dinner. The Genovese family thus asserted Philadelphia's traditional claim to Atlantic City. His replacement is his former capo Phil "Chicken Man" Testa.

Mar 21 1984
Actor Dudley Moore arrested for beating his girlfriend. Charges were dropped at her request and Moore married the foolish woman.

Mar 21 2005
British police report that two shots were fired during a Nas concert at London's Brixton Academy. The audience panics and runs off, nobody is harmed. The gunplay occurs in spite of the presence of over 100 security staff members and security checks at the door.
1413 - Henry V becomes King of England.

1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake.

1801 - The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.

1871 - Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.

1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins.

1933 - Construction of Dachau, the first Nazi Germany concentration camp, is completed.

1943 - Massacre of the town of Kalavryta, Greece by German Nazi troops.

1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.

1980 - US President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.

1990 - Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.

2007 - Kevin Whitrick becomes the first British man to commit suicide on a live chatroom

Births

1713 - Francis Lewis, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1803)

1950 - Roger Hodgson, English musician (Supertramp)

1956 - Guy Chadwick, English guitarist, vocalist and songwriter (The House of Love)

1967 - Maxim Reality, British MC (The Prodigy)

1975 - Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player

1980 - Deryck Whibley, Canadian guitarist and singer (Sum41)

Deaths

1617 - Pocahontas, Native American, daughter of Powhatan (b. c. 1595)

Holidays and observances

Namibia: Independence Day

Australia: Harmony Day

Poland: Truant's Day

South Africa: Human Rights Day

World Poetry Day - UNESCO

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - United Nations

World Down Syndrome Day

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 22 1622
A band of Algonquian Indians, led by the Brother of Powhatan slaughters 347 settlers near Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population, in the first Indian massacre.

Mar 22 1931
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-shatner.gif
William Shatner, the great actor, birthday.

Mar 22 1933
The first SS-run concentration camp, Dachau, receives prisoners.

Mar 22 1947
U.S. President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835, beginning the Great Loyalty Crusade. 2,000,000 government employees were required to take oaths and submit to loyalty investigations; of those a mere 139 were terminated in the span of three years.

Mar 22 1972
National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommends ending criminal penalties for possession of marijuana. No subsequent administration has heeded their recommendation.

Mar 22 1978
One of the Flying Wallendas, 73 year old Karl Wallenda, plunges to his death on a cable strung between two hotels in San Juan, PR.


1621 - The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.

1765 - The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Stamp Act, which introduced a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.

1829 - The three protecting powers (Britain, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.

1861 - Charles Darwin's buldog Thomas Henry Huxley updates his wife Henrietta on his working mans' series of lectures promoting Darwinism. "By next Friday evening they will all be convinced that they are monkeys.

1873 - A law is approved by the Spanish National Assembly in Puerto Rico to abolish slavery.

1888 - The Football League is formed.

1895 - First display (a private screening) of motion pictures by Auguste and Louis Lumière.

1933 - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs into law a bill legalizing the sale of beer and wine.

1939 - World War II: Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.

1942 - World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, Britain's Royal Navy confronts Italy's Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte.

1943 - World War II: the entire population of Khatyn in Belarus is burnt alive by German occupation forces.

1954 - Closed since 1939, the London bullion market reopens.

1960 - Arthur Leonard Schawlow & Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.

1979 - Margaret Thatcher puts down an early day motion censuring the government, which leads to the defeat of the Labour government of James Callaghan.

1984 - Teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with Satanic ritual abuse of the children in the school. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded.

1997 - The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to earth.

2004 - Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist militant group Hamas, and bodyguards are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache fired Hellfire missiles.

2006 - ETA, armed Basque separatist group, declares permanent ceasefire.

2006 - Three Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days captivity and the death of their colleague, American Tom Fox.

Births

1943 - Keith Relf, English musician (The Yardbirds) (d. 1976)

1958 - Pete Wylie, British singer/songwriter (The KLF, The Farm)

1979 - Aaron North, American musician (Nine Inch Nails)

1981 - Victoria Lanz, Venezuelan porn star

Deaths

2003 - Terry Lloyd, English reporter (Killed by American troops in Iraq)(b. 1952)

Holidays and observances

World Water Day

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 23 1989
In 1989, a 1000-foot diameter asteroid misses the Earth by only 500,000 miles. (Astronomers did not see it until it passed.)

Mar 23 1990
Gerald Bull, the man assisting Iraq in the construction of a supergun, assassinated by Israeli agents outside his flat in Brussels, Belgium.

Mar 23 1997
Five dead bodies are found arranged in a cross formation at the burned Quebec home of Didier Queze. They were members of the Solar Temple cult who in 1994 to 1996 had totaled 69 suicides in Europe and North America.

Mar 23 1997
Heaven's gate suicides leave 39 dead, all wearing NIKE shoes.


1708 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.

1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his famous speech -"give me liberty or give me death" at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.

1801 - Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.

1848 - The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.

1889 - The free Woolwich Ferry officially opens in east London.

1903 - The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes.

1919 - In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.

1931 - Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev embrace the gallows during the Indian struggle for independence. Their request to be shot by a firing squad is refused.

1933 - The Reichstag passes the Enabling act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

1942 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.

1956 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world

2003 - In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company as well as 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

2007 - Iranian Navy seize Royal Navy personnel in Iraqi waters.

Births

1645 - Captain William Kidd, Pirate Legend From Scotland (d. 1701)

1949 - Ric Ocasek, American singer/guitarist (The Cars)

1957 - Robbie James, Welsh footballer (d. 1998)

1968 - Damon Albarn, English musician (Blur and Gorillaz)

1972 - Joe Calzaghe, Welsh WBO, WBC & WBA World Super Middlewieght Champion boxer

1979 - Donncha O'Callaghan, Irish International rugby player

Holidays and observances

Pakistan - National Day (Republic Day).

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 24 1973
Lou Reed's ass bitten onstage by rabid fan in Buffalo.

Mar 24 1989
Cold Fusion announced.

Mar 24 1989
Exxon tanker Valdez, piloted by a drunk captain, strikes a well-charted reef at Prince William sound, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil.


1603 - James VI of Scotland also becomes James I King of England.

1765 - American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain passes the Quartering Act that requires the 13 American colonies to house British troops.

1837 - Canada gives African men the right to vote.

1878 - The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300.

1882 - Robert Koch announces the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis).

1900 - New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1944 - German troops kill 335 Italian civilians in the Ardeatine Massacre in Rome.

1944 - In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners begin breaking out of Stalag Luft III.

19b72 - The United Kingdom imposes "Direct Rule" over Northern Ireland.

1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.

2003 - The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.

Births

1946 - Klaus Dinger, German musician (Neu!, Kraftwerk)

1951 - Dougie Thomson, British bassist (Supertramp)

1969 - Houston, American pornographic actress

Deaths

1603 - Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533)

1976 - Bernard Montgomery, British field marshal (b. 1887)

Holidays and observances

World Tuberculosis Day.

Labor Day Melbourne, Australia

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 25
Jesus crucified (according to old beliefs)

Mar 25 1915
In 1915, first submarine disaster; US F-4 sinks off Hawaii, 21 lives lost.

Mar 25 1967
As part of Operation Green Mist, the U.S. Army detonates explosive warheads containing the deadly sarin nerve agent at Upper Waiakea Forest Reserve on the big island of Hawaii. The open-air tests are kept secret for more than thirty years.

Mar 25 1975
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by his nephew during a reception at Ri'Assa Palace. The errant nephew was executed by beheading.

Mar 25 1990
Intentionally set fire at the Happy Land Social Club in NYC kills 87 by smoke inhalation.

1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6.

1306 - Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland.

1584 - Sir Walter Raleigh is granted a patent to exploit Virginia.

1634 - The first settlers arrive in Maryland.

1802 - The Treaty of Amiens is signed as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace" between France and United Kingdom.

1807 - The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire.

1807 - The Swansea and Mumbles Railwayin Wales, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, became the first passenger carrying railway in the world.

1941 - Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers with the signing of the Tripartite Pact.

1957 - The European Economic Community is established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg).

1969 - During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first Bed-In for Peace in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel (until March 31).

1996 - The EU's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (BSE).

Births

1947 - Elton John, English singer and songwriter

1966 - Jeff Healey, Canadian guitarist (d. 2008)

Holidays and observances

Maryland Day;

Greek Independence Day;

Freedom Day in Belarus;

National Waffle Day in Sweden

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 26 1830
Joseph Smith publishes The Book of Mormon, after translating it from golden plates turned over by the angel Moroni. Smith maintained that the text contained in the tablets were written in "Reformed Egyptian" which he read by means of two magic stones from the Old Testament, the Urim and Thummim.

Mar 26 1942
Nazis began sending Jews to Auschwitz.

Mar 26 1970
Peter Yarrow of folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, admits fucking a 14 year old girl in Washington D.C.

Mar 26 1995
West coast rapper and member of rap group N.W.A. Eazy-E dead from AIDS.

1839 - The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.

1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.

1934 - Driving test introduced in the United Kingdom.

1942 - World War II: In Poland, Auschwitz receives its first female prisoners.

1945 - World War II: In Iwo Jima, US forces declare Iwo Jima as "secure."

1953 - Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.

1975 - The Biological Weapons Convention enters into force.

1976 - Queen Elizabeth II sent out the first royal email, from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment.

1999 - The "Melissa worm" infects Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.

2006 - In Scotland, the prohibition of smoking in all substantially enclosed public places comes into force.

Births

1948 - Richard Tandy, British keyboardist (Electric Light Orchestra)

1948 - Steven Tyler, American singer (Aerosmith)

1968 - James Iha, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle)

Deaths

1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (b. 1770)

1945 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)

1995 - Eazy-E, (Eric Lynn Wright) American rapper (b. 1963)

2002 - Randy Castillo, American drummer (Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe) (b. 1950)

2005 - James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)

2005 - Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Split Enz and Crowded House) (b. 1959)

Holidays and observances

Independence Day - Bangladesh

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 27 30
Pontius Pilate condemns Jesus to death.

Mar 27 1866
Patent for a urinal is granted to Andrew Rankin.

Mar 27 1945
Argentina declares war on Nazi Germany. Of course, this was just a silly charade for the benefit of the world community. Argentina would be a quiet ally of Germany for the duration of the war, even welcoming many Nazi and SS leaders to emigrate there in the aftermath.

Mar 27 1964
One of the largest quakes in US history strikes southeast of Anchorage, Alaska, hitting 8.6 on the Richter scale. 118 people are killed, and a tidal wave destroys four square blocks of Anchorage. The control tower at the airport, 60 feet high, snapped. Damage in the state is estimated at $500 million.

Mar 27 1977
The worst airline disaster in history occurs when the confused pilot of a KLM Boeing 747 taking off collides with a Pan Am Boeing 747 which was on the runway. A total of 583 people die.

Mar 27 2001
Vatican officials reported three days ago on the exhumation of Pope John XXIII, which occurred quietly on January 16. The pontiff's body, dead for 37 years now, was described as having a face that "has not changed since his death."

1513 (not 1512 as often cited) - Explorer Juan Ponce de León sights North America (specifically Florida) for the first time, mistaking it for another island.

1613 - First English child born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.

1625 - Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well
as claiming the title King of France.

1782 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1794 - The government of the United States establishes a permanent United States Navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.

1836 - Texas Revolution: Goliad massacre - Antonio López de Santa Anna orders the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas.

1846 - Mexican-American War: Siege of Fort Texas.

1851 - First reported case of Europeans seeing Yosemite Valley.

1854 - Crimean War: United Kingdom declares war on Russia.

1871 - First international rugby football match, England v. Scotland, played in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.

1881 - Rioting takes place in Basingstoke in protest against the daily vociferous promotion of rigid Temperence by the Salvation Army

1941 - World War II: Yugoslavian Air Force officers topple the pro-axis government in a bloodless coup.

1942 - World War II: United Kingdom forces raid the U-boat base at St. Nazaire, France.

1943 - World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.

1945 - World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins.

1958 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

1963 - Dr. Richard Beeching issues a report calling for huge cuts to the United Kingdom's rail networ

1968 - Yuri Gagarin, Soviet Cosmonaut, first human in space dies in aircraft training accident.

1970 - The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight

1998 - The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.

2004 - HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe.

2006 - The UN Commission on Human Rights holds its final meeting.

Births

1912 - James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)

1950 - Tony Banks, English musician (Genesis)

1957 - Billy Mackenzie, Scottish musician (Associates) (d. 1997)

1959 - Andrew Farriss, Australian musician (INXS)

1977 - Violetta Blue, American porn star

Deaths

1625 - King James I of England and Ireland, James VI of Scotland (b. 1566)

2000 - Ian Dury, English musician (b. 1942) (Ian Dury and the Blockheads)

Holidays and observances

Angola - Victory Day

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 28 0
According to Des Pascha Comutus, written in 243 CE, Jesus Christ's birthday was March 28. It later became the familiar December 25 after Rome changed it in 336.

Mar 28 193
The Roman ruler Pertinax is murdered by the Praetorian Guard. There being no obvious successor and no Senatorial volunteers, the Guard auctions off the emperorship. The high bidder is Senator Didius Julianus, for 300 million sesterces. After hearing of this, Roman general Septimus Severus in Dalmatia marched on Rome, beheading the new emperor upon arrival.

Mar 28 1930
Constantinople becomes Istanbul.

Mar 28 1941
Virginia Woolf commits suicide.

Mar 28 1947
Leftover Jap boobytrap from WWII explodes in Corregidor, killing 28.

Mar 28 1975
A fire in the maternity wing at Kucic Hospital, Rijeka, Yugoslavia, kills 25 incubating babies.

Mar 28 1979
Three Mile Island nuclear accident, Harrisburg PA.

Mar 28 1996
78 people apparently perish in a fire at the Pasar Anyar shopping center in Bogor, West Java. The estimate is lowered to 10 after it is discovered that most of the dead are store mannequins.

Mar 28 1997
Martin Lawrence slugs someone in a barroom brawl at the "Gate" nightclub in Hollywood, apparently because he was jostled while dancing. He receives two years probation and community service.

1854 - Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.

1860 - First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.

1930 - Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara.

1939 - Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid.

1941 - World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan - In the Mediterranean Sea, British Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham leads the Royal Navy in the destruction of three major Italian battleships and two destroyers.

1942 - World War II: In occupied France, British naval forces raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire.

1946 - Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.

1979 - British Prime Minister James Callaghan, is defeated by one vote in a Motion of No Confidence. This results in Parliament being dissolved in order to make way for a forthcoming General Election.

1990 - President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

1994 - In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg, resulting in 18 deaths.

2003 - In a "friendly fire" incident, two A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft from the United States Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron attacked British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull.

Births

1942 - Neil Kinnock, Welsh statesman

1948 - John Evan, British musician (Jethro Tull)

1968 - Jon Lee, Welsh drummer (Feeder)(d. 2002 suicide)

1976 - David Keuning, American guitarist (The Killers)

Deaths

1969 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 29 1951
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-rosenbergs.jpg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are both convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.

Mar 29 1977
Lee Harvey Oswald's best friend, and coincidentally a friend of both Jackie Kennedy and George HW Bush, Dallas socialite George de Mohrenschildt dies from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the mouth, at 3:45 pm. It is likely he was going to be called to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Mar 29 1979
A U.S. House of Representatives committee report finds that John F. Kennedy's assassination was the result of a conspiracy.

Mar 29 1992
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-inhale-to-the-chief.jpg
Arkansas Governor and Presidential candidate Bill Clinton tells the New York Times: "When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale, and never tried it again."

Mar 29 1997
Kazuo Konya, a former member of the Aum cult, tells Tokyo Municipal Court that he paid $8,100 for the privilege of drinking the guru's blood in a 1988 initiation ritual. Other former cult members also testify they paid for blood, strands of Shoko Asahara's hair, and his bath water. Some say they paid $2,400 for an intravenous injection of an unknown substance. Ironically, all throughout, Asahara preached to his followers that they should renounce materialism.

Mar 29 2006
Jack Abramoff, Washington D.C. lobbyist extraordinaire, is sentenced to almost six years in prison for defrauding Native American tribes, corruption of public officials and other various fraud charges. He is also ordered to pay $21M in fines. In exchange for a short sentence, Jack agrees to name names. This makes Ralph Reed and Tom DeLay very nervous.


1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.

1632 - Treaty of Saint-Germain signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.

1799 - New York passes a law aimed at gradually abolishing slavery in the state.

1806 - Construction authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.

1847 - Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.

1849 - The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.

1857 - Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry revolts against the British rule in India and inspires a long-drawn War of Independence of 1857 also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.

1867 - Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.

1871 - The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.

1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.

1886 - Dr John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.

1936 - In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.

1941 - World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces intercept those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesus coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.

1942 - The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II was the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.

1945 - World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.

1971 - My Lai massacre: Lt. William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.

1971 - A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.

1973 - Vietnam War: The last United States soldiers leave South Vietnam.

1982 - The Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent by Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982

2004 - The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.

Births

1790 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (d. 1862)

1799 - Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)

1943 - Sir John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1959 - Perry Farrell, American vocalist (Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros)

Deaths

1912 - Members of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole:
Henry Robertson Bowers (b. 1883)
Sir Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer (b. 1868)
Edward Adrian Wilson, English physician and naturalist (b. 1872)

[Cymru am byth]

Mar 30 315
The Donation of Constantine grants to the See of Rome dominion over all earthly thrones of Europe, a document made by that Roman emperor after his conversion to Christianity in return for being cured from leprosy. But in 1440, anachronisms in the document prove that it was really a fraud written around 752 AD, during the reign of and under orders of Pope Stephen II.

Mar 30 1282
After vespers on Easter Monday, a French soldier touches the breast of a young Sicilian bride, causing an outrage that precipitated the slaughter of perhaps 2,000 Frenchmen living and ruling over Sicily.

Mar 30 1968
Two children in the Bowery come across the body of a homeless drug addict later identified as Bobby Driscol, 31, the voice of Disney's "Peter Pan".

Mar 30 1981
http://www.rotten.com/today/images/mar/rh-reagan-shot-th.jpg
While President Reagan undergoes surgery for a life-threatening gunshot wound, Secretary of State Alexander Haig announces to the press: "As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending return of the Vice President."

Mar 30 1995
A police officer who was also a member of the Aum Supreme Truth cult fires three shots into Takaji Kunimatsu, chief of Japan's National Police Agency. Takaji is seriously wounded but survives. Investigators try unsuccessfully to hide the fact that the gunman was a police officer.


1296 - Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England.

1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris.

1842 - Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.

1856 - The Treaty of Paris (1856) is signed, ending the Crimean War.

1858 - Hymen Lipman patents a pencil with an attached eraser.

1867 - Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million, about 2 cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The news media call this Seward's Folly.

1870 - Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.

1885 - The Battle for Kushka triggers the Pandjeh Incident which nearly gives rise to war between the British Empire and Russian Empire.

1939 - The Heinkel He 100 fighter sets the world airspeed record of 463 mph.

1939 - First flight of the Australian C.A.C. CA-16 Wirraway.

1940 - Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking to be the capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Ching-wei.

1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces invade Austria and take Vienna, Polish and Soviet forces liberate Gdańsk.

1945 - World War II: a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1 to Americans.

1949 - Riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joined NATO.

1979 - Airey Neave, a British politician, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.

1981 - President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.

1982 - Space Shuttle program: STS-3 Mission completed with the landing of Columbia at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

1997 - Five (channel) Begins broadcasting in the UK

2006 - UK Terrorism Act 2006 becomes law.

Births

1941 - Graeme Edge, British drummer (Moody Blues)

1945 - Eric Clapton, British guitarist/singer

1966 - Joey Castillo, American drummer (Queens of the Stone Age)

1973 - Matthew Pritchard Welsh Stuntman/idiot (Dirty Sanchez)

1978 - Chris Paterson, Scottish rugby player (Fly half/winger)

Deaths

2002 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)

[Cymru am byth]

FUCK


Thats it! i started this thread on the 27th March last year, i don't know if it worth doing anymore on it, althought the early posts were a bit sparce on the old info.

[tgd_02]

maybe just important days?

or like...today is interesting cuuz....

[Hunt]

maybe just important days?

or like...today is interesting cuuz....

it can never come again?

[evil ernie]

hey cool thread! where did this come from? is it new? never seen it before ... maybe i should check some of the pages out ....


just kidding cym ....

[Cymru am byth]

Apr 16 2007 At around 7 AM, Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung-Hui shoots dead two students in a neighboring dorm. Two hours later, he chains shut the doors of the engineering building and goes on a forty-minute killing spree, murdering 30 students and teachers and wounding several others before committing suicide. He had spent the interval fedexing a press kit to NBC News.

[Cymru am byth]

St Georges day - Patron saint of England, Aragon, Canada, Catalonia, China, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Montenegro, Palestine, Portugal, Russia, and Serbia

[Cymru am byth]

Apr 26 2006 Snoop Dogg and his entourage arrested in London's Heathrow Airport for creating a disturbance when British Airways wouldn't allow the group into a first class lounge. After being escorted outside, there was a fight and seven police officers were injured. After a night in jail, the group is freed but Big Snoop Dogg has been banned from the U.K. and British Airways as a result of the melee.

[JACKASS2010]

best longrunning thread evar!!! keep it up!!!!!!!!!!

[rubicks]

good work interesting to read back over time

[ICE420]

Very good!!! Support !Don't quote the spammers[/url]

Badman, your Mum called she´s looking for her cock back, she said you could leave it next to your sisters.

[MCMXCII]

6th of June! Swedens national holiday!

[DC Thug]

dude swedish girls are awesome



Also:

World's first parking meter was created and installed in Oklahoma City back in 1935. Thanks a lot, damn Okies

[KyleABC]

30 BC - Cleopatra commits suicide after her lover Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium.

[Firep0w3r]

Mar 27 30
Pontius Pilate condemns jesus to death.


Mar 27 30 (moments later)
Jesus hears the news and gets really bummed out...

[KyleABC]

Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph.

[Cymru am byth]

1939 - World War II begins when France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, starting the Allies.

[Bishop]

Events

* 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
* 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years' War.
* 1577 - The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
* 1630 - The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
* 1631 - Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War.
* 1683 - Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of bacteria.
* 1776 - The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
* 1778 - The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
* 1787 - The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
* 1809 - Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
* 1814 - Francis Scott Key finishes his poem The Star-Spangled Banner.
* 1859 - Joshua A. Norton declares himself Emperor Norton I of the United States.
* 1862 - American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.
* 1862 - American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
* 1894 - The Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
* 1900 - Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.
* 1908 - The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
* 1914 - Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
* 1916 - World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
* 1920 - The National Football League is organized in Canton, Ohio, United States.
* 1924 - The Border Defence Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.
* 1928 - The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in US history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
* 1939 - World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
* 1939 - World War II: A German U-boat U 29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
* 1939 - Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
* 1941 - World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch in the face of the Great Patriotic War, is issued
* 1943 - World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.
* 1944 - World War II: Allied Airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden.
* 1947 - James V. Forrestal is sworn in as the first Secretary of Defense of United States.
* 1948 - The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arabs and Jews.
* 1949 - The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbor with the loss of over 118 lives.
* 1956 - Television is first broadcast in Australia.
* 1957 - The North East Humanists group is founded in Newcastle upon Tyne.
* 1970 - Fighting breaks out along the Syria-Jordanian border between Jordanian troops and the fedayeen.
* 1976 - The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
* 1978 - The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
* 1980 - After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
* 1980 - Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
* 1983 - Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
* 1991 - North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
* 1991 - The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
* 1993 - Last Russian troops leave Poland.
* 2004 - Tamil is declared the first classical language in India.
* 2007 - AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York.

[Firep0w3r]

September 18th 1947.......I slid my way out of my mother's vagina, and saw light for the 1st time

[Willow]

September 18th 1947.......I slid my way out of my mother's vagina, and saw light for the 1st timeHappy Birthday Firep0w3r!!!

[KyleABC]

Events

<>622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina.
<>1180 - Manuel I Komnenos, last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration dies. The Byzantine Empire slips into terminal decline.
<>1664 - The Netherlands surrenders New Amsterdam to England.
<>1789 - The office of the Attorney General of the United States of America, and the United States Post Office Department, are established.
<>1841 - The Sultan of Brunei cedes Sarawak to Britain.
<>1852 - The first airship powered by (a steam) engine, created by Henri Giffard, travels 17 miles (27 km) from Paris to Trappes.
<>1869 - "Black Friday": Gold prices plummet after Ulysses S. Grant orders the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market.
<>1877 - Battle of Shiroyama, decisive victory of the Imperial Japanese Army over the Satsuma Rebellion
<>1890 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.
<>1903 - Edmund Barton steps down as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeeded by Alfred Deakin.
<>1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower the nation's first National Monument.
<>1935 - Earl Bascom and Weldon Bascom produce the first rodeo ever held outdoors under electric lights at Columbia, Mississippi
<>1946 - Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong
<>1947 - Majestic 12 is allegedly established by secret executive order of President Harry Truman
<>1948 - The Honda Motor Company is founded.
<>1950 - Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England. A Blue moon (in the astronomical sense) is seen as far away as Europe.
<>1957 - Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, is opened in Barcelona.
<>1957 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.
<>1962 - United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith.
<>1973 - Guinea-Bissau declares its independence from Portugal.
<>1990 - Periodic Great White Spot observed on Saturn
<>1994 - National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various others to help fight against dictatorship in Myanmar.
<>1996 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.
<>2005 - Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana.

[LTF]

Dear Filecabi.net Staff....

I hearby give you authorization to un-sticky this thread.

KTHXBAI!

[Cymru am byth]

Dear Filecabi.net Staff....

I hearby give you authorization to un-sticky this thread.

KTHXBAI!

Dear LTF,

I hereby give you permission to suck my balls.

[Borro]

6K4EtW2v9P4

[Borro]

it had to be done

[JooX]

It did.

[Cymru am byth]

Of course it did :thumb:


Kabzgp2H55M

[LTF]

Dear LTF,

I hereby give you permission to suck my balls.

I'm pretty sure this is worthy of an infraction, seeing as though your posting this outside the fight room.

Now, be a responsible mod and give yourself one.

Maybe you should ban yourself for a few days as well.

Oh, and for the record, granting another man permission to suck on your balls is pretty gay.

Afronaught would be proud.

[LTF]

This day in history...

2008: Cymru am byth came out of the closet.

[Cymru am byth]

I'm pretty sure this is worthy of an infraction, seeing as though your posting this outside the fight room.

Now, be a responsible mod and give yourself one.

Maybe you should ban yourself for a few days as well.

Oh, and for the record, granting another man permission to suck on your balls is pretty gay.

Afronaught would be proud.

You seem to not understand the rules very well, there is nothing there to warrant an infraction, why don't you report the post and see what happens :rofl:

[rubicks]

I'm pretty sure this is worthy of an infraction, seeing as though your posting this outside the fight room.

Now, be a responsible mod and give yourself one.

Maybe you should ban yourself for a few days as well.

Oh, and for the record, granting another man permission to suck on your balls is pretty gay.

Afronaught would be proud.

hey cymru,did you clean those pool balls for ltf ?or are you letting him suck them duuuuuurty:banana_sml:

[LTF]

You seem to not understand the rules very well, there is nothing there to warrant an infraction, why don't you report the post and see what happens :rofl:

I haven't read the rules.

I personally don't give a shit.

I just know you've given me infractions for less.

But by all means, abuse your power if it boosts your ego.

BTW, do you feel liberated after coming out of the closet?

[Cymru am byth]

I haven't read the rules.

I personally don't give a shit.

I just know you've given me infractions for less.

But by all means, abuse your power if it boosts your ego.

BTW, do you feel liberated after coming out of the closet?

LOL, I've just checked and the only time i have given you an infraction was 1st April this year for Trolling and attacking Ozzie, get over it.

As for the other comment, are you trying to imply that i am gay, that could be construed as a personal attack if i was a sensitive paranoid person like you appear to be.

[LTF]

As for the other comment, are you trying to imply that i am gay, that could be construed as a personal attack if i was a sensitive paranoid person like you appear to be.

From this day on, I shall call you Susan.

[Cymru am byth]

From this day on, I shall call you Susan.


And i shall call you TROLL

[UnregisteredSexOffender]

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m275/jogi21/default/troll_movie.jpg

[KyleABC]

October 14, 1586 Mary Queen of Scots goes on trial for conspiracy against Elizabeth

October 14, 1884 George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film,

October 14, 1906 All Chicago World Series, 1st AL victory, White Sox win 4 games to 2 Cubs losers share of $439.50 is lowest for World Series


October 14, 1911 Largest baseball crowd ever 38,281 (Polo Grounds) see Giants beat A's, 2-1 (gate is record $77,379)

October 14, 1947 Chuck Yeager in Bell XS-1 makes 1st supersonic flight

October 14, 1964 Philips begins experimenting with color TV

October 14, 1978 1st TV movie from a TV series - "Rescue from Gilligan's Island"

October 14, 1994 Space probe Magellan burns up in atmosphere of Venus

[Cymru am byth]

21st October 1966

Aberfan disaster

On Friday, October 21, 1966, at 09:15, colliery waste tip number 7 (containing unwanted rock from the local mine) slid down Merthyr Mountain. As it collapsed, it destroyed 20 houses and a farm before going on to demolish virtually all of Pantglas Junior School and part of the separate senior school. The pupils had just left the assembly hall, where they had been singing "All Things Bright and Beautiful", when a great noise was heard outside. Had they left for their classrooms a few minutes later, the loss of life would have been significantly reduced, as the classrooms were on the side of the building nearest the landslide.

In total, 144 people were killed, 116 of whom were children, most of them between the ages of 7 and 10. Five teachers were also killed in the accident. Only a handful of children were rescued from the rubble.

Lord Robens of Woldingham, chairman of the National Coal Board (NCB), did not rush to the scene; he instead went to accept an appointment as chancellor of the University of Surrey. Subsequently, he controversially claimed that nothing could have been done to prevent the slide.

At the Tribunal of Inquiry into the Aberfan Disaster, the NCB was found responsible for the disaster, due to "ignorance, ineptitude and a failure of communication". The collapse was found to have been caused by a build-up of water in the pile and, when a small rotational slip occurred, the disturbance caused the saturated, fine material of the tip to liquefy (thixotropy) and flow down the mountain. In 1958, the tip had been sited on a known stream (as shown on earlier Ordnance Survey maps) and had previously suffered several minor slips. Its instability was known, both to colliery management and to tip workers, but very little was done about it. Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council and the National Union of Mineworkers were cleared of any wrongdoing. No NCB employee was fired, demoted or even disciplined.

The NCB was ordered to pay compensation to the families at the rate of £500 per child.

The public demonstrated their sympathy by donating money, with little idea of how it would be spent. Within a few months, nearly 90,000 contributions had been received, totalling £1,606,929[1] (2008:£21.4m).[2] The management of this fund caused considerable controversy over the years.

After lengthy appeals, part of the fund was used to make the remainder of the waste tip safe and the Coal Board avoided the costs of doing the whole job from its own resources. The Labour government paid back the £150,000 in 1997, although taking account of inflation this should have been nearly £2 million.[3]

Merthyr Vale Colliery was closed in 1989.

In February 2007 the Welsh Assembly announced the donation of £2 million to the Aberfan Disaster Memorial Fund, in part as recompense for the money requisitioned by the government in the immediate aftermath of the disaster

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/Aberfan_Disaster.jpg
The Aberfan Disaster 21 October, 1966

[Cymru am byth]

1916: The British Army makes the first use of tanks in warfare, at Cambrai during the Battle of the Somme.

1935: Nazi Germany passes the 'Nuremberg Laws' - a raft of legislation dramatically curtailing Jewish rights.

1940: The Royal Air Force claims victory over the Luftwaffe, commemorated as Battle of Britain Day.

[JACKASS2010]

this thread is win. Is it making a comeback?

[Borro]

this thread is win. Is it making a comeback?


Nobody gives a shit about this fucking thread. A comeback? Are you retarded?

[Cymru am byth]

Nobody gives a shit about this fucking thread. A comeback? Are you retarded?

Nobody gives a shit about you either, are you retarded???

[Borro]

Nobody gives a shit about you either, are you retarded???

I could be slow...but that doesn't change the fact that nobody has ever given a fuck about this stupid thread.

[Cymru am byth]

I could be slow...but that doesn't change the fact that nobody has ever given a fuck about this stupid thread.

The rep i've recieved from people reading this thread says otherwise mate :fu:

[Borro]

The rep i've recieved from people reading this thread says otherwise mate :fu:


ya? everyone has a birthday. glad you get rep once a year.

[Cymru am byth]

ya? everyone has a birthday. glad you get rep once a year.

LOL WTF are you babbling about, fuck, i should have left your moaning arse banned.

[Quackers]

So it turns out Borro is still an XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX.

Big suprise.

[Borro]

LOL WTF are you babbling about, fuck, i should have left your moaning arse banned.


so fucking ban me again, tough guy.

[Borro]

So it turns out Borro is still an moronic insecure red neck cunt.

Big suprise.


thanks for the flame. maybe since you're flaming so much you and afro should get a room?

[Quackers]

thanks for the flame. maybe since you're flaming so much you and afro should get a room?

Oscar Wilde would be proud.

[Borro]

Oscar Wilde would be proud.


Aww...


ATH removed your comment. I shouldn't have reported you.

My bad.:rofl:

[Cymru am byth]

Oct 7 1900 - Heinrich Himmler is born in Munich.

1944 - Inmates of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz revolt, killing SS guards and destroying one crematorium.

2001 - US forces launch 'Operation Enduring Freedom' against the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.