History Archives
APRIL 2019
Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2nd 1805 (1875) in Odense, Denmark. He wrote 168 fairy tales for children including the classics The Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen and The Nightingale.
Emile Zola was born on April 2nd 1840 (1902) in Paris. His 20 volume books; Rougon-Macquart Novels in which he defined men and women as products of heredity and environment, portraying them as victims of their own passions and circumstances of birth, were his most famous. He was involved in resolving the Dreyfus affair, a political-military scandal in which Captain Alfred Dreyfus had been wrongly accused of selling military secrets to the Germans and sent to the Devil's Island.
The treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Was signed by 12 nations on April 4, 1949.
April 4, 1968 - Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. He championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He is best remembered for his I Have a Dream speech delivered at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. He was instrumental for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1986, Congress established the third Monday in January as a national holiday in his honor.
Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 (1887) in Hampden, Maine. She founded a home for girls in Boston in her teens and later crusaded for humane conditions in jails and insane asylums. During the American Civil War, she was superintendent of women nurses.
April 6, 1896 - The first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece - first in 1500 years.
April 6, 1917 - The U.S. entered World War I in Europe.
April 6, 1994 - Was the beginning of genocide in Rwanda, after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down. They had been meeting to discuss ways of ending ethnic rivalries between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. After their deaths, Rwanda descended into chaos, resulting in killing of over 500,000 people.
Raphael, an artist of the renaissance era was born on April 6, 1483 (-1520) in Urbino, Italy. He created some of the world's greatest masterpieces including hundreds with a Madonna theme.
It is known that Buddha was born on April 8th, 563 B.C. (-483 B.C.). Today an estimated 350 million people are in the Buddhist faith.
April 8, 1913 - The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified requiring election of U.S. senators. Previously, they were chosen by the state legislatures.
April 9, 1865 - The Civil War ended as General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in the village of Appomattox Court House. By the terms of the surrender, Confederates were allowed to keep their horses and return home. Officers were allowed to keep their swords and side arms. Over 500,000 American were killed in the Civil War.
April 9, 1866 - The Civil Rights Bill of 1866 was passed by Congress granting blacks the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship. Despite a veto by President Andrew Johnson, the Bill passed.
April 10, 1942 - The Bataan Death March began as American and Filipino prisoners were forced on a six-day march from an airfield on Bataan to a camp near Cabanatuan. About 60,000 to 80,000 Allied POWs including 12,000 Americans were forced to walk 60 miles under a blazing sun without food or water, resulting in about 1,000 American and over 9000 Filipino deaths. Many of the American dead were from New Mexico.
Joseph Pulitzer was born on April 10th, 1847 (-1911) in Budapest, Hungary. He came to America in 1864 and began a career in journalism and publishing. His newspapers included the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World. He endowed the journalism school at Columbia University and established a fund for the Pulitzer Prizes, awarded annually for excellence in journalism.
April 11, 1968 - The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law prohibits discrimination in housing, protects civil rights workers and expanded the rights of Native Americans.
April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy at 2:13 p.m. Fifty-six hours into the flight an oxygen tank exploded in the service module. Astronaut John L. Swigert saw a warning light that accompanied the bang and said, "Houston, we've had a problem here." Swigert, James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise then transferred into the lunar module, using it as a "lifeboat" and began a perilous return trip to Earth, splashing down safely on April 17th.
April 12, 1961 - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. He traveled aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok I to an altitude of 187 miles (301 kilometers) above the earth and completed a single orbit in a flight lasting 108 minutes. Twenty-three days later, Alan Shepard became the first American in space.
Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2nd 1805 (1875) in Odense, Denmark. He wrote 168 fairy tales for children including the classics The Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen and The Nightingale.
Emile Zola was born on April 2nd 1840 (1902) in Paris. His 20 volume books; Rougon-Macquart Novels in which he defined men and women as products of heredity and environment, portraying them as victims of their own passions and circumstances of birth, were his most famous. He was involved in resolving the Dreyfus affair, a political-military scandal in which Captain Alfred Dreyfus had been wrongly accused of selling military secrets to the Germans and sent to the Devil's Island.
The treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Was signed by 12 nations on April 4, 1949.
April 4, 1968 - Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. He championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He is best remembered for his I Have a Dream speech delivered at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. He was instrumental for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1986, Congress established the third Monday in January as a national holiday in his honor.
Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 (1887) in Hampden, Maine. She founded a home for girls in Boston in her teens and later crusaded for humane conditions in jails and insane asylums. During the American Civil War, she was superintendent of women nurses.
April 6, 1896 - The first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece - first in 1500 years.
April 6, 1917 - The U.S. entered World War I in Europe.
April 6, 1994 - Was the beginning of genocide in Rwanda, after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down. They had been meeting to discuss ways of ending ethnic rivalries between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. After their deaths, Rwanda descended into chaos, resulting in killing of over 500,000 people.
Raphael, an artist of the renaissance era was born on April 6, 1483 (-1520) in Urbino, Italy. He created some of the world's greatest masterpieces including hundreds with a Madonna theme.
It is known that Buddha was born on April 8th, 563 B.C. (-483 B.C.). Today an estimated 350 million people are in the Buddhist faith.
April 8, 1913 - The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified requiring election of U.S. senators. Previously, they were chosen by the state legislatures.
April 9, 1865 - The Civil War ended as General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in the village of Appomattox Court House. By the terms of the surrender, Confederates were allowed to keep their horses and return home. Officers were allowed to keep their swords and side arms. Over 500,000 American were killed in the Civil War.
April 9, 1866 - The Civil Rights Bill of 1866 was passed by Congress granting blacks the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship. Despite a veto by President Andrew Johnson, the Bill passed.
April 10, 1942 - The Bataan Death March began as American and Filipino prisoners were forced on a six-day march from an airfield on Bataan to a camp near Cabanatuan. About 60,000 to 80,000 Allied POWs including 12,000 Americans were forced to walk 60 miles under a blazing sun without food or water, resulting in about 1,000 American and over 9000 Filipino deaths. Many of the American dead were from New Mexico.
Joseph Pulitzer was born on April 10th, 1847 (-1911) in Budapest, Hungary. He came to America in 1864 and began a career in journalism and publishing. His newspapers included the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World. He endowed the journalism school at Columbia University and established a fund for the Pulitzer Prizes, awarded annually for excellence in journalism.
April 11, 1968 - The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law prohibits discrimination in housing, protects civil rights workers and expanded the rights of Native Americans.
April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy at 2:13 p.m. Fifty-six hours into the flight an oxygen tank exploded in the service module. Astronaut John L. Swigert saw a warning light that accompanied the bang and said, "Houston, we've had a problem here." Swigert, James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise then transferred into the lunar module, using it as a "lifeboat" and began a perilous return trip to Earth, splashing down safely on April 17th.
April 12, 1961 - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. He traveled aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok I to an altitude of 187 miles (301 kilometers) above the earth and completed a single orbit in a flight lasting 108 minutes. Twenty-three days later, Alan Shepard became the first American in space.
MARCH 2019
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation was announced on March 1, 1781 by Congress. Under the Articles, Congress was the sole governing body of the American national government, consisting of the 13 original states. The Articles remained in effect through the Revolutionary War until 1789, when the current U.S. Constitution was adopted.
President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961, an organization sending American volunteers of all ages to developing countries to assist with health care, education and other basic human needs.
Sam Houston was born on March 2, 1793 (1863) in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He joined the Cherokee Indians when he was a teenager who accepted him as a member of their tribe. He later served as a Congressman and Governor of Tennessee. In 1832, he became commander of the Texan army in the War for Texan Independence, defeating the Mexican army in 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto. He then served as Senator and Governor of Texas but was removed in 1861 after refusing to swear allegiance to the Confederacy.
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 (1922) in Edinburgh, Scotland. Bell developed an interest in the vibrating membrane of the ear as a method of electrically transmitting sounds. His very first sentence spoken on the newly invented telephone on March 10, 1876, was to his assistant, "Mister Watson, come here, I want you."
King Charles II of England granted a large tract of land in the New World to William Penn on March 4, 1681 to settle an outstanding debt. The area became the state of Pennsylvania.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933 and delivered his first inaugural address attempting to restore public confidence during the Great Depression, stating, "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." He appointed the first woman to a Cabinet post, Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins.
Fort Alamo fell to Mexican troops led by General Santa Anna on March 6, 1836. The Mexicans had begun the siege of the Texas fort on February 23rd, ending it with the killing of the last defender. "Remember the Alamo" became a rallying cry for Texans who went on to defeat Santa Anna in the Battle of San Jacinto in April.
Michelangelo was born March 6, 1475 (1564) in Caprese, Italy. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, poet and visionary best known for his fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and his sculptures David and The Pieta.
Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1451 (1512) in Florence, Italy. He explored South America and the Amazon River, believing he had discovered a new continent. In 1507, a German mapmaker first referred to the lands discovered in the New World as America.
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 (1968) in Gzhatsk, Russia. On April 12, 1961, he became the first human in space, orbiting in a capsule 187 miles above the Earth's surface in a flight lasting 108 minutes. His space flight marked the beginning of the space race.
March 10, 1862 - The first issue of U.S. government paper money occurred as $5, $10 and $20 bills began circulation.
March 10, 1880 - The Salvation Army was founded in the United States. The social service organization was first founded in England by William Booth and operates today in 90 countries.
March 11, 1918 - The 'Spanish' influenza first reached America as 107 soldiers become sick at Fort Riley, Kansas. One quarter of the U.S. population eventually became ill from the deadly virus, resulting in 500,000 deaths. The death toll worldwide approached 22 million by the end of 1920.
The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born on March 12, 1881 (1938) in Salonika, Greece. Following World War I, he led the Turkish revolution and became Turkey's first president.
Scientist and clergyman Joseph Priestly was born on March 13, 1733 (1804) in Yorkshire, England. He discovered oxygen and advanced the religious theory of Unitarianism.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 (1955) in Ulm, Germany. His theory of relativity led to him to receive the Nobel Prize in 1921. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1933. He believed the Nazis might develop an atomic bomb, he warned President Roosevelt and urged the development of the U.S. Atomic bomb.
March 17th - Celebrated as Saint Patrick's Day commemorating the patron saint of Ireland.
March 19, 2003 - The United States launched an attack against Iraq to topple dictator Saddam Hussein from power. The attack commenced with aerial strikes against military sites, followed the next day by an invasion of southern Iraq by U.S. and British ground troops. The troops made rapid progress northward and conquered the country's capital, Baghdad, just 21 days later, ending the rule of Saddam.
Explorer and medical missionary David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 (1873) in Blantyre, Scotland. He arrived at Cape Town, Africa, in 1841 and began his missionary explorations, often traveling into areas that had never seen a white man. In later years, he discovered the source of the Nile River. He became the subject of the famous search by news correspondent Henry Stanley who located him in 1871 near Lake Tanganyika in Africa after a difficult search and simply asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
Wyatt Earp was born on March 19, 1848 (1929) in Monmouth, Illinois. He became a legendary figure in the Wild West as a lawman and gunfighter, best known for the shootout at the O.K. Corral in 1881, in which the Earp brothers (Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan) fought and defeated the Ike Clanton gang.
March 20, 1995 - A nerve gas attack occurred on the Tokyo subway system during rush hour resulting in 12 persons killed and 5,000 injured. Japanese authorities later arrest the leader and members of a Japanese religious cult suspected in the attack.
American psychologist B.F. Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 (1990) in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He pioneered theories of behaviorism and developed the Skinner box, a controlled environment for studying behavior.
March 21 is the Spring (Vernal Equinox) equinox. It is known as Nowruz and celebrated as New Year in many parts of the world including: Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq (Kurdistan), Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia (Bayan Olgii region), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Organist and composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 (1750) in Eissenach, Germany. He composed thousands of compositions, many used in churches. Among his best known works; The Brandenburg Concertos for orchestra, The Well-Tempered Clavier for keyboard, the St. John and St. Matthew passions, and the Mass in B Minor.
The Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed on March 22, 1972 by the U.S. Senate and then sent to the states for ratification. The ERA, as its known, prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, stating, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," and that "the Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." Although 22 of the required 38 states quickly ratified the Amendment, opposition arose over concerns that women would be subject to the draft and combat duty, along with other legal concerns. The ERA eventually failed (by 3 states) to achieve ratification despite an extension of the deadline to June 1982. Has your state ratified the ERA yet?
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry ignited the American Revolution with a speech before the Virginia convention in Richmond, stating, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"
On March 24, 1989, One of the largest oil spills in U.S. history occurred as the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound off Alaska, resulting in 11 million gallons of oil leaking into the ocean over a stretch of 45 miles.
On March 26, 1979, The Camp David Accord ended 30 years of warfare between Israel and Egypt. Prime Minster Menachem Begin of Israel and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed the treaty of mutual recognition and peace, fostered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
American playwright Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911 (1983) in Columbus, Mississippi. His works featured Southern settings and include; The Glass Menagerie, Night of the Iguana, and two Pulitzer Prize winning plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof .
The worst accident in the history of civil aviation occurred on March 27, 1977, as two Boeing 747 jets collided on the ground in the Canary Islands, resulting in 570 deaths.
On March 28, 1979, The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant Near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania had an accident in which uranium in the reactor core overheated due to the failure of a cooling valve. A pressure relief valve then stuck causing the water level to plummet, threatening a catastrophic nuclear meltdown. The accident resulted in the release of radioactive steam into the atmosphere, and created a storm of controversy over the necessity and safety of nuclear power plants.
Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 (1890) in Groot Zundert, Holland. He was a Postimpressionist painter, considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt. During his short (10-year) painting career he produced over 800 oil paintings and 700 drawings, but sold only one during his lifetime. In 1987, the sale of his painting Irises brought $53.9 million, the highest price ever paid for a work of art at the time. During his life, Van Gogh suffered from despair and bouts of mental illness, at one point cutting off part of his own left ear. He committed suicide in 1890 by gunshot.
March 31, 1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps, the CCC, was founded. Unemployed men and youths were organized into quasi-military formations and worked outdoors in national parks and forests.
Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 (1809) in Rohrau, Austria. He is considered the father of the symphony and the string quartet. His works include 107 symphonies, 50 divertimenti, 84 string quartets, 58 piano sonatas, and 13 masses. He lived in Vienna. Mozart was his friend and Beethoven his pupil.
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation was announced on March 1, 1781 by Congress. Under the Articles, Congress was the sole governing body of the American national government, consisting of the 13 original states. The Articles remained in effect through the Revolutionary War until 1789, when the current U.S. Constitution was adopted.
President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961, an organization sending American volunteers of all ages to developing countries to assist with health care, education and other basic human needs.
Sam Houston was born on March 2, 1793 (1863) in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He joined the Cherokee Indians when he was a teenager who accepted him as a member of their tribe. He later served as a Congressman and Governor of Tennessee. In 1832, he became commander of the Texan army in the War for Texan Independence, defeating the Mexican army in 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto. He then served as Senator and Governor of Texas but was removed in 1861 after refusing to swear allegiance to the Confederacy.
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 (1922) in Edinburgh, Scotland. Bell developed an interest in the vibrating membrane of the ear as a method of electrically transmitting sounds. His very first sentence spoken on the newly invented telephone on March 10, 1876, was to his assistant, "Mister Watson, come here, I want you."
King Charles II of England granted a large tract of land in the New World to William Penn on March 4, 1681 to settle an outstanding debt. The area became the state of Pennsylvania.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933 and delivered his first inaugural address attempting to restore public confidence during the Great Depression, stating, "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." He appointed the first woman to a Cabinet post, Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins.
Fort Alamo fell to Mexican troops led by General Santa Anna on March 6, 1836. The Mexicans had begun the siege of the Texas fort on February 23rd, ending it with the killing of the last defender. "Remember the Alamo" became a rallying cry for Texans who went on to defeat Santa Anna in the Battle of San Jacinto in April.
Michelangelo was born March 6, 1475 (1564) in Caprese, Italy. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, poet and visionary best known for his fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and his sculptures David and The Pieta.
Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1451 (1512) in Florence, Italy. He explored South America and the Amazon River, believing he had discovered a new continent. In 1507, a German mapmaker first referred to the lands discovered in the New World as America.
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 (1968) in Gzhatsk, Russia. On April 12, 1961, he became the first human in space, orbiting in a capsule 187 miles above the Earth's surface in a flight lasting 108 minutes. His space flight marked the beginning of the space race.
March 10, 1862 - The first issue of U.S. government paper money occurred as $5, $10 and $20 bills began circulation.
March 10, 1880 - The Salvation Army was founded in the United States. The social service organization was first founded in England by William Booth and operates today in 90 countries.
March 11, 1918 - The 'Spanish' influenza first reached America as 107 soldiers become sick at Fort Riley, Kansas. One quarter of the U.S. population eventually became ill from the deadly virus, resulting in 500,000 deaths. The death toll worldwide approached 22 million by the end of 1920.
The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born on March 12, 1881 (1938) in Salonika, Greece. Following World War I, he led the Turkish revolution and became Turkey's first president.
Scientist and clergyman Joseph Priestly was born on March 13, 1733 (1804) in Yorkshire, England. He discovered oxygen and advanced the religious theory of Unitarianism.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 (1955) in Ulm, Germany. His theory of relativity led to him to receive the Nobel Prize in 1921. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1933. He believed the Nazis might develop an atomic bomb, he warned President Roosevelt and urged the development of the U.S. Atomic bomb.
March 17th - Celebrated as Saint Patrick's Day commemorating the patron saint of Ireland.
March 19, 2003 - The United States launched an attack against Iraq to topple dictator Saddam Hussein from power. The attack commenced with aerial strikes against military sites, followed the next day by an invasion of southern Iraq by U.S. and British ground troops. The troops made rapid progress northward and conquered the country's capital, Baghdad, just 21 days later, ending the rule of Saddam.
Explorer and medical missionary David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 (1873) in Blantyre, Scotland. He arrived at Cape Town, Africa, in 1841 and began his missionary explorations, often traveling into areas that had never seen a white man. In later years, he discovered the source of the Nile River. He became the subject of the famous search by news correspondent Henry Stanley who located him in 1871 near Lake Tanganyika in Africa after a difficult search and simply asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
Wyatt Earp was born on March 19, 1848 (1929) in Monmouth, Illinois. He became a legendary figure in the Wild West as a lawman and gunfighter, best known for the shootout at the O.K. Corral in 1881, in which the Earp brothers (Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan) fought and defeated the Ike Clanton gang.
March 20, 1995 - A nerve gas attack occurred on the Tokyo subway system during rush hour resulting in 12 persons killed and 5,000 injured. Japanese authorities later arrest the leader and members of a Japanese religious cult suspected in the attack.
American psychologist B.F. Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 (1990) in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He pioneered theories of behaviorism and developed the Skinner box, a controlled environment for studying behavior.
March 21 is the Spring (Vernal Equinox) equinox. It is known as Nowruz and celebrated as New Year in many parts of the world including: Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq (Kurdistan), Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia (Bayan Olgii region), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Organist and composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 (1750) in Eissenach, Germany. He composed thousands of compositions, many used in churches. Among his best known works; The Brandenburg Concertos for orchestra, The Well-Tempered Clavier for keyboard, the St. John and St. Matthew passions, and the Mass in B Minor.
The Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed on March 22, 1972 by the U.S. Senate and then sent to the states for ratification. The ERA, as its known, prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, stating, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," and that "the Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." Although 22 of the required 38 states quickly ratified the Amendment, opposition arose over concerns that women would be subject to the draft and combat duty, along with other legal concerns. The ERA eventually failed (by 3 states) to achieve ratification despite an extension of the deadline to June 1982. Has your state ratified the ERA yet?
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry ignited the American Revolution with a speech before the Virginia convention in Richmond, stating, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"
On March 24, 1989, One of the largest oil spills in U.S. history occurred as the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound off Alaska, resulting in 11 million gallons of oil leaking into the ocean over a stretch of 45 miles.
On March 26, 1979, The Camp David Accord ended 30 years of warfare between Israel and Egypt. Prime Minster Menachem Begin of Israel and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed the treaty of mutual recognition and peace, fostered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
American playwright Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911 (1983) in Columbus, Mississippi. His works featured Southern settings and include; The Glass Menagerie, Night of the Iguana, and two Pulitzer Prize winning plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof .
The worst accident in the history of civil aviation occurred on March 27, 1977, as two Boeing 747 jets collided on the ground in the Canary Islands, resulting in 570 deaths.
On March 28, 1979, The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant Near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania had an accident in which uranium in the reactor core overheated due to the failure of a cooling valve. A pressure relief valve then stuck causing the water level to plummet, threatening a catastrophic nuclear meltdown. The accident resulted in the release of radioactive steam into the atmosphere, and created a storm of controversy over the necessity and safety of nuclear power plants.
Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 (1890) in Groot Zundert, Holland. He was a Postimpressionist painter, considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt. During his short (10-year) painting career he produced over 800 oil paintings and 700 drawings, but sold only one during his lifetime. In 1987, the sale of his painting Irises brought $53.9 million, the highest price ever paid for a work of art at the time. During his life, Van Gogh suffered from despair and bouts of mental illness, at one point cutting off part of his own left ear. He committed suicide in 1890 by gunshot.
March 31, 1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps, the CCC, was founded. Unemployed men and youths were organized into quasi-military formations and worked outdoors in national parks and forests.
Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 (1809) in Rohrau, Austria. He is considered the father of the symphony and the string quartet. His works include 107 symphonies, 50 divertimenti, 84 string quartets, 58 piano sonatas, and 13 masses. He lived in Vienna. Mozart was his friend and Beethoven his pupil.
February 2019
February 1, 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart in flight over west Texas, killing all seven crew members.
This was the second space shuttle lost in flight. In January 1986, Challenger exploded during liftoff.
Hattie Caraway was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She was born in Bakersville, Tennessee on Feb. 1st, 1878 (1950). Her husband was a U.S. Senator from Arkansas. Following his death in 1931, she filled the remainder of his term, then herself was elected and served a total of 14 years in the US Senate.
February 3, 1870 - The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing the right of citizens to vote, regardless of race, color, or condition of servitude.
February 3, 1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting Congress the authority to collect income taxes.
The first female physician in the U.S., Elizabeth Blackwell was born near Bristol, England on Feb. 3rd, 1821 (1910). Her family moved to New York when she was young. She received her medical degree from the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, in 1849. She then established a hospital in New York City run by an all-female staff.
American artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell was born in New York City on Feb. 3rd, 1894 (1978). Best known for his work of ordinary scenes from small town American life for the covers of Saturday Evening Post magazine.
February 4, 1861 - Apache Chief Cochise was arrested in Arizona by the U.S. Army for raiding a ranch. Cochise then escaped and declared war, beginning the period known as the Apache Wars, which lasted 25 years.
February 4, 1985 - Twenty countries in the United Nations signed a document entitled "Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment."
Aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan on Feb. 4th, 1902 (1974). He made the first non-stop solo flight from New York to Paris on May 20-21, 1927.
February 6, 1788 - Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the new U.S. Constitution, by a vote of 187 to 168.
February 6, 1933 - The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted. It set the date for the Presidential Inauguration as January 20th, instead of the old date of March 4th. It also set January 3rd as the official opening date of Congress.Aaron Burr was born in Newark, New Jersey on Feb. 6th, 1756 (1836). In 1804, as Vice President, Burr challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel and mortally wounded him. Burr was later tried for treason, but was acquitted.
Baseball player George Herman "Babe" Ruth was born in Baltimore, Maryland on Feb. 6th, 1895 (1948). Ruth held 60 Major League records, including pitching 29 consecutive scoreless innings and hitting 714 home runs.
February 7, 1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, limiting the powers of the Federal Judiciary over the states by prohibiting Federal lawsuits against individual states.
Thomas More (1478-1535) was born in London, England on Feb. 7th, 1478 (1535). As a devout Catholic, he refused to acknowledge the divorce of King Henry VIII from Queen Catherine, thereby refusing to acknowledge the King's religious supremacy. He was charged with treason, found guilty and beheaded in 1535. Four hundred years later, in 1935, he was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
British novelist Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England on Feb. 7th, 1812 (1870). His works include; David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby. In 1843, he wrote A Christmas Carol in just a few weeks, a popular work even today.
American social critic and novelist Sinclair Lewis was born in Sauk Center, Minnesota on Feb. 7th, 1885 (1951). He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930. His works include; Main Street, Babbit, and It Can't Happen Here.
February 8, 1910 - The Boy Scouts of America was founded by William Boyce in Washington, D.C., modeled after the British Boy Scouts.
William Henry Harrison the 9th U.S. President was born in Berkeley, Virginia on Feb. 9th, 1773 (1841). He took office on March 4, 1841 and died 32 days later after developing pneumonia from the cold weather during his inaugural ceremonies.
February 1, 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart in flight over west Texas, killing all seven crew members.
This was the second space shuttle lost in flight. In January 1986, Challenger exploded during liftoff.
Hattie Caraway was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She was born in Bakersville, Tennessee on Feb. 1st, 1878 (1950). Her husband was a U.S. Senator from Arkansas. Following his death in 1931, she filled the remainder of his term, then herself was elected and served a total of 14 years in the US Senate.
February 3, 1870 - The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing the right of citizens to vote, regardless of race, color, or condition of servitude.
February 3, 1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting Congress the authority to collect income taxes.
The first female physician in the U.S., Elizabeth Blackwell was born near Bristol, England on Feb. 3rd, 1821 (1910). Her family moved to New York when she was young. She received her medical degree from the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, in 1849. She then established a hospital in New York City run by an all-female staff.
American artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell was born in New York City on Feb. 3rd, 1894 (1978). Best known for his work of ordinary scenes from small town American life for the covers of Saturday Evening Post magazine.
February 4, 1861 - Apache Chief Cochise was arrested in Arizona by the U.S. Army for raiding a ranch. Cochise then escaped and declared war, beginning the period known as the Apache Wars, which lasted 25 years.
February 4, 1985 - Twenty countries in the United Nations signed a document entitled "Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment."
Aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan on Feb. 4th, 1902 (1974). He made the first non-stop solo flight from New York to Paris on May 20-21, 1927.
February 6, 1788 - Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the new U.S. Constitution, by a vote of 187 to 168.
February 6, 1933 - The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted. It set the date for the Presidential Inauguration as January 20th, instead of the old date of March 4th. It also set January 3rd as the official opening date of Congress.Aaron Burr was born in Newark, New Jersey on Feb. 6th, 1756 (1836). In 1804, as Vice President, Burr challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel and mortally wounded him. Burr was later tried for treason, but was acquitted.
Baseball player George Herman "Babe" Ruth was born in Baltimore, Maryland on Feb. 6th, 1895 (1948). Ruth held 60 Major League records, including pitching 29 consecutive scoreless innings and hitting 714 home runs.
February 7, 1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, limiting the powers of the Federal Judiciary over the states by prohibiting Federal lawsuits against individual states.
Thomas More (1478-1535) was born in London, England on Feb. 7th, 1478 (1535). As a devout Catholic, he refused to acknowledge the divorce of King Henry VIII from Queen Catherine, thereby refusing to acknowledge the King's religious supremacy. He was charged with treason, found guilty and beheaded in 1535. Four hundred years later, in 1935, he was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
British novelist Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England on Feb. 7th, 1812 (1870). His works include; David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby. In 1843, he wrote A Christmas Carol in just a few weeks, a popular work even today.
American social critic and novelist Sinclair Lewis was born in Sauk Center, Minnesota on Feb. 7th, 1885 (1951). He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930. His works include; Main Street, Babbit, and It Can't Happen Here.
February 8, 1910 - The Boy Scouts of America was founded by William Boyce in Washington, D.C., modeled after the British Boy Scouts.
William Henry Harrison the 9th U.S. President was born in Berkeley, Virginia on Feb. 9th, 1773 (1841). He took office on March 4, 1841 and died 32 days later after developing pneumonia from the cold weather during his inaugural ceremonies.
January 2019
Jan. 1, 1502 - Portuguese explorers arrived at Guanabara Bay in South America and named it Rio de Janeiro (River of January).
Jan. 1, 1660 - Samuel Pepys began his famous diary in which he chronicled life in London including the Great Plague of 1664-65.
Jan. 1, 1863 - The Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in the states rebelling against the Union.
Jan. 1, 1892 - Ellis Island opened in New York. Over 20 million new arrivals were processed there until its closing in 1954.
Jan. 1, 1901 - The Commonwealth of Australia was founded with Edmund Barton as the first prime minister.
Jan. 1, 1958 - The EEC (European Economic Community) known as the Common Market was formed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. It removed trade barriers and established trade policies.
Jan. 1, 1999 - The Euro became the new single European currency of; Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Jan. 1, 1752 (- 1836). She was credited with sewing of the Stars and Stripes flag of America in 1776.
Jan. 3, 1959 - Alaska became the 49th U.S. State. It has a land mass of one-fifth the size of the lower 48 states.
Louis Braille was born in France on Jan. 4th, 1809 (- 1852). Blinded as a boy, he invented a reading system for the blind using punch marks in paper.
Jan. 5, 1925 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first female governor in the U.S.
Joan of Arc was born in France on Jan. 6th, 1412 (- 1431). She inspired French troops to break the British siege at Orleans. She was captured by the British who tried her for heresy and burned her at the stake. In 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Jan. 8, 1959 - Charles de Gaulle became the first president of France.
Jan. 8, 1964 - President Lyndon Johnson declared War on Poverty.
Jan. 10, 1946 - The first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly took place in London with delegates from 51 countries.
Jan. 11, 1964 - The U.S. Surgeon General declared cigarettes may be hazardous to health, the first such official government report.
Philosopher-physician Albert Schweitzer was born in Upper Alsace, Germany on Jan. 14, 1875 (- 1065). He served as a medical missionary in Africa and received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of the brotherhood of all nations.
Jan. 22, 1973 - Abortion became legal in the U.S. as the Supreme Court announced its decision in the case of Roe vs. Wade. In recent rulings (1989 and 1992) the Court upheld the power of individual states to impose some restrictions.
Jan. 23, 1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, becoming the first woman doctor in America.
Jan. 23, 1907 - Charles Curtis of Kansas became the first Native American to serve in the U.S Senate. He later served as vice president under President Herbert Hoover from 1929-33.
Scientist Robert Boyle was born in Lismore, Ireland on Jan. 25, 1627 (- 1691). He formulated Boyle's Law concerning the volume and pressure of gases.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on Jan. 27, 1756 (- 1791). He created over 600 compositions including 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano and five violin concerti, 25 string quartets and 19 masses.
Jan. 1, 1502 - Portuguese explorers arrived at Guanabara Bay in South America and named it Rio de Janeiro (River of January).
Jan. 1, 1660 - Samuel Pepys began his famous diary in which he chronicled life in London including the Great Plague of 1664-65.
Jan. 1, 1863 - The Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in the states rebelling against the Union.
Jan. 1, 1892 - Ellis Island opened in New York. Over 20 million new arrivals were processed there until its closing in 1954.
Jan. 1, 1901 - The Commonwealth of Australia was founded with Edmund Barton as the first prime minister.
Jan. 1, 1958 - The EEC (European Economic Community) known as the Common Market was formed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. It removed trade barriers and established trade policies.
Jan. 1, 1999 - The Euro became the new single European currency of; Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Jan. 1, 1752 (- 1836). She was credited with sewing of the Stars and Stripes flag of America in 1776.
Jan. 3, 1959 - Alaska became the 49th U.S. State. It has a land mass of one-fifth the size of the lower 48 states.
Louis Braille was born in France on Jan. 4th, 1809 (- 1852). Blinded as a boy, he invented a reading system for the blind using punch marks in paper.
Jan. 5, 1925 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first female governor in the U.S.
Joan of Arc was born in France on Jan. 6th, 1412 (- 1431). She inspired French troops to break the British siege at Orleans. She was captured by the British who tried her for heresy and burned her at the stake. In 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Jan. 8, 1959 - Charles de Gaulle became the first president of France.
Jan. 8, 1964 - President Lyndon Johnson declared War on Poverty.
Jan. 10, 1946 - The first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly took place in London with delegates from 51 countries.
Jan. 11, 1964 - The U.S. Surgeon General declared cigarettes may be hazardous to health, the first such official government report.
Philosopher-physician Albert Schweitzer was born in Upper Alsace, Germany on Jan. 14, 1875 (- 1065). He served as a medical missionary in Africa and received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of the brotherhood of all nations.
Jan. 22, 1973 - Abortion became legal in the U.S. as the Supreme Court announced its decision in the case of Roe vs. Wade. In recent rulings (1989 and 1992) the Court upheld the power of individual states to impose some restrictions.
Jan. 23, 1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, becoming the first woman doctor in America.
Jan. 23, 1907 - Charles Curtis of Kansas became the first Native American to serve in the U.S Senate. He later served as vice president under President Herbert Hoover from 1929-33.
Scientist Robert Boyle was born in Lismore, Ireland on Jan. 25, 1627 (- 1691). He formulated Boyle's Law concerning the volume and pressure of gases.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on Jan. 27, 1756 (- 1791). He created over 600 compositions including 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano and five violin concerti, 25 string quartets and 19 masses.
December 2018
December 1, 1925 - The Locarno Treaties were signed by France, Belgium and Germany after world war 1. It was to prevent future wars.
December 1, 1988 - Benazir Bhutto was nominated to become the first woman prime minister of Pakistan, a Muslim nation. She was assassinated on 27 December 2007.
December 2, 1823 - President James Monroe introduced his "Monroe Doctrine", prohibiting any further colonization of the American continents by European powers.
December 2, 1942 - Enrico Fermi and colleague physicists carried out the world's first successful nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago.
December 2, 1954 - The U.S. Senate condemned Senator Joseph McCarthy for his ruthless investigations of thousands of alleged Communists.
December 2, 1971 - The United Arab Emirates was formed, consisting of seven Arab kingdoms of; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain, Fujairah and Ras al-Khaimah, who became a member in 1972. The area has some of the world's largest reserves of oil and natural gas.
December 2, 1982 - The first permanent artificial heart was implanted in 61-year-old Barney C. Clark by Dr. William De Vries at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Clark, lived for 112 days after the implantation.
December 3, 1967 - The first successful heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard at Cape Town, South African, on Louis Washkansky. He lived for 18 days.
December 3, 1984 - A deadly gas leak (of methyl isocyanate) at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killed 3,000 and injured more than 200,000.
December 4, 1791 - The Observer was first published in Britain. It is now the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world,
December 4, 1829 - The practice of "sati" was banned in India by the British. In sutte, Indian females traditionally burned themselves to death on their husband's funeral pyre.
December 5, 1791 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at the age of 35 in Vienna, Austria. During his short life, he composed over 600 musical masterpieces. He is considered one of the finest composers who ever lived.
December 6, 1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified abolishing slavery.
December 6, 1877 - Thomas Edison spoke the children's verse "Mary had a Little Lamb..." at his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, into his newly invented phonograph which utilized a revolving cylinder wrapped in tinfoil to record sounds.
December 6, 1971 - The Democratic Republic of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, was recognized.
December 7, 1787 - Delaware became the first state to adopt the new constitution of the United States of America.
December 8, 1987 - President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Russia's General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty eliminating all intermediate-range and shorter-range nuclear missiles.
December 8, 1991 - The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) ceased to exist. The leaders of Russia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine signed an agreement creating the Commonwealth of Independent States. The remaining republics of the former USSR, with the exception of Georgia, joined the new Commonwealth.
December 9, 1948 - The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
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December 10, 1896 - Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel died at San Remo, Italy. His will stipulated that income from his $9 million estate be used for awards recognizing persons who have made valuable contributions to humanity in Peace, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Economics .
December 10, 1898 - The Treaty of Paris was signed between United States and Spain gaining the U.S. the territories of Philippine Islands, the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico.
December 10, 1948 - The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
December 10, 1950 - Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first African American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, for his efforts in mediation between Israel and Arab states.
December 10, 1830 (- 1886) - Poet Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts.
December 10, 1851 (- 1931) - American librarian Melvil Dewey was born in Adams Center, New York. He invented the Dewey decimal book classification system and urged use of the metric system.
December 11, 1901 - The first transatlantic radio signal was transmitted by Guglielmo Marconi from Cornwall, England, to St. John's, Newfoundland. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909
December 12, 1870 - Joseph Hayne Rainey of Georgetown, South Carolina, became the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and served until 1879.
December 13, 1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company.
December 13, 1937 - The Chinese city of Nanking (Nanjing) was captured by the Japanese. Over the next weeks, the Nanjing-massacre occurred in which Japanese soldiers randomly attacked, raped and killed an estimated 200,000 Chinese.
December 14, 1799 - George Washington died at Mount Vernon.
December 14, 1918 - British women were allowed to vote for the first time and run for office.
December 14, 1962 - The Mariner II space probe sent back information from the planet Venus, the first information ever received from another planet.
French physician Nostradamus was born on December 14, 1503 (-1566) in St. Remy, Provence, France (as Michel de Notredame). He wrote astrological predictions, believed to foretell the future.
December 15, 1791 - The Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution) became effective following ratification by Virginia.
December 15, 1840 - Napoleon was buried in Les Invalides in Paris.
December 15, 1890 - Sioux leader Sitting Bull (Tatanka-yatanka) was killed by U.S. soldiers along the Grand River in South Dakota.
December 15, 1939 - Gone with the Wind had its world premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. It was introduced by producer David O. Selznick and starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.
December 15, 1943 - The Battle of San Pietro took place during World War II as a German panzer battalion devastated the American forces.
December 15, 1961 - Nazi SS-Colonel Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem.
December 15, 1964 - Canada adopted a new national flag featuring a red maple leaf on a white background.
December 15, 1989 - The dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet ended in Chile. Pinochet had come to power in 1973 following a military coup d'état.
December 15, 1993 - The GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Treaty was approved by delegations from 117 countries. It was designed to reduce international tariffs, eliminate trade quotas, and protect intellectual property.
December 15, 1995 - European Union leaders announced Euro as their new currency.
French engineer Alexandre Eiffel was born on Dec. 15, 1832 (- 1923) in Dijon, France. He designed the Eiffel Tower for the Paris International Exposition of 1889 and helped in the design of the Statue of Liberty.
December 16, 1773 - The Boston Tea Party took place. Colonial activists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded British ships and dumped 342 containers of expensive tea into the Boston Harbor.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born on Dec. 16, 1770 (- 1827) in Bonn, Germany.
Novelist Jane Austen was born on Dec. 16, 1775 (- 1817) in Hampshire, England. She wrote love stories like; Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, and Emma.
Philosopher George Santayana was born on Dec. 16, 1863 (- 1952) in Madrid, Spain. He emigrated to the U.S. and became a teacher at Harvard University. Known for stating, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Anthropologist Margaret Mead was born on Dec. 16, 1901 (-1978) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied primitive peoples in the Southwest Pacific.
December 17, 1903 - Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first powered flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The longest lasting about a minute.
December 19, 1946 - War broke out in French Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacked the French. It marked the beginning of a thirty-year conflict which led to the U.S. involvement. The Communist victory in April 1975 forced U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam.
December 20, 1989 - The U.S. invaded Panama attempting to capture Manuel Noriega on charges of narcotics trafficking. The invasion toppled the Noriega government and his arrest. He was then tried, convicted, and imprisoned in the U.S.
Industrialist Harvey S. Firestone was born on Dec. 20, 1868 (- 1938) in Columbiana County, Ohio. He founded Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.
December 1, 1925 - The Locarno Treaties were signed by France, Belgium and Germany after world war 1. It was to prevent future wars.
December 1, 1988 - Benazir Bhutto was nominated to become the first woman prime minister of Pakistan, a Muslim nation. She was assassinated on 27 December 2007.
December 2, 1823 - President James Monroe introduced his "Monroe Doctrine", prohibiting any further colonization of the American continents by European powers.
December 2, 1942 - Enrico Fermi and colleague physicists carried out the world's first successful nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago.
December 2, 1954 - The U.S. Senate condemned Senator Joseph McCarthy for his ruthless investigations of thousands of alleged Communists.
December 2, 1971 - The United Arab Emirates was formed, consisting of seven Arab kingdoms of; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain, Fujairah and Ras al-Khaimah, who became a member in 1972. The area has some of the world's largest reserves of oil and natural gas.
December 2, 1982 - The first permanent artificial heart was implanted in 61-year-old Barney C. Clark by Dr. William De Vries at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Clark, lived for 112 days after the implantation.
December 3, 1967 - The first successful heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard at Cape Town, South African, on Louis Washkansky. He lived for 18 days.
December 3, 1984 - A deadly gas leak (of methyl isocyanate) at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killed 3,000 and injured more than 200,000.
December 4, 1791 - The Observer was first published in Britain. It is now the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world,
December 4, 1829 - The practice of "sati" was banned in India by the British. In sutte, Indian females traditionally burned themselves to death on their husband's funeral pyre.
December 5, 1791 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at the age of 35 in Vienna, Austria. During his short life, he composed over 600 musical masterpieces. He is considered one of the finest composers who ever lived.
December 6, 1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified abolishing slavery.
December 6, 1877 - Thomas Edison spoke the children's verse "Mary had a Little Lamb..." at his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, into his newly invented phonograph which utilized a revolving cylinder wrapped in tinfoil to record sounds.
December 6, 1971 - The Democratic Republic of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, was recognized.
December 7, 1787 - Delaware became the first state to adopt the new constitution of the United States of America.
December 8, 1987 - President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Russia's General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty eliminating all intermediate-range and shorter-range nuclear missiles.
December 8, 1991 - The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) ceased to exist. The leaders of Russia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine signed an agreement creating the Commonwealth of Independent States. The remaining republics of the former USSR, with the exception of Georgia, joined the new Commonwealth.
December 9, 1948 - The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
**************************************
December 10, 1896 - Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel died at San Remo, Italy. His will stipulated that income from his $9 million estate be used for awards recognizing persons who have made valuable contributions to humanity in Peace, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Economics .
December 10, 1898 - The Treaty of Paris was signed between United States and Spain gaining the U.S. the territories of Philippine Islands, the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico.
December 10, 1948 - The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
December 10, 1950 - Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first African American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, for his efforts in mediation between Israel and Arab states.
December 10, 1830 (- 1886) - Poet Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts.
December 10, 1851 (- 1931) - American librarian Melvil Dewey was born in Adams Center, New York. He invented the Dewey decimal book classification system and urged use of the metric system.
December 11, 1901 - The first transatlantic radio signal was transmitted by Guglielmo Marconi from Cornwall, England, to St. John's, Newfoundland. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909
December 12, 1870 - Joseph Hayne Rainey of Georgetown, South Carolina, became the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and served until 1879.
December 13, 1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company.
December 13, 1937 - The Chinese city of Nanking (Nanjing) was captured by the Japanese. Over the next weeks, the Nanjing-massacre occurred in which Japanese soldiers randomly attacked, raped and killed an estimated 200,000 Chinese.
December 14, 1799 - George Washington died at Mount Vernon.
December 14, 1918 - British women were allowed to vote for the first time and run for office.
December 14, 1962 - The Mariner II space probe sent back information from the planet Venus, the first information ever received from another planet.
French physician Nostradamus was born on December 14, 1503 (-1566) in St. Remy, Provence, France (as Michel de Notredame). He wrote astrological predictions, believed to foretell the future.
December 15, 1791 - The Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution) became effective following ratification by Virginia.
December 15, 1840 - Napoleon was buried in Les Invalides in Paris.
December 15, 1890 - Sioux leader Sitting Bull (Tatanka-yatanka) was killed by U.S. soldiers along the Grand River in South Dakota.
December 15, 1939 - Gone with the Wind had its world premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. It was introduced by producer David O. Selznick and starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.
December 15, 1943 - The Battle of San Pietro took place during World War II as a German panzer battalion devastated the American forces.
December 15, 1961 - Nazi SS-Colonel Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem.
December 15, 1964 - Canada adopted a new national flag featuring a red maple leaf on a white background.
December 15, 1989 - The dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet ended in Chile. Pinochet had come to power in 1973 following a military coup d'état.
December 15, 1993 - The GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Treaty was approved by delegations from 117 countries. It was designed to reduce international tariffs, eliminate trade quotas, and protect intellectual property.
December 15, 1995 - European Union leaders announced Euro as their new currency.
French engineer Alexandre Eiffel was born on Dec. 15, 1832 (- 1923) in Dijon, France. He designed the Eiffel Tower for the Paris International Exposition of 1889 and helped in the design of the Statue of Liberty.
December 16, 1773 - The Boston Tea Party took place. Colonial activists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded British ships and dumped 342 containers of expensive tea into the Boston Harbor.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born on Dec. 16, 1770 (- 1827) in Bonn, Germany.
Novelist Jane Austen was born on Dec. 16, 1775 (- 1817) in Hampshire, England. She wrote love stories like; Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, and Emma.
Philosopher George Santayana was born on Dec. 16, 1863 (- 1952) in Madrid, Spain. He emigrated to the U.S. and became a teacher at Harvard University. Known for stating, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Anthropologist Margaret Mead was born on Dec. 16, 1901 (-1978) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied primitive peoples in the Southwest Pacific.
December 17, 1903 - Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first powered flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The longest lasting about a minute.
December 19, 1946 - War broke out in French Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacked the French. It marked the beginning of a thirty-year conflict which led to the U.S. involvement. The Communist victory in April 1975 forced U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam.
December 20, 1989 - The U.S. invaded Panama attempting to capture Manuel Noriega on charges of narcotics trafficking. The invasion toppled the Noriega government and his arrest. He was then tried, convicted, and imprisoned in the U.S.
Industrialist Harvey S. Firestone was born on Dec. 20, 1868 (- 1938) in Columbiana County, Ohio. He founded Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.
November 2018
Nov. 1, 1848 - The first medical school for women opened in Boston, founded by Samuel Gregory. In 1874, the school merged with the Boston University School of Medicine, becoming one of the first co-ed medical schools.
Nov. 1, 1993 - The European Union was established by the Maastricht Treaty.
Nov. 7, 1917 - Russian Bolsheviks established a new government of Russia, with Nikolai Lenin as chairman, Leon Trotsky as foreign commissar and Josef Stalin as commissar of nationalities.
Nov. 7, 1867 - Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland. In 1903, she and her husband received the Nobel Prize for physics for their discovery of Radium. She died in 1934.
Nov. 8, 1895 - Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany.
Nov. 8, 1922 - Pioneering heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard was born in Beaufort West, South Africa. He performed the first human heart transplant in 1967. He died in 2001.
Nov. 9, 1918 - German Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Holland. Philip Scheidemann, proclaimed a democratic Republic and became the first Chancellor of Germany.
Nov. 9, 1965 - The Great Blackout of the Northeast US began at 5:16 p.m. A circuit breaker at a power plant on the Niagara River caused a chain reaction knocking out interconnected power companies down the East Coast and Ontario and Quebec in Canada. The blackout affected over 30 million people.
Nov. 9, 1989 - After 28 years, the Berlin Wall was torn down. The 27.9 mile wall was constructed in 1961.
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November 10, 1871 - Explorer Henry M. Stanley found missionary David Livingstone at Ujiji, Africa. Upon locating him, he simply asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
November 11, 1918 - The Armistice between the Allied and Central Powers was signed at 5 a.m., in Marshal Foch's railway car in the Forest of Compiegne, France. Ending World War I effective the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
November 13, 1945 - General Charles De Gaulle was appointed president of the France.
November 14, 1666 - The first experimental blood transfusion took place in Britain, utilizing two dogs.
November 14, 1840 - French painter Claude Monet was born in Paris. He pioneered the impressionist style in his paintings. He died in 1926.
November 14, 1889 - Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad, India. He spent over 20 years working with Mahatma Gandhi to free India from British rule. Following independence in 1947, Nehru became India's first prime minister, serving until his death in 1964.
November 14, 1900 - American composer Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York. His work included Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. He died in 1990.
November 15, 1889 - Brazil became a republic.
November 15, 1969 - The largest antiwar rally in U.S. History occurred as 250,000 gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest the Vietnam War.
November 16, 1918 - Hungary became a republic following the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
November 17, 1734 - The publisher of "New York Weekly Journal"; John Peter Zenger was arrested and charged with libeling the colonial governor of New York. In his trial, in August of 1735, truth was successfully used as a defense against libel, and freedom of the press in America.
November 17, 1869 - After more than 10 years of construction, the Suez Canal was formally opened .
November 18, 1883 - Charles F. Dowd, a Connecticut school teacher, proposed a uniform time zone for the U.S. consisting of four zones.
November 18, 1993 - South Africa adopted a new constitution providing basic civil rights to blacks.
November 19, 1493 - During his second voyage to the New World, Columbus discovered the Island of Puerto Rico.
November 19-20, 1990 - The leaders of NATO and the Warsaw Pact signed a treaty in Paris ending The Cold War.
November 20, 1858 - Selma Lagerlof (1858-1940) was born in Varmland Province, Sweden. She was a member of the Swedish Academy and in 1909 became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature.
November 20, 1889 - Astronomer Edwin Hubble was born in Marshfield, Missouri. He pioneered the concept of an expanding universe. The Hubble Space Telescope was named in his honor. Hubble died in 1953.
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November 21- 12 Rabi' 1 - Birth Day of Prophet Mohammad.
November 22, 1963 - President John F. Kennedy was shot in downtown Dallas.
November 22, 1890 - Charles De Gaulle was born in Lille, France. He became President of France, serving from 1958-69. He died in 1970.
November 24, 1859 - Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was first published.
November 25, 1915 - Chilean military leader Augusto Pinochet was born in Valparaiso, Chile. He died in 2006
November 26, 1607 - John Harvard, Founder of Harvard College was born on in London. He died in 1638.
November 26, 1789 - Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed as the first American holiday by President George Washington.
November 26, 1832 - Mary Edwards Walker was born in Oswego, New York. She was the first female surgeon in U.S. Army, serving during the Civil War. She became the first and only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. She died in 1919.
November 27, 1701 - Anders Celsius was born in Sweden. He invented the centigrade (Celsius) temperature scale that is used around the world. He died in 1744.
November 29, 1898 - C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland (as Clive Staples Lewis). He wrote many books on Christian teachings. He died in 1963.
November 30, 1835 - Samuel Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri. He wrote many books under the pen name Mark Twain. He died in 1910.
November 30, 1874 - Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England. In May 1940, he became Prime Minister and fought the Nazi Germany to victory. He died in 1965.
Nov. 1, 1848 - The first medical school for women opened in Boston, founded by Samuel Gregory. In 1874, the school merged with the Boston University School of Medicine, becoming one of the first co-ed medical schools.
Nov. 1, 1993 - The European Union was established by the Maastricht Treaty.
Nov. 7, 1917 - Russian Bolsheviks established a new government of Russia, with Nikolai Lenin as chairman, Leon Trotsky as foreign commissar and Josef Stalin as commissar of nationalities.
Nov. 7, 1867 - Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland. In 1903, she and her husband received the Nobel Prize for physics for their discovery of Radium. She died in 1934.
Nov. 8, 1895 - Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany.
Nov. 8, 1922 - Pioneering heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard was born in Beaufort West, South Africa. He performed the first human heart transplant in 1967. He died in 2001.
Nov. 9, 1918 - German Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Holland. Philip Scheidemann, proclaimed a democratic Republic and became the first Chancellor of Germany.
Nov. 9, 1965 - The Great Blackout of the Northeast US began at 5:16 p.m. A circuit breaker at a power plant on the Niagara River caused a chain reaction knocking out interconnected power companies down the East Coast and Ontario and Quebec in Canada. The blackout affected over 30 million people.
Nov. 9, 1989 - After 28 years, the Berlin Wall was torn down. The 27.9 mile wall was constructed in 1961.
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November 10, 1871 - Explorer Henry M. Stanley found missionary David Livingstone at Ujiji, Africa. Upon locating him, he simply asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
November 11, 1918 - The Armistice between the Allied and Central Powers was signed at 5 a.m., in Marshal Foch's railway car in the Forest of Compiegne, France. Ending World War I effective the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
November 13, 1945 - General Charles De Gaulle was appointed president of the France.
November 14, 1666 - The first experimental blood transfusion took place in Britain, utilizing two dogs.
November 14, 1840 - French painter Claude Monet was born in Paris. He pioneered the impressionist style in his paintings. He died in 1926.
November 14, 1889 - Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad, India. He spent over 20 years working with Mahatma Gandhi to free India from British rule. Following independence in 1947, Nehru became India's first prime minister, serving until his death in 1964.
November 14, 1900 - American composer Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York. His work included Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. He died in 1990.
November 15, 1889 - Brazil became a republic.
November 15, 1969 - The largest antiwar rally in U.S. History occurred as 250,000 gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest the Vietnam War.
November 16, 1918 - Hungary became a republic following the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
November 17, 1734 - The publisher of "New York Weekly Journal"; John Peter Zenger was arrested and charged with libeling the colonial governor of New York. In his trial, in August of 1735, truth was successfully used as a defense against libel, and freedom of the press in America.
November 17, 1869 - After more than 10 years of construction, the Suez Canal was formally opened .
November 18, 1883 - Charles F. Dowd, a Connecticut school teacher, proposed a uniform time zone for the U.S. consisting of four zones.
November 18, 1993 - South Africa adopted a new constitution providing basic civil rights to blacks.
November 19, 1493 - During his second voyage to the New World, Columbus discovered the Island of Puerto Rico.
November 19-20, 1990 - The leaders of NATO and the Warsaw Pact signed a treaty in Paris ending The Cold War.
November 20, 1858 - Selma Lagerlof (1858-1940) was born in Varmland Province, Sweden. She was a member of the Swedish Academy and in 1909 became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature.
November 20, 1889 - Astronomer Edwin Hubble was born in Marshfield, Missouri. He pioneered the concept of an expanding universe. The Hubble Space Telescope was named in his honor. Hubble died in 1953.
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November 21- 12 Rabi' 1 - Birth Day of Prophet Mohammad.
November 22, 1963 - President John F. Kennedy was shot in downtown Dallas.
November 22, 1890 - Charles De Gaulle was born in Lille, France. He became President of France, serving from 1958-69. He died in 1970.
November 24, 1859 - Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was first published.
November 25, 1915 - Chilean military leader Augusto Pinochet was born in Valparaiso, Chile. He died in 2006
November 26, 1607 - John Harvard, Founder of Harvard College was born on in London. He died in 1638.
November 26, 1789 - Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed as the first American holiday by President George Washington.
November 26, 1832 - Mary Edwards Walker was born in Oswego, New York. She was the first female surgeon in U.S. Army, serving during the Civil War. She became the first and only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. She died in 1919.
November 27, 1701 - Anders Celsius was born in Sweden. He invented the centigrade (Celsius) temperature scale that is used around the world. He died in 1744.
November 29, 1898 - C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland (as Clive Staples Lewis). He wrote many books on Christian teachings. He died in 1963.
November 30, 1835 - Samuel Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri. He wrote many books under the pen name Mark Twain. He died in 1910.
November 30, 1874 - Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England. In May 1940, he became Prime Minister and fought the Nazi Germany to victory. He died in 1965.
October 2018
On Oct. 21, 1879 the inventor Thomas Edison finally struck upon the idea for a workable electric light.
Oct. 24, 1632 was the birthday of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, born in Delft, the Netherlands. He perfected the microscope, and was the first person to observe bacteria.
Oct. 25, 1881 was the birthday of the artist Pablo Picasso, born in Malaga, Spain,
On Oct. 21, 1879 the inventor Thomas Edison finally struck upon the idea for a workable electric light.
Oct. 24, 1632 was the birthday of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, born in Delft, the Netherlands. He perfected the microscope, and was the first person to observe bacteria.
Oct. 25, 1881 was the birthday of the artist Pablo Picasso, born in Malaga, Spain,