This Day in History
May 15
The Seven Year’s War begins in 1756.
May 14
Lewis and Clark depart in 1804.
State of Isreal proclaimed in 1948.
May 11
Minnesota admitted to the Union in 1858.
May 10
Transcontinental railroad completed in 1869
Joan Crawford dies? in 1977.
Stonewall Jackson dies in 1863.
May 9
Dianetics published in 1950.
Impeachment proceedings issued towards Richard Nixon in 1974.
May 8
V-E Day in 1945
Harry S. Truman born in 1888.
May 7
The Scream recovered in 1994.
May 4
Kent State Massacre in 1979.
First female Prime Minister sworn in in 1979.
May 3
Machiavelli born in 1469.
May 2
“Nessie” spotted in 1933.
Joe McCarthy dies in 1957.
May 1
Citizen Kane released in 1940.
Calamity Jane born in 1852.
April 30
Adolf Hitler commits suicide in 1945.
April 29
Rodney King trial verdict announced.
April 28
Mussolini executed in 1945.
April 25
Robinson Crusoe published in 1719.
April 24
Library of Congress formed in 1800.
April 23
William Shakespeare born in 1564.
James Buchanan born in 1791.
April 20
Columbine High School Massacre takes place in 1999.
Adolf Hitler born in 1889.
April 19
First Boston Marathon in 1897.
April 18
Paul Revere rides at midnight in 1775,
April 17
Apollo 13 returns in 1970.
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins in 1961.
Benjamin Franklin dies in 1790.
April 16
Hallucinogenic affects of LSD discovered in 1943.
Charlie Chaplin born in 1889.
April 13
Butch Cassidy born in 1866.
April 12
U.S. Civil War begins in 1861.
April 11
Napoleon exiled to Elbe Island.
April 10
John Paul Jones sets out to attack British ships in 1765
April 9
Robert E. Lee surrenders in 1865.
Jon Wesley St. Germaine born in 1965.
April 8
Margaret Thatcher dies 2013.
Twins Peaks premieres in 1990.
April 7
Rwandan Genocide begins in 1994.
April 6
First modern Olympics in 1896.
Mormon Church established in 1830.
Oscar Wilde arrested in 1895.
U.S. enters WWI in 1917.
April 5
Pocahontas marries John Rolfe.
Kurt Cobain kills himself in 1994.
Howard Hughes dies in 1976.
April 4
Dr. King assassinated in 1965.
NATO formed in 1940.
April 3
The Pony Express debuts in 1860.
Richmond falls in 1865.
Jesse James killed in 1882.
Ted Kazinczy arrested in 1996.
April 2
President Woodrow Wilson asks for a formal declaration of war from Congress in 1917.
March 30
Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Fall of Saigon in 1975.
March 29
U.S. withdraws from Vietnam in 1973.
March 28
Nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979.
March 27
The FDA approves Viagra in 1998.
Fingerprint technology used to solve a murder case for the first time in 1905.
March 26
McCarthy charges Owen Lattimore as a Soviet spy in 1950.
March 23
O.K. enters national vernacular in 1839.
Fasci di Combattimeno formed in 1919.
March 22
Stamp Act applied in 1765.
March 21
Alcatraz shuts down in 1963.
March 20
LBJ sends federal troops to Alabama in 1965.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published in 1852.
Republican Party founded in 1854.
March 19
War in Iraq begins in 2003.
March 16
The Scarlet Letter published in 1850.
James Madison born in 1751.
March 15
Julius Caesar murdered in the Ides of March in 44 B.C.
The Godfather opens in 1972.
March 14
In 1879, Albert Einstein was born.
Sylvia Beach born in 1887
March 13
U.S. Army launches K-9 corps in 1942.
March 12
FDR gives first “fireside chat” in 1933.
March 9
First Barbie Doll in 1959.
Firebombing of Tokyo in 1945.
March 8
February Revolution in 1917.
March 7
Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone in 1876.
March 6
Georgia O’Keefe dies in 1986.
David Gilmour born 1946.
March 5
Hula-Hoop patented in 1963
Boston Massacre happens 1770.
Joseph Stalin dies in 1953.
March 2
Dr. Seuss born in 1904.
African Slave Trade abolished by Congress in 1804.
March 1
Lindbergh baby kidnapped in 1932.
Articles of Confederation ratified in 1781.
February 28
Hattie McDaniel wins Oscar in 1940.
February 27
Watson and Crick discover the structure of DNA in 1952.
The Waco raid takes place in 1993.
February 26
Grand Tetons National Park established in 1929.
Grand Canyon National Park established in 1919.
February 23
Flag raised over Iwo Jima in 1945.
February 22
George Washington born in 1732.
February 21
Malcolm X assassinated in 1965.
February 20
Ireland allows sale of contraceptives in 1985.
February 16
King Tut’s tomb opened in 1923.
“Most daring act in history” in 1804.
Bland-Allison Act takes effect in 1878.
February 15
Canada adopts maple-leaf flag in 1965.
Disney’s Cinderella opens in 1950.
February 14
Saint Valentine beheaded in 278.
Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929.
Penicillin discovered in 1929.
February 13
Galileo brought in for Inquisition in 1633.
February 12
Abraham Lincoln born in 1809.
Judy Blume born in 1938.
Bill Russel born in 1934.
February 9
McCarthy accuses state department of commie infiltration in 1950.
February 8
John Grisham born in 1955.
February 7
Beatles land in the U.S. in 1964,
February 6
Ronald Reagan born in 1911.
France and America sign the “Treaty of Amity and Commerce” and the “Treaty of Alliance”
Of Mice and Men published in 1937.
February 5
Andrew Greeley born in 1928
February 2
First Groundhog Day in 1887.
First Donner Party member dies in 1847.
Battle of Stalingrad ends in 1943.
Gene Kelly dies in 1996.
February 1
Oxford dictionary debuts.
January 31
Hydrogen bomb announced by President Truman in 1950.
First McDonald’s opens in Soviet Union in 1990.
Apollo 14 leaves for moon trip in 1971.
Guy Fawkes dies in 1606.
January 30
Gandhi assassinated in 1948.
FDR is born in 1882.
Bloody Sunday takes place in 1972.
Hitler becomes chancellor of Deutschland in 1933.
January 29
William McKinley born in 1843.
‘The Raven’ published in 1845.
January 26
“The Dukes of Hazzard” premiers in 1979.
Australia Day!
January 25
Largest diamond ever found in 1905.
Burnside relieved of command in 1863.
First Winter Olympics in 1924.
Birth of Robert Burns in 1759.
Manson and followers convicted in 1978.
January 24
First canned beer sold in 1935.
Boy Scouts formed in 1908.
Sir Winston Churchill passes away in 1965.
January 23
First Frisbees produced in 1957.
Hulk Hogan beats The Iron Sheik for first WWF title.
January 22
Unabomber pleads guilty in 1998.
Supreme Court passes legalization of abortion in 1973.
January 19
Edgar Allan Poe is born in 1809.
General Robert Edward Lee born in 1807.
January 18
Hawaii is discovered by Captain Cook in 1778.
Peace Conference begins in Paris in 1919.
January 17
The Brinks Armored Car robbery takes place in 1950.
Soviet forces capture Warsaw in 1945.
January 16
Prohibition begins in 1919.
January 12
Jack London born in 1876.
January 11
Theodore roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monument
Battle of Arkansas post
Reagan gives his farewell address
January 8
League of Nations formed in 1920.
U.N. meets for first time in 1946.
January 7
First Iphone debuts in 2007.
Sylvester Stallone begins filming Rocky in 1976.
January 6
Crazy Horse’s Last Stand in 1827.
Elvis Presley gets his first guitar in 1940.
The Battle of New Orleans in 1815.
January 5
Construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933.
First legal divorce in the colonies in 1643.
January 4
Jacob Grimm born in 1785.
T.S. Elliot dies in 1965.
Samuel Colt sells his first shipment of revolvers to the U.S. Government in 1847.
January 3
J.R.R. Tolkien born in South Africa in 1892.
Alaska admitted into the Union in 1959.
December 18
Mayflower docks in Plymouth Harbor
Nixon announces start of Christmas bombing of North Vietnam
Japan invades Hong Kong
Battle of Verdun ends
December 17
Wright airplane flies at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
Internment of Japanese Americans in 1944.
Kim Jong Il dies in 2011.
December 16
Boston Tea Party in 1773.
The Battle of The Bulge takes place in 1944.
December 15
The Bill of Rights becomes law in 1791.
Sitting Bull dies to Indian Police in 1890.
December 14
Anderson reaches South Pole in 1911.
December 13
1577 Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England on a circumnavigation of the world.
December 12
The Rape of Nanking, China transpires in 1937.
Dick Van Dyke born in 1925.
December 11
Mona Lisa recovered in Florence, Italy in 1913.
December 10
Edward VIII abdicates throne in 1936.
UNICEF founded in 1946.
December 9
First Nobel Prizes awarded in 1901.
Ford builds its 1 millionth car in 1915.
Wilbur D. Mills involved in Arkansas sex scandal in 1974.
December 8
U.S. Marines storm Mogadishu in 1992.
December 7
John Lennon shot in 1980.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is born in 1542.
December 6
Washington monument completed
13th amendment was ratified
Protest against soviet treatment of jews take place in washington and moscow
December 5
First mysterious aircraft disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle in 1945.
Prohibition ends in 1933.
President Van Buren born in 1782.
December 4
Mary Celeste found abandoned in 1817.
First text message sent in 1992.
December 3
A Streetcar Named Desire opens in 1947.
First human heart transplant in 1967.
Illinois becomes 21st state in 1818.
Ozzy Osbourne born in 1948.
December 2
The Enron Corporation declares bankruptcy in 2001.
Napoleon crowned Emperor of France in 1804.
Monroe Doctrine declared in 1823.
Terrorist John Brown hung in 1859.
December 1
Chunnel workers breakthrough in 1990.
Richard Pryor born in 1940.
Rosa Parks starts bus boycott in 1955.
November 30
Winston Churchill born in 1874.
Mark Twain born in 1835.
November 29
Palestine partition vote at the U.N. in 1947.
November 28
Famed explorer Ferdinand Magellan reaches Pacific Ocean in 1520.
William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway in 1582.
Infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer murdered in prison in 1994.
Battle of Cane Hill in 1895.
November 27
Pope Urban II orders beginning of the First Crusade in 1095.
November 26
FDR establishes Thanksgiving as a holiday in 1941.
Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon enter the tomb of King Tutankhamen in 1922.
Casablanca premieres in NYC in 1942.
T.E. Lawrence sends letter on Arab affairs in 1916.
November 25
Mousetrap opens in 1952.
November 24
Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published in 1859.
Zachary Taylor born in 1784.
Wilt Chamberlain sets record for rebounds.
November 23
First issue of Life published in 1936.
Author Roald Dahl passes away in 1990.
Robert Johnson makes first blues recording in 1936.
November 22
President John F. Kennedy assassinated in 1963.
Infamous pirate Blackbeard finally slain in 1718.
First female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns in 1990.
November 21
People tune in to Dallas to find out “Who shot J.R.?” in 1980.
Austrian Emperor Franz Josef dies in 1916, severely weakening the Central Powers.
November 20
Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals begins in 1945.
Three-position traffic signal patented in 1923.
November 19
Abraham Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address.
James A. Garfield born in 1831.
Defense of Stalingrad in 1942.
Reagan and Gorbachev meet for the first time in 1985.
November 18
Hostage Terry Waite freed in 1991.
Jonestown suicides in 1979.
November 17
Elizabethan Age begins in 1558.
Articles of Confederation submitted in 1777.
Nixon quoted as saying “I am not a crook.” in 1973.
November 16
Fort Washington captured in 1776.
Riker Torpedo Racer sets the world record for speed for electric cars.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone opens 2001.
The Sound of Music opens in 1959.
November 15
First stock ticker is unveiled in New York City in 1867.
Articles of Confederation adopted in 1777.
Craig Breedlove sets a new record for land speed record in 1965.
November 14
Moby Dick published in 1851.
Ben Franklin takes sides in 1776.
Apollo 12 takes of in 1969.
November 13
Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial dedicated in 1982.
November 12
Ellis Island closes in 1954.
Founder of Reader’s Digest, DeWitt Wallace, born in 1889.
Seymour Hersh breaks My Li story in 1969.
November 11
World War I ends at the 11th hour on the 11th day on the 11th month in 1918.
General George Patton born on 1885.
Louisa May Alcott published first novel 1852.
November 10
Brezhnev dies in 1982.
Sesame Street debuts in 1969.
All Quiet on The Western Front published in 1928.
November 9
Roosevelt goes to Panama in 1906.
Kristallnacht begins in 1938.
East Germany opens Berlin wall in 1989.
November 8
Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovers X-rays in 1895.
Beer Hall Putsch begins in 1923.
John F. Kennedy elected in 1960.
November 7
Magic Johnson announces he is HIV-positive in 1991.
Steve McQueen dies in 1980.
FDR wins 4th term in 1944.
November 6
Bolshevik Revolt in 1917.
Jefferson Davis elected in 1861.
U.N. condemns apartheid in 1962.
November 5
Richard Nixon elected president in 1968.
November 4
Soviets put down Hungarian Revolution in 1956.
Entrance to King Tut’s tomb is found in 1922.
Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in 1842.
November 3
D.C. residents vote for president for the first time in 1964, due to the passing of the 23rd amendment in 1961.
Panama declares independence in 1903.
Soviet space dog Laika goes to space in 1957.
The order to bomb Pearl Harbor is given in 1941.
November 2
Spruce Goose flies in 1947.
John Paul Jones sets sail in 1777.
MLK day declared federal holiday in 1983.
Warren G. Harding born in 1865.
November 1
Attempted assassination of President Harry Truman in 1950.
Sistine Chapel ceiling revealed in 1512.
October 31
Martin Luther posts 95 Theses in 1517.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes published in 1892.
Also spoopy day.
October 30
Orson Welles frightens United States with radio play of War of The Worlds in 1938.
John Adams is born in 1735.
Muhammad Ali wins the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.
October 29
John Glenn returns to space in 1998.
October 28
Statue of Liberty dedicated in 1886.
October 27
New York City opens subway in 1904.
Infamous mafioso John Gotti is born in 1940.
King George III speaks to American parliament in 1775.
October 26
George Bush signs Patriot Act in 2001.
Infant receives baboon heart transplant in 1984.
October 25
Artist Pablo Picasso born in 1881.
AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” becomes a hit in 1980.
October 24
63-year-old Annie Edison Taylor goes over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
30-Years-War ends in 1648
October 23
Brutus, friend to and killer of Julius Caesar, kills himself in 42 B.C.
Musician “Weird Al” Yankovic born in 1959.
October 19
“Rocket” Richard kicks 500 goals in 1957.
“Take on Me” reaches top of U.S. charts.
October 18
The U.S. takes possession of Alaska in 1867.
Reggie Jackson hits 3 home runs in 3 consecutive pitches in 1977.
October 17
Infamous mafioso Al Capone goes to prison for tax fraud in 1931.
Historical Voigt robbery takes place in 1906.
Musician Selena Quintanilla killed in 1989.
October 16
Oscar Wilde is born in 1854.
Marie Antoinette is born in 1793.
October 13
The first cornerstone of the White House is laid in 1792.
Chilean Miners are rescued after 69 days underground in 2010.
October 12
Death of General Robert Edward Lee in 1870.
Columbus reaches land in 1492.
October 11
Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Prize in 2002.
Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen’s “Born to Run” is a hit 1975.
Saturday Night Live debuts in 1975.
The Clintons marry in 1975.
Death of Meriwether Lewis in 1809.
October 10
andrewJohn Lennon is born in 1940.
Darwin publishes work on mold and worms in 1881.
October 9
Communist revolutionary Che Guevara is executed in 1967. (and nothing of value was lost.)
St. Paul’s Cathedral bombed in 1947.
October 6
In 1847, Jane Eyre is published.
Babe Ruth sets World Series record in 1926.
October 5
Steve Jobs passes away in 2011.
First Presidential speech on T.V. in 1947.
Dalai Lama wins Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch drop “Good Vibrations” 1996.
October 4
The first Sputnik was launched in 1957.
Beverly Hills, 90210 debuts in 1990.
October 2
Rock Hudson, Hollywood star, dies of AIDS in 1985.
American poet Wallace Stevens is born today in 1871.
The first black Supreme Court Judge Thurgood Marshall is sworn in today in 1967.
September 28
Ted Williams was the last player to hit .400 in 1941.
The Battle of Yorktown begins in 1781.
British soldier allegedly spares life of wounded Adolf Hitler in 1918 during WW1.
September 26
Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe in 1580.
The Brady Brunch airs in 1969.
In 1888 T.S. Elliot was born.
Daniel Boone dies in Missouri in 1820.
September 25
The Little Rock 9 attended Central High in 1954.
The Bill of Rights passed through Congress in 1770.
September 22
In 1862, President Lincoln signed into effect the Emancipation Proclamation.
President Ford survived the second assassination attempt on his life in 1975.
President Kennedy signed Peace Corps legislation in 1961.
September 21
In 1939, the first Cannes Film Festival was scheduled to open but was canceled due to WW2 breaking out. It was rescheduled in 1946.
In 1777, Redcoats slaughtered 200 sleeping American troops in an event known as the Paoli Massacre.
September 19
President James Garfield succumbed to shooting wounds in 1881.
Gram Parsons, a country-rock legend, died today in 1973.
Goodfellas opened to 46.8 million dollars in 1990.
