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Events

3952 BC - According to the Venerable Bede , the world was created.

37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Caligula emperor.

731 - Saint Gregory III begins his reign as a Catholic pope.

1229 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declares himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.

1241 - Krakow ravaged by Mongols.

1325 - Tenochtitlan founded.

1438 - Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Germany.

1608 - Susenyos formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia

1673 - John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to some Friends (Quakers).

1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which was very unpopular in the British colonies.

1850 - American Express is founded by Henry Wells & William Fargo.

1865 - American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.

1871 - President of the French government Thiers orders evacuation of Paris, a socialist government rules the city.

 
 

1874 - Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.

1900 - AFC Ajax founded.

1906 - Traian Vuia flew a self-propelled heavier-than-air aircraft which took off without any external means

1909 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter becoming the first radio broadcaster.

1913 - George I of Greece is assassinated.

1915 - World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British & French naval attack on the Dardanelles.

1921 - The second Peace of Riga between Poland and Soviet Union. Despite the recent Polish successes, Soviets annex Ukraine and Belarus. Government of Ukraine emigrates to France. Famine kills millions of Russians.

1922 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.

1922 - The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City.

1925 - The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.

1937 - The New London School explosion kills three hundred, mostly children.

1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces hand the Italian forces a grave defeat at the Battle of Guadalajara.

1938 - Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.

 
 

1940 - World War II: Axis Powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.

1945 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.

1953 - An earthquake hits western Turkey killing 250.

1959 - American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.

1961 - In Cannes, France, Jean-Claude Pascal wins the sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Nous les amoureux" (We the lovers).

1962 - The Evian Accords put an end to the Algerian War of Independence, which had began in 1954.

1962 - In Luxembourg, Isabelle Aubret wins the seventh Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Un premier amour" (A first love).

1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.

1967 - Supertanker Torrey Canyon Runs aground off the Cornish coast.

1968 - Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.

1970 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

1971 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200.

1974 - Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.

1980 - On Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia 50 persons were killed at an explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket on its launch pad during a fueling operation.

1985 - The first episode of popular soap Neighbours airs on Australian TV.

1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.

1990 - 12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history.

1992 - Microsoft ships Windows 3.1.

1997 - The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 on board. This leads to the grounding of all An-24s.

2005 - The first-ever Muslim Friday prayer led by a woman in a mixed-gender congregation was held in New York City, marking a break with a 1426-year Islamic tradition.

2005 - Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband, fueling a worldwide debate on euthanasia.

 

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