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Events

366 - Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading Roman Empire.

533 - Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.

1492 - Reconquista: Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.

1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India.

1788 - Georgia becomes the 4th state to ratify the United States Constitution.

1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.

1818 - British Institution of Civil Engineers formed.

1860 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the Académie des Sciences in Paris.

1870 - Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.

1871 - Amadeus I becomes King of Spain.

1872 - Brigham Young is arrested for bigamy for having 25 wives.

1879 - Fred Spofforth claims the first Hat-trick in test cricket on the Sydney Cricket Ground against England.

1882 - John D. Rockefeller unites his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust.

 
 

1890 - Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer for the White House.

1893 - Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America introduces railroad chronometers.

1900 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.

1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian fleet surrenders at Port Arthur, China.

1905 - American anarcho-syndicalist union, the Industrial Workers of the World forms.

1917 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank.

1920 - The Palmer Raids begin in the United States.

1921 - The first religious radio broadcast (KDKA AM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) .

1923 - U.S. Interior Secretary Albert Fall resigns due to the Teapot Dome scandal.

1929 - Canada and the United States agree on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls.

1935 - Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.

1941 - World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.

1941 - World War II: The U.S. government announces its Liberty ship program with a stated goal of building 200 freighters. Over 2,700 ships will eventually be constructed by the end of the war.

 
 

1942 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces.

1942 - The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

1946 - Unable to resume rule after World War II, King Zog of Albania abdicates but retains his claim to the throne.

1949 - Luis Muñoz Marín became the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

1955 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.

1957 - San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange and Los Angeles Oil Exchange merge.

1959 - The first artificial satellite to orbit the sun, Luna 1, is launched by the U.S.S.R.

1960 - Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1965 - The New York Jets sign University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000.

1967 - Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the second successful heart transplant.

1969 - Luis Ferré becomes first statehooder Governor of Puerto Rico.

1971 - The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic game.

1974 - Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.

1979 - Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of Nancy Spungen.

1981 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is arrested.

1991 - Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first African American woman to lead a city of that size and importance.

1991 - Linus Torvalds buys the computer which got Linux started.

1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.

1998 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.

1999 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern USA, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C), and 68 deaths are reported.

2001 - Sila Calderón becomes first female Governor of Puerto Rico.

2002 - Levy Mwanawasa takes office as the third President of Zambia.

2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later.

2006 - An explosion in a coal mine leads to the death of 12 of 13 miners in the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia.

2006 - Fifteen die in the Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof collapse in Bavaria, Germany.

 

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