| HistoryNet

2012

Severe flooding in Myanmar.

2009

Terrorist bombings in Baghdad kill over 150 and wound over 700.

US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy jointly accuse Iran of building a secrecy nuclear enrichment facility.

2008

Sri Lanka is hit by Cyclone Nisha, bringing the highest rainfall the area had seen in 9 decades; 15 people die, 90,000 are left homeless.

China launches Shenzhou 7 spacecraft; crew performs China’s first extra-vehicular activity (EVA).

2006

James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, dies at age 73.

2001

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant; heiress apparent to the Belgian throne.

1996

Ireland’s last Magdalene laundry closes; begun as asylums to rehabilitate “fallen women,” they increasingly took on prison-like qualities.

1992

Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to partition the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, beginning Jan. 1, 1993.

NASA launches Mars Observer probe; it fails 11 months later.

1991

Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s first and last executive president, resigns. The Soviet Union no longer exsists.

The last soldiers of the Yugoslav People’s Army leaves the Republic of Slovenia.

Croatian War of Independence: Battle of Vukovar begins, an 87-day siege of a Croatian city by the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), supported by various Serbian paramilitary forces.

Belarus gains independence from the USSR.

The Airbus A340 makes its first flight.

1990

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro begins a six year term as Nicaragua’s president.

1989

Mayumi Moriyama, formerly head of Japan’s Environmental Agency, becomes Japan’s first female cabinet secretary

NASA scientists receive stunning photographs of Neptune and its moons from Voyager 2.

1987

Typhoon Nina sticks the Philippines with 165 mph winds and a devastating storm surge and causes over 1,030 deaths.

Blake Lively, actress, model (Gossip Girl TV series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants).

1986

Amber Hagerman, whose kidnapping and murder in Jan. 1996 led to the development of the AMBER Alert system to notify surrounding communities when a child is reported missing or abducted.

As President Ronald Reagan announces the Justice Department’s findings concerning the Iran-Contra affair; secretary Fawn Hall smuggles important documents out of Lt. Col. Oliver North’s office.

Congress approves $100 million in aid to the Contras fighting in Nicaragua.

President Ronald Reagan orders emergency aid for the Honduran army. U.S. helicopters take Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border.

1984

Katy Perry, singer, songwriter; (“Part of Me”; “Roar”) named Billboard magazine’s Woman of the Year 2012.

Svetlana Savitskaya becomes first woman to perform a space walk.

President Reagan endorses the development of the first U.S. permanently-manned space station.

1983

1,800 U.S. troops and 300 Caribbean troops land on Grenada. U.S. forces soon turn up evidence of a strong Cuban and Soviet presence–large stores of arms and documents suggesting close links to Cuba.

Maze Prison escape, County Antrim, Northern Ireland; 38 IRA prisoners escape in the largest prison breakout in British history; known among Irish republicans as the Great Escape.

1982

In accordance with the Camp David agreements, Israel completes a withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula.

1981

Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of US Pres. George W. Bush; she and her sororal twin sister were the first twin children of a US president; presently (2013) a special correspondent to NBC’s Today Show and a contributor to NBC Nightly News.

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice, is sworn in.

Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.

The U.S. Embassy in San Salvador is damaged when gunmen attack, firing rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.

1980

Zimbabwe joins the United Nations.

President Jimmy Carter tells the American people about the hostage rescue disaster in Iran.

1979

Egypt begins major restoration of the Sphinx.

1978

The first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, is born in Oldham, England.

1976

Over 100 Muslims, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, die when their boat sinks.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states may ban the hiring of illegal aliens.

1975

Merry Christmas!Christmas is the festival celebrating the birth of Christ and is observed in most countries on December 25. Christmas is sometimes called Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon) or Noel (from the French). Christian churches throughout the world hold special services on Christmas Day to give thanks for the birth of Christ.nnIn addition to religious observances, Christmas is a time of merrymaking and feasting. North American customs are a combination of those of the various European countries from which the original settlers came. On Christmas Eve children hang stockings for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, was first used in Germany. Topped with a star or spire and decorated with colored lights and shiny ornaments, the tree plays an important part in the celebration.nnMistletoe was sacred to the Druids, priests of ancient Britain and Gaul. The Norse used holly and the Yule log to keep away evil spirits. Gifts were exchanged during the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia, a feast to the god Saturn. Gift-giving came to symbolize the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Magi.nnThe most popular Christmas legend however, is that of Santa Claus, whose name came from Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Many of the qualities that Santa Claus is known for came from Clement C. Moore’s poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”

Hue is lost and Da Nang is endangered by North Vietnamese forces. The United States orders a refugee airlift to remove those in danger.

1974

Scientists warn that continued use of aerosol sprays will cause ozone depletion, which will lead to an increased risk of skin cancer and global weather changes.

1973

U.S. astronauts onboard the Skylab space station take a seven-hour walk in space and photograph the comet Kohoutek.

White House Counsel John Dean admits President Richard Nixon took part in the Watergate cover-up.

1972

Nixon airs the eight-point peace plan for Vietnam, asking for POW release in return for withdrawal.

Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to U.S. Congress, announces candidacy for president.

1971

Christina Applegate, actress (Married . . . with Children, Samantha Who? TV series).

Midori Goto, violinist.

United Nations expels the Republic of China and seats the People’s Republic of China.

The country of Bangladesh is established.

1970

Adam Pascal, actor, singer (Rent; Aida).

The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight.

1969

Catherine Zeta-Jones, actress (The Darling Buds of May British TV series) won Academy Award and BAFTA Award for her role in Chicago.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono stage a bed-in for peace in Amsterdam.

1968

Will Smith, rapper (known as The Fresh Prince, “Getting’ Jiggy Wit It”), actor, producer; awards include four Grammys.

Rachael Ray, chef, author, TV host.

1965

Entertainer Chris Noel gives her first performance for the USO at two hospitals in California; became a star on Armed Forces Radio and Television, entertaining troops in Vietnam; in 1984 Veterans Network honored her with a Distinguished Vietnam Veteran award.

Scottie Pippen, pro basketball player (Chicago Bulls), played important role in Bull’s record 72-win season (1995-96).

Martin Luther King Jr. leads a group of 25,000 to the state capital in Montgomery, Ala.

1964

Eleven nations give a total of $3 billion to rescue the value of the British currency.

Nicole, German singer, won 1982 Errovision Song Contest singing “Ein biBchen Frieden” (“A Little Peace”); the English version reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.

Maria Doyle Kennedy, actress (The Tudors), composer, singer, songwriter, musician.

Blair Underwood, actor, director (L.A. Law TV series, The Second Coming); won Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album, An Inconvenient Truth.

President Lyndon Johnson orders 200 naval personnel to Mississippi to assist in finding three missing civil rights workers.

1963

The body of assassinated President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

1962

The Bay of Pigs captives, upon their return to the United States, vow to return to Cuba and topple Fidel Castro.

In South Africa, civil rights activist Nelson Mandela is sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Adlai Stevenson shows photos to the UN Security Council that prove Soviet missiles have been installed in Cuba.

The U.S. Supreme Court bans official prayers in public schools.

A U.S. Ranger spacecraft crash lands on the Moon.

1961

Heather Locklear, actress (Dynasty, Melrose Place, Spin City TV series).

1960

John F. Kennedy Jr., elder son of US Pres. John F. Kennedy (assassinated three days before JFK Jr.’s third birthday); co-founded George magazine in 1995; died in plane crash, July 16, 1999.

Martin Luther King, Jr., is sentenced to four months in jail for a sit-in.

The first submerged circumnavigation of the Earth is completed by a Triton submarine.

1959

President Dwight Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev begin Camp David talks.

The Cuban government seizes 2.35 million acres under a new agrarian reform law.

The St. Lawrence Seaway–linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes–opens to shipping.

American Airlines begins its first coast-to-coast flight service on a Boeing 707.

1958

The last U.S. troops leave Beirut.

Tim Burton, director, producer, screenwriter (Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas).

1957

Nancy Cartwright, voice actress; voice of Bart Simpson and other characters in the long-running animated TV series The Simpsons.

The European Common Market Treaty is signed in Rome. The goal is to create a common market for all products–especially coal and steel.

1956

Kim Thompson, editor, publisher; co-founder of Fantagraphics Books.

Elvis Presley‘s “Heartbreak Hotel” goes to number one on the charts.

Stalin is secretly disavowed by Khrushchev at a party congress for promoting the “cult of the individual.”

Khrushchev says that he believes that Eisenhower is sincere in his efforts to abolish war.

1955

The Interstate Commerce Commission bans segregation in interstate travel.

Columbia University scientists develop an atomic clock that is accurate to within one second in 300 years.

1954

Steve Wariner, country singer, songwriter, musician (“All Roads Lead to You,” “Life’s Highway”).

Annie Lennox, Scottish singer, songwriter, activist; member of Eurythmics band; winner of eight Brit Award, four Grammys, an MTV Video Music Award, a Billboard Century Award; won Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Into the West” in the soundtrack of the film The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

President Eisenhower conducts the first televised Cabinet meeting.

Elvis Costello, Grammy Award–winning singer, songwriter (“Watching the Detectives”).

RCA manufactures its first color TV set and begins mass production.

1953

Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO of Enron Corp.; convicted of multiple felony charges in 2006, relating to Enron’s financial collapse.

The first atomic cannon is fired in Nevada.

The magazine Nature publishes an article by biologists Francis Crick and James Watson, describing the “double helix” of DNA.

The USS Missouri fires on targets at Kojo, North Korea, the last time her guns fire until the Persian Gulf War of 1992.

1952

French colonial forces evacuate Hoa Binh in Indochina.

1951

A truce line between U.N. troops and North Korea is mapped out at the peace talks in Panmunjom, Korea.

In a general election, England’s Labour Party loses to Conservatives. Winston Churchill becomes prime minister, and Anthony Eden becomes foreign secretary.

Mark Hamill actor, voice actor, producer, director, writer (Luke Skywalker in Star Wars; voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series).

After a three day fight against Chinese Communist Forces, the Gloucestershire Regiment is annihilated on “Gloucester Hill,” in Korea.

The U.S. Eighth Army in Korea launches Operation Thunderbolt, a counter attack to push the Chinese Army north of the Han River.

1950

Karl Rove, White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush administration.

Scottish nationalists steal the Stone of Scone from the British coronation throne in Westminster Abbey. The 485 pound stone was recovered in April 1951.

Chinese Communist Forces launch their first-phase offensive across the Yalu River into North Korea.

President Harry Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike.

North Korea invades South Korea, beginning the Korean War.

1949

Sissy Spacek, actress; won Academy Award for Best Actress portraying country singer Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980).

Gene Simmons, singer, songwriter; member of the band Kiss, one of the top-selling bands of all time.

John Savage, actor (The Deer Hunter).

Martin Amis, English novelist (Money, Time’s Arrow).

Jamaica Kincaid, author (Annie John, Lucy).

Axis Sally, who broadcasted Nazi propaganda to U.S. troops in Europe, stands trial in the United States for war crimes.

1948

Barbara Mandrell, country singer; twice Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year (“Sleeping Single in a Double Bed”).

Alia Baha Ad-Din Touqan, Queen consort of Jordan, third wife of King Hussein of Jordan; died in a helicopter crash in 1977; Amman’s international airport is named in her honor.

The House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing.

The Soviet Union tightens its blockade of Berlin by intercepting river barges heading for the city.

1947

The Big Four meet to discuss the German and European economy.

1946

Jimmy Buffett, singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, actor (“Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise”).

Chiang Kai-shek offers a new Chinese constitution in Nanking pledging universal suffrage.

The U.S. Supreme Court grants the Oregon Indians land payment rights from the U.S. government.

Ho Chi Minh travels to France for talks on Vietnamese independence.

Jordan gains independence from Britain.

1945

Ken Stabler, pro football quarterback nicknamed “The Snake” for his ability to evade tacklers.

Noel Redding, singer, songwriter, musician; member of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Noel Redding Band and other groups.

Gail Collins, journalist; first woman to serve as editorial page editor of The New York Times.

U.S. and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on Elbe River.

1944

Prime Minister Winston Churchill goes to Athens to seek an end to the Greek civil war.

The Japanese are defeated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the world’s largest sea engagement. From this point on, the depleted Japanese Navy increasingly resorts to the suicidal attacks of Kamikaze fighters.

Michael Douglas, actor, producer; his numerous awards include two Academy Awards (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Wall Street), four Golden Globes and the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

Paris is liberated from German occupation by Free French Forces under General Jacques LeClerc.

Allied forces begin the breakthrough of German lines in Normandy.

U.S. forces destroy 135 Japanese planes in Marianas and Guam.

1943

Robert Gates, director of CIA under Pres. George H.W. Bush; Secretary of Defense (2006-11).

The Red Army retakes Smolensk from the Germans who are retreating to the Dnieper River in the Soviet Union.

The Allies complete the occupation of New Georgia.

Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini is overthrown in a coup.

U.S. troops retake the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, where they had been defeated five days before.

The last German airfield in Stalingrad is captured by the Red Army.

1942

Bob Lind, singer, songwriter who was an important influence in the 1960s folk rock movement in the US and UK (“Elusive Butterfly”).

The War Labor Board orders equal pay for women in the United States.

Aretha Franklin, American singer, the “Queen of Soul.”

1941

Free French troops occupy the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the Canadian coast.

Anne Tyler, novelist (The Accidental Tourist, Ladder of Years).

British and Soviet forces enter Iran, opening up a route to supply the Soviet Union.

The U.S. government freezes Japanese and Chinese assets.

Finland declares war on the Soviet Union.

Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers.

1940

German troops capture Kharkov and launch a new drive toward Moscow.

The first parachute wedding ceremony is performed by Rev. Homer Tomlinson at the New York City World’s Fair for Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward. The minister, bride and groom, best man, maid of honor and four musicians were all suspended from parachutes.

The United States agrees to give Britain and France access to all American warplanes.

1939

Bob James, Grammy-winning jazz musician, arranger and producer.

Finnish troops enter Soviet territory.

Shelagh Delaney, playwright (A Taste of Honey).

Germany reports four British ships sunk in the North Sea, but London denies the claim.

1938

President Franklin Roosevelt urges negotiations between Hitler and Czech President Edvard Benes over the Sudetenland.

Frederick Forsyth, author of thrillers (The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File).

Raymond Carver, American writer.

A seeing eye dog is used for the first time.

1937

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler meets with Italian Premier Benito Mussolini in Munich.

1936

Princess Alexandra, the Honourable Lady Ogilvy, youngest granddaughter of King George V and Queen Mary.

Juliet Prowse, dancer whose career spanned four decades and included work in stage, film and TV productions; (Can-Can; G.I Blues; Mona McCluskey TV series).

1935

Barbara Harris, actress.

Jesse Owens sets six world records in less than an hour in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

1934

Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss is shot and killed by Nazis.

Gloria Steinem, political activist, editor.

1933

Ian Tyson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer; performed with Ian & Sylvia and Great Speckled Bird.

Wayne Shorter, jazz saxophonist and composer.

Corazon Aquino, president of the Philippines.

1932

Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez, 1st Duke of Suarez, Grandee of Spain, Spain’s first democratically elected prime minister following Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.

Glenn Gould, concert pianist best known for his Bach interpretations.

John Gregory Dunne, novelist and journalist.

1931

Barbara Walters, television news personality and interviewer.

Fifty people are killed in riots that break out in India. Mahatma Gandhi was one of many people assaulted.

1930

An earthquake in Shizouka, Japan kills 187 people.

Sean Connery, Scottish actor famous for playing the character James Bond in the Ian Flemming movie series.

New York police rout a Communist rally at the Town Hall.

1929

Beverly Sills, opera singer.

Members of the New York Stock Exchange ask for an additional 275 seats.

1928

Bell Labs introduces a new device to end the fluttering of the television image.

1927

The Mexican congress opens land to foreign investors, reversing the 1917 ban enacted to preserve the domestic economy.

Althea Gibson, African American tennis player, the first to play at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.

Midge Decter, writer and editor.

1926

Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter.

Puccini’s opera Turandot premiers at La Scala in Milan with Arturo Toscanini conducting.

In Iran, Reza Khan is crowned Shah and chooses the name “Pahlavi.”

Poland demands a permanent seat on the League of Nations council.

1925

Sam Pollock, general manager of the National Hockey League of Canada and the USA; member of Hockey Hall of Fame; a public square in Montreal is named in his honor.

U.S. troops in Nicaragua disarm insurgents in support of the Diaz regime.

A. Phillip Randolph organizes the Sleeping Car Porters’ Union.

John Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwinian theory in school.

General Paul von Hindenburg takes office as president of Germany.

(Mary) Flannery O’Connor, novelist and short story writer.

1924

Rod Serling, screenwriter, producer; created The Twilight Zone TV series.

Greece announces the deportation of 50,000 Armenians.

1923

Transatlantic broadcasting from England to America commences for the first time.

The Teapot Dome scandal comes to public attention as Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, subcommittee chairman, reveals the findings of the past 18 months of investigation. His case will result in the conviction of Harry F. Sinclair of Mammoth Oil, and later Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall, the first cabinet member in American history to go to jail. The scandal, named for the Teapot Dome oil reserves in Wyoming, involved Fall secretly leasing naval oil reserve lands to private companies.

1921

Hirohito becomes regent of Japan.

Brian Moore, Irish novelist (The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne).

The United States, which never ratified the Versailles Treaty ending World War I, finally signs a peace treaty with Germany.

Samuel Gompers is elected head of the American Federation of Labor for the 40th time.

1920

The Greeks take 8,000 Turkish prisoners in Smyrna.

1919

Paul David, founder of the Montreal Heart Institute.

George C. Wallace, governor of Alabama and presidential candidate.

The Paris Peace Commission adopts a plan to protect nations from the influx of foreign labor.

Oregon introduces the first state tax on gasoline at one cent per gallon, to be used for road construction.

The League of Nations plan is adopted by the Allies.

1918

Anwar Sadat, Egyptian president (1970 to 1981) and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

A revolt erupts in Berlin.

Chile and Peru sever relations.

Brazil declares war on Austria.

Leonard Bernstein, conductor, composer and pianist.

Austria and Germany reject U.S. peace proposals.

1917

Ella Fitzgerald, American singer.

Anthony Burgess, English writer (A Clockwork Orange).

1916

German pilot Rudolf von Eschwege shoots down his first enemy plane, a Nieuport 12 of the Royal Naval Air Service over Bulgaria.

The National Park Service is established as part of the Department of the Interior.

1915

An allied offensive is launched in France against the German Army.

Australian and New Zealand troops land at Gallipoli in Turkey.

The first submarine disaster occurs when a U.S. F-4 sinks off the Hawaiian coast.

Alexander Graham Bell in New York and Thomas Watson in San Francisco make a record telephone transmission.

1914

German and British troops on the Western Front declare an unofficial truce to celebrate Christmas during World War I.

Joe DiMaggio, Hall of Fame baseball star who led the New York Yankees to ten World Series.

German Field Marshal Fredrich von Hindenburg calls off the Lodz offensive 40 miles from Warsaw, Poland. The Russians lose 90,000 to the Germans’ 35,000 in two weeks of fighting.

John Berryman, poet.

Russia declares that it will act to protect Serbian sovereignty.

The British House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.

Ross Lockridge, Jr., novelist (Raintree Country).

1913

Lewis Thomas, physician and author (The Lives of a Cell).

Walt Kelly, cartoonist who created the comic strip “Pogo.”

The 16th Amendment to the constitution is adopted, setting the legal basis for the income tax.

1912

Italy lands troops in Albania to protect its interests during a revolt there.

Gladys L. Presley, mother of Elvis Presley.

1911

Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico, resigns his office.

A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, a sweatshop in New York City, claims the lives of 146 workers.

1910

Alwin Nikolais, choreographer.

The 13th Dalai Lama flees from the Chinese and takes refuge in India.

1909

The first National Aeronautic Show opens at Madison Square Garden.

French aviator Louis Bleriot becomes the first man to fly across the English Channel in an airplane.

1908

Theodore Roethke, poet.

Edward R. Murrow, war correspondent and newscaster.

David Lean, British film director (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia).

1907

Cab Calloway, band leader, the first Jazz singer to sell a million records.

Johnny Hodges, jazz musician.

1906

Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer.

Alan John Percivale Taylor, English historian.

1905

Rebel battle flags that were captured during the American Civil War are returned to the South.

Adele Davis, nutritionist.

1904

J.M. Synge’s play Riders to the Sea opens in Dublin.

Two-hundred coal miners are trapped in their Pennsylvania mine after an explosion.

1903

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), novelist, essayist and critic (Animal Farm, 1984).

Marie Curie announces her discovery of radium.

1902

Henry Steele Commager, American historian who wrote the fifty-five volume Rise of the American Nation.

Eric Hoffer, American longshoreman and philosopher (The True Believer, Before the Sabbath),

1901

Japanese Prince Ito arrives in Russia to seek concessions in Korea.

1898

Gene Tunney, heavyweight boxing champion.

Bennett Cerf, publisher, founder of Random House.

The United States declares war on Spain.

1897

William Faulkner, Nobel Prize-winning writer (The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom!).

1896

Virgil Thompson, American composer (Four Saints in Three Acts, The Mother of Us All).

1895

Rudolf von Eschwege, German fighter ace in World War I.

1894

Japanese forces sink the British steamer Kowshing which was bringing Chinese reinforcements to Korea.

Meher Baba, spiritual leader.

1892

Maud Hart Lovelace, children’s author.

1889

Abel Gance, film director (Napoleon).

Igor Sikorsky, American aviation engineer who developed the first successful helicopter.

1888

Richard E. Byrd, U.S. aviator and explorer who made the first flight over the North Pole.

John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State to President Eisenhower.

1887

George Abbott, American playwright, director and producer (Three Men on a Horse, Damn Yankees).

1886

Henry (Hap) Arnold, U.S. Army Air Force general during World War II.

Philip Murray, American labor leader, founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

1882

French commander Henri Riviere seizes the citadel of Hanoi in Indochina.

Virginia Woolf, English author (Mrs. Dalloway and Orlando).

1881

Pablo Picasso, painter and sculptor or over 6,000 works.

Crystal Eastman, suffragist.

1880

Morris Raphael Cohen, American philosopher and mathematician.

1879

Japan invades the kingdom of Liuqiu (Ryukyu) Islands, formerly a vassal of China.

1878

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, tap dancer.

1876

Colonel Ronald MacKenzie destroys Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife‘s village, in the Bighorn Mountains near the Red Fork of the Powder River, during the so-called Great Sioux War.

General George A. Custer and over 260 men of the Seventh Cavalry are wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians at Little Bighorn in Montana.

1875

“”Captain” Matthew Webb becomes the first man to swim across the English Channel.

1874

Guglielmo Marconi, Italian physicist, inventor of the radio.

1873

Walter de la Mare, poet and novelist (Memoir of a Midget, Come Hither).

Howard R. Garis, children’s writer.

Enrico Caruso, Italian opera tenor.

1870

Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-born founder of the Spartacus League which later became the German Communist Party.

1868

The U.S. Congress enacts legislation granting an eight-hour day to workers employed by the federal government.

Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor.

1867

President Andrew Johnson signs an act creating the territory of Wyoming.

Tokyo is opened for foreign trade.

Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore.

1865

Confederate forces capture Fort Stedman, during the siege of Petersburg, Va.

General Joseph E. Johnston replaces John Bell Hood as Commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

1864

Confederate General A.P. Hill pushes back Union General Winfield Scott Hancock from Reams Station where his army has spent several days destroying railroad tracks.

Union troops surrounding Petersburg, Virginia, begin building a mine tunnel underneath the Confederate lines.

After facing defeat in the Red River Campaign, Union General Nathaniel Bank returns to Alexandria, Louisiana.

1863

Union ends the siege of Chattanooga with the Battle of Missionary Ridge.

1862

President and Mrs. Lincoln visit hospitals in the Washington D.C. area on this Christmas Day.

John Hunt Morgan and his raiders clash with Union forces near Bear Wallow, Kentucky.

Union and Confederate troops skirmish at Waterloo Bridge, Virginia, during the Second Bull Run Campaign.

The first day of the Seven Days’ campaign begins with fighting at Oak Grove, Virginia.

Admiral David Farragut occupies New Orleans, Louisiana.

Confederate troops abandon Nashville, Tennessee, in the face of Grant‘s advance. The ironclad Monitor is commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

1861

Stonewall Jackson spends Christmas with his wife; their last together.

The Crittenden Resolution, calling for the American Civil War to be fought to preserve the Union and not for slavery, is passed by Congress.

1859

Work begins on the Suez Canal in Egypt.

1857

Gustave Flaubert goes on trial for public immorality regarding his novel, Madame Bovary.

1856

Charles Lang Freer, U.S. art collector.

1854

During the Crimean War, a brigade of British light infantry is destroyed by Russian artillery as they charge down a narrow corridor in full view of the Russians.

1853

David Belasco, actor, playwright and producer.

1851

Jose Justo de Urquiza of Argentina leads a rebellion against Juan Manuel de Rosas, his former ally.

1850

Gold is discovered in the Rogue River in Oregon, extending the quest for gold up the Pacific coast.

1848

Arthur James Balfour, Prime Minister of England (1902-1905).

1847

Vinnie Ream, who sculpted President Abraham Lincoln from life shortly before he was assassinated.

1846

American General Zachary Taylor’s forces capture Monterey, Mexico.

The dreaded Corn Laws, which taxed imported oats, wheat and barley, are repealed by the British Parliament.

1845

China grants Belgium equal trading rights with Britain, France and the United States.

1844

Carl Benz, pioneer of early motor cars.

Thomas Eakins, American painter.

1841

Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross.

Pierre Auguste Renoir, French painter and founder of the French Impressionist movement.

1839

William Bell Wait, educator of the blind.

1838

Georges Bizet, composer, best known for his opera Carmen.

1836

Samuel Colt patents the first revolving cylinder multi-shot firearm.

1831

The Polish army halts the Russian advance into their country at the Battle of Grochow.

1830

The “Tom Thumb” steam locomotive runs its famous race with a horse-drawn car. The horse wins because the engine, which had been ahead, breaks down.

1825

Johann Strauss, composer.

1815

Napoleon leaves his exile on the island of Elba, returning to France.

1814

British and American forces fight each other to a standoff at Lundy’s Lane, Canada.

1813

The frigate USS Essex flies the first U.S. flag in battle in the Pacific.

1810

Argentina declares independence from Napoleonic Spain.

1807

British Parliament abolishes the slave trade.

1804

The 12th Amendment is ratified, changing the procedure of choosing the president and vice-president.

Thomas Jefferson is nominated for president at the Democratic-Republican caucus.

1803

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher.

1799

On his way back from Syria, Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Ottomans at Aboukir, Egypt.

1797

John Winebrenner, U.S. clergyman who founded the Church of God.

1792

The guillotine is first used to execute highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier.

1791

President George Washington signs a bill creating the Bank of the United States.

1789

Congress proposes 12 new amendments to the Constitution.

1787

The Constitutional convention opens at Philadelphia with George Washington presiding.

Small farmers in Springfield, Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays, revolt against tax laws. Federal troops break up the protesters of what becomes known as Shay’s Rebellion.

1781

American General Nathaniel Greene crosses the Dan River on his way to attack Cornwallis.

1779

The British surrender the Illinois country to George Rogers Clark at Vincennes.

1776

Patriot General George Washington crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 troops during the American Revolution. Washington hoped to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Christmas at their winter quarters in Trenton, New Jersey.

The Continental Congress authorizes a medal for General George Washington.

1775

British troops capture Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, when he and a handful of Americans try to invade Canada.

1767

Mexican Indians riot as Jesuit priests are ordered home.

Joachim Murat, Napoleon‘s brother-in-law who became King of Naples in 1808.

1765

In protest over the stamp tax, American colonists sack and burn the home of Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson.

1760

George III of England crowned.

1759

British forces defeat a French army at Fort Niagara in Canada.

Robert Burns, Scottish poet (“Auld Lang Syne,” “Comin’ Thru the Rye.”)

1758

The Prussian army defeats the invading Russians at the Battle of Zorndorf.

1719

Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe is published in London.

1707

At the Battle of Almansa, Franco-Spanish forces defeat the Anglo-Portugese forces.

1668

The first horse race in America takes place.

1658

Aurangzeb proclaims himself emperor of the Moghuls in India.

1655

Puritans jail Governor Stone after a military victory over Catholic forces in the colony of Maryland.

1651

The General Court of Boston levies a five shilling fine on anyone caught “observing any such day as Christmas.”

1644

The Ming Chongzhen emperor commits suicide by hanging himself.

1642

Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and scientist who enunciated the laws of motion and the law of gravity.

Dutch settlers slaughter lower Hudson Valley Indians in New Netherland, North America, who sought refuge from Mohawk attackers.

1634

Lord Baltimore founds the Catholic colony of Maryland.

1621

The governor of New Plymouth prevents newcomers from playing cards.

1601

Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex and former favorite of Elizabeth I, is beheaded in the Tower of London for high treason.

1599

Oliver Cromwell, lord protector of England (1653-1658).

1598

In Sweden, King Sigismund is defeated at Stangebro by his uncle Charles.

1590

The Sultan of Morocco launches a successful attack to capture Timbuktu.

1587

Hideyoshi bans Christianity in Japan and orders all Christians to leave.

1570

Pope Pius V issues the bull Regnans in Excelsis which excommunicates Queen Elizabeth of England.

1564

Maximilian II becomes emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

1533

Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn.

1415

An English army under Henry V defeats the French at Agincourt, France. The French had out numbered Henry’s troops 60,000 to 12,000 but British longbows turned the tide of the battle.

1396

The last great Christian crusade, led jointly by John the Fearless of Nevers and King Sigismund of Hungary, ends in disaster at the hands of Sultan Bayezid I’s Ottoman army at Nicopolis.

1394

Charles VI of France issues a decree for the general expulsion of Jews from France.

1346

Edward III of England defeats Philip VI’s army at the Battle of Crecy in France.

1284

Edward II, king of England (1307-1327).

1214

Louis IX, king of France (1226-1270).

1085

Alfonso VI takes Toledo, Spain from the Muslims.

1066

William I is crowned king of England.

841

Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat Lothar at Fontenay.

800

The pope crowns Charlemagne emperor in Rome.

708

Constantine begins his reign as Catholic Pope.

585

Thales of Greece makes the first known prediction of a solar eclipse.

376

In Milan, Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, forces the emperor Theodosius to perform public penance for his massacre.

357

Julian Caesar defeats the Alamanni at Strasbourg in Gaul.

326

Emperor Constantine refuses to carry out traditional pagan sacrifices.

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