TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2018

On this day in history:

1520 - Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict. The papacy demanded that he recant or face excommunication. Luther refused and was formally expelled from the church in January 1521.

1768 - The Royal Academy of Arts was founded in London by George III. Joshua Reynolds was its first president.

1845 - British civil engineer Robert Thompson patented the first pneumatic tires.

1859 - Today is Proclamation Day, marking Queensland's official separation from New South Wales.

1878 - Bushranger Ned Kelly robs the Euroa bank.

1901 - The first Nobel prizes were awarded.

1919 - Brothers Ross and Keith Smith win the Australian air race to fly from England to Australia in under 30 days.

1941 - Japan invaded the Philippines.

1941 - The Royal Naval battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Battle of Malaya.

1948 - The United Nations General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

1953 - Hugh Hefner published the first Playboy magazine with an investment of $7600.

1964 - In Oslo, Norway, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest person to receive the award.

1982 - The Law of the Sea Convention was signed by 118 countries in Montego Bay, Jamaica. 23 nations and the U.S. were excluded.

1983 - Raul Alfonsin was inaugurated as Argentina’s first civilian president after nearly eight years of military rule.

1984 - South African Bishop Desmond Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize.

1994 - Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin received the Nobel Peace Prize. They pledged to pursue their mission of healing the Middle East.

1996 - South Africa’s President Mandela signed into law a new democratic constitution, completing the country’s transition from white-minority rule to a non-racial democracy.