TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Tuesday, December 31, 2019

On this day in history:

1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from France for the Cape of Good Hope, where they would later create the South African wine industry with the vines they took with them on the voyage.

1695 - The window tax was imposed in Britain, which resulted in many windows being bricked up.

1711 - The Duke of Marlborough was dismissed as commanderin-chief.

1775 - The British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec. Montgomery was killed in the battle.

1790 - Enough barley is harvested in the penal colony of New South Wales to alleviate impending starvation.

1857 - Britain’s Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.

1914 - The second convoy of AIF troops departs Albany, Western Australia, to fight in World War I.

1923 - In London, the BBC first broadcast the chimes of Big Ben.

1960 - The farthing coin, which had been in use in Great Britain since the 13th century, ceased to be legal tender.

1964 - Donald Campbell breaks the world water speed record.

1986 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killed 97 and injured 140 people. Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the fire.

1990 - Titleholder Gary Kasparov of the USSR won the world chess championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.

1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was designated acting president.

1999 - Sarah Knauss died at the age of 119 years. She was the world’s oldest person. She was born September 24, 1880.

Birthdays Henri Matisse 1869 Anthony Hopkins 1937 Sarah Miles 1941 Andy Summers (Police) 1942 Ben Kingsley 1943 Donna Summer 1948 Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith) 1951