This Day In History
46 BC- Julius Caesar defeats Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina 871- Battle at Reading: Ethelred of Wessex defeated by Danish invasion army 1490- Anna of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the king of France will be considered guilty of the crime of lese-majesty. 1642- King Charles I with 400 soldiers attacks the English parliament 1656- Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, laden with gold and jewellery bound for Spain, sinks off the coast of the Bahamas, only 45 of 650 people survive (most eaten by sharks) 1698- Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire 1717 - Netherlands, Great Britain & France sign Triple Alliance 1754- Columbia University founded, as Kings College (NYC) 1847- Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government 1854- The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang 1863- Four wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton in New York 1878- Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule. 1894- France ratifies Duple Alliance with Russia 1902- The French Panama Canal Company offers to sell its right to build a canal to the US for 40 million, tipping the balance away from those favoring a canal through Nicaragua 1906- South Africa beat England by one wicket, their 1st Test win 1912- Smallest earth-moon distance this century, 356,375 km center-to-ctr 1915- Trans-Caucausus Russian defeat Turkish troops 1932- British Viceroy of India Lord Willingdon arrests Indian independence leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru 1945- Germans execute resistance fighters in Amsterdam 1948- Burma declares independence from UK 1951- Korean War: Chinese forces recapture Seoul 1958 Sputnik 1 reenters atmosphere & burns up 1959- USSR's Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes the 1st spacecraft to leave Earth's gravity 1963- Soviet Luna (4) reaches Earth orbit but fails to reach Moon 1970- More than 15,000 people are killed in Tonghai County, China after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake 1989- George H. W. Bush is 1st sitting Vice President since Millard Filmore (in 1850) to declare himself President of the United States 1989- US F-14s shoot down 2 Libyan jet fighters over Mediterranean 1991- Iraq agrees to send Aziz to Geneva to meet Baker on Jan 9th 1991 Jan Krzystof Bielecki becomes premier of Poland 1998 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria: over 170 are killed in three remote villages. 1998 A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction. 1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota. 1999 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque, killing 16 people and injuring 25. 2000 - After 2 months, Catherine Hartley and Fiona Thornewill, reach the South Poll, the same day as Sir Edmund Hillary 48 years before. 2000 - 19 are killed after two trains collide in Asta, Norway. 2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC. 2004 - Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia. 2006 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.