This Day In History
475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. 1296 - Earl Floris V signs accord with French King 1317 - Phillips V, the Tall, crowned king of France 1431 - Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government 1493 - 1st sight of manatees by Christopher Columbus 1558 - Geneva becomes independent from Berne canton, Switzerland 1718 - France declares war on Spain 1760 - Afghans defeat Marathas in battle of Barari Ghat 1792 - Russia & Turkey sign Peace of Jassy 1812 - Swedish Pomerania (Germany) seized by Napoleon 1862 - The first petroleum shipment (1,329 barrels) from the U.S. to Europe arrives at Victoria Docks, London, England aboard the Elizabeth Watts 1878 - Umberto I becomes King of Italy. 1879 - Kirland Warbler discovered on Andros Island in Bahamas 1880 The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow 1894- New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts. 1912 - US Marines send troops to Honduras 1916 - The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Çanakkale, as the last British troops evacuated 1917 - World War I: the Battle of Rafa occurs near the Egyptian border with Palestine. 1930 - Albert Kahn Associates architectural firm become consulting architects for all industrial construction in the Soviet Union 1936 - Semi-automatic rifles adopted by US army 1942 - US Joint Chiefs of Staff created 1943 - Japanese government in Java limits sale & use of motorcars 1952 Karel Sys wins European heavyweight boxing title 1957 Karachayevo-Cherkess Autonomous Region reestablished in RSFSR 1960 - Building of Aswan dam in Egypt, begins 1968 - Surveyor 7 space probe soft lands on Moon 1969 - First trial flight of Concorde supersonic jetliner, Bristol, England 1969 - Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill travels to London to meet Home Secretary James Callaghan and brief him on the growing violence in Northern Ireland 1973 - Luna 21 launched, to Moon 1975 - Australia beat England by 171 runs in 4th Test to regain Ashes 1986 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak must give up its instant camera business. 1987 - Chinese Vietnamese border fights, 1,500 killed 1990 - 64th US manned space mission STS 32 (Columbia 10) launches into orbit 1998 Anatoly Solovyov & Pavel Vinogradov spacewalk record 3 hrs 8 mins 2001 - Shenzhou 2, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft, is launched. 2001 - Apple announced iTunes at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, for organizing and playing digital music and videos 2005 - The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, commonly known as the Naivasha Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya. 2005 - Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh. 2005- The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, commonly known as the Naivasha Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya. 2007- Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs announces the iPhone