This Day In History
1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire. 1158 - Vladislav II of Bohemia becomes king 1599 - Jacob van Neck's fleet leaves Bantam, Java in modern day Indonesia with 1 million pounds of pepper and cloves and a further half a ship full of nutmeg, mace and cinnamon 1693 - Mt Etna in Sicily erupts with estimated 7.4 magnitude, most power Italian earthquake, killing around about 60,000 1787 - Titania & Oberon, moons of Uranus, discovered by William Herschel. 1838 - 1st public demonstration of telegraph message sent using dots & dashes at Speedwell Ironworks, Morristown, New Jersey by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail. 1861 - Mexico City captured by Juarez (Lib) in War of Reform 1861 - Alabama secedes from the Union (US Civil War) 1865 - Battle of Beverly, West Virginia, Confederate forces attack Union post. 1879 - Zulu war against British colonial rule in South Africa begins. 1923 - French & Belgian troops occupy Ruhr to collect reparations. 1924 - A republic is proclaimed in Greece; King George II is deposed and Eleutherios Venizelo is named Prime Minister of the Greek National Assembly. 1942 - Japan conquers Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. 1943 - US & Britain relinquish extraterritorial rights in China. 1959 - Hanif Mohammad completes 499 runs for Karachi, then 1st class cricket world record. 1964 - Panama ends diplomatic relations with US. 1972 - East-Pakistan becomes independent state of Bangladesh 1978- Soyuz 27 links with Salyut 6 & Soyuz 26 (1st time 3 spacecraft link) 1984- NASA space shuttle STS 41-B moves to launch pad 1989- 140 nations agree to ban chemical weapons (poison gas, etc) 1990- 200,000 demand return of Lithuania's independence 1991- Soviets storm buildings in Vilnius to block Lithuania independence 1992- Algeria's President Chadli announces his resignation 1993- British Airways ends one of the longest libel actions in its history 1993- Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot publicly returns to politics 1994- Hyderabad score 6 for 944 against Andhra Pradesh in Ranji Trophy 1994- Irish government announces end of a 20-year broadcasting ban on IRA 1996- Haiti becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty 1996- Space Shuttle STS 72 (Endeavour 10), launches into space 1997- Telstar 401 Satellite Fails 2003- Washington right wing Jaromír Jágr scores his 10th career hat-trick and adds 4 assists for 7 points and his 1,200th NHL point in a 12-2 win against Florida; Jágr has 20+ goals in each of his 13 NHL seasons 2013- 29 people are killed and 12 are injured after a bus veers off a mountain road in Doti, Nepal 2013- 46 people are killed and 12 are missing after a landslide buries a village in the Yunnan province, China 2016- FIFA Ballon d'Or: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wins his record 5th award with 41.33% of the votes; American midfielder Carli Lloyd is Women's World Player of the Year 2018- In China's first significant #MeToo moment Beihang University in Beijing fires a professor for sexual misconduct 2018 US President Donald Trump causes worldwide controversy when it is reported he called African countries "shitholes" during immigration meeting