This Day In History
221- Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself Emperor of Shu-Han, claiming legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty
351- Constantius II elevates his cousin Gallus to Caesar, and puts him in charge of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
493- Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, murders King Odoacer of Italy with his sword at a banquet in Ravenna
933- Battle of Riade: German King Henry I beats Magyars
1311- Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece. 1493- Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first voyage to the New World
1526- French Dauphin Francis and his brother Henry exchanged as hostages for their father Francis I, beginning of four years of captivity in Spain under the Treaty of Madrid
1580- Spanish King Philip II puts 25,000 gold coins on head of Prince William I of Orange
1672- King Charles II of England enacts the Declaration of Indulgence in an unsuccessful attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms
1744- French King Louis XV declares war on Britain
1781- Battle of Guilford Court House; British troops under Cornwallis defeat American forces but their heavy losses led to ceding of territory and a strategic loss
1812 - 1st Russian settlement in California, Russian River
1889 - 6 US & German warships sunk bu a typhoon in harbor of Apia, Samoa, 200 die
1892 - 1st escalator patented by inventor Jesse W Reno (NYC)
1913 - 1st US presidential press conference (Woodrow Wilson)
1922 - France, which up until now has insisted on currency for all WWI reparation payments from Germany, now accepts raw materials as payment
1928 - Benito Mussolini modifies Italy electoral system (abolishes right to choose)
193 0 - 1st streamlined submarine of US navy, USS Nautilus, launched
1933 - NAACP begins coordinated attack on segregation & discrimination
1937 - 1st blood bank forms (Chicago IL)
1939 - Hitler occupies Bohemia & Moravia (Czechoslovakia); Slovakia independent
1943 - Allied reconnaissance flight over Java 1943 Red Army evacuates Kharkov
1946 - British Prime Minister Clement Attlee agrees with India’s right to independence
1951 - Persia nationalizes Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
1955 - US Air Force unveils self-guided missile 1957 - Great Britain becomes the third nation to explode a nuclear bomb
1962 - Five research groups announce the discovery of anti-matter
1964 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1967 - Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT)headquarter moves to Brunssum
1967 - Marshal Arturo da Costa e Silva sworn in as President of Brazil
1968 - Uprising in South Yemen
1969 - Violent Chinese-Russian border dispute leaves 100s dead
1972 - Danish airliner hit mountain in Sheikdom of Oman killing 112
1972 - NASA selects 3 part configuration for Space Shuttle
1976 - Failed coup in Niger
1977 - US House of Representatives begins 90 day test of televising its sessions