THURSDAY, Jan. 23, 2025

1368-In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang, aged 40, ascends to the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries

1789-Georgetown, first U.S. Catholic college, founded

1849-Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in the US to earn a medical degree graduating from New York's Geneva Medical College

1913-The 'Young Turks' lead a coup d'etat against the Turkish Government, assassinating Minister of War Nazim Pasha

1924-After Stanley Baldwin's resignation, Ramsay MacDonald forms Britain's first Labour Government, climaxing 24 years of struggle by the Labour Party

1937-Karl Radek and sixteen others go on trial in Moscow as part of the Great Purge, many are sentenced to death

1950-Israeli Knesset resolves Jerusalem is capital of Israel

1957-Indian nationalist V. K. Krishna Menon begins the longest ever speech defending India's stand on Kashmir at the U.N. - 8 hours over 2 days

1973-U.S. President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end the Vietnam War

1991-World's largest oil spill, caused by embattled Iraqi forces in Kuwait

2001-The Chinese Communist Party stages a self-immolation in Tiananmen Square to frame Falun Gong and escalate the persecution.