Today in History

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2011

Today is Friday, December 30, the 364th day of 2011. There are one day left in the year. 1621 ― English king James I cracks Protestation of Parliament 1911 ― Sun Yat-sen elected first President of Republic of China 1927 ― Japan dedicates first subway in the Orient (route under 2 miles long) 1938 ― Electronic television system patented by V. K. Zworykin 1950 ― Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia become independent states in France Union 1972 ― President Nixon halts bombing of North Vietnam and announces peace talks 1973 ― First picture of a comet from space (Comet Kohoutek-Skylab) 1974 ― Beatles are legally disbanded (four years after suit was brought) 1988 ― Canadian Senate OK's free trade pact; with U.S. 1993 ― Vatican recognizes Israel

Dec 29, 2011

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Today is Thursday, December 29, the 363rd day of 2011. There are two days left in the year. 1851 ― First Young Men's Christian Association chapter opened (Boston) 1852 ― Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants 1862 ― Bowling ball invented 1885 ― Gottlieb Daimler patents first bike (Germany) 1891 ― Edison patents ``transmission of signals electrically" (radio) 1948 ― U.S. State Department announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit 1983 ― U.S. announces withdrawal from UNESCO 1989 ― Vaclav Havel becomes President of Czechoslovakia 1997 ― Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu 1997 ― Russia signs agreement to build a $3-billion nuclear power plant in China

Dec 28, 2011

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2011

Today is Wednesday, December 28, the 362nd day of 2011. There are three days left in the year. 1065 ― Westminster Abbey opens in London 1849 ― M. Jolly-Bellin discovers dry-cleaning; he accidentally upset lamp containing turpentine and oil on his clothing, and sees cleaning effect 1895 ― World's first movie theater opens in Paris 1904 ― first daily wireless weather forecasts published (London) 1948 ― U.S. announced a study to launch an Earth satellite 1950 ― Chinese troops cross 38th Parallel into South Korea 1958 ― What might be called greatest NFL game, Colts beat Giants 23-17 1968 ― 100,000 attend Miami Pop Festival 1972 ― Kim Il-sung becomes President of North Korea 1973 ― Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes ``Gulag Archipelago"

Dec 27, 2011

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2011

Today is Tuesday, December 27, the 361st day of 2011. There are four days left in the year. 1825 ― First public railroad using steam locomotive completed in England 1831 ― Darwin begins his voyage to South America on board the HMS Beagle 1845 ― Ether first used in childbirth in U.S., Jefferson,Ga.1927 ― Stalin's faction wins All-Union Congress in USSR, Trotsky expelled 1934 ― Shah of Persia declares Persia now Iran 1945 ― International Monetary Fund established and World Bank founded 1970 ― ``Hello, Dolly!" closes at St. James Theater, NYC, after 2,844 performances 1972 ― New North Korean Constitution comes into effect 1979 ― Soviet troops invade Afghanistan, President Hafizullah Amin overthrown 1992 ― ``Les Miserables" opens at Ostregaswerks, Copenhagen

Dec 26, 2011

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

Today is Monday, December 26, the 360th day of 2011. There are five days left in the year. 1831 ― Vincenzo Bellini's opera ``Norma" premieres in Milan 1877 ― Socialist Labor Party of North America holds first national convention 1902 ― Most knock downs in a fight, Oscar Nelson (five) and Christy Williams (42) 1926 ― Prince-regent Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan 1933 ― U.S. forswears armed intervention in the Western Hemisphere 1935 ― Stalin views Dmitri Shostakovich's opera ``Lady Macbeth" 1944 ― Tennessee Williams' play ``Glass Menagerie" premieres in Chicago 1963 ― Beatles release ``I Want To Hold Your Hand"/``I Saw Her Standing There" 1973 ― ``The Exorcist," starring Linda Blair, and rated X, premieres 1982 ― TIME's Man of the Year is a computer

Dec 25, 2011

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2011

Today is Saturday, December 24, the 358th day of 2011. There are seven days left in the year. 1798 ― Russia and England sign Second Anti-French Coalition 1814 ― Treaty of Ghent (end of the War of 1812) signed 1818 ― ``Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; sung for first time the next day 1865 ― Several Confederate veterans form the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tenn. 1870 ― Giusseppi Verdi's ``Aida" premieres at Cairo Opera, one year after the opening of the Suez Canal, for which it was commissioned 1920 ― Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York City) 1943 ― FDR appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces 1951 ― United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via the U.N. 1986 ― Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab 1991 ― Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Soviet Union

Dec 23, 2011

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2011

Today is Friday, December 23, the 357th day of 2011. There are eight days left in the year. 1690 ― John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it's undiscovered 1867 ― First self-made millionairess (Sarah Breedlove, with hair straightener) 1888 ― Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear 1893 ― The opera ``Hansel und Gretel" is produced (Weimar) 1947 ― Transistor invented by Bardeen, Brattain & Shockley in Bell Labs 1962 ― Cuba starts returning U.S. prisoners from the Bay of Pigs invasion 1968 ― 82 members of U.S. intelligence ship ``Pueblo' released by North Korea 1970 ― New York World Trade Center reaches highest point (411 m) 1983 ― Journal Science publishes first report on nuclear winter 1997 ― Woody Allen, 62, weds Soon-Yi Previn 27, adopted daughter of Mia Farrow

Dec 22, 2011

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2011

Today is Thursday, December 22, the 356th day of 2011. There are nine days left in the year. 1870 ― Jules Janssen flies in a balloon in order to study a solar eclipse 1882 ― First string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison 1894 ― French officer Alfred Dreyfus court-martialed for treason, triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism (Dreyfus later vindicated) 1919 ― U.S. deports 250 alien radicals, including anarchist Emma Goldman 1963 ― Official 30-day mourning period for President John F. Kennedy ends 1984 ― Madonna's ``Like a Virgin" single goes No. 1 for six weeks 1989 ― After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Nicolae Ceausescu 1990 ― Lech Walesa sworn in as Poland's first popularly elected president 1992 ― Libyan MIG-23UB attacks Boeing 727 at Souk al-Sabt, 158 die 1994 ― Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi resigns

Dec 21, 2011

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2011

Today is Wednesday, December 21, the 355th day of 2011. There are 10 days left in the year. 1620 ― 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock 1898 ― Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium 1910 ― Explosion in coal mine in Hulton, England, 344 mine workers dies 1913 ― First crossword puzzle (with 32 clues) printed in New York World 1925 ― Eisenstein's movie ``Potemkin” premieres in Moscow 1958 ― Charles De Gaulle wins seven-year term as first President of 5th Republic of France 1968 ― David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash premiere together in California 1989 ― Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's final speech (he is executed 12/25) 1991 ― Soviet Union formally dissolves 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States 1991 ― U.S. actress Jane Fonda marries CNN-director Ted Turner

Dec 20, 2011

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2011

Today is Tuesday, December 20, the 354th day of 2011. There are 11 days left in the year. 1621 ― English parliament accept unanimously, Protestation 1777 ― First national Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Burgoyne's surrender 1799 ― George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon 1839 ― First celestial photograph (the moon) made in U.S., John Draper, New York City 1892 ― Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet ``Nutcracker Suite" premieres 1960 ― General Meeting of United Nations condemns apartheid 1969 ― Britain abolishes death penalty 1971 ― First Candlelight Processional 1972 ― U.S. begins its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam 1996 ― TV industry executives agree to adopt a ratings system

Dec 19, 2011

386 387 388 389 390