Today in History

Today in History

1261 Constantinople falls to Michael VIII of Nicea and his army.

1385 John of Portugal defeats John of Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota.

1598 Hugh O’Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, leads an Irish force to victory over the British at Battle of Yellow Ford.

1760 Frederick II defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Liegnitz.

1864 The Confederate raider Tallahassee captures six Federal ships off New England.

1872 The first ballot voting in England is conducted.

1914 The Panama Canal opens to traffic.

1935 American comedian and “cowboy philosopher” Will Rogers dies in an airplane accident, along with American aviation pioneer Wiley Post.

1942 The Japanese submarine I-25 departs Japan with a floatplane in its hold which will be assembled upon arriving off the West Coast of the United States, and used to bomb U.S. forests.

1944 American, British and French forces land on the southern coast of France, between Toulon and Cannes, in Operation Dragoon.

1945 Gasoline and fuel oil rationing ends in the United States.

1947 Britain grants independence to India and Pakistan.

1950 Two U.S. divisions are badly mauled by the North Korean Army at the Battle of the Bowling Alley in South Korea, which rages on for five more days.

1969 Over 400,000 young people attend a weekend of rock music at Woodstock, New York.

1971 US President Richard Nixon announces a 90day freeze on wages and prices in an attempt to halt rapid inflation.

1986 Ignoring objections from President Ronald Reagan‘s Administration, US Senate approves economic sanctions against South Africa to protest that country’s apartheid policies.

1994 US Social Security Administration, previously part of the Department of Health and Human Services, becomes an independent government agency.

1994 Infamous terrorist Carlos the Jackal captured in Khartoum, Sudan.

2001 Astronomers announce the first solar system discovered outside our own; two planets had been found orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.

2007 An earthquake of 8.0 magnitude kills over 500 and injures more than 1,000 in Peru.

Born

1769 Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France

(1804-1815) and military leader.

1771 Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist who wrote Ivanhoe and Rob Roy.

1888 T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia for his military exploits against the Turks in World War I.

1912 Julia Child, American chef and television personality.

1924 Robert Bolt, English screenwriter and playwright best known for A Man for all Seasons.

1938 Maxine Waters, congresswoman from California, second African-American woman to be elected to congress.

1938 Stephen Breyer, US Supreme Court justice.

1946 Jimmy Webb, songwriter (“MacArthur Park,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”).

1961 Ed Gilllespie, US Republican political strategist and White House counsel to President George W. Bush.

1964 Melinda French Gates, businesswoman, philanthropist; co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband, Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft).

1965 Rob Thomas, television writer (Veronica Mars, 90210).

History