Today in History

Today in History

538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius

1550 – Several hundred Spanish and indigenous troops under the command of Pedro de Valdivia defeat an army of 60,000 Mapuche at the Battle of Penco during the Arauco War in present-day Chile

1622 – Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus, are canonized by the Roman Catholic Church

1689 – The Williamite War in Ireland begins.

1811 – Peninsular War: Aday after a successful rearguard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delayed the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha

1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as a US Navy fleet of 13 Ironclads and 7 Gunboats and other support ships enter the Red River

1881 – Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain.

1885 – Tonkin Campaign: France captures the citadel of B?c Ninh.

1894 – Coca-Cola is bottled and sold for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local soda fountain operator Joseph A. Biedenharn.

1912 – The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States.

1913 – Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra. (Melbourne remains temporary capital until 1927 while the new capital is still under construction.) 1918 – Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for 215 years.

1920 – The Kapp Putsch begins when the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt is ordered to march on Berlin.

1921 – ‹stiklâl Marfl› is adopted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

1922 – Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan form the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.

1928 – In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill 431 people.

1930 – Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 200mile march to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt in India

1933 – Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his 'fireside chats'.

1934 – Konstantin Päts and General Johan Laidoner stage a coup in Estonia, and ban all political parties.

1938 – Anschluss: German troops occupy and absorb Austria.

1940 – Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and the remaining population are immediately evacuated.

1942 – World War II: Pacific War: The Battle of Java ends with an ABDACOM surrender to the Japanese Empire in Bandung, West Java, Dutch East Indies.

1943 – Italian occupation of Greece: The Italian occupying forces abandon the town of Karditsa to the partisans. On the same day, an Italian motorized column razes the village of Tsaritsani, burning 360 of its 600 houses and shooting 40 civilians.

1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.

History