On This Day In History
Did You Know?
Three genetic studies published in “Nature” conclude all non-Africans descended from one migration out of Africa 50-80,000 years ago
Today in History in 2016
Would You Believe?
Genomic study finding Australian Aboriginal oldest known civilisation on earth published in “Nature”
Today in History in 2016
September 22nd
1692 Last people hanged for witchcraft (8) in the US, 19 hanged overall, with six other deaths during Salem Witch Trials
1792 French First Republic formed by the National Convention, stripping the French king of his powers
1862 US President Abraham Lincoln issues preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, threatening to free all enslaved people in the rebel southern states if those states fail to re-join the Union by January 1, 1863 [1]
1965 India and Pakistan cease-fire goes into effect, ending the Indo-Pakistani War
1980 Iraq invades Iran in an attempt to control the Shatt al-Arab waterway
Did You Know?
Robert Walpole becomes the first British “Prime Minister” (actually First Lord of the Treasury) to live at 10 Downing Street
Today in History in 1735
Would You Believe?
Benjamin Franklin publishes a hoax letter “An Edict by the King of Prussia” in the Public Advertiser, criticising Britain’s colonial policies in the American colonies
Today in History in 1773
September 23rd
1122 Concordat of Worms agreed between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V
1821 Fall of Tripolitsa, Greek forces massacre 30,000 Turks during Greek War of Independence
1862 Otto von Bismarck appointed Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Prussia by King Wilhelm I
1884 American Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine, the beginning of data processing
1889 Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda
1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders US troops to support integration of nine black students at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas
2018 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches “Modicare”, free heathcare for 500 million, world’s biggest healthcare program
Did You Know?
The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox (“Phoenix 0.1”) is released
Today in History in 2002
Would You Believe?
Time capsule, to be opened in 6939, buried at World’s Fair in NYC (capsule contained a woman’s hat, man’s pipe & 1,100′ of microfilm)
Today in History in 1938
September 24th
1180 Manuel I Komnenos, last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration dies. The Byzantine Empire slips into terminal decline.
1493 Christopher Columbus embarks on his second expedition to the New World, setting sail with a fleet of 17 ships
1789 US Federal Judiciary Act passes, creating a six-person Supreme Court
1869 Black Friday; Wall St panic after Gould & Fisk attempt to corner gold
1877 Battle of Shiroyama, decisive victory of the Imperial Japanese Army over the Satsuma Rebellion
1950 Operation Magic Carpet concludes after having transported 45,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel
1994 National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various others to help fight against dictatorship in Myanmar
Did You Know?
The President of the Latter-day Saints Wilford Woodruff issues a manifesto advising members that the teaching and practice of polygamy should be abandoned
Today in History in 1890
Would You Believe?
1st autopsy and coroner’s jury verdict is recorded in Maryland
Today in History in 1657
September 25th
1066 Battle of Stamford Bridge: English army under King Harold II defeat invading Norwegians led by King Harald Hardrada and Harold’s brother Tostig, who were both killed
1237 Treaty of York signed between kings Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland which establishes a boundary between the two countries (mostly unchanged in modern times)
1513 Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crosses the Panama Isthmus becoming first European to see the Pacific Ocean
1789 US Congress proposes the Bill of Rights
1906 Leonardo Torres Quevedo successfully demonstrates the Telekino at Bilbao before a great crowd, guiding a boat from the shore, considered the birth of the remote control
1926 Henry Ford announces an 8 hour, 5-day work week for workers at the Ford Motor Company
1981 Sandra Day O’Connor sworn in as the 1st female US Supreme Court Justice
Did You Know?
Andorra and Germany sign a treaty ending World War I, as Versailles Peace Treaty forgot to include Andorra
Today in History in 1939
Would You Believe?
British physician Dr. Charles Drysdale warns against the use of tobacco in a letter to The Times newspaper in one of the earliest public health announcements on the dangers of smoking
Today in History in 1878
September 26th
1580 Francis Drake completes circumnavigation of the world, sailing into Plymouth aboard the Golden Hind
1687 Acropolis in Athens attacked by Venetian army trying to eject Turks, damaging the Parthenon
1687 City council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange’s invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution
1815 Russia, Prussia and Austria sign the Holy Alliance
1901 Great Britain annexes the Ashanti Kingdom and places it under the governor of the Gold Coast (Ghana)
1918 Beginning of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, more than 1 million American soldiers in the largest and most costly offensive of WWI
Did You Know?
Cuban leader Fidel Castro delivers a 4 hour and 29 minute long speech at the United Nations
Today in History in 1960
Would You Believe?
Soviet military officer Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov averts a worldwide nuclear war by judging supposed missile attack from the US an error
Today in History in 1983
September 27th
1066 William the Conqueror‘s troops set sail from Normandy to conquer England
1290 Earthquake in the Gulf of Chihli (Bohai Sea) near China, reportedly kills 100,000 people
1779 John Adams negotiates Revolutionary War peace terms with Great Britain
1821 Mexican revolutionary forces led by Agustín de Iturbide occupy Mexico City as Spanish withdraw, bringing an end to the Mexican War of Independence
1822 French scholar Jean-François Champollion announces he has deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone
1905 The physics journal Annalen der Physik publishes Albert Einstein‘s paper “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?”, introducing the equation E=mc².
1908 Henry Ford‘s first Ford Model T automobile leaves the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan
Did You Know?
George Stephenson‘s “Locomotion No. 1” becomes the 1st steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England
Today in History in 1825
Would You Believe?
Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history
Today in History in 1590