On This Day In History
Did You Know?
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain is first published in the UK and Canada (US Feb 1885, due to printing error)
Today in History in 1884
Would You Believe?
The “Great Emu War” ends: Emu’s surprising resilience to bullets led to Emu victory over Australian military in Campion district, Western Australia
Today in History in 1932
December 11th
1620 Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [NS: Dec 21]
1792 France’s King Louis XVI goes on trial, accused of high treason and crimes against the state
1913 “Mona Lisa” recovered two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum
1931 Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland (Free State), and Newfoundland (not then part of Canada)
1946 United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established by resolution 57(I) of the UN General Assembly
1997 Delegates from 150 industrial nations attending a UN climate conference in Kyoto, Japan, reach agreement to control heat-trapping greenhouse gases
Did You Know?
John “Eleanor” Rykener, a male cross-dressing prostitute, is brought to court in London for “committing that detestable unmentionable and ignominious vice” in late medieval England’s only recorded case on same-sex intercourse (verdict unknown)
Today in History in 1395
Would You Believe?
World’s 1st penis transplant procedure by a team from Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
December 12th
627 Battle at Nineveh: Byzantine Emperor Heraclius beats Sassanid forces during Byzantine-Sassanid War
1901 Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada
1925 Last Qajar Shah of Iran deposed; Rezā Shāh Pahlavi takes over
1946 UN accepts 6 Manhattan blocks as a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr.
2000 US Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore, settling the recount dispute in Florida’s 2000 presidential election in George W. Bush‘s favor and thus handing him the presidency
2015 COP21 climate change summit in Paris reaches a deal between 195 countries to limit the rise in the global average temperature to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels
2019 British General Election won by Boris Johnson‘s Conservative Party in landslide win with 80 seat majority. Scottish National Party also wins 48 of 59 seats in Scotland.
Did You Know?
Deepest point on land on earth identified under Denman Glacier, east Antarctica at 3.5km (11,500ft) below sea level
Today in History in 2019
Would You Believe?
Willem J Kolff and his team at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic removed the heart from a dog and replaced it with a pneumatic pump which kept the dog alive for 90 minutes, proving the viability of the artificial heart
Today in History in 1957
December 13th
1577 Francis Drake sets sail from England on an epic three year circumnavigation of the world aboard the Golden Hind
1636 The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. Recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.
1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland [1]
1920 League of Nations establishes the International Court of Justice in The Hague
2002 The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004
2003 Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces
Did You Know?
Francis G. Pease’s interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory is the first to measure the diameter of a star – the Betelgeuse
Today in History in 1920
Would You Believe?
Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
Today in History in 1294
December 14th
644 Uthman ibn Affan, companion of Muhammad, appointed 3rd Caliph of Islam
1287 During St. Lucia’s Flood in Northwest Netherlands the Zuiderzee seawall collapses with loss of over 50,000 lives. Fifth largest recorded flood in history
1542 Princess Mary Stuart succeeds her father James V and becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland at 6 days old
1774 First incident of American Revolution – 400 New Hampshire militiamen successfully attack Fort William and Mary
1911 Norwegian Roald Amundsen‘s Antarctic expedition is the 1st to reach the South Pole
1995 The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by leaders of various governments ending the conflict in the former Yugoslavia including Slobodan Milošević, Alija Izetbegović, Franjo Tuđman and Bill Clinton
Did You Know?
Birth of Quantum Physics: German Physicist Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law
Today in History in 1900
Would You Believe?
University of Toronto scientists present findings of the world’s oldest water – 2 billion years old from a mine in Canada
Today in History in 2016
December 15th
533 Byzantine General Belisarius defeats the Vandals, under King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron
1256 Hulagu Khan captures and destroys Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut, in present-day Iran, part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia
1488 Bartolomeu Dias returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of Good Hope
1612 German Astronomer Simon Marius is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
1791 US Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gives its approval, becomes amendments 1-10 of the US constitution
1840 Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death
1915 WWI: ANZAC forces begin their withdrawal from the Gallipoli Peninsula after Ottoman forces successfully defend access to Constantinople
1973 American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not a mental illness
Did You Know?
State of Holland grants patent on windmill with a crankshaft
Today in History in 1593
Would You Believe?
Soviet Venera 7 is 1st spacecraft to land on another planet (Venus)
Today in History in 1970
December 16th
755 An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during Chinese Tang Dynasty
1598 Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point – in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese
1620 Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [NS: Dec 26]
1653 Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland
1773 Boston tea party incident – Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston harbour in protest against British imposed Tea Act
1920 8.5 earthquake rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000
1944 Nazi Germany launches a counteroffensive against the Allies in the Ardennes region of Belgium, beginning the ‘Battle of the Bulge’
1998 Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox – the United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq
Did You Know?
English Parliament passes Bill of Rights establishing limits on crown powers and requirement for regular elections
Today in History in 1689
Would You Believe?
Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from American federal prison Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.
Today in History in 1937