406 – 80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine at Mainz, beginning invasion of Gallia
1744 – English astronomer James Bradley announces discovery of Earth’s nutation motion (wobble)
1775 – Battle of Quebec in American Revolutionary War; Americans defeated trying to take British stronghold
1857 – Ottawa, located in Ontario at the confluence of the Ottawa, Gatineau, and Rideau rivers and whose area was first described by Samuel de Champlain in 1613, was named the capital of Canada by Queen Victoria
1861 – 22,990mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in India in 1861, a world record
1958 – Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista tells his Cabinet he is fleeing the country
1964 – Indonesia proclaims expelled from the UN
1966 – Pirate Radio 390 (Radio Invicata) off England, resumes transmitting
1967 – Evel Knievel fails in his attempt to jump the Caesar’s Palace Fountain, Las Vegas, breaking his pelvis, femur, wrist, hip and both ankles
1970 – Paul McCartney files a lawsuit to dissolve The Beatles
1972 – Martin McGuinness is arrested and held under the new Republic of Ireland legislation
1977 – Ted Bundy escapes from jail in Colorado
1984 – US leaves UNESCO
1990 – Iraq begins a military draft of 17 year olds
1997 – Microsoft buys Hotmail email service for $400 million and re-launches it as MSN Hotmail
1999 – The United States officially handed over control of the Panama Canal to Panama.
1999 – Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as acting President
2004 – Taipei 101, then the tallest building in the world, reaching a height of 1,667 feet (508 metres), opened in Taipei, Taiwan.
2018 – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wins third term in Bangladesh elections with 17 people killed in violent clashes
2019 – The World Health Organization first learned of “viral pneumonia” cases in Wuhan, China; the disease was later determined to be COVID-19, which became a global pandemic the following year.
Film & TV:
1923 – BBC begins using Big Ben chime ID
Music:
1879 – Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera “Pirates of Penzance” premieres in NYC
Sport:
1989 – Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets record with 598 wins in a year
Via Britannica / On This Day
