1776 – At the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, North Carolinian revolutionaries defeated loyalists during the American Revolution.
1884 – Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, signed a treaty in London that disavowed British authority over the Transvaal.
1900 – In London, the Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party (formed in 1893) meet, results in a Labour Representative Committee and eventually the modern Labour Party in 1906
1933 – In Berlin the Reichstag (parliament) building caught fire, a key event in the establishment of Nazi dictatorship.
1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (radiocarbon dating) at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California
1950 – General Chiang Kai-shek elected president of Nationalist China
1957 – Mao’s famous speech to the Supreme State Conference “On Correct Handling of Contradictions Among People” expounding Maoist ideals
1967 – Saint Kitts and Nevis (with Anguilla) became an independent state associated with the United Kingdom.
1991 – U.S. President George Bush ordered a cease-fire effective at midnight and declared victory in the Persian Gulf War, a conflict triggered by Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait in August 1990.
2010 – A magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile, causing widespread damage and triggering a tsunami that devastated coastal areas; it was the most powerful earthquake to strike the region since 1960.
2012 – Wikileaks begins disclosing 5 million emails from private intelligence company Stratfor
2013 – Pope Benedict XVI presents his farewell address to Vatican City
2014 – Chaos erupts after the Swedish Public Employment Service mistakenly invites 61,000 people to a job interview in Stockholm
2015 – Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated in Moscow
2019 – Michael Cohen, former lawyer to Donald Trump testifies before the House Oversight Committee saying Trump is “racist”, a “con man” and “a cheat”
2019 – First gun control legislation for 25 years passed by US House of Representatives, with new federal background checks
2020 – Dow Jones Index suffers its biggest points fall in history closing down 1,190.95 in New York amid concerns about COVID-19
Births & Deaths:
1932 – American actress Elizabeth Taylor—whose career, highlighted by award-winning portrayals of emotionally volatile characters, was often overshadowed by her highly publicized personal life—was born in London.
2015 – American actor Leonard Nimoy—who was best known for his portrayal of the stoic, cerebral Mr. Spock in the sci-fi TV and film franchise Star Trek—died in Los Angeles.
Music:
1814 – Ludwig van Beethoven’s 8th Symphony in F premieres
TV & Film:
1968 – CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite delivers a scathing editorial on America’s chances of winning the Vietnam War
Via Britannica / On This Day
