1279 – A Mongolian victory at the naval Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China
1644 – 200 members of Peking imperial family and court commit suicide in loyalty to the Emperor.
1863 – Confederate cruiser SS Georgiana destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, and medicines then valued over $1,000,000. Wreck discovered exactly 102 years later by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence.
1920 – US Senate rejects Treaty of Versailles for 2nd time refusing to ratify League of Nations’ covenant (maintaining isolation policy)
1932 – The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.
1940 – Failed British air raid on German base at Sylt
1943 – In their third match, Jake LaMotta finally defeats Jimmy Reeves by knocking him out in the sixth round
1954 – 1st color telecast of a prize fight, Giardello vs Troy in Madison Square Garden, NYC
1969 – The 385 metre tall TV-mast at Emley Moor, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build- up.
1973 – Dean tells Nixon, “There is a cancer growing on the Presidency”
1987 – American televangelist Jim Bakker resigns amid rape accusation by his secretary, Jessica Hahn
1992 – Britain’s Prince Andrew & Sarah, Duchess of York, announce separation
2003 – Airstrikes by an American and British-led coalition signal the beginning of the Invasion of Iraq, without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion
2014 – Israel sends airforce against Syrian military units involved in an attack yesterday on an Israeli patrol in the Golan Heights
2019 – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announces his resignation after nearly 30 years in office, the last soviet-era head of state
2020 – Italian death toll from COVID-19 at 3,405 surpasses China’s official total (3,245) making it then the worst-affected country in the world
2020 – State of California with 910 cases of COVID-19 locks down and orders people to “stay at home”
2020 – Professional football in England is further postponed until ‘no earlier than 30 April’ due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Film:
1984 – American sitcom “Kate & Allie” premieres on CBS TV starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin.
Births & Deaths:
1997 – Dutch American artist Willem de Kooning, a major exponent of Abstract. Expressionism and Action painting, whose series Woman I–VI caused a stir with its violent images and impulsive technique, died at the age of 92.
2008 – English writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke—who was best known for his visionary science-fiction novels and for his work on Stanley Kubrick’s hugely successful motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)—died in Sri Lanka.
Music:
1859 – Opera “Faust” by Charles Gounod premieres in Paris.
1957 – Elvis Presley puts a down payment on Graceland.
1962 – American musician Bob Dylan released his eponymous debut album to mixed reviews.
Sports:
1991 – NFL owners strip Phoenix of 1993 Super Bowl game due to Arizona Not recognizing Martin Luther King Day.
Via Britannica / On This Day
