1850 – Robert McClure sights the fabled Northwest Passage for the first time (from Banks Island towards Melville Island)
1861 – Pony Express (Missouri to California) ends after 19 months
1863 -International conference begins in Geneva aimed at improving medical conditions on battlefields – beginning of the Red Cross
1918 – Cecil Chubb gives prehistoric monument Stonehenge to the British nation
1950 – Mother Teresa founds Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India
1977 – Last natural case of smallpox discovered in Merca district, Somalia. Considered the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination
1994 – Jordan & Israel sign peace accord
2012 – 41 people are killed and 50 injured by a suicide bombing of a mosque in Maymana, Afghanistan
2017 – Jacinda Ardern is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, becoming the world’s youngest female head of government
2019 – Raid by US Special Forces kills ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria
2020Â – Melbourne officials announce end to their three-month lockdown as city records no new cases of COVID-19 for 1st time since June
TV & Film:
1984 – “The Terminator” directed by James Cameron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton is released in the US
Music:
1919 – Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, his last notable work, premieres in Queen’s Hall London
Sport:
1863 – Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer, splitting with rugby
Via Britannica / On This Day
