1875 – Verney Cameroon reaches Benguela in Angola, from Africa’s east coast, 1st European to cross equatorial Africa
1917 – Balfour Declaration proclaims support for a Jewish state in Palestine
1930 – Coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen as Haile Selassie I, 225th Emperor of Ethopian Solmonic Dynasty
1949 – Netherland recognizes Indonesia as a sovereign state
1960 – Penguin Books cleared of obscenity for publishing DH Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”
1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the US
1974 – 78 die when the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after a club official barred the doors after the fire started.
1976 – Jimmy Carter, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002 and Democratic former governor of Georgia, was elected 39th president of the United States this day in 1976, narrowly defeating Republican Gerald R. Ford.
1983 – US President Ronald Reagan signs bill establishing Dr Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
1994 – Benzine explosion in Dronka Egypt, 400+ killed
2000 – The first crew arrives at the International Space Station.
2014 – 60 people were killed and 110 injured by a suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan
2015 – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull scraps Knights and Dames from Australia’s honours system
2017 – On This Day and Xiaomi launch a content partnership to display today in history content in Xiaomi’s calendar app to users in India
2017 – Jerome Powell nominated by US President Donald Trump to be next Chair of the Federal Reserve
2020 – Baby Shark by Pinkfong becomes the most-watched video on YouTube with over 7.04 billion views
Births & Deaths:
1988 – Mexican radio station erroneously reports Mike Tyson had died in car crash
Film & TV:
1936 – At 3pm the BBC begins the world’s first regular high-definition TV broadcast service from specially constructed studios at Alexandra Palace, North London
1989 – “Blackadder Goes Forth” final episode “Goodbyeee” airs starring Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
Music:
1983 – “Thriller” single released worldwide by Michael Jackson
1987 – George Harrison releases “Cloud 9” & McCartney releases “All the Best”
Sport:
2016 – World Series Baseball: Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland Indians, 8-7 in Game 7 at Progressive Field, Cleveland; first Cubs’ title in 108 years; MVP: Chicago utility Ben Zobrist
Via Britannica / On This Day
