627 – Battle at Nineveh: Byzantine Emperor Heraclius beats Sassanid forces during Byzantine-Sassanid War
1408 – Order of the Dragon: The Order of the Dragon was first created by Emperor Sigismund, then King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia.
1901 – Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada
1925 – Last Qajar Shah of Iran deposed; Rezā Shāh Pahlavi takes over
1932 – USSR & China resume diplomatic relations
1936 – Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek declares war on Japan
1936 – Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek was seized by one of his own generals, Chang Hsüeh-liang, beginning the Xi’an Incident.
1941 – European reservists on Java mobilize
1946 – UN accepts 6 Manhattan blocks as a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr
1959 – UN Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space is established
1961 – Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes in Israel
1961 – Martin Luther King Jr. & 700 demonstrators are arrested in Albany, Georgia
1964 – Kenya became a republic on the first anniversary of its independence from Britain.
1975 – Sara Jane Moore pleds guilty to trying to kill US President Gerald Ford
1981 – Gambia & Senegal sign agreement to be known as Senegambia in Feb 1982
1988 – Sandra Miller of Queens sues Mike Tyson for sexual harassment
1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres addresses both houses of the US Congress
2000 – US Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore, settling the recount dispute in Florida’s 2000 presidential election in George W. Bush’s favor and thus handing him the presidency
2006 – Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
2009 – With the victory of Democratic politician Annise Parker, Houston became the then largest city in the United States to elect an openly gay mayor.
2013 – The United States announces sanctions on the two dozen companies who assisted Iran with their nuclear program
2014 – UN climate change talks in Peru continue past scheduled time as negotiations continue to stall
2015 – First women ever elected in Saudi Arabia in municipal council elections
2015 – A landmark climate change agreement was reached at a UN conference in Paris as 195 countries agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions; the accord effectively replaced the Kyoto Protocol.
2018 – British Prime Minister Theresa May survives 200-117 no-confidence vote from own Conservative Party
2019 – British General Election won by Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in landslide win with 80 seat majority. Scottish National Party also wins 48 of 59 seats in Scotland.
2019 – Deepest point on land on earth identified under Denman Glacier, east Antarctica at 3.5km (11,500ft) below sea level
2019 – British General Election won by Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in landslide win with 80 seat majority. Scottish National Party also wins 48 of 59 seats in Scotland.
2020 – UN Chief Antonio Guterres urges world’s leaders to declare “climate emergency” to avoid catastrophic global warning on 5th anniversary of Paris Climate Accord
Births & Deaths:
1915 – American popular singer Frank Sinatra, who also achieved wide success as a film actor, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey.
1923 – American game show host Bob Barker, who was best known for hosting The Price Is Right (1972–2007), was born.
1999 – American author Joseph Heller—the author of Catch-22 (1961), one of the most significant works of protest literature to appear after World War II—died at age 76.
Film & TV:
1966 – “A Man for All Seasons” based on the play by Robert Bolt, directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Paul Scofield premieres in New York (Best Picture 1967)
1988 – “Rainman” directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise premieres in New York (Best Picture 1989)
Music:
1792 – In Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven (22) receives 1st lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn
1977 – The music drama Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta, had its world premiere; the film was a huge hit, as was the accompanying disco sound track by the Bee Gees.
Sport:
1930 – Baseball Rules Committee greatly revises the rule book, ball bouncing into stands not a HR, now a double
1968 – Arthur Ashe becomes 1st black to be ranked #1 in tennis
Via Britannica / On This Day
