February 3 in history

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding theCape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 –  John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1868 – A killer storm swept New Zealand. The greatest loss of life in a single event during this storm was at Waireka Creek, near Oamaru, where nine people were killed as a flash flood swept away their houses. Another 13 fatalities came from the 12 ships wrecked by the wild seas whipped up by the storm. Seven lives were lost when the Fortune was stranded 10 miles south of Hokianga and five when the Star of Tasmania went ashore at Oamaru, including the two Baker children, who drowned in berths where they had been put to keep safe.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born (d. 2015).

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched toInternational Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991 – The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptorAlberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

2011 – All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses were officially distributed to regional authorities.

2014 – Two peoplewere shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.

2015  – A collision between a commuter train and a passenger vehicle killed six in Valhalla, New York.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding theCape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 –  John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1868 – A killer storm swept New Zealand. The greatest loss of life in a single event during this storm was at Waireka Creek, near Oamaru, where nine people were killed as a flash flood swept away their houses. Another 13 fatalities came from the 12 ships wrecked by the wild seas whipped up by the storm. Seven lives were lost when the Fortune was stranded 10 miles south of Hokianga and five when the Star of Tasmania went ashore at Oamaru, including the two Baker children, who drowned in berths where they had been put to keep safe.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born (d. 2015).

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched toInternational Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptorAlberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

2011 – All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses were officially distributed to regional authorities.

2014 – Two peoplewere shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.

2015  – A collision between a commuter train and a passenger vehicle killed six in Valhalla, New York.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding theCape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 –  John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1868 – A killer storm swept New Zealand. The greatest loss of life in a single event during this storm was at Waireka Creek, near Oamaru, where nine people were killed as a flash flood swept away their houses. Another 13 fatalities came from the 12 ships wrecked by the wild seas whipped up by the storm. Seven lives were lost when the Fortune was stranded 10 miles south of Hokianga and five when the Star of Tasmania went ashore at Oamaru, including the two Baker children, who drowned in berths where they had been put to keep safe.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born (d. 2015).

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched toInternational Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptorAlberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

2011 – All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses were officially distributed to regional authorities.

2014 – Two peoplewere shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.

2015  – A collision between a commuter train and a passenger vehicle killed six in Valhalla, New York.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding theCape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 –  John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1868 – A killer storm swept New Zealand. The greatest loss of life in a single event during this storm was at Waireka Creek, near Oamaru, where nine people were killed as a flash flood swept away their houses. Another 13 fatalities came from the 12 ships wrecked by the wild seas whipped up by the storm. Seven lives were lost when the Fortune was stranded 10 miles south of Hokianga and five when the Star of Tasmania went ashore at Oamaru, including the two Baker children, who drowned in berths where they had been put to keep safe.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born (d. 2015).

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched toInternational Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptorAlberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

2011 – All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses were officially distributed to regional authorities.

2014 – Two peoplewere shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.

2015  – A collision between a commuter train and a passenger vehicle killed six in Valhalla, New York.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 –  John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1868 – A killer storm swept New Zealand. The greatest loss of life in a single event during this storm was at Waireka Creek, near Oamaru, where nine people were killed as a flash flood swept away their houses. Another 13 fatalities came from the 12 ships wrecked by the wild seas whipped up by the storm. Seven lives were lost when the Fortune was stranded 10 miles south of Hokianga and five when the Star of Tasmania went ashore at Oamaru, including the two Baker children, who drowned in berths where they had been put to keep safe.

 

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born.

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched to International Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

2011 – – All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses were officially distributed to regional authorities.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 –  John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1868 – A killer storm swept New Zealand. The greatest loss of life in a single event during this storm was at Waireka Creek, near Oamaru, where nine people were killed as a flash flood swept away their houses. Another 13 fatalities came from the 12 ships wrecked by the wild seas whipped up by the storm. Seven lives were lost when the Fortune was stranded 10 miles south of Hokianga and five when the Star of Tasmania went ashore at Oamaru, including the two Baker children, who drowned in berths where they had been put to keep safe.

 

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born.

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched to International Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

2011 – – All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses were officially distributed to regional authorities.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1868 – A killer storm swept New Zealand. The greatest loss of life in a single event during this storm was at Waireka Creek, near Oamaru, where nine people were killed as a flash flood swept away their houses. Another 13 fatalities came from the 12 ships wrecked by the wild seas whipped up by the storm. Seven lives were lost when the Fortune was stranded 10 miles south of Hokianga and five when the Star of Tasmania went ashore at Oamaru, including the two Baker children, who drowned in berths where they had been put to keep safe.

 

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born.

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched to International Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

2011 – – All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses were officially distributed to regional authorities.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

On February 3:

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born.

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched to International Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

February 3 in history

On February 3:

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence married, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

 

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

      An allegory of tulip mania by Hendrik Gerritsz Pot, circa 1640.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America.

1777 John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born  (d. 1836).

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born (d. 1847).

 

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born  (d. 1910)

 Portrait of Elizabeth Blackwell by Joseph Stanley Kozlowski.

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born (d. 1946).

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born  (d. 1978).

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born (d. 1994).

1907 James Michener, American author, was born  (d. 1997).

 1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born.

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake  measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born (d. 1984).

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

 Live at the Copa (1968), the first Temptations album to feature new lead singer Dennis Edwards. Pictured left to right: Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, and Eddie Kendricks

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

 Luna 9 soft landing capsule

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survived to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

    8-cell embryo for transfer 3 days after fertilization

1984 Space Shuttle programme: STS-41-B Mission was launched to International Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

2010 – A cast of the sculpture L’Homme qui marche I by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti sells for £65 million, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at a public auction.

 Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

March 13 in history

On March 13:

1138 Cardinal Gregorio Conti was elected Antipope as Victor IV.

1639  Harvard College was named for clergyman John Harvard.

 

1764 Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born.

1781  William Herschel discovered Uranus.

1809  Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden was deposed in a coup d’état.

1845  Felix Mendelssohn‘s Violin Concerto received its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist.

 

1862  The U.S. federal government forbade all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

1881 Alexander II of Russia was killed when a bomb is thrown at him.

1884 Sir Hugh Walpole, English novelist, was born.

 

1884 The Siege of Khartoum, Sudan began.

1897 San Diego State University was founded.

1900  British forces occupied Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.

1900 The length of the workday for women and children is limited by law to 11 hours in France.

1920 The Kapp Putsch briefly ousted the Weimar Republic government from Berlin.

 

1921 Mongolia, under Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg, declared its independence from China.

1925 Scopes Trial: A law in Tennessee banned the teaching of evolution.

1930 The news of the discovery of Pluto was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory.

  

1933 Banks in the U.S. began to re-open after President Franklin D. Roosevelt mandated a “bank holiday“.

1938 – Anschluss of Austria to the Third Reich.

 

1939  Neil Sedaka, American singer and songwriter, was born.

1943 German forces destroyed the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.

  

1954  Battle of Điện Biên Phủ: Viet Minh forces attacked the French.

1956 – New Zealand won its first cricket test – playing against the West Indies at Eden Park.

 1957 Cuban student revolutionaries stormed the presidential palace in Havana  in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.

1960  Adam Clayton, Irish bassist (U2), was born.

 

1969  Apollo 9 returned safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.

1979 The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousted Prime Minister Eric Gairy in a nearly bloodless coup d’etat in Grenada.

 

1986 Microsoft had its initial public offering.

  

1989 A geomagnetic storm causef the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid.

1991 The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon had agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

 

1992 An earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale killed  over 500 in Erzincan, eastern Turkey.

1996 Dunblane massacre: 16 children and 1 teacher were shot dead by Thomas Watt Hamilton who then committed suicide.

1997 India’s Missionaries of Charity chose  Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.

1997 The Phoenix lights were seen over Phoenix, Arizona by hundreds of people, and by millions on television.

 

2003 The journal Nature reported that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human had been found in Italy.

2005 Terry Ratzmann shot and killed six members of the Living Church of God and the minister before killing himself.

2008 Gold prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $1,000 per ounce for the first time.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

February 3 in history

On February 3:

1112 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1377  More than 2,000 people of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).

1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal landed in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

 

1637 Tulip mania collapsed in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) by government order.

      An allegory of tulip mania by Hendrik Gerritsz Pot, circa 1640. Flora, the goddess of flowers, is blown by the wind and rides with a tippler, money changers, and a two faced woman. They are followed by dissolute Haarlem weavers, on their way to destruction in the sea.

1690 The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.

1777 John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and author, was born.

1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured the city of Montevideo.

1809 Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, was born.

 

1821 Elizabeth Blackwell, first female American physician, was born.

 Portrait of Elizabeth Blackwell by Joseph Stanley Kozlowski

1830 The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.

1867 Emperor Meiji became the 122nd emperor of Japan.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1874 Gertrude Stein, American writer, was born.

1894 Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, was born.

1899 Doris Speed, English actress, was born.

1907 James Michener, American author, was born.

 1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916  Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burned down.

1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco started service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927  Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, was born.

1931 The Hawkes Bay earthquake  measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck – New Zealand’s worst natural disaster killed 258 people.

1932 Peggy Ann Garner, American actress, was born.

1943 Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations), was born.

 Live at the Copa (1968), the first Temptations album to feature new lead singer Dennis Edwards. Pictured left to right: Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, and Eddie Kendricks

1944 Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress, was born.

1947 Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks), was born.

1947 The lowest temperature in North America  was recorded in Snag, Yukon.

1950 Morgan Fairchild, American actress, was born.

1958 Founding of the Benelux Economic Union.

1959 Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure), was born.

1959 A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke of the “a wind of change” of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.

1966 The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

 Luna 9 soft landing capsule

1967 Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1969 Yasser Arafat was appointed Palestine Liberation Organisation leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

1971 New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.

1976 Isla Fisher, Australian actress, was born.

1984 Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history’s first embryo transfer, from one women to another resulting in a live birth.

    8-cell embryo for transfer 3 days after fertilization

1984 Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission was launched to International Space Station.

1988  Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan’s request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 P.W. Botha resigned party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989 A military coup overthrew Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

1991The Italian Communist Party dissolved and splits into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party.

1996 The Lijiang earthquake in China struck, killing 200 people.

1998 – Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

2007 A Baghdad market bombing killed at least 135 people and injured a further 339.

 Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.