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| Terra Cotta Soldiers from the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Army, protecting the Emperor for Eternity, now a World Heritage Site; each soldier, horse, and piece of equipment is original and different from the others |
1385 Birth of Le Loi, first emperor of Viet Nam and National Hero, founder of the Later Lê Dynasty (d. 1433) Le Loi led a combination guerilla and conventional war against the Ming Dynasty of China's control over Viet Nam, defeating them.
1509 An earthquake known as "The Lesser Judgment Day" hits Istanbul. It is estimated to be a 7.2 magnitude quake followed by a tsunami and 45 days of aftershocks. Ten thousand people died, there was massive destruction of buildings, including 109 mosques. It is not clear what, specifically, the 'Judgement' was for, or why it was lesser - lesser than what?
1547 The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the last full scale military confrontation between England and Scotland, resulting in a decisive victory for the forces of Edward VI. Part of the 'War of Rough Wooing' - you have to love these names - it was a war between the forces of Henry VIII uniting Scotland with England by arranging a marriage between his infant son the future Edward VI, and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots. The English forces used what is considered modern tactics in incorporating naval artillery bombardment of a land battle.
1604 Death of William Morgan, Welsh Bible translator (b. 1545) , notable because nobody killed him for it, unlike earlier translators into common language, originally perceived as a threat to church authority and control, and the supremacy of sacerdotalism, which emphasized the role of clergy as the ordained intermediaries between lay worshippers and God.
1624 Birth of Thomas Sydenham, English physician ( known as the 'Father of English Medicine'(d.1689).
1676 Death of Gerrard Winstanley, English religious reformer (b. 1609) who advocated biblically based communism as mandated in the Bible long before the modern political movement attributed to Marx and Engle. Called 'True Levellers', they referenced a literal interpretationn of the New Testament book of Acts 2:44-45, "And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need" and Acts 4:32-37, "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." They were also called 'Diggers' for plowing up and planting public land. Winstanely became an early Quaker, part of the English religious reformers that came into prominence during the protectorate era of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War.
1776 In the American Revolutionary War, Nathan Hale volunteers to spy for the Continental Army, remembered for the quotation "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country."
1788 Birth of Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, French archaeologist (d. 1868)
1801 Birth of Marie Laveau, American Voodoo practitioner (d. 1881)
1813 The United States defeats the British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
1846 Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine.
1852 Birth of Alice Brown Davis, first female Seminole chief (d. 1935).
1858 George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora.
1897 Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 20 unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania, United States.
1898 Empress Elizabeth of Austria is assassinated by Luigi Lucheni.
1918 Birth of Rin Tin Tin, German shepherd dog (d. 1932) star of cinema and radio, comparable to the Lassie fictional dog, he was descended from a German Shepherd puppy rescued during WW I by American Serviceman Lee Duncan who came with his rescuer to the U.S and demonstrated remarkable obedience skills as a performer. He was so famous in this country and in his native France that he earned a star on the walk of fame, and when he died his remains were returned to France for burial in a famous pet cemetary.
1919 Austria and the Allies sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain recognizing the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
1932 The New York City Subway's third competing subway system, the municipally-owned IND, is opened.
1933 Birth of Yevgeny Khrunov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2000)
1934 Birth of Jim Oberstar, long-serving American politician.
1937 Birth of Jared Diamond, American biologist and author, including "Guns, Germs and Steel". (for my friend and sometimes reader JH, who introduced me to Diamond's work - DG)
1939 In World War II, Canada declares war on Nazi Germany, joining the Allies – France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.
1943 World War II: German forces begin their occupation of Rome, turning on their allies who signed the Italian Armistice on September 3rd, and made it a formal, public declaration on this date. The Allied forces had invaded and captured the sourthern part of Italy and were expected to prevail in their attempts to expand northward by the Italians. Rome was liberated in June of 1944.
1948 American-born Mildred Gillars, the Nazi wartime radio broadcaster known as "Axis Sally," was indicted in Washington, D.C., for treason.
1951 The United Kingdom begins an economic boycott of Iran.
1963 Twenty black students, guarded by federal marshalls, entered public schools in Alabama, challenging the enforcement of segregation by Governor George Wallace. Wallace made the statement on his inauguration in January 1963, "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. "
1989 Hungary stopped enforcing East German visa restrictions and opened its borders, beginning a flood of emigration that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall two months later.
1967 The people of Gibraltar vote to remain a British dependency rather than becoming part of Spain.
1976 Death of Dalton Trumbo, American writer (b. 1905)
1977 Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France.
2002 Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joins the United Nations.
2008 The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.
2010 Celebration of International World Suicide Prevention Day
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