EVENTS
- 1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
- 1910 – Francisco Madero launched the social revolution in Mexico, exposing Mexico’s political dictatorship and called for honest elections. Dubbed the “Apostle of Democracy,” he was elected president in 1911, but was hampered by a lack of practical political experience. He was ousted by a military revolt in 1913, and was then assassinated while in police custody.
- 1917 – The first use of tanks in battle occurred at Cambrai, France, during World War I. Over 300 tanks commanded by British General Sir Douglas Haig went into battle against the Germans.
- 1923 – Traffic signal patented. American Garret Morgan was awarded the patent for an automated traffic signal. Morgan’s invention was not the first of its kind, but unlike the other traffic signals which just had stop and go signals, his traffic light had a third signal that warned drivers about changes in the stop and go lights. This signal was the precursor for today’s yellow light.
- 1943 – The Battle of Tarawa began in the Pacific War as American troops attacked the Japanese on the heavily fortified Gilbert Islands. It took eight days for the 5th Amphibious Corps, 2nd Marine Division and the 27th Infantry Division to take Tarawa and the Makin Islands. Over 1,000 Americans were killed with 2,311 wounded. The Japanese lost 4,700 men.
- 1945 – The Nuremberg War Crime Trials began in which 24 former leaders of Nazi Germany were charged with conspiracy to wage wars of aggression, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
- 1947 – England’s Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten. Elizabeth was the first child of King George VI and became Queen Elizabeth II upon the death of her father in 1952.
- 1959 – Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the document that laid out the rights of children around the world. The day is also annually celebrated as Universal Children’s Day.
- 1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis concluded as President John F. Kennedy announced he had lifted the U.S. Naval blockade of Cuba stating, “the evidence to date indicates that all known offensive missile sites in Cuba have been dismantled.”
- 1979 – The 1st artificial blood transfusion occurs in the US.
- 1980 – In China, Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, went on trial with nine others on charges of treason.
- 1982 – Andy Kaufman is voted off of ‘Saturday Night Live’ with a live phone poll.
- 1984 – McDonald’s makes its 50 billionth hamburger.
- 1985 – Windows 1.0 released. Nearly two years after it was announced, Microsoft released its first graphical operating system. The OS made it easier for users to navigate on their computer screens. It came with Paint, Notepad, Calculator and a game called Reversi.
- 1992 – Fire erupted inside Queen Elizabeth’s residence at Windsor Castle causing extensive damage.
- 1998 – First module of the International Space Station launched. Called Zarya, the module is Russian-built and American owned. The International Space Station (ISS) is a manned artificial satellite was built and operated by 5 space agencies – the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, US’s NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos, and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. The brightest man-made object visible to the naked eye from Earth, ISS orbits the Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) at an average distance of 248 miles (400 kilometers) from Earth.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1620 – Perigrine White (1st child born at Plymouth Colony)
- 1750 – Tipu Sultan (Indian army officer, king)
- 1858 – Swedish author Selma Lagerlof (1858-1940) was born in Varmland Province (She was a member of the Swedish Academy and in 1909 became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature.
- 1889 – Edwin Hubble (Astronomer)
- 1912 – Otto von Habsburg (Austrian/German son of Charles I of Austria)
- 1925 – Robert F. Kennedy (US Senator and JFK’s brother)
- 1942 – Joe Biden (US Vice President)
- 1946 – Duane Allman (Rock guitarist)
- 1956 – Mark Gastineau (Football Player)
- 1971 – Joel McHale (Actor)
- 1976 – Dominique Dawes (Gymnast)
- 1977 – Josh Turner (Country singer)
- 1981 – Sam Fuld (American baseball player)
DEATHS
- 1737 – Caroline of Ansbach.
- 1910 – Leo Tolstoy (Russian author)
- 1925 – Alexandra of Denmark.
- 1975 – Francisco Franco (Spanish general, politician, Caudillo of Spain)
- 2006 – Robert Altman (American director, screenwriter)