On This Day in History II

the assistant marconi officer says it sank twenty minutes after touching the iceberg. he should know. he was wearing a watch that stopped when he went into the drink.

1178 BC
The calculated date of the Greek king Odysseus’ return home from the Trojan War.

69 CE
After losing the battle with the armies of Vitellius at Bedriacum, the suicide was committed by Marcus Salvias Otho. He did it because he wanted to save Rome from the bloodshed in the civil war. Vitellius then moved to Rome, where he proclaimed himself a new emperor.

73 CE
The Roman commander, Flavius Silva, after the collective suicide of the defenders, took the Jewish stronghold Masada. Thus, the Jewish uprising ended. The fall of Masada is described by historians: “Eleazar ordered people to first kill their wives and children and then kill themselves. The next day, the Romans found 967 corpses with the exception of two women and five children hidden in the caves”.

1521
Martin Luther’s first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.

1881
In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.

1962
Walter Cronkite takes over as the lead news anchor of the CBS Evening News, during which time he would become “the most trusted man in America”.

359 CE
Emperor Gratian was born, who strongly supported breaking with the pagan cults. He was a Christian ruler. He refused to accept the title Pontifex Maximus, abolished government subsidies for traditional cults, and in 382 CE he removed the altar of the goddess Victoria from the Senate hall.

1506
The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid.

1775
American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.

1848
American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.

1880
An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.

1881
Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.

1906
An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California.

1930
BBC Radio announces that there is no news on that day.

Lulz at BBC. :)

1995 - Timmy does something to counter the genocide of bill clinton and janet reno. looks like he knew voting wasnt working.

493 BCE
Consul Spurius Cassius devoted the temple of Ceres on the Aventineill near the Circus Maximus. Ceres was the equivalent of Greek Demeter, she took care of the crops. The construction of the temple was connected with the natural disaster and famine in Rome and the necessity of importing grain from increasingly distant lands. The temple became a political and organizational center for the plebeians. Gold and archives were kept there.

65 CE
There was an unsuccessful plot against Nero organized by Gaius Calpurinius Piso. The conspiracy failed when one of the conspirators and the emperor’s closest adviser, Fenius Rufus, betrayed his companions. The conspiracy was stuffed off by the prefect of praetorians, Ofonius Tigellinus, who waist disrepute. Gaius Piso was forced to commit suicide, and the others participants of theplot had to die also: Trasea Petus, Lucan, Rufus, Seneca the Younger and Gaius Petronius.

69 CE
The Roman people, without interrupting the games, at the news of the victory of Vitellius and the suicidal death of Otho, proclaimed Vitellius the emperor. The Senate granted all titles and rights to Vitellius.

1587
Francis Drake’s expedition sinks the Spanish fleet in Cádiz harbor.

1770
Captain James Cook sights the eastern coast of what is now Australia.

1775
American Revolutionary War: The war begins with an American victory in Concord during the battles of Lexington and Concord.

1861
American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: a pro-Secession mob in Baltimore, Maryland, attacks United States Army troops marching through the city.

1919
Leslie Irvin of the United States makes the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a new kind of self-contained parachute.

1961
The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba ends in success for the defenders.

1453
The last naval battle in Byzantine history occurs, as three Genoese galleys escorting a Byzantine transport fight their way through the huge Ottoman blockade fleet and into the Golden Horn.

1534
Jacques Cartier begins the voyage during which he discovers Canada and Labrador.

1653
Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament.

1775
American Revolutionary War: the Siege of Boston begins, following the battles at Lexington and Concord.

1861
American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.

1862
Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the first pasteurization tests.

1902
Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.

1918
Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day.

1926
Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.

1946
The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations.

753 BCE
Romulus and Remus founded Rome. It was also the beginning of the Roman calendar Ab Urbe Condita (traditional date).

43 BCE
In the battle of Mutina against Mark Antony, consul Aulus Hirtius was killed – the chief during the Gallic War (he completed Caesar’s diaries) and one of Caesar’s closest collaborators.

248 CE
Roman millennium was celebrated.

1509
Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.

1792
Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.

1836
Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto – Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1894
Norway formally adopts the Krag-Jørgensen rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.

1918
World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as “The Red Baron”, is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.

1934
The “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax).

1906 - Edward Albert Heimberger - birthday ( only person to ever purchase a rake with no tines )

238 CE
Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.

238 CE
As a result of the revolt, Balbinus and Pupienus were proclaimed by the Senate, after the death of Gordian I, the emperors of Rome. However, the new emperors met with common dissatisfaction, who considered Gordian’s grandson – Gordian III, who was only then 13 years old, to be the rightful successor. Only giving the boy the title Caesar calmed the situation. After three months of reign, both were murdered by the praetorians, dissatisfied with the increasing influence of the Senate. They ruled together for 99 days.

1500
Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.

1836
Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston capture Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1864
The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.

1876
The first ever National League is played in Philadelphia.

1889
At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.

1898
Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.