On This Day in History II

1481
The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.

1802
Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city.

1830
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened. It is the first steam hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.

1877
Labatt Park, the oldest continually operating baseball grounds in the world has its first game.

1915
The poem In Flanders Fields is written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

1916
The leaders of the Easter Rising are executed in Dublin.

1936
Joe DiMaggio, familiarly referred to as Joltin' Joe and The Yankee Clipper makes his major league debut for the New York Yankees.

1937
Gone with the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

1942
World War II: Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that results in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.

1951
The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.

1952
Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.

1952
The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time on the CBS network.

1936 - Ty Cobb had everything to do with the signing of Joes contract.

11 BCE
The Theatre of Marcellus was opened. It is the only theater in Rome that has survived to our times, preserving – at least partially – its external appearance. He owes his name to Marcellus, Augustus’ son-in-law, who died in 23 BCE in the age of 20. The building reflects the way in which the Romans adapted the Greek invention: the outer wall rises to three storeys, due to the fact that the theater was erected on a flat surface, not in a hollow. The first storey is built in the Doric order, the second in Ionic, and the third in Corinthian. The object’s capacity is estimated at 10-14 thousand viewers.

1415
Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.

1471
Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.

1493
Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.

1626
Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.

776
Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.

1814
Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.

1855
American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.

1863
American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with a Union retreat.

1886
Haymarket Square Riot: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, Illinois, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.

1904
The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.

1932
In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.

1942
World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.

1953
Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.

1970
Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: the Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the United States’ invasion of Cambodia.

1989
Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.

1970 - one of those killed was a ROTC officer

311 CE
Emperor Galerius died in Sardica as a result of illness. It happened soon after signing the decree prohibiting further persecution of Christians. It was the first ever legal act establishing religious freedom for Christians in the Roman Empire. Thus the Christians could freely profess their religion. They had to be released from prisons or quarries (if they arrived there on a wave of restrictions), and the sacred objects seized by the imperial authorities were to be returned to them.

553
The Second Council of Constantinople begins.

1215
Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.

1260
Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.

1494
Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.

1809
Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.

1809
The Swiss canton of Aargau denies citizenship to Jews.

1821
Emperor Napoleon I dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

1862
Cinco de Mayo: troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.

1864
American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

1865
In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio), the first train robbery in the United States takes place.

1877
Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.

1904
Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.

1925
Scopes Trial: serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

1945
World War II: Canadian and UK troops liberate the Netherlands and Denmark from Nazi occupation when Wehrmacht troops capitulate.

12 BCE
Roman emperor Augustus was appointed the highest priest (Pontifex Maximus) after the death of Marcus Lepidus, the former head of this dignity.

1527
Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. 147 Swiss Guards, including their commander, die fighting the forces of Charles V in order to allow Pope Clement VII to escape into Castel Sant'Angelo.

1536
King Henry VIII orders English language Bibles be placed in every church.

1542
Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.

1659
English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.

1840
The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1857
The British East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British and is considered to be the First Martyr in the War of Indian Independence.

1861
American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.

1861
American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.

1863
American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by Confederate troops.

1877
Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.

1935
New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration.

1937
Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.

1942
World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.

1954
Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.

1937 - the germans discover that iron oxide paint is flammable

351 CE
After the arrival of emperor Gallus, the Jewish uprising broke out in Antioch. The reason for this was the anti-Jewish legislation of Caesar’s corrupted administration in Antioch. At the head of the rebellion were Isaac of Diocesarea and a certain Patricius (called Natrona). After taking control of the city, the insurgents proclaimed Patricius King and Messiah. Then the uprising spread to Tiberias and Lydda (Diospolis). By the order of Gallus, the Roman commander (magister equitum) Ursicinus responded quickly and eagerly. The cities of Sepphoris, Tiberias and Diospolis were destroyed, and thousands of their inhabitants were killed without saving even children.

558
In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.

1429
Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning, wounded, to lead the final charge. The victory marks a turning point in the Hundred Years’ War.

1664
Louis XIV of France inaugurates the Palace of Versailles.

1718
The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.

1763
Indian Wars: Pontiac’s Rebellion begins – Chief Pontiac begins the “Conspiracy of Pontiac” by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.

1794
French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.

1824
World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer’s supervision.

1840
The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.

1847
The American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1864
American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.

1915
World War I: German submarine SMU U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many formerly pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.

1942
During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Japanese Imperial Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.

1945
World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany’s participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.

Island of Rhodes does not surrender until May 8, 1945

413 CE
Emperor Honorius issued an edict poviding tax breaks for the Italian provinces: Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.

1450
Jack Cade’s Rebellion: Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.

1541
Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo.

1794
Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror by revolutionists, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme Générale, is tried, convicted, and guillotined all on the same day in Paris.

1846
Mexican-American War: The Battle of Palo Alto – Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.

1861
American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.

1886
Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named “Coca-Cola” as a patent medicine.

1902
In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.

1927
Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli disappeared after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.

1933
Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.

1942
World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.

1945
World War II: V-E Day, combat ends in Europe. German forces agree in Rheims, France, to an unconditional surrender.

1972
Vietnam War – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.