Today in History, January 19: 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to Augustus, and gives him power over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. 1419 – Hundred Years War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy. 1661 – Thomas Venner is hanged, drawn and quartered in London. 1795 – The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands bringing to an end the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. 1806 – The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope. 1817 – An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru. 1829 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethes Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy receives its premiere performance. 1840 – Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming what became known as Wilkes Land for the United States. 1861 – American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in seceding from the United States. 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs – The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict. 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: In the Siege of Paris, Prussia wins the Battle of St. Quentin. Meanwhile, the French attempt to break the siege in the Battle of Buzenval will end unsuccessfully the following day. 1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey. 1915 – World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn in the United Kingdom killing more than 20, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target. 1920 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations. 1937 – Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in seven hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds. 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Burma. 1946 – General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals. 1953 – Almost 72% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth. 1960 – Japan and the United States sign the US–Japan Mutual Security Treaty 1969 – Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire three days earlier in Pragues Wenceslas Square to protest about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turns into another major protest. 1977 – President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri DAquino, a.k.a. Tokyo Rose. 1977 – Snow falls in Miami. This is the only time in the history of the city that snow has fallen. It also fell in The Bahamas. 1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VWs plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003. 1981 – Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity. 1983 – Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia. 1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter piracy of the software they had written. 1991 – Gulf War: Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries. 2006 – The New Horizons probe is launched by NASA on the first mission to Pluto. 2012 – The Hong Kong-based file-sharing website Megaupload is shut down by the FBI. 2014 – A bomb attack on an army convoy in the city of Bannu kills at least 26 soldiers and injures 38 others.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:26:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015