|
1502 |
Birth
of Pope Gregory XIII (died 1585). He introduced the
Gregorian Calendar. |
|
1558 |
French
forces capture Calais from England. |
|
1610 |
Galileo
Galilei, Italian mathematician and astronomer (1564-1642),
discovers Jupiter’s four satellites Io, Europa, Gannymede
and Callisto. |
|
1768 |
Birth
of Joseph Bonaparte, French diplomat, soldier and eldest
brother of Napoleon; He was king of Naples from 1806 until
1808 when he became king of Spain. |
|
1785 |
Dr
John Jeffries and Jean Pierre Blanchard make the first
crossing of the English Channel in a hot-air balloon. |
|
1789 |
The
first US national election takes place; George Washington
eventually became president. |
|
1807 |
Britain
blockades the French coast and Napoleon Bonaparte’s
allies. |
|
1830 |
The
world’s first railway station is opened at Mount Clare,
Baltimore, Maryland. |
|
1862 |
The
French attack Ba Ria citadel on Viet Nam’s southern coast
in their gradual conquest of the country. |
|
1867 |
Birth
of Carl Laemmle, US film producer and founder of Universal
Pictures. |
|
1895 |
Korea
proclaims its independence from China. |
|
1899 |
Birth
of French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc; his best
known ballet is Les Biches. |
|
1904 |
Introduction
of the shipping distress call CQD "seek you,
danger." It was replaced by SOS two years later. |
|
1910 |
Death
of Russian author-philosopher Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy
(born 1828); his two great novels are War and Peace and Anna
Karerina. |
|
1925 |
British
zoologist and writer Gerald Durrell (1925-1995) is born in
India. His best-selling memoir, My Family and Other Animals,
is published in 1956. |
|
1927 |
A
transatlantic telephone service between London and New York
is introduced. |
|
1953 |
President
Harry Truman announces that the US has developed a hydrogen
bomb. |
|
1961 |
The
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is issued at
Casablanca by African heads of state. |
|
1966 |
Establishment
of the Viet Nam Mathematicians’ Association. |
|
1972 |
Viet
Nam and India upgrade bilateral diplomatic relations to
ambassadorial level. |
|
1973 |
Establishment
of Viet Nam-Guatemala diplomatic relations. |
|
1979 |
The
Cambodian people led by the Kamphuchean National United
Front for National Salvation overthrow the genocidal rule of
the Khmer Rouge. |
|
1984 |
French
scientist Alfred Kastler dies; he won the Nobel Prize for
Physics in 1966 for his work which was instrumental in the
development of lasers. |
|
1984 |
The
Kingdom of Brunei is adjoined the 6th member of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN. |
|
1986 |
Death
of Vu Dinh Chi, pen name Tam Lang, a pioneer in
investigative reporting in Viet Nam early this century. |
|
1989 |
Death
of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, posthumously known as the
Emperor Showa after a 63-year reign. |
|
1990 |
The
Leaning Tower of Pisa, officially listed as a public danger
to the anger of locals, is closed to tourists for the first
time in its 800-year history for restoration work. |
|
1998 |
The
Canadian government formally apologises to the country’s
indigenous people for 150 years of oppression and
establishes a "healing" fund. |
|
2000 |
Aid
arrives in Mozambique, where flooding leaves as many as 700
people dead and destroys the homes or livelihood of another
2 million. Taiwan ends more than a half-century of
Nationalist Party rule, electing an opposition leader, Chen
Shui-bian. |
|
2001 |
In
Paris, Socialists win municipal elections, ending nearly a
century of unbroken rule by the right. — AP/REUTERS/VNS |
