0 | | Feast of St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, Patron of Archaeologists |
0 | | Navy Day in Chile |
0 | | The Other "International Tea Day" (alt Dec. 15) |
878 | | beseiged for eight months, Syracuse, capital of Byzantine Sicily, surrendered to Muslim invaders, who enslaved everyone they didn't massacre, and razed every church |
1077 | | Canossa: HRE Henry IV begs forgiveness from Pope Gregory VII |
1420 | | Treaty of Troyes: Charles VI of France recognizes Henry V of England as his heir, and gives him his daughter Catherine to wed |
1421 | | Murad II becomes Sultan of the Turks (1421-1451) |
1511 | | Battle of Casalecchio: French defeat the Papal Army |
1522 | | Adrian Florisz Boeyens elected Pope as Adrian VI (1522-23) |
1674 | | John Sobieski is elected King of Poland-Lithuania (1674-1796) |
1711 | | the 'War of the Poplars' began between Parma and Modena -- Learn More |
1762 | | HM frigate 'Active' & sloop 'Favourite' captured the Spanish ship 'Hermione' off Cadiz, realizing prize of £519,705 10s, perhaps £1.1 billion today -- Learn More |
1809 | | Napoleon engages Austria's Archduke Charles on the first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling Day 2: Austrians draw with Napoleon |
1856 | | Lawrence, Kansas captured & sacked by pro-slavery forces |
1861 | | Richmond, Va, is designated the Confederate Capital |
1863 | | Union Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, begins |
1864 | | US Maj Gen David Hunter takes command of Dept of West Virginia |
1871 | | French troops attack the Commune of Paris; 17,000 reportedly die in a week |
1879 | | Naval Battle of Iquique: Peru loses an ironclad, Chile a gunboat. |
1917 | | Leo Pinckney is the first American drafted during WW I |
1941 | | SS 'Robin Moore' is sunk off Brazil, first U-boat kill of an American ship in WW II |
1942 | | Philippines: Japanese troops occupy Samar and Leyte |
1943 | | China: Japanese open a new offensive across the Yangtze River |
1944 | | Pearl Harbor: ammo-laden LST blows up, 6 LSTs lost, c. 200 die |
1944 | | Wadke, New Guinea: Japanese crushed, c. 750 dead to 43 US |
1944 | | The U.S. observes "I Am an American Day" celebrating the nation's diversity |
1951 | | near Wonsan, Korea, the USS New Jersey (BB 62) was hit by an enemy artillery round, causing several casualties, one fatal -- Learn More |
1956 | | US explodes the first airdropped hydrogen bomb, Bikini Atoll |
1964 | | US begins intelligence flights above Laos |
1968 | | USS 'Scorpion' (SSN-589) sinks off Azores, 99 die |
1991 | | Marxist dictator of Ethiopia Mengistu Haile Mariam resigns |