TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY

63	BC	Cicero delivered his Fourth Oration against Catiline, before the Senate, which approves the execution without trial of the jailed conspirators in the Tullianum Prison.
0		Roman Festival of the Faunalia, honoring Faunus, seeking protection for the flocks and celebrating the end of the agricultural year
0		Feast of Saint Emeric, Prince of Hungary
0		the Day of Military Honor in Russia, commemorating the Battle of Moscow
741		Consecration of Pope Zacharias (741-752), later canonized
1349		Black Death Riots in Nuremberg: Jews are massacred
1496		King Manuel I orders Jews expelled from Portugal
1560		Charles IX, aged 10, ascends the throne of France (1560-1574)
1590		Niccolo Spondrati elected Pope as Gregory XIV (1590-1591)
1757		Seven Years' War - Battle of Leuthen: Frederick the Great's Prussians defeat the Austrians under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
1807		British seaman Robert Jeffrey was marooned on Sombrero Island -- Learn More
1812		Napoleon deserted his army at Smorgonie, still over 150 miles inside Russia
1838		The French capture Vera Cruz, Mexico -- Learn More
1861		Richard Gatling applies for a patent on a clever device
1862		Battle of Coffeeville, MS
1870		Joint resolution of Congress condemns the KKK
1916		Explosion in the shell filling facility at Barnbow, England, leaves 35 women dead
1928		President-Elect Herbert Hoover received a tumultuous welcome in Peru -- Learn More
1933		Repeal Day: The 21st Amendment is ratified, repealing the 18th and barring national prohibition
1934		Wal Wal: Border clash between Italian & Ethiopian troops
1941		the USS 'Lexington' (CV 2) sailed from Pearl Harbor to deliver aircraft to Midway
1941		the Japanese First Air Fleet arrived at 40 North 178 East, c. 1650 miles from Pearl Harbor
1941		Japanese invasion forces sail from Camrahn Bay and Saigon
1941		US military commanders in the Pacific are informed that Japanese embassies & consulates have been ordered to destroy their codes & code machines
1941		Moscow Counteroffensive: Under pressure from Zhukov's Soviet troops, the Germans call off their drive on Moscow
1942		Allies maneuver to increase pressure on the Japanese at Buna-Gona
1943		Japanese air raid on port facilities at Calcutta
1943		USAAF introduces drop-tanks, allowing P-47s & P-51s to escort bombers from Britain into German
1944		German troops confiscate all the silver coins in Utrecht
1944		Italo-Allied forces liberate Ravenna
1950		UN forces abandon Pyongyang under heavy Chinese pressure

BORN

1500	BC	Mithra, Protector of Truth, and the Guardian of Cattle, the Harvest, and of the Waters.
852		Zhu Wen, later Zhu Quanzhong and Zhu Huang, the Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (907-912)
1377		Zhu Yunwen, later the Jianwen Emperor of Ming China (1398-13 July 1402)
1443		Giuliano delle Rovere - Pope Julius II (1503-1513), warrior, patron of the arts
1782		Martin Van Buren, militiaman, first person born an American citizen to become President (1837-1841), d. 1862 -- Learn More
1839		George Armstrong Custer, Maj. Gen., USV, kia 1876
1859		John Jellicoe, admiral, who didn't lose the Big One in 1916, d. 1935 -- Learn More
1861		Armando Diaz, Italian supreme commander in WW I, d. 1928
1867		Józef Pilsudski, Polish patriot, d. 1935
1875		Arthur William Currie, Canadian soldier, GOC Canadian Corps, WW I, d. 1933
1902		Strom Thurmond, oldest man to jump into Normandy, politician, segregationist, d. 2003
1907		Lin Biao, Red Chinese general, d. 1971
1911		Wladyslaw Szpilman, Polish patriot and musician ("The Pianist"), d. 2000
1925		Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Dictator/President of Nicaragua (1967-1972, 1874-1979), assassinated, 1980 -- Learn More
1927		Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX of Thailand (1946-2016), jazzman

DIED

63	BC	Praetor P. Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Senator G. Cornelius Cethegus, M. Caeparius, L. Statilius, M. Caeparius, P. Gabinius Capito, strangled in the Tullianum for their part in Catiline's conspiracy
1082		Count Ramon Berenguer II of Barcelona (1076-1082), c. 28-29, assassinated
1345		Matteo Orsini, Lord of Mugnano, murdered at Orvieto
1355		Duke Jan III "the Triumphant" of Brabant, Lothier, and Limburg (1312-1355), c. 55
1560		King Francis II of France (1559-60), at 16
1784		Phillis Wheatley, sometime slave, African-American Patriot poet, at 32 -- Learn More
1791		Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 35, boy genius musician and composer
1870		Alexandre Dumas, père, 68, novelist ("The Count of Monte Cristo")
1891		Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1831-89), 65
1955		Glenn Luther Martin, 69, American aviation pioneer
1969		Claudius Dornier, aircraft designer, b. 1884
1977		Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky, at 82
2007		William J. Lederer, 97, CAPT, USN (Ret), co-author of "The Ugly American"
2008		Richard Topus, US Army master pigeonman, 1942-1945, at 84