• On this day in 357, Emperor Constantius II visited Rome.
• In 585 on this day, the war between Lydia & Media was ended by a solar eclipse.
• This day in 1192 marked the assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I), King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title to the throne was confirmed by election. The killing was carried out by Hashshashin.
• In 1202 on this day, King Philip II threw out John without Country, from France.
1253 - -May 7th) Utrecht destroyed by fire
• On this day in 1253, Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounded Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the first time and declared it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
1376 - English parliament demands supervision on royal outlay
1503 - Battle at Cerignalo: Spanish army under G Cordoba beats France
• In 1521 on this day during the Treaty of Worms, Emperor Charles named his brother Ferdinand Arch Duke of Netherlands-Austria.
1550 - Powers of Dutch inquisition extends
1611 - Establishment of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, the oldest existing university in Asia and the largest Catholic university in the world.
1635 - Virginia Gov John Harvey accused of treason & removed from office
1655 - English admiral Blake beats Tunen pirate fleet
• The first volume of Isaac Newton's "Principia" was published on this day in 1686.
Picture of a statue of British explorer Captain James Cook
• On this day in 1770, Captain James Cook landed at Botany Bay in Australia while aboard the Endeavour.
• Maryland officially became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution on this day in 1788, thus becoming the seventh state of the Union.
1789 - Fletcher Christian leads Mutiny on HMS Bounty & Capt William Bligh
1796 - Cease fire of Cherasco
• In 1804 on this day, 31 British ships sailed up the Suriname River demanding transition colony from the Dutch.
1818 - Monroe proclaims naval disarmament on Great Lakes & Lake Champlain
1829 - Dutch parliament accepts new press laws
1847 - George B Vashon becomes 1st black to enter NY State Bar
1848 - Free last slaves in French colonies
1855 - 1st veterinary college in US incorporated in Boston
• Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "L'Africaine" premiered in Paris on this day in 1865.
1892 - 1st performance of Antonin Dvorák's overture "Carneval"
1901 - 1st soccer game between Belgium (8) & Netherlands (0)
1901 - Cleveland's Bock Baker gives up a record 23 singles as White Sox beat Blues (Cleveland Blues!) 13-1
• Using the ISO 8601 standard Year Zero definition for the Gregorian calendar preceded by the Julian calendar, the one billionth minute since the start of January 1, Year Zero occurs at 10:40 AM on this day in 1902.
1910 - 1st night air flight (Claude Grahame-White, England)
1914 - 181 die in coal mine collapse at Eccles WV
1914 - W H Carrier patents air conditioner
1919 - 1st jump with Army Air Corp (rip-cord type) parachute (Les Irvin)
1920 - Azerbaijan SSR joins USSR (1st time)
1922 - WOI (Ames, Iowa) country's 1st licensed educational radio station
1923 - Wembley Stadium opens-Bolton Wanderers vs West Ham United (FA Cup)
1924 - 119 die in Benwood West Virginia coal mine disaster
1925 - Kurdish rebels surrender to Turkish army
1925 - Netherlands & Great Britain return to gold standard
1930 - 1st night organized baseball game played in Independence Kansas
1931 - Program for woman athletes approved for 1932 Olympics track & field
1932 - 1st broadcast of "One Man's Family" on NBC-radio
1932 - Yellow fever vaccine for humans announced
32nd US President Franklin D. Roosevelt32nd US President Franklin D. Roosevelt 1934 - FDR signs Home Owners Loan Act
1934 - Soccer team Blue White '34 forms
1934 - Spanish government of Samper forms
1934 - Tigers' Goose Goslin grounds into 4 straight double plays
1935 - Moscow underground opens (81 km long)
1937 - 1st animated cartoon electric sign displayed (NYC)
1937 - 1st commercial flight across Pacific, Pan Am
• 1939 - Hitler claims German-Polish non-attack treaty still in effect
1940 - Glenn Miller records "Pennsylvania 6-5000"
• 1940 - Rudolf Hess becomes commandant of concentration camp Auschwitz
1941 - Last British troops in Greece surrender
1942 - "WW II" titled so, as result of Gallup Poll
1942 - Nightly "dim-out" begins along US East Coast
1943 - 1st performance of Marc Blitzstein's "Freedom Morning"
1943 - German-Italian counter offensive in North-Africa
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler 1943 - US 34th Division occupies Djebel el Hara North Tunisia
1944 - Stalin meets Polish/US priest S Orlemanski
1944 - Exercise "Tiger" ends with 750 US soldiers dead in D-Day rehearsal after their convoy ships were attacked by German torpedo boats
1945 - British commandos attack Elbe & occupies Lauenburg
1945 - US 5th army reaches Swiss border
• On this day in 1945 during the last days of World War II in Europe, "Il Duce," Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee Italy. They were shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland. The 61-year-old deposed former dictator of Italy was established by his German allies as the figurehead of a puppet government in northern Italy during the German occupation toward the close of the war. As the Allies fought their way up the Italian peninsula, defeat of the Axis powers all but certain, Mussolini considered his options. Not wanting to fall into the hands of either the British or the Americans, and knowing that the communist partisans, who had been fighting the remnants of roving Italian fascist soldiers and thugs in the north, would try him as a war criminal, he settled on escape to a neutral country. He and his mistress made it to the Swiss border, only to discover that the guards had crossed over to the partisan side. Knowing they would not let him pass, he disguised himself in a Luftwaffe coat and helmet, hoping to slip into Austria with some German soldiers. His subterfuge proved incompetent, and he and Petacci were discovered by partisans and shot, their bodies then transported by truck to Milan, where they were hung upside down and displayed publicly for revilement by the masses.
1947 - Thor Heyerdahl & "Kon-Tiki" sail from Peru to Polynesia
1949 - Bkln, Commish Chandler suspends Durocher but he is absolved on May 3 NY fan charges Leo Durocher with assault after Giants lose 15-2 to
1949 - Former Philippine First Lady Aurora Quezon, 61, is assassinated while en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and 10 others are also killed.
1952 - Patty Berg wins LPGA Richmond Golf Open
1952 - St Louis Browns lend 2 black minor leaguers to Hankyu Braves of Japan
1952 - WW II Pacific peace treaty takes effect
1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Commander of NATO.
1955 - WBIQ TV channel 10 in Birmingham, AL (PBS) begins broadcasting
1956 - Last French troop leave Vietnam On April 28, 1956, the last French Expeditionary Force troops left South Vietnam, ending decades of French military presence. This departure marked a major shift in the Vietnam War, allowing American military advisors to take over training responsibilities. Concurrently, Ngo Dinh Diem consolidated power, declining to hold reunification elections.
1956 - Reds Frank Robinson hits his 1st of 586 HRs
Baseball Player and Manager Leo DurocherBaseball Player and Manager Leo Durocher 1957 - Patty Berg wins LPGA Western Golf Open
1957 - WSOC TV channel 9 in Charlotte, NC (ABC) begins broadcasting
1958 - Great Britain performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
1958 - Vanguard TV-5 launched for Earth orbit (failed)
1958 - Vice Pres Richard Nixon begins goodwill tour of Latin America
1959 - KLOE TV channel 10 in Goodland, KS (CBS) begins broadcasting
1959 - KPLR TV channel 11 in Saint Louis, MO (IND) begins broadcasting
1960 - "Christine" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 12 performances
1960 - WIPM TV channel 3 in Mayaguez, PR (PBS) begins broadcasting
1960 - Elena Kagan,New York, US Supreme Court Judge
1961 - Lt Col Gueorgui Mossolov takes E-66A to 34,714 m altitude
1961 - Warren Spahn pitches 2nd no hitter at 41 beats SF Giants, 1-0
1963 - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1963 - 17th Tony Awards: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" win
1964 - Japan joins OECD
Singer-songwriter & Actress Barbra StreisandSinger-songwriter & Actress Barbra Streisand 1965 - Barbra Streisand stars on "My Name is Barbra" special on CBS
1965 - Lindsey Nelson broadcasts game at Astrodome from a hanging gondola
1965 - Richard Helms replaces Marshall S Carter as deputy director of CIA
1965 - US marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until October 1966
Bust of American President Lyndon B. Johnson
• In 1965 on this day, U.S. troops landed in the Dominican Republic in an effort to forestall what American President Lyndon B. Johnson claimed would become a "communist dictatorship" in the country, like in Cuba. Johnson sent more than 22,000 U.S. troops to restore order on the island nation. Johnson's action provoked loud protests in Latin America and skepticism among many in the United States. Troubles in the Dominican Republic began in 1961, when long-time dictator Rafael Trujillo was assassinated. Trujillo had been a brutal leader, but his strong anticommunist stance helped him retain the support of the United States. His death led to the rise of a reformist government headed by Juan Bosch, who was elected president in 1962. The Dominican military, however, despised Bosch and his liberal policies. Bosch was overthrown in 1963. Political chaos gripped the Dominican Republic as various groups, including the increasingly splintered military, struggled for power. By 1965, forces demanding the reinstatement of Bosch began attacks against the military-controlled government. In the United States government, fear spread that "another Cuba" was in the making in the Dominican Republic; in fact, many officials strongly suspected that Cuban leader Fidel Castro was behind the violence. On April 28, more than 22,000 U.S. troops, supported by forces provided by some of the member states of the Organization of American States (a United Nations-like institution for the Western Hemisphere, dominated by the United States) landed in the Dominican Republic. Over the next few weeks they brought an end to the fighting and helped install a conservative, non-military government. President Johnson declared that he had taken action to forestall the establishment of a "communist dictatorship" in the Dominican Republic. As evidence, he provided American reporters with lists of suspected communists in that nation. Even cursory reviews of the list revealed that the evidence was extremely flimsy--some of the people on the list were dead and others could not be considered communists by any stretch of the imagination. Many Latin American governments and private individuals and organizations condemned the U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic as a return to the "gunboat diplomacy" of the early-20th century, when U.S. Marines invaded and occupied a number of Latin American nations on the slightest pretexts. In the United States, politicians and citizens who were already skeptical of Johnson's policy in Vietnam heaped scorn on Johnson's statements about the "communist danger" in the Dominican Republic. Such criticism would become more and more familiar to the Johnson administration as the U.S. became more deeply involved in the war in Vietnam.
1965 - William F Raborn Jr replaces John A McCone as 7th head of CIA
1966 - 20th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 3
1966 - 38th Academy Awards - "Sound of Music", Julie Christie & Lee Marvin win
1966 - Cleve ties record with 10th straight win since Opening Day
1966 - OCAM, Common Afro-Mauritian Organization forms
• 1967 - Expo 67 opens in Montreal
1967 - Muhammad Ali refuses induction into army & stripped of boxing title
• World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army on this day in 1967, and was then immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 14, 1942, the future three-time world champ changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after converting to Islam. He scored a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and made his professional boxing debut against Tunney Husaker on October 29, 1960, winning the bout in six rounds. On February 25, 1964, he defeated the heavily favored bruiser Sonny Liston in six rounds to become heavyweight champ. On April 28, 1967, with the United States at war in Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.” On June 20, 1967, Ali was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years. He stayed out of prison as his case was appealed and returned to the ring on October 26, 1970, knocking out Jerry Quarry in Atlanta in the third round. On March 8, 1971, Ali fought Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century” and lost after 15 rounds, the first loss of his professional boxing career. On June 28 of that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction for evading the draft. At a January 24, 1974, rematch at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Ali defeated Frazier by decision in 12 rounds. On October 30 of that same year, an underdog Ali bested George Forman and reclaimed his heavyweight champion belt at the hugely hyped “Rumble in the Jungle” in Kinshasa, Zaire, with a knockout in the eighth round. On October 1, 1975, Ali met Joe Frazier for a third time at the “Thrilla in Manila” in the Philippines and defeated him in 14 rounds. On February 15, 1978, Ali lost the title to Leon Spinks in a 15-round split decision. However, seven months later, on September 15, Ali won it back. In June 1979, Ali announced he was retiring from boxing. He returned to the ring on October 2, 1980, and fought heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, who knocked him out in the 11th round. After losing to Trevor Berbick on December 11, 1981, Ali left the ring for the final time, with a 56-5 record. He is the only fighter to be heavyweight champion three times. In 1984, it was revealed Ali had Parkinson’s disease.
1968 - 11 year-old Mary Bell strangles 4 year-old
1968 - Carol Mann wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies' Golf Invitational
1969 - Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France
French President Charles De Gaulle
• On this day in 1969, Charles de Gaulle resigned as president of France after he was defeated with his proposals for constitutional reform in a national referendum. A veteran of World War I, de Gaulle unsuccessfully petitioned his country to modernize its armed forces between the wars. After Henri Petain and other French leaders signed an armistice with Nazi Germany in June 1940, he fled to London, where he organized the Free French forces and rallied French colonies to the Allied cause. His forces fought successfully in North Africa, and in June 1944 he was named head of the French government in exile. On August 26, following the Allied invasion of France, de Gaulle entered Paris in triumph. Three months later, he was unanimously elected provisional president of France. He resigned in January 1946, however, claiming he lacked sufficient governing power. De Gaulle formed a new political party that had only moderate electoral success, and in 1953 he retired. However, five years later, a military and civilian revolt in Algeria created a political crisis in France, and he was called out of retirement to lead the nation. A new constitution was passed, and in late December he was elected president of the Fifth Republic. During the next decade, President de Gaulle granted independence to Algeria and attempted to restore France to its former international stature by withdrawing from the U.S.-dominated NATO alliance and promoting the development of French atomic weapons. However, student demonstrations and workers' strikes in 1968 eroded his popular support, and in 1969 his proposals for further constitutional reform were defeated in a national vote. On April 28, 1969, Charles de Gaulle, 79 years old, retired for good. He died the following year.
1969 - King Crimson with Greg Lake & Ian McDonald debuts
French President Charles de GaulleFrench President Charles de Gaulle
• In 1970 on this day during the American conflict in Vietnam, American President Richard Nixon formally approved of a Cambodian incursion, effectively widening the war, despite having promised to being an honorable end to the war prior to this. Nixon gives his formal authorization to commit U.S. combat troops, in cooperation with South Vietnamese units, against communist troop sanctuaries in Cambodia. Secretary of State William Rogers and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, who had continually argued for a downsizing of the U.S. effort in Vietnam, were excluded from the decision to use U.S. troops in Cambodia. Gen. Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cabled Gen. Creighton Abrams, senior U.S. commander in Saigon, informing him of the decision that a "higher authority has authorized certain military actions to protect U.S. forces operating in South Vietnam." Nixon believed that the operation was necessary as a pre-emptive strike to forestall North Vietnamese attacks from Cambodia into South Vietnam as the U.S. forces withdrew and the South Vietnamese assumed more responsibility for the fighting. Nevertheless, three National Security Council staff members and key aides to presidential assistant Henry Kissinger resigned in protest over what amounted to an invasion of Cambodia. When Nixon publicly announced the Cambodian incursion on April 30, it set off a wave of antiwar demonstrations. A protest at Kent State University resulted in the killing of four students by Army National Guard troops. Another student rally at Jackson State College in Mississippi resulted in the death of two students and 12 wounded when police opened fire on a women's dormitory. The incursion angered many in Congress, who felt that Nixon was illegally widening the war; this resulted in a series of congressional resolutions and legislative initiatives that would severely limit the executive power of the president.
1971 - Dutch social democratic party/D'66/DS'70 win parliamentary election
1971 - Samuel Lee Gravely Jr becomes 1st black admiral in US Navy
1972 - Courts award 1968 Kentucky Derby prize money to 2nd place winner due to the winner being given drugs before the race
1973 - Over 6000 Mk. 82 500 pound bombs detonate over the course of 18 hours in a railyard in northern California. 5500 structures are damaged, and the town of Antelope, California ceases to exist, with every building being reduced to the foundation. This accident leads to the passing of the Transportation Safety Act of 1974 which makes the NTSB an independent agency.
1974 - The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon.
1974 - Jane Blalock wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
1975 - John Lennon appears on "Tonight" & Ringo Starr on "Smother Brothers"
1975 - South-Vietnam Gen Duong Van Minh sworn in as president till April 30
1977 - Christopher Boyce convicted for selling secrets
1977 - Andreas Baader & members of Baader-Meinhoff jailed for life after a trial lasting nearly 2 years in Stuttgart, Germany
1977 - The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure is signed.
1980 - Cyrus Vance, Carter's Secretary of State, resigns
1980 - Reunion Arena in Dallas opens
1981 - Galician current Statute of Autonomy.
• 1983 - Argentine government declares all 15-30,000 missing persons dead
1983 - Bruins 4-Isles 1-Wales Conference Championship-Series tied 1-1
1983 - NASA launches Geos-F
1984 - "La Tragedie de Carmen" closes at Beaumont Theater NYC after 187 perfs
1985 - Alice Miller wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
1985 - Billy Martin named NY Yankee manager for 4th time
1985 - Fernando Valenzuela sets record of 41 scoreless inn to start season
1986 - Chernobyl, USSR site of world's worst nuclear power plant disaster
1987 - NBA announces expansion to Charlotte NC & Miami Fla in 1988 & Minneapolis Minn & Orlando Fla in 1989
1987 - American engineer Ben Linder is killed in an ambush by U.S.-funded Contras in northern Nicaragua.
1988 - "Chess" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 68 performances
1988 - Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 roof tears off in flight; kills stewardess
1988 - Baltimore Orioles lose AL record 21 games in a row
1988 - NJ Devils set all time playoff mark for penalty minutes
Flag of South Africa during the apartheid era
1989 - Mobil announced that they were divesting from South Africa because congressional restrictions were too costly.
1989 - Argentina, hit by rocketing inflation, runs out of money
Salman Rushdie's controversial novel, "The Satanic Verses
1989 - Iran protests sale of "Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie
1990 - "Chorus Line" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 6,137 performances
1990 - Boston Celtics score most points in a playoff, beat NY Knicks 157-128
1990 - Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Dave Ferraro
1990 - Last issue of Dutch communist daily De Waarheid (The Truth)
1991 - "Gypsy" opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 105 performances
1991 - "Taking Steps" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC after 78 perfs
1991 - Space Shuttle STS 39 (Discovery 12) launched
1992 - Brewers beat Blue Jays 22-2 with AL record 31 hits in 9 innings
1992 - Italian President Francesco Cossiga formally resigns
1993 - "Tango Passion" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 5 performances
1993 - Carlo Ciampi forms Italian government with ex-communists
1993 - Zambian plane crashes at Libreville, Gabon, 30 soccer players die
1993 - NY Islanders beat Wash Caps 4 to 1 in playoffs, Caps Dale Hunter attacks Pierre Turgeon after scoring, in hockey's worst cheap shot
1994 - 1st multi-racial election in South Africa ends [3 days]
1994 - Aldrich Ames, former CIA officer & wife Rosario plead guilty to spying
1994 - Freddy Thielemans sworn in as mayor of Brussels Belgium
1995 - Gas explosion in South Korean metro, 103 die
1995 - Sri Lankaan BAE748 crashes at Palaly, 52 die
1996 - "Big" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 193 performances
1996 - Martin Bryant shoots & kills 35 in Port Arthur Tasmania
1996 - Meg Mallon wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic
1997 - "Jekyll & Hyde" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC
2001 - Millionaire Dennis Tito becomes the world's first space tourist.
2005 - The Patent Law Treaty goes into effect.
2012 - Tent collapse in St Louis, Missouri, kills one and injures 110 people
2013 - 8 people are killed and dozens are injured after Taliban attacks on election candidates in Pakistan
2013 - 3 people are killed and 14 are injured after a gas explosions causes a building to collapse in Reims, France
0357 - Constantius II visited Rome for the first time. 1282 - Villagers in Palermo led a revolt against French rule in Sicily. 1635 - Virginia Governor John Harvey was accused of treason and removed from office. 1686 - The first volume of Isaac Newton's "Principia Mathamatic" was published. 1788 - Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U.S. constitution. 1789 - A mutiny on the British ship Bounty took place when a rebel crew took the ship and set sail to Pitcairn Island. The mutineers left Captain W. Bligh and 18 sailors adrift. 1818 - U.S. President James Monroe proclaimed naval disarmament on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. 1896 - The Addressograph was patented by J.S. Duncan. 1902 - A revolution broke out in the Dominican Republic. 1910 - First night air flight was performed by Claude Grahame-White in England. 1914 - W.H. Carrier patented the design of his air conditioner. 1916 - The British declared martial law throughout Ireland. 1919 - The League of Nations was founded. 1920 - Azerbaijan joined the USSR. 1930 - The first organized night baseball game was played in Independence, Kansas. 1932 - The yellow fever vaccine for humans was announced. 1937 - The first animated-cartoon electric sign was displayed on a building on Broadway in New York City. It was created by Douglas Leight. 1946 - The Allies indicted Tojo with 55 counts of war crimes. 1947 - Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and five others set out in a balsa wood craft known as Kon Tiki to prove that Peruvian Indians could have settled in Polynesia. The trip began in Peru and took 101 days to complete the crossing of the Pacific Ocean. 1952 - The U.S. occupation of Japan officially ended when a treaty with the U.S. and 47 other countries went into effect. 1953 - French troops evacuated northern Laos. 1957 - Mike Wallace was seen on TV for the first time. He was the host of "Mike Wallace Interviews." 1959 - Arthur Godfrey was seen for the last time in the final broadcast of "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" on CBS-TV. 1965 - The U.S. Army and Marines invaded the Dominican Republic to evacuate Americans. 1967 - Muhammad Ali refused induction into the U.S. Army and was stripped of boxing title. He cited religious grounds for his refusal. 1969 - In Santa Rosa, CA, Charles M. Schulz's Redwood Empire Ice Arena opened. 1974 - The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon. 1977 - Christopher Boyce was convicted of selling U.S. secrets. 1985 - The largest sand castle in the world was completed near St. Petersburg, FL. It was four stories tall. 1988 - In Maui, HI, one flight attendant was killed when the fuselage of a Boeing 737 ripped open in mid-flight. 1992 - The U.S. Agriculture Department unveiled a pyramid-shaped recommended-diet chart. 1994 - Former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had given U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pled guilty to espionage and tax evasion. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. 1996 - U.S. President Clinton gave a 4 1/2 hour videotaped testimony as a defense witness in the criminal trial of his former Whitewater business partners. 1997 - A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons took effect. Russia and other countries such as Iraq and North Korea did not sign. 1999 - The U.S. House of Representatives rejected (on a tie vote of 213-213) a measure expressing support for NATO's five-week-old air campaign in Yugoslavia. The House also voted to limit the president's authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia. 2000 - Jay Leno received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 2001 - A Russian rocket launched from Central Asia with the first space tourist aboard. The crew consisted of California businessman Dennis Tito and two cosmonauts. The destination was the international space station.
1788 Maryland became the 7th state in the United States. 1789 Fletcher Christian led the mutiny aboard the British ship Bounty against Captain William Bligh. 1945 Benito Mussolini was executed. 1947 Thor Heyerdahl and five others began their Pacific Ocean crossing on the raft, Kon-Tiki. 1967 Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army. 1992 The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture unveiled its first “food pyramid.” 2001 Dennis Tito became the first space tourist. 2004 The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal first comes to light when graphic photos of U.S. soldiers physically abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners were shown on CBS's 60 Minutes II.
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