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1831 |
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Edward Smith became the first indicted bank robber in the U.S. |
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1992 |
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Four suspects were arrested in the beating of trucker Reginald Denny at the start of the Los Angeles riots. |
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1588 |
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King Henry III fled Paris after Henry of Guise triumphantly entered the city. |
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1952 |
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King George VI died on this day in 1952. Born Albert Frederick Arthur George Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on 14 December 1895 at Sandringham, Norfolk, England, George was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria and the second son of King George V. He was born with the family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which became the British Royal Family's name when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, son of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha in 1840. King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor during the First World War. Albert was created Duke of York in 1920. The Duke became King George VI when his elder brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated on 10 December 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. George VI was formally crowned on 12 May 1937, and reigned from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952. The cause of King George's death was a coronary thrombosis, a fatal blood clot in his heart. It was later revealed that he had also been suffering from lung cancer. The King was survived by his wife Elizabeth, whom he married in 1923, and his two daughters, Princess Elizabeth, who then became Queen at the age of 25, and Princess Margaret, four years younger. |
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1937 |
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Britain's King George VI was crowned on this day in 1937 at Westminster Abbey. |
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2002 |
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Former U.S. President Carter arrived in Cuba for a visit with Fidel Castro. It was the first time a U.S. head of state, in or out of office, had gone to the island since Castro's 1959 revolution. |
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1957 |
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A.J. Foyt won his first auto racing victory in Kansas City, MO. |
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1924 |
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Anthony John Hancock was born on this day in 1924 in Birmingham, England. He was raised in Bournemouth where his mother and stepfather ran a small hotel, The Durlston Court, now renamed The Quality Hotel. In 1942 he joined the RAF Regiment, and after a failed audition for ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) ended up with The Ralph Reader Gang Show. Following the war he received regular radio work in shows such as Workers' Playtime and Variety Bandbox. In 1951 he gained a part in Educating Archie, where he played the tutor and foil to a ventriloquist's dummy. This brought him wider recognition and a catchphrase used frequently in the show; 'flippin' kids'. In 1954 he was given his own BBC radio show: Hancock's Half Hour. Developing also into a television series, Hancock's Half Hour lasted for five years and over a hundred episodes, featuring Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams, Moira Lister and Hattie Jacques. Hancock was highly self-critical and doubted his own ability. He searched for meaning in the works of philosophers, classic novels and political books. In the later years of his career, his self-absorption led to self destructiveness, most evident in his alcoholism. Hancock went to Australia in March 1968 and on 24 June 1968 he committed suicide in Sydney. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Hancock was voted the twelfth greatest comedian by fellow comics and comedy insiders. |
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1932 |
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The infant body of Charles and Anna Lindbergh's son was found just a few miles from the Lindbergh home near Hopewell, NJ. |
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1881 |
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Tunisia, in North Africa became a French protectorate. |
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1949 |
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The Soviet Union announced an end to the Berlin Blockade. The Berlin blockade was one of the first major crises of the Cold War. It began on 24 June 1948, when the Soviet Union blocked Western railroad and street access to West Berlin. The Western sectors of Berlin were also isolated from the city power grid, depriving the inhabitants of domestic and industrial electricity supplies. It was an attempt to stop the division of Germany into communist and free states. By forcing a land and water blockade of Berlin, the Soviet Union expected the Allies would abandon West Berlin. On 25 June 1948 "Operation Vittles" commenced, to supply food and other necessary goods to the isolated West Berliners. This became known as the Berlin Airlift. The aircraft were supplied and flown by the United States, United Kingdom and France, but pilots and crew also came from Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand in order to assist the supply of Berlin. Ultimately 278,228 flights were made and 2,326,406 tons of food and supplies were delivered to Berlin. The Soviet Union lifted the blockade on 12 May 1949 (although theoretically, the blockade ended at 23:59 on 11 May 1949), but the airlift operation continued right through to September of that year. East and West Germany were established as separate republics that month. |
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1965 |
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West Germany and Israel exchanged letters establishing diplomatic relations. |
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1975 |
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U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez was seized by Cambodian forces in international waters. |
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1999 |
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Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and named Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin as his successor. |
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1982 |
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In Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who was trying to reach Pope John Paul II. |
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1888 |
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Charles Sherrill of the Yale track team became the first runner to use the crouching start for a fast break in a foot race. |
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1950 |
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The American Bowling Congress abolished its white males-only membership restriction after 34 years. |
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1970 |
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Ernie Banks, of the Chicago Cubs, hit his 500th home run. |
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1847 |
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William Clayton invented the odometer. |
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1982 |
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South Africa unveiled a plan that would give voting rights to citizens of Asian and mixed-race descent, but not to blacks. |
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2003 |
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In Texas, fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers went into hiding over a dispute with Republican's over a congressional redistricting plan. |
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1926 |
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In Britain, a general strike by trade unions ended. The strike began on May 3, 1926. |
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1978 |
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that they would no longer exclusively name hurricanes after women. |
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1870 |
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Manitoba entered the Confederation as a Canadian province. |
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2008 |
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In the U.S., the price for a one-ounce First-Class stamp increased from 41 to 42 cents.
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1926 |
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The airship Norge became the first vessel to fly over the North Pole. |
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1780 |
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Charleston, South Carolina fell to British forces. |
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1885 |
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In the Battle of Batoche, French Canadians rebelled against the Canadian government. |
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1940 |
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The Nazi conquest of France began with the German army crossing Muese River. |
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1942 |
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The Soviet Army launched its first major offensive of World War II and took Kharkov in the eastern Ukraine from the German army. |
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1943 |
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The Axis forces in North Africa surrendered during World War II. |
