Today in History
2 December
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2 December |
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| 1547 Hernando Cortes, the Spanish conqueror of Mexico, died; he fought and conquered Mexico and in 1522 became governor and captain-general of "New Spain." | ||
| 1578 Agostino Agazzari, composer was born | ||
| 1620 English language newspaper "Namloos" begins publishing in Amsterdam | ||
| 1682 English earl of Shaftesbury flight to Amsterdam | ||
| 1697 St Paul's Cathedral opens in London | ||
| 1728 Ferdinando Galiani, Italian economist/philosopher/diplomat was born | ||
| 1763 Touro shul of Newport RI dedicated (oldest existing US synagogue) | ||
| 1777 British Gen Howe plots attack on Washington's army for Dec 4 | ||
| 1790 Austrian army occupies Brussels | ||
| 1802 English sell Suriname to Dutch | ||
| 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte crowned emperor of France in Paris by Pope Pius VII | ||
| 1805 Napoleon won a brilliant victory at the battle of Austerlitz, also known as the "Battle of the Three Emperors," against Russia and Austria | ||
| 1812 James Madison re-elected president of US, E Gerry vice-pres | ||
| 1813 Prince Willem Frederik accepts constitutional monarchy | ||
| 1814 The Comte de Sade, known as the Marquis de Sade, died; his unnatural sexual practices and writings about them led to the term "sadism." | ||
| 1823 U.S. President James Monroe introduced his "Monroe Doctrine" under which it was held that the American continents were not to open to future colonization by any European power. | ||
| 1848 Franz Josef I becomes emperor of Austria & King of Hungary | ||
| 1852 In France, the Second Empire was proclaimed with Napoleon III as emperor. | ||
| 1859 American anti-slavery campaigner John Brown was hanged after an abortive raid on the federal arsenal in Virginia | ||
| 1859 French artist Georges Seurat was born; he founded the school of neo-impressionism and developed the technique of pointillism. | ||
| 1868 1st British government of Disraeli resigns | ||
| 1882 Amsterdam Artis Zoo opens aquarium | ||
| 1899 US & Germany agree to divide Samoa between them | ||
| 1900 South African president Paul Kruger arrives in Germany | ||
| 1901 Gillette patents 1st disposable razor | ||
| 1913 Archdiocese of Managua created | ||
| 1913 Govt -Barthou falls due to overtime conscription | ||
| 1914 Austria army occupies Belgrade Serbia | ||
| 1917 Han Yong-woon, found Zen awakening at Osean Monastery Korea | ||
| 1924 British-German trade agreement signed | ||
| 1929 1st skull of Peking man found, 50 km out of Peking at Tsjoe Koe Tien | ||
| 1941 Naval Intelligence ceases bugging Japanese consul | ||
| 1941 Yamamoto sends his fleet to Pearl Harbor | ||
| 1942 The world's first nuclear chain reaction took place at the University of Chicago when physicists led by Enrico Fermi created a chain reaction. | ||
| 1944 German troops seize Betuwse dikes | ||
| 1944 US 95th Infantry division occupies bridge at Saar | ||
| 1954 Sen. Joseph McCarthy was condemned by the U.S. Senate for misconduct after his investigations of thousands of he suspected to be communists. | ||
| 1956 Fidel Castro lands with "Granma" on coast of Cuba | ||
| 1958 Benelux treaty signed by Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg | ||
| 1959 Malpasset dam collapses destroying French Riviera town of Frejus | ||
| 1961 Fidel Castro declares he's a Marxist, & will lead Cuba to Communism | ||
| 1969 Boeing 747 jumbo jet 1st public preview (Seattle to NYC) | ||
| 1971 The United Arab Emirates was proclaimed. | ||
| 1971 United Arab Emirates, (Trucial States) declares independence from U | ||
| 1972 A general election in Australia resulted in a Labor victory, the first since 1949; Gough Whitlam became prime minister. | ||
| 1975 7 South Moluccans hijack train at Wijster Drente, 3 killed | ||
| 1975 Laos king Sisavang Vatthana resigns, republic forms | ||
| 1979 In Iran, electors voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new constitution giving absolute power to Ayatollah Khomeini. | ||
| 1979 Crowds attack US embassy at Tripoli Libya | ||
| 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR | ||
| 1981 Spanish government requests membership in NATO | ||
| 1982 1st permanent artificial heart successfully implanted (U of Utah) in retired dentist Barney Clark; lived 112 days with Jarvic-7 heart | ||
| 1987 Chicago City Council elects Eugene Sawyer acting mayor | ||
| 1988 STS-27 Atlantis launched (Secret military mission) | ||
| 1989 Vishwanath Pratap Singh sworn in as president of India | ||
| 1990 After German reunification, Chancellor Helmut Kohl's coalition of CDU/CSU and FDP won Germany's first free German elections since 1932. | ||
| 1993 Space shuttle STS-61 (Endeavour 5), launches | ||
| 1993 Pablo Escobar, boss of the Medellin cocaine cartel in Colombia, was killed in a shootout as police tried to arrest him | ||
| 1994 Achille Lauro (Willem Ruys) sinks off the coast of Somalia | ||