A few of the great historical events that happened today in history, December 22nd!
| 1775 | Esek Hopkins takes command of the Continental Navy — a total of seven ships. |
| 1807 | Congress passes the Embargo Act, which halts all trading completely. It is hoped that the act will keep the United States out the European Wars. |
| 1829 | The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opens the first passenger railway line. |
| 1858 | Opera composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy. |
| 1864 | During the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to President Abraham Lincoln from Georgia, saying, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.”  |
| 1894 | French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (He was eventually vindicated.) |
| 1912 | Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson, was born Claudio Alta Taylor in Karnack, Texas. |
| 1918 | The last of the food restrictions, enforced because of the shortages during World War I, are lifted. |
| 1929 | Soviet troops leave Manchuria after a truce is reached with the Chinese over the Eastern Railway dispute. |
| 1941 | Japanese troops make an amphibious landing on the coast of Lingayen Gulf on Luzon, the Philippines. |
| 1941 | British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington, D.C., for a wartime conference with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. |
| 1942 | The Soviets drive German troops back 15 miles at the Don River. |
| 1944 | During the Battle of the Bulge, Germany demanded the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium; Brigadier Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replied: “Nuts!”  |
| 1945 | The United States recognizes Tito’s government in Yugoslavia. |
| 1965 | The EF-105F Wild Weasel makes its first kill over Vietnam. |
| 1966 | The United States announces the allocation of 900,000 tons of grain to fight the famine in India. |
| 1984 | New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot four black youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him. |
| 1989 | The Romanian government of Nicolae Ceausescu is overthrown, ending 42 years of communist rule.  |
| 1990 | Lech Walesa took the oath of office as Poland’s first popularly elected president. |
| 2000 | Pop singer Madonna married film director Guy Ritchie in Scotland. (The couple divorced in 2008.) |
| 2001 | Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers.  |
| 2005 | Astronomers announced the discovery of two more rings encircling the planet Uranus. |
| 2010 | President Barack Obama signed a law allowing gays for the first time in history to serve openly in America’s military. |
No comments:
Post a Comment