Today In History

1291 Egyptian Mamelukken occupies Akko, crusaders driven out of Palestine
1498 Christopher Columbus discovers island of Trinidad
1588 English fleet defeats Spanish Armada
1620 Pilgrim Fathers depart (through England) to America
1653 Fronde-leaders surrender in Bordeaux
1658 Aurangzeb appoints himself Mongol emperor
1667 Peace of Breda: 2nd English war-Suriname Vs New-Netherlands ends
1718 Battle at Cape Passaro: English fleet destroys Spanish
1737 Prince Frederick of Wales escapes English court
1751 Fire in Stockholm destroys 1,000 houses
1774 Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen
1777 Marquis de Lafayette, 19, made major-general of Continental Army
1790 The first U.S. patent granted: to Samuel Hopkins for a potash process
1792 Cornerstone laid for first U.S. government building: U.S. Mint in Philadelphia
1794 All Jacobijnse clubs together in Haarlem
1809 The first practical U.S. railroad track (wood, for horse-drawn cars), Philadelphia
1813 British invade Plattsburgh, New York
1830 Charles X of France resigns by force
1849 Benjamin Chambers patents breech loading cannon
1864 Ulysses S. Grant is named General of Volunteers
1874 Patrick Francis Healy, SJ, inaugurated as President of Georgetown U
1876 U.S. Coast Guard officers' training school established New Bedford, Massachusetts
1893 Henry Perky patents shredded wheat
1899 Albert Trott hits Monty Noble over the Pavilion at Lord's
1900 Boer Generals Prinsloo and Roux surrenders in Brandwater Basin
1901 Abraham Kuyper becomes premier of Netherlands
1905 Matumbi rebellion at Samanga German East Africa
1910 Clement van Maasdijk gives flying demonstration
1912 U.S. government prohibits movies and photos of prize fights
1914 German Emperor Wilhelm II threatens war, orders Russia to demobilize
1914 Oil discovered in Lake of Maracaibo
1917 3rd battle of Ypres begins
1919 Germany accepts Weimar Constitution
1922 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's first water skis
1922 Italy's general strike against fascist violence
1923 Belgian Chamber discusses bilinguality at Ghent University
1925 Last allied occupying troops leave Ruhrgebied
1925 Unemployment Insurance Act passed in England
1929 Aristide Briand becomes premier of France
1932 27th Davis Cup: France beats USA in Paris (3-2)
1932 Cleveland Municipal Stadium opens
1932 The George Washington quarter goes into circulation
1934 29th Davis Cup: Great Britain beats USA in Wimbledon (4-1)
1936 Tokyo, Japan is awarded the 1940 Olympics, later cancelled
1937 Politburo enables Operative Order 00447: execute 193,000 Russians
1940 38 U boats sunk this month (196,000 ton)
1940 Riech's commissar Seyss-Inquart bans homosexuals
1941 U boats sink 21 allied ships this month: 94,000 ton
1942 German SS gases 1,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia
1942 U boats sank 96 allied ships this month: 476,000 ton
1943 Transport nr 58 departs with French Jews to Nazi Germany
1944 Last deportation train out Mechelen departs to Auschwitz
1944 Transport nr 77 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany
1944 U.S. troops occupy Sansapor New-Guinea
1948 President Truman dedicates Idlewild Field (Kennedy Airport), New York
1949 Lightning strikes a baseball field in Florida: kills the SS and 3rd baseman
1953 Department of Health, Education and Welfare created
1955 Beverly Hanson wins LPGA Battle Creek Golf Open
1958 Anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet
1960 Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam, calls for a black state
1960 Patty Berg wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open
1961 31st All Star Baseball Game: 1-1 tie ends by rain at Fenway, Boston
1961 Israel welcomes its 1,000,000th immigrant
1962 Federation of Malaysia forms
1963 Arturo Illia elected president of Argentina
1964 Al Parker glides 644 miles without a motor
1964 George Lascelles marries Patricia Tuckwell
1964 Rolling Stones concert in Ireland halts after 12 minutes due to riot
1964 U.S. Ranger 7 takes 4,316 pictures before crashing on Moon
1965 Cigarette Ads banned on British TV
1966 Alabamans burn Beatle products due to John Lennon's anti-Jesus remark
1966 Charles Whitman wounds 46 and kills 5 at University of Texas
1967 Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards end 1 month jail sentence
1969 Mariner 6 flies past Mars
1969 National Guard mobilizes in racial disturbances in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
1970 37th NFL Chicago All Star Game: Kansas City 24, All Stars 3 (69,940)
1970 Chet Huntley retires from NBC, ends "Huntley-Brinkley Report"
1971 Apollo 15 astronauts take 6 hour electric car ride on the Moon
1972 Thomas Eagleton withdraws as Democratic VP candidate
1973 Delta Airlines DC-9 crashes in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, killing all but one of 89 aboard. Lone survivor dies 6 months later
1977 Debbie Austin wins LPGA Pocono Northeast Golf Classic
1977 John F. Blake promoted from acting to deputy director of CIA
1978 Gunman shoots his way into Iraqi Embassy in Paris
1980 John Phillips of Mamas and Papas is arrested on drug charges
1980 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
1981 42 day old, 2nd major league baseball strike ends
1981 Arnette Hubbard installed as first woman president of National Bar Assn
1982 Car/bus collision near Beaune, France, 53 die
1982 Finland, Italy, Germany, Austria and France form American European Football Federation (AEFF)
1983 38th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Jan Stephenson
1983 B Robinson, J Marichal, G Kell, and W Alston inducted into Hall of Fame
1984 Leeza Gibbon's first appearance on Entertainment Tonight
1984 U.S. men's gymnastics team won team gold medal at LA Summer Olympics
1984 Venezuelan commandos terminate hijacking of an aircraft, 2 killed
1987 Battle between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi-Arabian troops: 402 killed
1987 Rockwell International awarded contract to build a 5th shuttle
1988 Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Greater Washington Golf Open
1988 Willie Stargell became 200th man inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame
1991 Russia and U.S. sign long range nuclear weapons reduction pact
1991 Senate votes to allow women to fly combat aircraft
1992 Thai Airbus crashes into mountain at Kathmandu, 113 people die
1993 Allman Bros guitarist Dickey Betts arrested for shoving 2 cops
1993 Inkatha-arm forces killed 49 ANC-followers in Johannesburg
1993 Prince Ronald "Ronnie" Mutebi crowned king of Uganda
1994 28th Curtis Cup: Draw, 9-9
1994 Helen Alfredss wins LPGA Ping Welch's Golf Championship
1994 Phil Rizzuto and Steve Carlton enter the Hall of Fame
1994 U.N. votes 12-0 (2 abstentions) to authorize use of force against Haiti

Today In History - July 31

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