On this day in the year 1455 CE the first record of Johannes Gutenberg's Bible is made, found in a letter dated this day by Enea Silvio Piccolomini, which refers to the Bible having been printed one year earlier; one hundred and sixty-seven years later, Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order and famous for his sadistic practices of self-mortification, is declared a saint. One hundred and seven years after that, in 1737 CE, Galileo's body is moved to the Church of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. One hundred and thirteen years later, pope Pius XII issues an encyclical, On Combating Atheistic Propaganda.
On this day in the year 1612 CE, the island of Bermuda officially becomes part of the English Colony of Virginia; fifty-two years later, New Jersey becomes an English colony. Twon hundred and fifty-seven years after that, in 1921 CE, the Cairo Conference begins, a British meeting to determine Middle Eastern policies in the post-World War I era, Gertrude Bell and T. E. Lawrence attend; nine years later, Mahatma Gandhi begins his famous two hundred mile (320 km) march in protest of the British salt tax. Five years after that, in 1935 CE, the United Kingdom establishes a 30 MPH speed limit for towns & villages throughout the British Isles. Twenty-three years later, British Empire Day is renamed Commonwealth Day; thirteen years after that, in 1972 CE, thousands of Belfast shipyard workers march demanding the internment for members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
On this day in 1773 CE, Jeanne Baptiste Pointe de Sable founds the settlement now known as Chicago
In 1790 CE the National Assembly of France issues a decree allowing for the sale of church land by French municipalities
In 1837 CE the British poet laureate Robert Southey writes a reply to twenty-year-old Charlotte Brontë, stating that "Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be."
In 1850 CE the first twenty-dollar gold piece is issued in the United States’ eighteen years later the United States Congress abolishes manufacturer's tax. One hundred and two years after that, in 1970 CE, the voting age in the United States is lowered from twenty-one to eighteen.
In 1881 CE, Andrew Watson makes his debut in Scotland as the world's first black international football player and captain.
In 1884 CE the state of Mississippi establishes the first college for women in the United States; twenty-eight years later the Girl Scouts are founded by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, originally called the Girl Guides. Eighty-two years after that, in 1994 CE, the Church of England ordains it’s a group of thirty-two female priests at the Bristol Cathedral in Bristol, England, these the first women the Church of England admits to Holy Orders.
In 1894 CE, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time in a candy store in Vicksburg, Mississippi
In 1901 CE, ground is broken for Boston's first American League ballpark, the Huntington Avenue Grounds; two years later, the New York Highlanders (the Yankees) baseball franchise is approved as a member of the American League. Forty-eight years after that, in 1951 CE, Major League Baseball Commissioner, Happy Chandler gets removed from office in a 9-7 vote.
In 1909 CE, alarmed over increasing German naval strength, the British Parliament passes a new naval appropriations bill; eight years later, a German submarine sinks the Algonquin, an unarmed United States (U.S.) merchant ship; on the same day that U.S. president Woodrow Wilson issues an executive order to arm the merchant fleet. Also on that same day, 1917 CE, in the wake of the Bolshevik’s February Revolution, Communist Party members Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev and Matvei Muranov arrive in Petrograd (St Petersburg) to seize control of the Pravda newspaper; later in the day the Russian Duma sets up its Provisional Committee, while the Soviets form their Executive Committee. One year after that, in 1918 CE, fearing foreign invasion, Vladimir Lenin shifts the revolutionary capital from St. Petersburg to Moscow; twenty-two years later; Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty in Moscow, surrendering to Russia and ceding eleven percent of their pre-WWII territory, ending the "Winter War"…resumed in the following year after Finland signs a mutual defense treaty with Nazi Germany.
In 1933 CE, eight days after his inauguration, United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt conducts his first "fireside chat" via radio, speaking directly to sixty million people; five years later, Nazi Germany invades Austria (Anschluss). Three years after that, in 1941 CE, German occupiers confiscate AVRO studios in Netherlands; four years later, thirty citizens of Amsterdam are executed by the Nazis.
In 1945 CE, the state of New York becomes first in the nation to prohibit discrimination in employment by race and creed; on this same day, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics returns Transylvania to Romania. Also on this day in 1947 CE, United States president Harry S. Truman introduces the Truman Doctrine to fight communism; four years later Communist troops are driven out of Seoul, Korea. Twenty-four years after that, in 1975 CE, the North Vietnamese Army “Vietcong” conquer Ban me Thuot; twenty-four years later, former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
In 1951 CE the Comic strip Dennis the Menace first appears in the "The Beano," a British comic magazine; six years later Random House and Houghton-Mifflin co-publish The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss. Fifty years after that, in 2007 CE, at the twenty-second Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the inductees include Grandmaster Flash, and the Furious Five
In 1956 CE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 (500.24) for first time; today the Dow closed at 46,677.85.
In 1959 CE the U.S. Congress approves statehood for Hawaii; five years later union leader and Teamster, Jimmy Hoffa is sentenced to eight years in prison.
In 1966 CE, the U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site; two years later we do it again. Nineteen years after that, in 1987 CE, the U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan Semipalitinsk; two years later, computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee submits his first proposal for an "information management system" to his boss at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) who finds it “vague, but exciting.” Twenty-two years after that, a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant melts and explodes, releasing radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after Japan's 9.0 earthquake.
In 1971 CE, Hafez al-Assad consolidates power in Syria by installing himself as President; three years later, Donna Manson disappears from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, she was murdered by the serial killer, Ted Bundy, and her body was never found. Six years after that, in 1980 CE, a jury finds John Wayne Gacy guilty of murdering people, mostly young men and boys, in Chicago, Illinois; forty-two years later, Saudi Arabia executes eighty-one convicted criminals, it is the country's largest known mass execution in modern times.
In 2020 CE, the United Kingdom’s prime minister, Boris Johnson says the U.K. is facing the “worst public health crisis for a generation,” and that up to ten thousand people may already be infected with COVID-19; on that same day, Unites States president Donald Trump bans travel with twenty-six European countries due to COVID-19…the U.K. and Ireland are added the next day. One year after that, in 2021 CE, the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi imposes new COVID restrictions warning of a new wave of infections as cases exceed 25,000 a day after a brief slow down.
