On this day in the year 44 before the common era (BCE) Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by Brutus, Cassius and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March in Rome; setting off many long years of civil war and resulting in the end of the Roman Republic; five hundred and thirty-seven years later, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, murders his rival king Odoacer of Italy, running him through with his sword at a banquet in Ravenna. One thousand, and ten years after that, in 1493 of the common era (CE), Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean; three hundred and forty-five years later a revolution breaks out in Hungary, and the Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the people’s Reform party.
On this day in the year 1783 CE, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy, preventing the threatened coup d'état.
On this day in 1812 CE the first Russian settlement in California is established at the Russian River; one hundred and five years, the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, abdicates and nominates his brother, grand Duke Michael was meant to succeed him…but the people had something else in mind. Five years after that, in 1923 CE, Vladimir Lenin suffer his third stroke.
In 1820 CE, Maine is admitted as twenty-third state of the Union.
In 1827 CE the University of Toronto is chartered; eighty-nine years later, the University of Ghent taken under Dutch control. Thirty-one years after that, in 1945 CE, the Catholic University of Nijmegen reopens.
In 1855 CE the State of Louisiana establishes the first health board to regulate quarantine; thirteen years later, Michigan becomes the first state to tax property for the support of a university. Twenty-five years after that, in 1892 CE, New York State unveils the Voting Booth, an automatic ballot-voting-machine; forty-five years later, the first State contraceptive clinic opens in Raleigh, North Carolina. On this same day in 1937 CE, the first American blood bank in a hospital is opened at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois; twenty-eight years later, TGI Friday's first restaurant opens in New York, New York.
In 1869 CE the Cincinnati Red Stockings become baseball's first professional team with ten salaried players; forty-three years later, legendary pitcher Cy Young retires from baseball with 511-315 win-loss record. Thirty-two years after that, in 1945 CE, as a symbol of wartime baseball, Bert Shepard (a one-legged WWII veteran) begins a successful tryout as a pitcher for the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins).
In 1875 CE the first John McCloskey is invested as the first Catholic Cardinal in the United States; twelve years later, William Alden Smith becomes the first salaried fish & game warden in the United States, in Michigan.
In 1892 CE the first escalator is patented by American engineer Jesse Reno, first used at Old Iron Pier, Coney Island, New York; fourteen years later, Britons Henry Rolls, Charles Royce and Claude Johnson formalize their existing partnership as Rolls Royce Ltd.
In 1907 CE, Finland becomes the first European country to give women the right to vote.
In 1913 CE, United States (U.S.) president Woodrow Wilson become the first to hold a press conference; twenty-one years later, the U.S. Information Service opens. Thirty-four years later, the U.S. Mint stops buying and selling gold.
In 1915 CE. Carl Laemmle opens the film studio Universal Pictures Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles; sixty-two years later, the TV comedy "Three's Company" starring John Ritter, Suzanne Somers, and Joyce DeWitt, premieres on ABC in the United States.
In 1916 CE the Dutch merchant ship Tubantia is torpedoed by a German submarine & sinks in North Sea; on this same day, General Pershing with fifteen thousand troops chase Pancho Villa into Mexico. Three years after that, the American Legion forms in Paris, France.
In 1928 CE, Benito Mussolini modifies the electoral system of Italy, abolishing the right to choose.
In 1930 CE the first streamlined submarine of United States Navy, the U.S.S. Nautilus is launched; twenty-five years later, U.S. Air Force unveils the self-guided missile.
In 1933 CE, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People begins a coordinated attack on segregation & discrimination; fourteen years later, John Lee is commissioned as the first black officer in U.S. Navy. Nineteen years after that, in 1966 CE, riots erupt in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California, racial animus is blamed. Twenty-five years later, four white officers of the Los Angeles Police Department are charged with excessive force over the beating of black motorist Rodney King.
In 1939 CE, Adolf Hitler summons Czech President Emil Hácha to a meeting in Berlin and informs him of the impending attack by Germany; Hácha suffers a heart attack and later capitulates. Germany occupies and annexes Czechoslovakia reneging on the Munich Agreement; one year later, Hermann Goering says that Germany needs no more than one to two hundred church bells in the country, he confiscates the rest and melts them down.
In 1951 CE, United Nations forces recapture Seoul, it is the fourth and final time the city changes hands during the Korean War.
In 1958 CE the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics performs atmospheric nuclear test at Ground Zero, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan; six years later they do it underground at the same test site. Fourteen years after that, in 1978 CE, China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC; seven years later, the United States performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
In 1960 CE the Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve, also known as John D. Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, is established as the first underwater park in the nation, off the coast of Florida.
In 1961 CE, South Africa withdraws from British Commonwealth; twenty-three years later Tanzania adopts a constitution.
In 1962 CE, five different, and independent research groups announce the discovery of antimatter; on this same day Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first professional basketball to score 4,000 points in a single season.
In 1968 CE, LIFE magazine says that Jimi Hendrix is "the most spectacular guitarist in the world;"
Thirty-one
years later, at the Fourteenth Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Curtis Mayfield is
inducted, along with Sir Paul McCartney and The Boss. Five years after that, in
2004 CE, at the Nineteenth Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Prince is inducted; six
years later, at the twenty-fifth Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; The Stooges are
inducted.
In 1971 CE, Chatrooms make their debut on ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet; fourteen years later the first internet domain name, symbolics.com, is registered. Thirty-one years after that, in 2016 CE, Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence wins Go challenge against Lee Se-dol 4-1.
In 1972 CE, The Godfather, a film based on the novel by Mario Puzo, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premieres in New York, New York; on that same day, two British soldiers are killed when attempting to defuse a bomb in Belfast; followed by the killing of an RUC officer by members of the Irish Republican Army, in Coalisland, County Tyrone.
In 1975 CE, Julie Cunningham, a victim of serial killer Ted Bundy, disappears from Vail, Colorado.
In 1977 CE the U.S. House of Representatives begins a ninety-day test of televising its sessions; twelve years later, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is officially established as a Cabinet position.
In 1985 CE, Larry Holmes bests David Bey with a technical knock-out in the tenth round to win heavyweight boxing title.
In 1988 CE the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer by hydro-floral-chloral-carbons; Astronomers announce the discovery of 90377 Sedna, the farthest natural object in the Solar system so far observed.
In 2018 CE the toy chain Toys R Us announces it will close all its stores after filing for bankruptcy; three years later, the Vatican issues unsound theological judgement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions, based on the false premise that God “does not and cannot bless sin,” though they would readily admit that God never ceases to bless sinful people.
In 2020 CE, European countries impose restrictions on gatherings and borders as COVID-19 deaths rates rise dramatically: Italy 1,809, Spain 288, France 120; two years later, Hong Kong enters its worst COVID-19 outbreak, recording over 4,000 deaths in a few months, largely due to low vaccination, as Omicron hits, forcing it to abandon its covid-zero policy.
