On this day in the year 597 before the common the era (BCE) the Babylonians capture Jerusalem and replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king…the Babylonian exile and first great diaspora ensue; one thousand five hundred and seventy-six years later, the Persians adopt the Solar Hijri calendar.
In 1249 CE the Servite Order is officially approved by Cardinal Raniero Capocci, the papal legate in Tuscany; two hundred and sixty-eight years later, pope Leo X holds the last session of the Fifth Lateran Council, convoked to restore peace between Catholic rulers and assert the authority of bishop of Rome. Four hundred and eighty-one years after that, pope John Paul II asks for God’s forgiveness, for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust (by which he inferred the complicity of inaction, entered into by the pope at the time).
In 1345 CE during a mass hallucination, the citizens of Amsterdam experience a vision of the “Holy Spirit” gliding above a fire in the so-called "Miracle of Amsterdam;" four hundred and seventy years later, Willem I is proclaimed king of the Netherlands and Belgium. One hundred years after that, in 1955 CE, Josephine Kroesen is appointed as the first female judge in Holland.
In 1621 CE a group of Native American chief visits the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts; twenty years later; a general Court of Election declares Rhode Island a democracy and adopts a new constitution.
In 1792 CE Denmark becomes the first nation to ban the transatlantic slave trade, “for financial reasons.” The ban doesn't go into effect until 1803 CE and it caused a frenzy of activity amongst slave traders, who even receive financial support as compensation from the Danish government...an estimated one hundred and twenty thousand enslaved Africans were transported from Africa to the West Indies aboard vessels flying the Danish flag; also on this day, King Gustav III of Sweden is shot by Count Jacob Johan Anckarström at a masked ball at the opera…he dies thirteen days later.
In 1802 CE the first United States (U.S.) Military Academy is established through Congressional actions, at West Point, New York (opens July 4th, I was born there one hundred sixty-seven years, thirty-seven days later).
In 1827 CE, Freedom's Journal becomes the first newspaper owned and operated by African-Americans in the United States, and begins publishing on this day New York, New York; nine years later, the Constitution of the Republic of Texas approved, it includes the legalization of slavery. Twenty-five years after that, in 1861 CE, the traitorous Arizona Territory votes to leave the Union; on that same day, the treasonous Confederate government appoints commissioners to send to the United Kingdom. Also on this day in 1861, Edward Clark replaces Sam Houston as Governor of Texas, after Houston is evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the traitorous Confederacy; nine years later, Hiram R. Revels makes the official speech by an African-American in the U.S. Senate. One hundred and thirty-four years later, the Mississippi House of Representatives formally abolishes slavery and ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In 1867 CE, Joseph Lister outlines the discovery of antiseptic surgery in an article he publishes in The Lancet.
In 1871 CE the first law regulating the use of fertilizer is enacted; forty-four years later the Federal Trade Commission organizes. One year after that, in 1916 CE, the United States and Canada sign migratory bird treaty; eighteen years later, the U.S. Congress passes the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Forty-two years after that, in 1978 CE, the U.S. Senate accepts the Panama Canal treaty.
In 1883 CE, Susan Hayhurst becomes the first woman in the United States to become a graduate of a pharmacy college.
In 1900 CE the American League meets in Chicago and Ban Johnson announces the AL line-up: Chicago White Stockings, Washington Senators (Minnesota Twins), Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Blues, Boston Americans, Philadelphia Athletics and Baltimore Orioles
In 1917 CE, Russian Grand Duke Michael, brother of Tsar Nicholas II defers acceptance of the Russian throne…it did not save his or his brother’s life; four years later, the United Kingdom signs an agreement with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) and sends a trade mission to Moscow. Thirty-eight years after that, Iraq the U.S.S.R. sign a treaty for economic and technical development.
In 1920 CE, One Acre Park, also known as “Baby Park” in the Bronx, New York, is renamed Melrose Park.
In 1922 CE, Egypt achieves independence from Britain, but British troops remain to “protect” the Suez Canal.
In 1926 CE Robert H. Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, it flies fifty-six meters; forty years later, Gemini 8 is launched with Neil Armstrong and David R. Scott aboard, the flight is aborted after a critical system failure, and the crew returned safely to Earth. Nine years after that, in 1975 CE, the U.S. Mariner 10 makes its third and final fly-by of the planet Mercury.
In 1933 CE, Hans Luther resigns as president of the Reichsbank and is appointed German ambassador to the United States; on this same day Adolf Hitler names Hjalmar Schachtto the office. Two years after that, in 1935 CE, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles Hitler orders the German rearmament; nine years later, the French-Vichy internal minister, Pierre Pucheu is sentenced to death for treason.
In 1934 CE, the Academy Awards gold-statuette is first called Oscar in print by Sidney Skolsky.
In 1941 CE the National Gallery of Art opens in Washington, D.C.; on this same day a blizzard overwhelms North Dakota and Minnesota, killing sixty people.
In 1948 CE, jazz singer Billie Holiday is released early from Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia due to good behavior; nineteen years later, the ship carrying the Pirate Radio Station 333 (Radio Britain) breaks down. Five years after that, in 1972 CE, John Lennon and Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers by U.S. Immigration Department.
In 1950 CE we have the first annual National Book Awards
In 1955 CE, president Eisenhower upholds the use of atomic weapons in case of war; twenty-three years later, the U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
In 1964 CE, United States president, Lyndon Banes Johnson, asks congress to pass the Economic Opportunity Act as part of his War on Poverty; four years later, Robert F. Kennedy announces his presidential campaign.
In 1970 CE. Oxford University Press and Cambridge University press finish The Old Testament of the New English Bible and incorporate it with the New Testament (pub. 1961 CE) into the Complete New English Bible; fifty-one years later, Israeli researchers reveal the re-discovery of another batch of Dead Sea Scrolls in the “horror Cave” of Israel, it is the first find in sixty years…left by Jewish refugees fleeing Roman persecution in Israel.
In 1971 CE the Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark meets with British PM Edward Heath to discuss the security situation in Northern Ireland; seventeen years later, a Northern Irish-Protestant open fire on a Catholic funeral, killing three.
In 1988 CE a federal grand jury indicts Oliver North and Poindexter for their part in the Iran-Contra affair; on this day, the U.S. sends three thousand soldiers to Honduras.
In 1994 CE, American figure skater Tonya Harding pleads guilty to felony attack on her former Olympic teammate Nancy Kerrigan; two years later Mike Tyson defeats Frank Bruno with a technical knock-out in the third round to gain heavyweight title.
In 2006 CE the United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights Council…a largely ineffective advisory body.
In 2014 CE, Voters in Crimea vote at gun point, during an armed occupation, to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia amid international condemnation of the vote, the ballot design, and the conditions of the referendum; seven years later, a declassified US intelligence report says Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized efforts to aid the re-election of Donald Trump…knowing that this happened is partly why Trump could not accept his defeat. One year after that, in 2022 CE, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the U.S. Congress remotely pleading for further aid against the Russian invasion.
In 2016 CE U.S. president Barack Obama nominates Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court…the Senate refuses to consider him and waits out the clock until the next president (Donald Trump) takes office.
In 2020 CE a COVID-19 study by the London Imperial College showing migration approach could lead to 250,00 deaths in UK and over 1 million in US, prompts strategy changes from both countries; on this same day, France orders a national lockdown, the U.S. recommends meetings of no more than ten people or less and the residents of six counties, in and around San Francisco are told to "shelter in place." Also on this day in 2020 CE, global infections and deaths from COVID-19 overtake those in China for the first time, 86,000 vs 80,860 infections, 3,241 vs 3,208 deaths according to John Hopkins University statisticians; again on this day, Major League Baseball suspends the remainder of Spring Training and delays the start of the regular season in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; dependent on recommendations by Centers for Disease Control.
Sid
Gateaux, Zen Syndicate Intergalactic, People’s History Project, On This Day