Today in History – August 23rd

Published August 22, 2012 |

79, Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
476, Odoacer, chieftain of the Germanic tribes, is proclaimed rex Italiae (“king of Italy”) by his troops.
1305, Sir William Wallace is executed for High Treason at Smithfield in London.
1541, French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
1572, Mob violence against Huguenots in Paris, St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre.
1595, Michael the Brave confronts the Ottoman army in the Battle of Calugareni.
1799, Napoleon leaves Egypt for France en route to seize power.
1839, The UK captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for war with Qing China.
1846, Alexander Milne Calder, American sculptor (d. 1923) was born.
1864, The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico.
1866, Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague.
1873, Albert Bridge in Chelsea, London opened.
1875, William Eccles, English radio pioneer (d. 1966) was born.
1904, The automobile tire chain is patented.
1912, Gene Kelly, American dancer and actor (d. 1996) was born.
1914, WWI: Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China.
1914, WWI: the Battle of Mons; the British Army begins withdrawal.
1917, Tex Williams, American singer (d. 1985) was born.
1926, Rudolph Valentino, Italian-American actor (b. 1895) died.
1939, WWII: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
1942, WWII: Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad.
1943, WWII: Kharkov liberated as a result of the Battle of Kursk.
1944, WWII: Marseille liberated.
1946, Keith Moon, English musician (The Who) (d. 1978) was born.
1948, World Council of Churches is formed.
1954, 1st flight of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
1960, Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist (b. 1895) died.
1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the 1st photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
1970, Organized by union leader Cesar Chavez, the Salad Bowl strike, largest farm worker strike in US history, begins.
1970, River Phoenix, American actor (d. 1993) was born.
1971, The original Shamu, SeaWorld orca died.
1973, bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into hostage crisis; hostages begin to sympathise with captors.
1990, Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union. bit.ly/O6mojd
1990, West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3.
1996, Osama bin Laden issues message ‘A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the 2 holy places.’
2003, Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and manager (b. 1946) died.

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Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.