This Week in History
HISTORY, 5 Jan 2015
Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service
January 5 – 11
Quote of the Week
“It isn’t enough to talk about peace; one must believe it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it; one must work for it.” – Eleanor Roosevelt (Source: http://www.inspirational-quotations.com/peace-quotes.html )
January 5
2012 U.S. President Barack Obama announces plans to dramatically cut defense spending. (Visit http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/05/politics/pentagon-strategy-shift/ . Compare it with the US military budget FY2015, http://useconomy.about.com/od/usfederalbudget/p/military_budget.htm )
1972 United States President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
1968 Alexander Dubček comes to power: “Prague Spring” begins in Czechoslovakia.
1957 In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called theEisenhower Doctrine.
1945 The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.
1925 Nellie Taylor Ross became governor of Wyoming, 1st woman Governor in USA.
1913 First Balkan War: During the Battle of Lemnos, Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
1896 An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Röntgen has discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.
1781 American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1500 Duke Ludovico Sforza conquers Milan.
1477 Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France; 7000+ killed.
January 6
2013 The President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, declares that official documents must use the words ‘State of Palestine’. On this issue, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine#2013_change_of_name
2009 Israel conducts an assault on Gaza. Operation Cast Lead.
1993 Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
1992 President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
1978 The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II..
1967 Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
1960 The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties.
1951 Korean War: An estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered in what becomes the Ganghwa massacre.
1950 The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
1941 United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
1929 Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta, India to begin her work among India‘s poorest and sick people.
1929 King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country‘s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).to establish a royal dictatorship in Yugoslavia.
1900 Second Boer War: Having already sieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
1690 Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I, becomes King of the Romans.
1535 City of Lima Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro.
January 7
1999 The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins.
1989 Prince Akihito is sworn in as the emperor of Japan after the death of his father Hirohito.
1979 Third Indochina War – Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
1959 The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
1954 Georgetown-IBM experiment: the first public demonstration of a machine translation system, is held in New York at the head office of IBM.
1953 US President Harry Truman announced that the U.S. had developed the hydrogen bomb.
1935 Benito Mussolini and French Foreign minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco-Italian Agreement..
1830 1st U.S. Railroad Station opens (Baltimore).
1782 The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opens.
1714 Typewriter patented by Englishman Henry Mill (built years later).
1610 Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day.
1584 Last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia and Holy Roman Empire. For Julian Calendar, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar and http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html
1325 Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
January 8
2010 The parliament in Portugal approves a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.
1989 Soviet Union promises to eliminate stockpiles of chemical weapons.
1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a “War on Poverty” in the United States.
1959 Charles de Gaulle became the first president of France’s Fifth Republic.
1958 Cuban revolutionary forces capture Havana.
1918 President Woodrow Wilson announces his “Fourteen Points” for the aftermath of World War I.
1912 The African National Congress is founded.
1867 African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
1838 Alfred Vail demonstrated a telegraph code he had devised using dots and dashes as letters. The code was the predecessor to Samuel Morse’s code.
1815 The Battle of New Orleans began. The War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814, with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The news of the signing had not reached British troops in time to prevent their attack on New Orleans.
1760 Comet C/1760 A1 (Great comet) approaches within 0.0682 AUs of Earth.
1697 Last execution for blasphemy in Britain; of Thomas Aikenhead, student, at Edinburgh. For his indictment, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha1WyFAEUSY In this regard, for reference and information, see also January 10, “2011 Pope Benedict XVI urges Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy law whereby those who insult the Prophet Muhammed receive the death penalty.”
1642 Astronomer Galileo Galilei died in Arcetri, Italy. For information on Galileo Galilei, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei
1598 Jews are expelled from Genoa Italy. For more information on this issue, visit http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_07180.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Italy
January 9
2007 Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the first iPhone.
2005 The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
2005 Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaces interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
1996 First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
1992 The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
1964 Martyrs’ Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
1960 President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
1923 Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations‘ decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
1921 Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
1918 Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
1917 World War I: the Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1916 World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
1914 Henry Ford introduced the $5-a-day minimum wage.
1861 American Civil War: The “Star of the West” incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the “First Shots of the American Civil War”.
1799 British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain’s war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
1760 Afghans defeat Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
1431 Judges’ investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
1349 The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
1127 Jin–Song wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty ofChina, and abduct Emperor Qinzong and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty.
475 Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
January 10
2014 Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupts again, with pyroclastic flows streaming down the volcanic slope; the activity has caused the evacuation of 22,000 people from the danger zone around Sinabung. Visit http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/01/the-continued-eruptions-of-mount-sinabung/100660/
2013 A near-earth asteroid, called 99942 Apophis, passes close to Earth; astronomers in Europe estimate 99942 Apophis is larger than previously thought. Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis ; http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/10-01-2013/123427-apophis_asteroid-0/ ; and http://www.armageddononline.org/99942-apophis-asteroid.html
2011 Pope Benedict XVI urges Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy law whereby those who insult the Prophet Muhammed receive the death penalty. For Pakistan’s blasphemy law, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_Pakistan , and http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/11/22/pakistan-repeal-blasphemy-law . In this regard, also see, for reference and information, the above mentioned date and event of January 8 “1697 Last execution for blasphemy in Britain; of Thomas Aikenhead, student, at Edinburgh.“
2010 It is reported that China surpasses Germany, becoming the world’s largest exporter. Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/10/AR2010011002647.html ; and http://www.ukessays.com/essays/economics/imports-and-exports-china-surpassed-germany-economics-essay.php
1996 King Hussein of Jordan has made his first public visit to Israel’s largest city, Tel Aviv, in the latest indication of the new warmth between the two countries .
1994 Ukraine says it will give up world’s 3rd largest nuclear arsenal.
1991 The United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar will leave shortly for Baghdad in a final diplomatic effort to avoid war against Iraq. Saddam Hussein is under UN orders to pull his soldiers out of Kuwait within five days, Iraq refused to comply with the UN ultimatum for its troops to withdraw from Kuwait and at 2330 GMT on January 16th 1991, Operation Desert Storm began.
1991 Japan ends routine fingerprinting of all adult ethnic Koreans, born and living in Japan. On this report, visit http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/11/world/japan-eases-rule-on-korean-aliens.html . For information on ethnic Koreans in Japan, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreans_in_Japan .
1984 Holy See–United States relations: The United States and Holy See (Vatican City) re-establish full diplomatic relations after almost 117 years, overturning the United States Congress‘s 1867 ban on public funding for such a diplomatic envoy.
1981 Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments.
1946 The first General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Fifty-one nations are represented.
1920 The Treaty of Versailles takes effect, officially ending World War I.
World War I: In the Erzurum Offensive, Russia defeats the Ottoman Empire.
1901 The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
1863 The London Underground, the world’s oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station.
1806 Dutch settlers in Cape Town surrender to the British.
1776 Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet Common Sense.
1475 Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui.
9 The Western Han Dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the beginning of his own, the Xin Dynasty.
49BCE Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.
January 11
2014 After eight years in a coma following a stroke in 2006, Ariel Sharon, Israel’s former Prime Minister, dies at the age of 85. For Ariel Sharon, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/world/middleeast/ariel-sharon-fierce-defender-of-a-strong-israel-dies-at-85.html?_r=0 ; http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sharon.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Sharon
2003 Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois‘ death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
1998 Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.
1972 East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
1949 The first “networked” television broadcasts take place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.
1946 Enver Hoxha, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Albania, declares the People’s Republic of Albaniawith himself as head of state.
1943 World War II: The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.
1935 Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
1923 Occupation of the Ruhr: Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make itsWorld War I reparation payments.
1922 First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
1919 Romania reincorporates Transylvania.
1879 The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
1815 U.S. General Andrew Jackson achieved victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814, with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The news of the signing had not reached British troops in time to prevent their attack on New Orleans.
1787 William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
1571 Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
1569 1st recorded lottery in England is drawn in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
(Sources and references: http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/january_5.html to january_11.html ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_5 to January 11; http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/January-5 to January-11; http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/january5th.html to january11st.html; http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jan5.htm to jan11.htm, and other relevant websites and/or documents.)
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Satoshi Ashikaga is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, originally from Japan.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 5 Jan 2015.
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Very good list of information. Keep posting stuff like this.