1836 – Texas declares its independence from Mexico.
1877 – Republican Rutherford B. Hayes is declared the winner of the 1876 U.S. presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden won the popular vote.
1909 – European powers intervene to prevent Serbo-Austrian war.
1917 – Puerto Ricans are granted U.S. citizenship.
1923 – Time magazine makes its debut in United States.
1939 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope; he takes the name Pius XII.
1955 – Egypt and Syria sign defensive alliance.
1956 – France recognizes independence of Morocco.
1962 – Gen. Ne Win overthrows Premier U Nu in military coup in Burma, now Myanmar.
1972 – U.S. spacecraft Pioneer 10 is launched on mission to explore environs of planet Jupiter.
1975 – Terrorist bombing of bus in Nairobi, Kenya, kills 27 people and injures about 100.
1985 – The U.S. government approves a screening test for AIDS that detects antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply.
1986 – Iran charges that Iraqi warplanes dropped chemical agents on Kurdish village of Baneh in northwestern Iran, causing many civilian casualties.
1993 – A gangway collapses when passengers board a ferry on the Congo River, drowning at least 147 people in the Republic of Congo.
1994 – Israeli soldiers kill two Palestinian youths as rage over a massacre of Palestinians in a Hebron mosque spreads to Jericho.
1998 – Serbian police use water cannon and tear gas to break up demonstrations of tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians in troubled Kosovo province, following a weekend that claimed 24 lives.
2000 – Britain’s top law enforcement official rules that former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet should not be extradited to Spain to stand trial on charges alleging human rights abuses. Pinochet returns to Chile the next day.
2004 – Suicide bombers set off simultaneous attacks on Shiite Muslim shrines crowded with pilgrims in two Iraqi cities, killing at least 143 people.
2005 – Britain’s Court of Appeals rules that a high school violated a teenage student’s human rights by banning her from wearing a traditional form of Muslim dress to class.
2008 – Dmitry Medvedev, the man Vladimir Putin hand-picked to be his successor, scores a crushing victory in Russia’s presidential election.
2009 – President Raul Castro abruptly ousts some of Cuba’s most powerful officials, remaking the government in the biggest shake-up since he took power from his brother Fidel Castro in 2008.
2011 – Pope Benedict XVI makes a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ, tackling one of the most controversial issues in Christianity in a new book.
2012 – Rebel forces rout troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a fierce battle over an oil port.
2014 – Western powers prepare a tough response to Russia’s military advance into Ukraine and warn that Moscow could face economic penalties, diplomatic isolation and bolstered allied defenses in Europe.
2015 – A slick new documentary on China’s environmental woes has racked up more than 175 million online views in two days, underscoring growing concern in the country over the impact of air, water and soil pollution.
Today’s Birthdays:
Bedrich Smetana, Bohemian composer (1824-1884); Paul Doumer, French statesman (1857-1932); Kurt Weill, German-born composer (1900-1950); Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born musician, actor and television producer (1917-1986); Mikhail Gorbachev, last president of the Soviet Union (1931–); Lou Reed, U.S. singer (1942–2013); Jay Osmond, U.S. singer w/ pop group The Osmonds (1955–); Jon Bon Jovi, U.S. singer/actor (1962–); Chris Martin, British singer w/rock group Coldplay (1977–); Daniel Craig, British actor (1968–).
Thought For Today:
Every one can master a grief but he that has it — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), “Much Ado About Nothing.”
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