Today in history 6/17/2017

6/17/2017:

Today in history, Sir Francis Drake (see picture below) claims San Francisco Bay for England in 1579.

Today in history, The British take Bunker Hill outside of Boston, after a costly battle in 1775.

Today in history, The Red Turban revolt breaks out in Guangdong, China in 1854.

Today in history, President Abraham Lincoln witnesses Dr. Thaddeus Lowe demonstrate the use of a hot-air balloon in 1861.

Today in history, U.S. Marines set sail from San Diego to protect American interests in Mexico in 1913.

Today in history, Yank (see picture below) a weekly magazine for the U.S. armed services, begins publication in 1942.

Today in history, Surgeon Richard Lawler (see picture below) performs the first kidney transplant operation in Chicago in 1950.

Today in history, Five men are arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. in 1972.

Today in history, Millions of Americans watch former football player O.J. Simpson (see picture below)–facing murder charges–drive his Ford Bronco through Los Angeles, followed by police in 1994.

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Today in history 3/13/2017

3/13/2017:

Today in history, St. Felix begins his reign as Catholic Pope in 483.

Today in history, The 12th recorded passage of Halley’s Comet occurs in 607.

Today in history, Hernando Cortez lands in what will become Mexico in 1519.

Today in history, Astronomer William Herschel (see picture below) discovers the planet Uranus, which he names ‘Georgium Sidus,’ in honor of King George III in 1781.

Today in history, Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin in 1793.

Today in history, A three-thousand-year-old archive is found in Jerusalem confirming biblical history in 1935.

Today in history, Julia Flikke (see picture below) of the Nurse Corps becomes the first woman colonel in the U.S. Army in 1942.

Today in history, The FBI arrests Jimmy Hoffa on bribery charges in 1957.

Today in history, Upon the death of Konstantin Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the new leader of the Soviet Union in 1985.

Today in history 2/24/2017

2/24/2017:

Today in history, Pepin the Short of Gaul dies. His dominions are divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman in 786.

Today in history, In the first of the Franco-Habsburg Wars, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captures the French king Francis I at the Battle of Pavia, Italy in 1525.

Today in history, Chief Justice John Marshall (see picture below), by refusing to rule on the case of Marbury vs. Madison, asserts the authority of the judicial branch in 1803.

Today in history, Mexico gains independence from Spain in 1821.

Today in history, Some 3,000 Mexicans launch an assault on the Alamo and its 182 Texan defenders in 1836

Today in history, A film version of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York in 1916.

Today in history, The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley Jr. (see picture below), its first show to feature a black artist in 1928.

Today in history, General Norman Schwarzkopf (see picture below), commander of the coalition army, sends in ground forces during the Gulf War in 1991.

Today in history 1/15/2017

1/15/2017:

Today in history, Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed in 1624.

Today in history, In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida in 1811.

Today in history, The first telephone line between Berlin and New York is inaugurated in 1913.

Today in history, The Dumbarton Bridge (see picture below) opens in San Francisco carrying the first auto traffic across the bay in 1927.

Today in history, Amelia Earhart (see picture below) sets an aviation record for women at 171 mph in a Lockheed Vega in 1930.

Today in history, UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw its forces from occupied Kuwait passes, setting the stage for Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Today in history, Wikipedia (see picture below) goes online in 2001.