Wednesday, July 02, 2003
On This Day
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
On this day
03jul03
321 – Roman emperor Constantine, a Christian, proclaims Sunday a day of rest and religious observance.
1583 – Russia's Tsar Ivan the Terrible kills his son Ivan in a fit of rage.
1608 – The city of Quebec is founded by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.
1665 – Dutch fleet is defeated by English off Lowestoft, England.
1695 – British fleet bombards St Malo in France.
1778 – Prussia declares war on Austria, starting War of Bavarian Succession.
1806 – Michael Keen, of Isleworth, exhibits the first edible cultivated strawberry, which he calls Keen's Seedling.
1849 – French forces enter Rome despite resistance by Giuseppe Garibaldi and restore Pope Pius IX.
1863 – Three-day US Civil War Battle at Gettysburg ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreat. About 37,000 fell on both sides.
1866 – Prussians defeat Austrians at Battle of Koenigraetz, deciding the Seven Weeks' War and effectively excluding Austria from a Prussian-dominated Germany.
1898 – Captain Joshua Slocum arrives at Newport, Rhode Island, after completing the first solo circumnavigation of the world.
1904 – Death of Theodor Herzl, Hungarian-born Zionist leader who in 1897 became first president of the World Zionist Organisation.
1928 – John Logie Baird transmits the world's first colour television pictures in London.
1940 – More than 1000 French soldiers die when British ships destroy the French fleet at Oran and Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria to prevent them falling into enemy hands.
1944 – Soviet forces recapture Minsk from Germans, capturing 100,000 troops.
1950 – US and North Korean troops clash for first time in Korean War.
1954 – Rationing brought on by World War II finally ends in Britain, nine years after the war ended.
1962 – Algeria becomes independent after 132 years of French rule.
1965 – Roy Rogers' horse, Trigger, dies, aged 33.
1969 – Brian Jones, a founder member of the British rock group Rolling Stones, drowns in his swimming pool after a drug overdose.
1971 – Indonesians vote in their country's first national election in 16 years; Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27.
1972 – Pakistan and India sign a peace treaty, ending hostilities triggered by the civil war in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
1988 – In the last weeks of the Iran-Iraq war, The USS Vincennes shoots down an Iranian jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1993 – German Steffi Graf wins her third consecutive Wimbledon title as she defeats Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic.
1994 – Pete Sampras defeats Goran Ivanisevic to win the Wimbledon men's championship, 7-6 7-6 6-0.
1995 – Roman Catholics riot in Northern Ireland, outraged at an early parole from prison of a British paratrooper convicted of killing a Belfast woman.
1996 – British Prime Minister John Major announces that the historic Stone of Scone, the ancient symbol of Scottish kings, is to be removed from London's Westminster Abbey after 700 years and returned to Scotland.
1997 – The Parliament of Western Samoa votes to amend the constitution to simplify the country's name to Samoa.
1998 – Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group releases 15 young women held hostage for two weeks, accused by the rebels of being army spies disguised as good Samaritans.
1999 – In their first match-up in three years, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beats his bitter rival, Anatoly Karpov to win the Siemens Giants chess tournament.
2000 – Opposition candidate Vicente Fox is declared the winner in Mexico's presidential elections in a stunning victory that ends the ruling party's 71-year lock on the presidency.
2001 – Flashing the defiance that marked his 13 years in power, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refuses to enter a plea on war crimes charges in his first appearance before a UN tribunal at The Hague.
2002 – A US gunship flying over Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan fires on civilian targets after mistaking celebratory gunfire at a wedding for hostile fire, killing at least 40 Afghan civilians and wounding 100 others.
|
On this day
03jul03
321 – Roman emperor Constantine, a Christian, proclaims Sunday a day of rest and religious observance.
1583 – Russia's Tsar Ivan the Terrible kills his son Ivan in a fit of rage.
1608 – The city of Quebec is founded by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.
1665 – Dutch fleet is defeated by English off Lowestoft, England.
1695 – British fleet bombards St Malo in France.
1778 – Prussia declares war on Austria, starting War of Bavarian Succession.
1806 – Michael Keen, of Isleworth, exhibits the first edible cultivated strawberry, which he calls Keen's Seedling.
1849 – French forces enter Rome despite resistance by Giuseppe Garibaldi and restore Pope Pius IX.
1863 – Three-day US Civil War Battle at Gettysburg ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreat. About 37,000 fell on both sides.
1866 – Prussians defeat Austrians at Battle of Koenigraetz, deciding the Seven Weeks' War and effectively excluding Austria from a Prussian-dominated Germany.
1898 – Captain Joshua Slocum arrives at Newport, Rhode Island, after completing the first solo circumnavigation of the world.
1904 – Death of Theodor Herzl, Hungarian-born Zionist leader who in 1897 became first president of the World Zionist Organisation.
1928 – John Logie Baird transmits the world's first colour television pictures in London.
1940 – More than 1000 French soldiers die when British ships destroy the French fleet at Oran and Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria to prevent them falling into enemy hands.
1944 – Soviet forces recapture Minsk from Germans, capturing 100,000 troops.
1950 – US and North Korean troops clash for first time in Korean War.
1954 – Rationing brought on by World War II finally ends in Britain, nine years after the war ended.
1962 – Algeria becomes independent after 132 years of French rule.
1965 – Roy Rogers' horse, Trigger, dies, aged 33.
1969 – Brian Jones, a founder member of the British rock group Rolling Stones, drowns in his swimming pool after a drug overdose.
1971 – Indonesians vote in their country's first national election in 16 years; Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27.
1972 – Pakistan and India sign a peace treaty, ending hostilities triggered by the civil war in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
1988 – In the last weeks of the Iran-Iraq war, The USS Vincennes shoots down an Iranian jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1993 – German Steffi Graf wins her third consecutive Wimbledon title as she defeats Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic.
1994 – Pete Sampras defeats Goran Ivanisevic to win the Wimbledon men's championship, 7-6 7-6 6-0.
1995 – Roman Catholics riot in Northern Ireland, outraged at an early parole from prison of a British paratrooper convicted of killing a Belfast woman.
1996 – British Prime Minister John Major announces that the historic Stone of Scone, the ancient symbol of Scottish kings, is to be removed from London's Westminster Abbey after 700 years and returned to Scotland.
1997 – The Parliament of Western Samoa votes to amend the constitution to simplify the country's name to Samoa.
1998 – Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group releases 15 young women held hostage for two weeks, accused by the rebels of being army spies disguised as good Samaritans.
1999 – In their first match-up in three years, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beats his bitter rival, Anatoly Karpov to win the Siemens Giants chess tournament.
2000 – Opposition candidate Vicente Fox is declared the winner in Mexico's presidential elections in a stunning victory that ends the ruling party's 71-year lock on the presidency.
2001 – Flashing the defiance that marked his 13 years in power, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refuses to enter a plea on war crimes charges in his first appearance before a UN tribunal at The Hague.
2002 – A US gunship flying over Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan fires on civilian targets after mistaking celebratory gunfire at a wedding for hostile fire, killing at least 40 Afghan civilians and wounding 100 others.
