Today in History

1590		The Sultan of Morocco launches a successful attack to capture Timbuktu.
1644		The Ming Chongzhen emperor commits suicide by hanging himself.
1707		At the Battle of Almansa, Franco-Spanish forces defeat the Anglo-Portugese forces.
1719		Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe is published in London.
1792		The guillotine is first used to execute highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier.
1859		Work begins on the Suez Canal in Egypt.
1862		Admiral David Farragut occupies New Orleans, Louisiana.
1864		After facing defeat in the Red River Campaign, Union General Nathaniel Bank returns to Alexandria, Louisiana.
1867		Tokyo is opened for foreign trade.
1882		French commander Henri Riviere seizes the citadel of Hanoi in Indochina.
1898		The United States declares war on Spain.
1915		The Battle of Gallipoli begins with the major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Encountering fierce Turkish resistance, Allied forces suffer heavy casualties and authorized evacuation begins on December 7. 480,000 Allied forces took part in the campaign at a cost of 250,000 casualties and 46,000 killed. Gallipoli goes down as one of the greatest military blunders in World War I.
1925		General Paul von Hindenburg takes office as president of Germany.
1926		In Iran, Reza Khan is crowned Shah and chooses the name “Pahlavi.”
1926		Puccini’s opera Turandot premiers at La Scala in Milan with Arturo Toscanini conducting.
1938		A seeing eye dog is used for the first time.
1945		U.S. and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on Elbe River.
1951		After a three day fight against Chinese Communist Forces, the Gloucestershire Regiment is annihilated on “Gloucester Hill,” in Korea.
1953		The magazine Nature publishes an article by biologists Francis Crick and James Watson, describing the “double helix” of DNA.
1956		Elvis Presley‘s “Heartbreak Hotel” goes to number one on the charts.
1959		The St. Lawrence Seaway–linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes–opens to shipping.
1960		The first submerged circumnavigation of the Earth is completed by a Triton submarine.
1962		A U.S. Ranger spacecraft crash lands on the Moon.
1971		The country of Bangladesh is established.
1980		President Jimmy Carter tells the American people about the hostage rescue disaster in Iran.
1982		In accordance with the Camp David agreements, Israel completes a withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula.
1990		Violeta Barrios de Chamorro begins a six year term as Nicaragua’s president.