Monday, May 11, 2009
Only 234 days until the Year 2010
Today is:
Eat What You Want Day
On The Way To Today... May 11th
330 - Constantinople was dedicated as the new capital of the Roman
Empire. It was named after the Emperor Constantine and built over the
ancient city of Byzantium.
868 - The first dated printed book was produced in China. Printed by
Wang Chieh, the "Diamond Sutra", as the book was called, was a
Buddhist text made up of six sheets pasted together and made into a
roll.
1745 - The Battle of Fontenoy took place in Belgium, where French
forces defeated the British and their allies during the War of the
Austrian Succession.
1812 - British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated by a
bankrupt broker, John Bellingham, as he entered the House of Commons.
1858 - Minnesota became the 32nd state of the Union.
1862 - The Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia was destroyed by
Confederate forces to prevent its capture by Union troops. The
Virginia was built from the salvaged hull of the USS Merrimack. Two
months prior to its destruction, the Virginia fought several Union
ships in what became known as "The Battle of Hampton Roads."
1867 - The independence and neutrality of the duchy of Luxembourg was
guaranteed by the European powers under the Treaty of London.
1910 - Glacier National Park in Montana was created by an act of
Congress. With over one million acres, the park is home to many
animals, including wolves, grizzly bears, and mountain lions, and over
1400 plant species.
1931 - The failure of Credit-Anstalt, Austria's largest bank, marked
the beginning of the financial collapse of Central Europe.
1943 - U.S. amphibious forces landed on Attu in the Aleutians, the
first American territory to be recaptured by the U.S. from the
Japanese.
1944 - Allied forces launched a major offensive in central Italy.
1946 - The first packages from the relief agency CARE arrived in
Europe.
1947 - B.F. Goodrich, from Akron, Ohio, announced the development of
the tubeless tire.
1949 - Siam changed its name to Thailand.
1949 - Israel was admitted to the United Nations as the world body's
59th member.
1960 - The world's longest ocean liner (to date), the S.S. France, was
launched.
1967 - Britain, Denmark and Ireland formally applied to join the
European Economic Community.
1973 - Charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the "Pentagon
Papers' case were dismissed.
1985 - 56 people died and more than 200 were injured when fire
engulfed the main stand at Bradford City's football ground in northern
England.
1996 - A ValuJet Airlines DC-9 jet with 110 people on board crashed in
the swampy Everglades near Miami International Airport. There were no
survivors.
1997 - IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue made chess history by defeating
Gary Kasparov, the first time a reigning world champion had been
bested in a match by a machine.
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