GMT

Today in History



0041
Shortly after declaring himself a god, Caligula is assassinated by two Praetorian tribunes.
1458
Matthias Corvinus, the son of John Hunyadi, is elected king of Hungary.
1639
Representatives from three Connecticut towns band together to write the Fundamental Orders, the first constitution in the New World.
1722
Czar Peter the Great caps his reforms in Russia with the "Table of Rank" which decrees a commoner can climb on merit to the highest positions.
1848
Gold is discovered by James Wilson Marshall at his partner Johann August Sutter's sawmill on the South Fork of the American River, near Coloma, California.

1903
U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and British Ambassador Herbert create a joint commission to establish the Alaskan border.
1911
U.S. Cavalry is sent to preserve the neutrality of the Rio Grande during the Mexican Civil War.
1915
The German cruiser Blücher is sunk by a British squadron in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
1927
British expeditionary force of 12,000 is sent to China to protect concessions at Shanghai.
1931
The League of Nations rebukes Poland for the mistreatment of a German minority in Upper Silesia.

1945
A German attempt to relieve the besieged city of Budapest is finally halted by the Soviets.
1946
The UN establishes the International Atomic Energy Commission.
1951
Indian leader Nehru demands that the UN name Peking as an aggressor in Korea.
1965
Winston Churchill dies from a cerebral thrombosis at the age of 90.
1980
In a rebuff to the Soviets, the U.S. announces intentions to sell arms to China.

1982
A draft of Air Force history reports that the U.S. secretly sprayed herbicides on Laos during the Vietnam War.





Joke of the Day



On the first day of school, the children brought gifts for their teacher. The florist's son brought the teacher a bouquet of flowers. The candy-store owner's daughter gave the teacher a pretty box of candy. Then the liquor-store owner's son brought up a big, heavy box. The teacher lifted it up and noticed that it was leaking a little bit. She touched a drop of the liquid with her finger and tasted it.

"Is it wine?" she guessed.
"No," the boy replied. She tasted another drop and asked, " Champagne ?


"No," said the little boy... "It's a puppy!"