GMT

Today in History


0049
Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon and invades Italy.
0241
The Roman fleet sinks 50 Carthaginian ships in the Battle of Aegusa.
0515
The building of the great Jewish temple in Jerusalem is completed.
1656
In the colony of Virginia, suffrage is extended to all free men regardless of their religion.
1776
""Common Sense" by Thomas Paine is published.
1785
Thomas Jefferson is appointed minister to France.
1806
The Dutch in Cape Town, South Africa surrender to the British.
1814
Napoleon Bonaparte is defeated by an allied army at the Battle of Laon, France.
1848
The treaty of Guadeloupe-Hidalgo is signed which ends the United States' war with Mexico.
1876
Alexander Graham Bell makes the first telephone call to Thomas Watson saying "Watson, come here. I need you."
1893
New Mexico State University cancels its first graduation ceremony, because the only graduate was robbed and killed the night before.
1902
The Boers of South Africa score their last victory over the British, capturing British General Methuen and 200 men.
1910
Slavery is abolished in China.
1924
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a New York state law forbidding late-night work for women.
1927
Prussia lifts its Nazi ban, Adolf Hitler is allowed to speak in public.
1933
Nevada becomes the first U.S. state to regulate drugs.
1941
Vichy France threatens to use its navy unless Britain allows food to reach France.
1943
Adolf Hitler calls Field Marshall Erwin Rommel back from Tunisia in North Africa.
1944
The Irish refuse to oust all Axis envoys and deny the accusation of spying on Allied troops.
1945
American B-29 bombers attack Tokyo, killing 100,000.

1947
The Big Four meet in Moscow to discuss the future of Germany.
1948
Author Zelda Fitzgerald (wife of F. Scott) dies in a fire at Highland Hospital.
1953
North Korean gunners at Wonsan fire on the USS Missouri, the ship responds by firing 998 rounds at the enemy position.
1954
President Dwight Eisenhower calls Senator Joseph McCarthy a peril to the Republican Party.
1966
The North Vietnamese capture a Green Beret camp at Ashau Valley.

1969
James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King and is sentenced to 99 years in jail.
1971
The Senate approves a Constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18.
1975
The North Vietnamese Army attacks the South Vietnamese town of Buon Ma Thout, the offensive will end with total victory in Vietnam.
1980
Iran's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, lends his support to the militants holding the American hostages in Tehran.
1982
The United States bans Libyan oil imports, because of the continued support of terrorism.

1987
The Vatican condemns surrogate parenting as well as test-tube and artificial insemination.


Joke of the Day


A woman places an ad in the local newspaper. “Looking for a man with three qualifications: won’t beat me up, won’t run away from me, and is great in bed.”

Two days later her doorbell rings. “Hi, I’m Tim. I have no arms so I won’t beat you, and no legs so I won't run away.”

“What makes you think you are great in bed?” the woman retorts.

Tim replies, “I rang the doorbell, didn’t I?”