2015 In response to terrorist dangers such as the January shootings at French satire magazine 'Charlie Hebdo', the French National Assembly passes a law to expand the government's surveillance powers; critics warn that the act will violate civil liberties 2014 Bayer strengthens its position in consumer healthcare after winning Merck's consumer-focused business unit at auction for $14.2 billion 2014 Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company, files plans for a U.S. IPO; the offering is expected to be one of the largest in the U.S. and may raise more funding than the Facebook IPO in 2012 2013 Wal-Mart revenue exceeds that of Exxon Mobil, becoming the largest company by revenue on the Fortune 500 list 2013 In Rome, Italy, Giulio Andreotti, seven-time prime minister of Italy, dies at age 94 2012 More than 1,000 birds, mostly pelicans and hundreds of dolphins die off the coast in the north of Paru, under unexplained circumstances 2012 In the second round of the French presidential election Francois Hollande is elected President of France 2011 The U.S. Coast Guard responds to heavy flooding by closing a section of the Mississippi River near Caruthersville, Missouri 2011 Militant Islamic group Al-Quaeda confirms Osama bin Laden's death and threatens revenge 2010 Ash from the Iceland volcano causes new flight restrictions at airports including Shannon Airport and Ireland West Airport Knock 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy wins the French presidential election 1997 Michael Jackson and Bee Gees inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1997 NHL Hartford Whalers become Carolina Hurricanes 1997 Rick Pitino becomes coach of Boston Celtics 1996 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Hartford, Connecticut on WCCC 106.9 FM 1996 Alvaro Arzu aimed at ending 35 years of civil war 1995 121st Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens on Thunder Gulch wins in 2:01.2 1995 ABC Bud Light Masters Bowling Tournament won by Mike Aulby 1995 Classic Sports Network begins on cable TV 1994 Chunnel linking England and France officially opens 1994 Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on Tonight Show 1994 House passes the assault weapons ban 1994 Lennox Lewis TKOs Phil Jackson in 8 for heavyweight boxing title 1994 Nelson Mandela and his ANC, finally confirmed winners in South Africa 1993 STS-55 (Columbia) lands 1992 New York Met Anthony Young begins losing streak of at least 26 games 1992 Werder Bremen wins 32nd Europe Cup II 1991 Phillie Lenny Dykstra slams his sports car into 2 trees 1991 Seppo Raty of Finland sets javelin record to 301' 9" 1991 Space Shuttle STS-39 (Discovery 12) lands 1990 Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic 1990 Former president PW Botha quit South Africa's ruling National Party 1989 115th Kentucky Derby: Pat Valenzuela on Sunday Silence wins in 2:05 1988 Graeme Hick scores 405 for Worcs vs. Somerset 35 fours 11 sixes 1988 Doughnutgate incident: New Jersey Devils' coach Jim Schoenfeld tells referee Don Koharski to 'eat another doughnut you fat pig!,' he is suspended 1987 Gary Hart denies affair with model Donna Rice 1987 Mario Andretti sets one-lap speed record at Indy at 218.204 MPH 1987 Niroslav Milhailovic begins 54 hours of telling jokes 1987 PTL's Jim Bakker and Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God 1987 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. 1986 Berlin: Real Madrid wins 15th UEFA Cup 1986 Donald E. Pelotte becomes 1st native American bishop 1986 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island 1985 17th Space Shuttle Mission (51-B)-Challenger 7 lands at Edwards AFB 1984 Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr. hits for cycle 1984 Jose Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election 1982 Seattle Mariner Gaylord Perry becomes 15th pitcher to win 300 games 1981 "Inacent Black" opens at Biltmore Theater New York City for 14 performances 1981 Mariners manager Maury Wills is fired and replaced by Rene Lachemann 1981 U.S. expels Libyan diplomats 1979 Fred Markham set a bicycle speed record of 818 kph over 200 m 1979 Louis LaRusso II's "Knockout," premieres in New York City 1979 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Women's International Golf Tournament 1979 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. 1978 104th Kentucky Derby: Steve Cauthen aboard Affirmed wins in 2:01.2 1978 South Africa military goes into Angola 1977 "Beatles at Hollywood Bowl," released in U.K. 1975 3 people die in tornado that strikes Omaha, Nebraska 1974 A's pitcher Paul Lindblad makes an errant throw in 1st inning of 6-3 loss to Baltimore ends his record streak of 385 consecutive errorless games 1974 Smallest attendance at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium (4,149) 1974 Stolen "Guitar Player" painting by Jan Vermeer found in London 1974 West German chancellor W. Brandt resigns 1973 1st WHA championship, New England Whalers beat Win Jets, 4 games to 1 1973 Judy Rankin wins LPGA American Defender-Raleigh Golf Classic 1972 98th Kentucky Derby: Ron Turcotte aboard Riva Ridge wins in 2:01.8 1970 Yuchiro Miura of Japan skies down Mount Everest 1968 Battle between students and troops in Paris, 1000 injured 1968 Giants reliever Lindy McDaniel sets NL record of 225th consecutive errorless game (108 chances consecutively since June 16, 1964) 1968 Spain closes border to Gibraltar except to Spaniards 1967 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College 1967 93rd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Ussery on Proud Clarion wins in 2:00.6 1967 Maureen Wilton runs female world record marathon (3:15:22) 1967 Zakir Hussain elected 1st Moslem president of India 1966 Canadian Minister of Finance announces a $20 Centennial gold coin 1966 Most runs scored in 11th inning (9) Phils score 5 to beat Pirates 8-7 1965 Lawry and Simpson complete opening stand of 382 against W Indies 1964 Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr. Sloan," premieres in London 1963 Pulitzer prize awarded to Barbara Tuchman (Guns of August) 1962 1st nuclear warhead fired from Polaris submarine 1962 Antonio Segni elected president of Italy 1962 Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Tournament 1962 Pathet Lao breaks cease fire/conquerors Nam Tha Laos 1962 U.S. performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean 1961 87th Kentucky Derby: John Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 2:04 1961 Omer Vanaudenhove chosen chairman of Belgium Liberal Party 1960 English prince Margaret marries Antony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon) 1960 President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960 1960 Students attack Dutch embassy in Djakarta 1960 Trotsky's murderer Jacques Mornard (Ramon Mercader), freed in Mexico 1957 Italian government of Segni resigns 1957 Last broadcast of "I Love Lucy" on CBS-TV 1957 Pulitzer prize awarded to John F Kennedy (Profiles in Courage) 1956 Gus Bell (Reds) homers off Bob Miller in both ends of a double header 1956 WRCB TV channel 3 in Chattanooga, Tennessee (NBC) begins broadcasting 1955 West Germany joins NATO 1954 Roger Bannister of Britain breaks 4 minute mile (3:59:4) 1953 Brown's Bobo Holloman 1st major league start, no-hits Philadelphia A's, 6-0 1951 Pittsburgh Pirate Cliff Chambers no-hits Boston Brave, 3-0 1950 "Great to Be Alive" closes at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 52 performances 1950 76th Kentucky Derby: William Boland on Middleground wins in 2:01.6 1950 Liz Taylor's 1st marriage to Conrad Hilton, Jr. 1948 "Sally" opens at Martin Beck Theater New York City for 36 performances 1946 Pulitzer prize awarded to Arthur M. Schlesinger (Age of Jackson) 1945 General J. Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands 1944 70th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 2:04.2 1944 KJR-AM in Seattle Washington swaps calls with KOMO 1943 British 1st army opens assault on Tunis 1942 Corregidor and Philippines surrender to Japanese Armies 1941 Joseph Stalin became premier of Russia 1940 Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath) 1939 1st performance of Honegger/Claudel's "Jeanne d'Arc Ouch B-cher" 1939 65th Kentucky Derby: James Stout aboard Johnstown wins in 2:03.4 1938 Dutch writer Maurits Dekker sentenced to 50 days for "offending a friendly head of state" (Hitler) 1937 Dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey (36 die) 1935 British King George and Queen Mary celebrates silver jubilee 1935 KTM-AM in Los Angeles California changes call letters to KEHE (now KABC) 1935 Pulitzer prize awarded to Audrey Wurdemann (Bright Ambush) 1934 Red Sox score 12 runs in 4th inning including record 4 consecutive triples hit by Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell, and B Walters 1933 59th Kentucky Derby: Don Meade aboard Brokers Tip wins in 2:06.8 1933 Italy and U.S.S.R. sign trade agreement 1929 AL announces it will discontinue MVP award 1929 New York to San Francisco footrace begins 1925 Ty Cobb hits his 5th home run in 2 games tying Cap Ansons record of 1884 1921 American Soccer League forms 1919 Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; German East Africa is assigned to Britain and France, German SW Africa to South Africa 1917 St. Louis Brown Bob Groom no-hits Chicago White Sox, 3-0 1916 Belgian troop march into Kigali, German East-Africa 1915 Allies attack Cape Helles, Hellespont 1915 German U-20 sinks Centurion SE of Ireland 1915 Red Sox Babe Ruth pitching debut and 1st home run, loses to Yankees 4-3 in 15 1914 British House of Lords rejects women suffrage 1913 King Nikita I of Montenegro vacates Skoetari, North-Albania 1910 King George V ascends to British throne 1907 33rd Kentucky Derby: Andy Minder aboard Pink Star wins in 2:12.6 1906 "Temporary" permit to erect overhead wires on Market St. SF 1904 American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting 1903 Chicago White Sox commit 12 errors against Detroit Tigers 1902 British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon; 739 die 1902 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" 1902 Zulu assault at Holkrantz South Africa 1896 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins in 2:07.75 1895 21st Kentucky Derby: Soup Perkins aboard Halma wins in 2:37 1891 Conductors on London General Omnibus Company go on strike 1890 Mormon Church renounces polygamy 1889 Universal Exposition opens in Paris, Eiffel Tower completed 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: U.S. Congress ceases Chinese immigration 1882 Epping Forest England dedicated by Queen Victoria 1864 Battle of Port Walthall Junction, Virginia 1864 Battle of Wilderness, General Longstreet seriously injured 1864 General Sherman begins advance to Atlanta Georgia 1861 Arkansas and Tennessee becomes 9th and 10th state to secede from US 1861 Jefferson Davis approves a bill declaring War between U.S. and Confederacy 1860 San Francisco Olympic Club, 1st U.S. athletic club forms 1853 1st major U.S. rail disaster kills 46 in Norwalk, Connecticut 1851 Dr. John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine" 1851 Linus Yale patents Yale-lock 1851 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce starts 1848 Otto Tank ends slavery in Suriname colony 1844 Johan Thorbecke argue general right to vote 1835 1st edition of New York Herald (price 1 cents ) 1833 John Deere makes 1st steel plow 1804 Suriname sold to English, until February, 1816 1794 Haiti, under Toussaint L'Ouverture, revolts against France 1787 1st Black Masonic Lodge (African # 459) forms Prince Hall, Boston 1757 Battle at Prague: Frederik II of Prussia beats emperor army 1753 French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle 1733 1st international boxing match: Bob Whittaker beats Tito di Carni 1672 Brandenburgs monarch Frederik Willem signs treaty with Netherlands 1648 Battle at Zolty Wody-Bohdan Chmielricki's Cossaks beat John II Casimir 1644 Johan Mauritius resigns as governor of Brazil 1642 Ville Marie (Montreal) forms 1626 Dutch colonist Paul Minuit buys Manhattan for $24 in trinkets 1598 Arch duke Albrecht and Isabella become monarch of Southern Netherlands 1536 King Henry VIII, orders bible be placed in every church 1529 Battle at Gogra: Mogol emperor Babur beats Afghans and Bengals 1527 Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome; ending Renaissance 1476 Emperor Frederik III of Habsburg and duke Charles the Stout arrange marriage of their children 1312 Pope Clement V closes Council of Vienna
