2013 Event Shinzo Abe the Prime Minister of Japan visits the Yasukuni Shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo; the shrine commemorates those who died while in the service of the Empire of Japan during the Meiji Restoration, which stored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 2013 Event The British High Commission announced they are awarding retired Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit an honorary MBE ( Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) 2012 Event The nearly finished One World Trade Center overtakes the Empire State Building as the tallest building in New York City 2011 Event The funeral for the final heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Otto von Habsburg, occurs in Vienna, attended by monarchs and members of the political elite 1997 Death Bruce Woodcock, boxer, British and Empire heavyweight champion 1945 - 1950, dies at 76 1997 Event Ali Abu Kamal opens fire in Empire State Building and kills 1 1997 Event "Empire Strikes Back, special edition," premieres 1995 Death Leonard Hirsch, British violinist and conducter, BBC Empire Orchestra, dies at 92 1993 Death Daniel Jones, Daniel Jenkyn Jones, Welsh composer, friend of Dylan Thomas, wrote 12 numbered symphonies, chamber music, made Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1968 1990 Event New York City's Empire State Building catches fire - no fatalities 1990 Death Mary Victor Bruce, who flew around empire state building in 1930, dies 1989 Death Ray McAnally, actor (My Left Foot, Empire State), dies in Dublin at 63 1988 Death Angela Aames, actress (Lost Empire, Basic Training), dies 1983 Event President Reagan calls the U.S.S.R. an "Evil Empire" 1982 Event President Reagan 1st United Nations General Assembly address, "evil empire" speech 1981 Event Pete Squires sets record for 1575 steps of Empire State Building, 10m 1980 Event "Empire Strikes Back" premieres 1977 Event Jean-Bedel Bokassa, ruler of Central African Empire, crowns himself 1974 Birthday Christian Bale, Wales, actor, Empire of the Sun, Little Women 1966 Event Last British concert by Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley) 1965 Event Queen Elizabeth decorates Beatles with Order of British Empire 1959 Event Empire Day renamed Commonwealth Day in England 1958 Event British Empire Day is renamed "Commonwealth Day" 1949 Death Russell Porter, actor (Betsy, Hanna's War, British Empire), dies 1949 Birthday Christine Belford, Amityville, New York, actress, Banacek, Empire, 90210 1948 Birthday Ron Vawter, Latham, New York, actor, Philadelphia, Empire City, Twister 1945 Event Airplane crashes into the Empire State Building 1945 Event U.S. Army B-25 crashes into 79th floor of Empire State Building, 14 die 1945 Event British Empire celebrates it's 1st British Empire Day 1940 Event Estonia is annexed into Soviet empire 1937 Birthday Billy Dee Williams, born in Harlem New York City, actor, Chiefs, Empire Strikes Back 1936 Event Empire State Building emanates high definition TV-343 lines 1934 Event Black-McKeller Bill passes causes Bill Boeing empire to break up into Boeing United Aircraft [Technologies] and United Air Lines 1933 Birthday Charles Williams, born in Oxford, England, cricketer, batsman, Labor peer, Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Baron Williams of Elvel 1931 Event Blimp is moored to Empire State Building (New York City) 1931 Event Empire State Building opens in New York City 1930 Birthday Patrick Pery, born in Ireland, born Patrick Edmund Pery, 6th Earl of Limerick, The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Irish peer, public servant 1927 Death Brooks Adams, U.S. philosopher (New Empire), dies at 78 1926 Birthday Ray McAnally, born in Ireland, actor, My Left Foot, Empire State, Sicilian 1924 Event British Empire Exhibition opens at Wembley 1923 Event Turkey declares independence (successor state to Ottoman Empire) 1922 Event Ottoman Empire abolished 1921 Event U.S., France, Japan and British Empire sign a Pacific Treaty 1921 Birthday Richard Egan, born in San Francisco, California, actor, Empire, Redigo, Pollyanna 1921 Event Turkey declared in remnants of Ottoman Empire 1921 Birthday Bruce Woodcock, born in England, boxer, British and Empire heavyweight champion 1945 - 1950, European heavyweight champion 1946 - 1949, events attracted sellout crowds 1920 Event British Empire receives League of Nations mandate to Nauru 1920 Birthday William Butterfield, born in England, born William John Hughes Butterfield, Lord Butterfield, life peer as Baron Butterfield of Stechford, Order of the British Empire, medical researcher, clinician, administrator 1918 Event Austro-Hungarian Empire disolves 1918 Event Czechoslovakia declares Independence from Austro-Hungarian Empire 1918 Birthday David Opatoshu, New York City, actor, Bonino, Secret Empire, Masada 1917 Birthday John Stokes, born in England, politician, Conservative Party Member of Parliament, The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, member of the Conservative Monday Club, Primrose League 1917 Event Order of British Empire inaugurated 1915 Birthday Roland Barthes, French literary critic, L'Empire des Signer 1915 Birthday Julian Ridsdale, born in England, politician, Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Harwich in Essex, The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire 1914 Birthday Daniel Joseph Boorstin, author, Empire of Czar, 1974 Pulitzer Prize 1912 Birthday Daniel Jones, born in Pembroke, Wales, Daniel Jenkyn Jones, Welsh composer, friend of Dylan Thomas, wrote 12 numbered symphonies, chamber music, made Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1968 1912 Birthday Kenny Baker, radio singer and actor, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back 1911 Event Fire breaks out at Empire Theater in Edinburgh Scotland 1909 Birthday Anne Seymour, born in England, actress, Gemini Affair, Empire, Tim Conway Show 1909 Birthday Harry B. Helmsley, born in New York City, billionaire builder, Empire State Building 1908 Event Bulgaria declares independence from Ottoman Empire (Turkey) 1906 Event "Census of the British Empire" shows England rules 1/5 of the world 1904 Birthday Clifford D[onald] Simak, U.S., sci-fi author, Hugo, Empire, Way Station 1902 Event Empire Day 1st celebrated in Britain 1897 Event Peter Pan opens in New York at Empire Theater 1891 Event "Empire State Express" train goes from New York City to East Buffalo, a distance of 436 miles, in a record 7H6M 1883 Event Slavery banned throughout British Empire 1881 Birthday Leo Carrillo, born in Los Angeles, California, actor, American Empire, Cisco Kid 1871 Event German Empire ends all anti-Jewish civil restrictions 1871 Event 2nd German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I and Bismarck 1867 Event Austro-Hungarian Empire forms 1861 Birthday Mehmed VI, last sultan of Ottoman Empire, 1918-22 1852 Event 2nd French empire established; Louis Napoleon becomes emperor 1850 Event Empire Engine Company No 1 organized 1834 Event Slavery abolished through out the British Empire 1829 Event Russia and Ottoman Empire sign Peace Treaty of Adrianople 1822 Event Central America proclaims annexation to Mexican Empire 1821 Event Mexican Empire declares its independence 1807 Event Aaron Burr acquitted of charges of plotting to set up an empire 1790 Death Joseph II, Emperor of Holy Roman empire, dies at 48 1776 Event 1st volume of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of Roman Empire" published 1737 Birthday Edward Gibbon, England, historian, Decline and Fall of Roman Empire 1725 Birthday Robert Clive, English explorer/founder, British empire in India 1725 Birthday Robert Clive, founder, British empire in India 1719 Event Liechtenstein declares independence from German empire 1719 Event Principality of Liechtenstein created within Holy Roman Empire 1705 Death Leopold I von Hapsburg, Emperor of Holy Roman Empire, dies at 64 1648 Event Treaty of Westphalia ends 30 year war and Holy Roman Empire 1584 Event Last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia and Holy Roman empire 1515 Event Congress of Vienna settles issues between Poland and Holy Roman Empire 1453 Event Constantinople falls to Muhammad II (Turks); ends Byzantine Empire 1330 Event Constantinople (Istanbul) becomes new capital by Roman Emperor Constantine for Eastern Roman Empire 1291 Death Rudolf I, King of Germany and Holy Roman Empire, dies 876 Death Louis the German, King of East France Empire (833-76), dies 809 Death Harun al-Rashid, caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), dies at 44 636 Event Arabs gain control of most of Palestine from Byzantine Empire 476 Event West Roman Empire formally disbands/emperor Romulus August ousted 472 Birthday Flavius Ricimer, general of the Western Roman Empire, kingmaker 450 Death Theodosius II de Jongere, emperor Austrian Empire, dies 418 Event Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire 410 Event Rome overrun by Visigoths, symbolized fall of Western Roman Empire 379 Event Theodosius installed as co-emperor of East Roman Empire 375 Death Valentinianus I, co-emperor of E Roman Empire (336-75), dies at 54 330 Event Constantinople (Byzantium) becomes capital of Roman Empire 311 Event Emperor Galerius legal recognizes Christians in the Roman Empire
