Peace of Cateau–Cambresis signed |
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1559 |
Edict of Nantes: Henry IV (France) gives Huguenots equal rights to Catholics |
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1598 |
Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia, dies |
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1605 |
John Dryden appointed as the first official poet laureate |
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1668 |
Royal Military Academy founded at Woolwich |
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1741 |
Handel's Messiah first performed, in Dublin |
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1742 |
Warren Hastings appointed Governor of Bengal |
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1772 |
House of Commons passes the Catholic Emancipation Bill, allowing Catholics to become MPs and hold most public offices |
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1829 |
Tom Hamilton delivers the first Pony Express delivery to Sacramento |
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1860 |
Theodore II, Emperor of Ethiopia, commits suicide after his defeat by the British at Arogo |
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1868 |
Anti–Semitic League founded in Prussia |
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1882 |
Flagship of the Russian fleet sunk by a (Japanese?) mine; 600 lost |
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1904 |
Royal Flying Corps constituted by Royal Warrant |
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1912 |
Amritsar massacre: British soldiers open fire on nationalist rioters (followers of Gandhi), killing over 370 |
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1919 |
Imperial Airways and Qantas inaugurate a service from London to Australia |
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1935 |
Mussolini's forces invade Albania |
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1939 |
Sidney Poitier becomes the first black recipient of a Best Actor Oscar (for The Lilies of the Field) |
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1964 |
Abdul Salam Arif, President of Iraq, killed in a helicopter crash |
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1966 |
Jack Swigert hears an explosion on Apollo 13: "Houston, we've had a problem here" |
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1970 |
Fighting between Christians and Moslems breaks out in Beirut |
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1975 |
Severiano Ballesteros (23) becomes the first European US Masters champion, and the youngest ever |
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1980 |
The Kremlin admits that it was Soviet secret police, and not Nazis, who massacred 150,000 Polish army officers in the
Katyn Forest in 1940 |
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1990 |
Kurds engage in heavy fighting with the Iraqi army |
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1991 |
Neil Kinnock resigns as leader of the Labour party, three days after the Conservatives win a fourth consecutive general
election |
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1992 |
Brian Lara regains the record for the highest score in a Test innings: 400 not out against England in Antigua (beating
Matthew Hayden's 380) as West Indies score 751–6 declared – their second highest score ever and the highest against England by
any side |
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2004 |