Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by four knights of English King Henry II. He was heard saying, “I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace.” (1170)
Sebastian Castellio died at Basle, Switzerland. He is remembered for his book Concerning Heretics which called for religious tolerance. (1563)
French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables was convened. (1786)
War of 1812: The USS Constitution captured the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle. (1812)
War of 1812: British burned Buffalo, New York to the ground. (1813)
The Treaty of New Echota was signed. It ceded all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States. (1835)
Texas was admitted as 28th US state. (1845)
Gas lights were first installed at White House under US President Polk. (1848)
First American Young Men’s Christian Association, YMCA, chapter opened in Boston, Massachusetts. (1851)
Emma Snodgrass was arrested in Boston for wearing pants. (1852)
The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, HMS Warrior, was launched. (1860)
Bowling ball was invented. (1862)
US Civil War: In the Battle of Chichasaw Bayou, Confederate Armies defeated General William T. Sherman. (1862)
First telegraph ticker was used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Co, New York. (1867)
Popular American hymnwriter Philip P. Bliss, song leader for DL Moody, died when the train in which he and his wife were riding plunged off a bridge into a ravine 60 feet below. (1876)
US 7th Cavalry massacred 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. (1890)
Thomas Edison patented radio signals. (1891)
Sidney Brooks became the first victim of the Boxer Rebellion. He was ssaulted near Tai’an, China. He was beaten and pricked with knives, led about with a rope through his nose, forced to stand in his underwear in freezing conditions, and finally beheaded after he managed to flee to a nearby ravine. (1899)
Thomas B. Welch. A fervent Methodist, died. A temperance man, he had promised a recovering alcoholic that he would find a way to make a non-alcoholic communion drink. He developed Welch’s grape juice. (1903)
Allen Yuan, Chinese preacher who was sentenced to life in prison for openly preaching the Gospel, was converted to Christianity. (1936)
WW2: Germany dropped its 1st incendiary bombs on London during the worst night of the Blitz. (1940)
Star Trek’s Trouble With Tribbles first aired. (1967)
Life magazine ceased publication. (1972)
Hong Kong began slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu. (1997)
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