Today in History ...

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3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Mayans, begins. 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation. 106 – The south-western part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province: Roman Dacia. 355 – Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II. 490 – Battle of Adda: The Goths under Theodoric the Great and his ally Alaric II defeat the forces of Odoacer on the Adda River, near Milan. 1332 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor: Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar are routed by Edward Balliol. 1473 – The Battle of Otlukbeli: Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman Empire decisively defeats Uzun Hassan of Aq Qoyunlu. 1675 – Franco-Dutch War: Forces of the Holy Roman Empire defeat the French in the Battle of Konzer Brücke. 1786 – Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia. 1804 – Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria. 1812 – Peninsular War: French troops engage British-Portuguese forces in the Battle of Majadahonda. 1813 – In Colombia, Juan del Corral declares the independence of Antioquia. 1858 – The Eiger in the Bernese Alps is ascended for the first time by Charles Barrington accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohren. 1898 – Spanish–American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Amiens ends. 1919 – The constitution of the Weimar Republic is adopted. 1920 – The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed, ending the Latvian War of Independence. 1929 – Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio. 1934 – The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island. 1942 – Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a Frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi. 1945 – Poles in Kraków engage in a pogrom against Jews in the city, killing one and wounding five. 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founding father of Pakistan, gives a speech to the Constituent Assembly, the contents and meaning of which remain contentious today. 1949 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 72 and 73 are adopted on Palestinian question. 1952 – Hussein bin Talal is proclaimed King of Jordan. 1959 – Sheremetyevo International Airport, the second-largest airport in Russia, opens. 1960 – Chad declares independence. 1961 – The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli. 1962 – Vostok 3 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev becomes the first person to float in microgravity. 1965 – Race riots (the Watts Riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. 1968 – The last steam hauled train runs on British Rail 1972 – Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam. 1975 – East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin. 1979 – Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over the Ukrainian city of Dniprodzerzhynsk and crash, killing all 178 aboard both airliners. 1982 – A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii, killing one passenger and injuring 15 others. 1984 – "We begin bombing in five minutes" – United States President Ronald Reagan, while running for re-election, jokes while preparing to make his weekly Saturday address on National Public Radio. 1995 – 1995 Russell Hill subway accident - The 1995 Russell Hill subway accident was a deadly train crash that occurred in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Three people were killed and 30 were taken to hospital with injuries when one train rear-ended another train. The subway line was shut down for five days. 1999 – The Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one. 2003 – NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history. 2003 – Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand. 2006 – The oil tanker M/T Solar 1 sinks off the coast of Guimaras and Negros Islands in the Philippines, causing the country's worst oil spill. 2012 – At least 306 people are killed and 3,000 others injured in a pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran. 2015 – For the first time in Major League Baseball history, all 15 home teams won their game. Prior to this happening, the record was 12 which was reached over a century ago in 1914.