Today in History: Jan. 6

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1017 – Cnut the Great is crowned King of England. 1066 – Harold Godwinson (or Harold II) is crowned King of England. 1205 – Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans. 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. 1355 – Charles I of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan. 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras. 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada, completing the Reconquista. 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves. 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain. 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. 1690 – Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I, becomes King of the Romans. 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings. 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands. 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars. 1838 – Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code). 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin. 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison. 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders. 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome, Italy. 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state. 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift. 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship). 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India's poorest and sick people. 1930 – The first diesel-engined automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York. 1931 – Thomas Edison signs his last patent application. 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address. 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket. 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response. 1951 – Korean War: An estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered in what becomes the Ganghwa massacre. 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami. 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties. 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta. 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States. 1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II. 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day. 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup. 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol. 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack. 2001 – Congress certifies George W. Bush winner of 2000 elections. 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect in the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas. 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus. 2017 – 5 people are killed and 6 others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.