On This Day

This Day in History

1. 2022Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, leading her eldest son Charles III to accede to the throne as King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms.
2. 1994USAir Flight 427 crashed while on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, causing 132 deaths and triggering the longest accident investigation in the history of the National Transportation Safety Board.
3. 1991U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators were alleged to have sexually assaulted 90 persons during the Tailhook Association symposium held in Las Vegas.
4. 1974Amid the Watergate scandal, U.S. President Gerald Ford issued a controversial full and unconditional pardon to his recently resigned predecessor Richard Nixon for any crimes committed while in office.
5. 1966Queen Elizabeth II opened the Severn Bridge, suggesting that its inauguration signaled the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales.
6. 1966The science fiction show Star Trek debuted in America with the episode "The Man Trap", launching a media franchise that became a cult phenomenon and influenced the design of various modern technologies.
7. 1966Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Severn Bridge, suggesting that the structure marked the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales.
8. 1954Eight nations signed a collective-defense treaty in Manila to establish the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which was modeled after NATO.
9. 1936Opposing António de Oliveira Salazar's support for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, crews of the Portuguese Navy ships NRP Afonso de Albuquerque and NRP Dão mutinied in Lisbon's harbor.
10. 1921In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Margaret Gorman was crowned the "Golden Mermaid", an event that served as the forerunner to the Miss America pageant.
11. 1907Gertrude Stein met her muse and life partner, Alice B. Toklas, in Paris.
12. 1900The Great Galveston hurricane, the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, struck Galveston, Texas, with estimated landfall winds of 135 miles per hour (215 km/h) and killed at least 6,000 people.
13. 1831The Russian Empire suppressed Poland's November Uprising by capturing Warsaw following a two-day assault.
14. 1831William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen were crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
15. 1796French forces defeated Austrian troops in Bassano, Venetia, Italy, during the French Revolutionary Wars.
16. 1726J. S. Bach led the premiere performance of Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35, a solo cantata composed for alto voice.