Welcome to Today In History for Monday, December 2, 2024.

On this day in history...

• 1620 - English language newspaper "Namloos" begins publishing in Amsterdam
• 1682 - English earl of Shaftesbury flight to Amsterdam
• 1697 - St Paul's Cathedral opens in London
• 1763 - Touro shul of Newport RI dedicated (oldest existing US synagogue)
• 1777 - British Gen Howe plots attack on Washington's army for Dec 4
• 1790 - Austrian army occupies Brussels
• 1802 - English sell Suriname to Dutch
• 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte crowned emperor of France in Paris by Pope Pius VII
• 1805 - Napoleon defeats Russians & Austrians at Austerlitz
• 1812 - James Madison re-elected president of US, E Gerry vice-pres
• 1813 - Prince Willem Frederik accepts constitutional monarchy
• 1816 - 1st savings bank in US opens (Philadelphia Savings Fund Society)
• 1822 - In San Salvador, a congress proposes incorporation into US
• 1823 - President James Monroe declares his "Monroe Doctrine"
• 1840 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera "La Favorita," premieres in Paris
• 1840 - Opera "Die Favoritin" is produced (Paris)
• 1840 - William H Harrison elected president of US
• 1848 - Franz Josef I becomes emperor of Austria & King of Hungary
• 1852 - 2nd French empire established; Louis Napoleon becomes emperor
• 1864 - Skirmish at Rocky Creek Church, Georgia
• 1868 - 1st British government of Disraeli resigns
• 1877 - Camille Saint-Sa‰ns' opera "Samson et Dalila," premieres in Weimar
• 1882 - Amsterdam Artis Zoo opens aquarium
• 1883 - John Brahms' 3rd Symphony in F, premieres
• 1885 - Opera "Regina di Saba," premieres in Vienna
• 1887 - Amsterdam's Oscar Carr‚s Circus Theater opens
• 1887 - Charles Dickens' 1st public reading in US (NYC)
• 1887 - French president Gr‚vy (80) resigns
• 1891 - 52nd Congress (1891-93) convenes
• 1895 - 54th Congress (1895-97) convenes
• 1896 - Gerhart Hauptmann's "Die versunkene Glocke," premieres in Berlin
• 1899 - US & Germany agree to divide Samoa between them
• 1900 - South African president Paul Kruger arrives in Germany
• 1901 - Gillette patents 1st disposable razor
• 1901 - King Camp Gillette begins selling safety razor blades
• 1902 - Soccer team Go Ahead forms in Deventer
• 1907 - English Professional Football Player's Association forms
• 1907 - Tommy Burns KOs Gunner Moir in 10 for heavyweight boxing title
• 1908 - Pu Yi (Hsuan-T'ung) became China's Last Emperor at age 3
• 1913 - Archdiocese of Managua created
• 1913 - Govt -Barthou falls due to overtime conscription
• 1914 - Austria army occupies Belgrade Serbia
• 1916 - Baseballers who are injured now get full pay for duration of contract
• 1917 - Han Yong-woon, found Zen awakening at Osean Monastery Korea
• 1922 - 10th CFL Grey Cup: Queen's University defeats Edmonton Eskimos, 13-1
• 1924 - British-German trade agreement signed
• 1927 - 1st Model A Fords sold, for $385
• 1928 - Cardinals 1B Jim Bottomley is voted NL MVP
• 1929 - 1st skull of Peking man found, 50 km out of Peking at Tsjoe Koe Tien
• 1932 - "Adv of Charlie Chan" 1st heard on NBC-Blue radio network
• 1933 - 1st transatlantic telephone wedding (Bertil Clason-Sigrid Carlson)
• 1933 - Fred Astaire's 1st film, "Dancing Lady," released
• 1934 - 5.08-m (200") Mt Palomar Observatory mirror is cast
• 1939 - British Imperial Airways & British Airways merge to form BOAC
• 1939 - NY's La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago lands, 1 minute after midnight
• 1941 - Largest roller skating rink (outside of NYC) opens in Peekskill NY
• 1941 - NY Giants name Mel Ott as player-manager, replacing Bill Terry
• 1941 - Naval Intelligence ceases bugging Japanese consul
• 1941 - Yamamoto sends his fleet to Pearl Harbor
• 1942 - 1st controlled nuclear chain reaction (Enrico Fermi-U of Chicago)
• 1943 - 1st RSHA transport out of Vienna reaches Birkenau camp
• 1944 - 10th Heisman Trophy Award: Les Horvath, Ohio State (QB)
• 1944 - General De Gaulle arrives in Moscow
• 1944 - German troops seize Betuwse dikes
• 1944 - US 95th Infantry division occupies bridge at Saar
• 1947 - 13th Heisman Trophy Award: John Lujack, Notre Dame (QB)
• 1948 - Stan Musial is picked NL MVP
• 1950 - Vic Toweel knocks down Danny O'Sullivan 14 times in a title fight
• 1951 - "Borscht Capades" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 90 performances
• 1951 - Phila sets NFL record of 25 1st-downs rushing
• 1952 - 18th Heisman Trophy Award: Billy Vessels, Oklahoma (HB)
• 1952 - 1st human birth televised to public (KOA-TV Denver, Colo)
• 1954 - "Hit the Trail" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 4 performances
• 1954 - Frank Selvy of Milwaukee sets then NBA record of 24 of 26 free throws
• 1954 - US Senate censures Joe McCarthy (Sen-R-Wisc) for "conduct that tends to bring Senate into dishonor & disrepute"
• 1956 - Fidel Castro lands with "Granma" on coast of Cuba
• 1957 - 1st US large scale nuclear power plant opens (Shippingport Penn)
• 1957 - Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" reaches #1
• 1958 - 24th Heisman Trophy Award: Pete Dawkins, Army (HB)
• 1958 - Benelux treaty signed by Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg
• 1958 - KNOP TV channel 2 in North Platte, NB (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1959 - Malpasset dam collapses destroying French Riviera town of Frejus
• 1961 - Fidel Castro declares he's a Marxist, & will lead Cuba to Communism
• 1961 - Wind Bell, journal of SF Zen Center, begins publishing
• 1962 - 50th CFL Grey Cup: Winnipeg beats Hamilton, 28-27 at Toronto [OT]
• 1963 - 1st Dutch rocket launched/reaches height of 10 km
• 1963 - ML Rules Committee bans oversized catcher's mitts, effective in 1965
• 1964 - Ringo Starr's tonsils are removed
• 1966 - Love, Moby Grape & Lee Michaels perform at Fillmore East
• 1967 - 55th CFL Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeats Saskatchewan, 24-1
• 1968 - Pres Nixon names Henry Kissinger security advisor
• 1969 - "Buck White" opens at George Abbott Theater NYC for 7 performances
• 1969 - Boeing 747 jumbo jet 1st public preview (Seattle to NYC)
• 1970 - Environmental Protection Agency begins (Dir: William Ruckelshaus)
• 1970 - Tippetts Opera "Knot Garden," premieres in London
• 1971 - Soviet Mars 3 is 1st to soft land on Mars
• 1971 - United Arab Emirates, (Trucial States) declares independence from UK
• 1971 - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Sharjah & Umm ak Qiwain form United Arab Emirates
• 1971 - Zayid bin Sultan Al Nuhayyan of Abu Dhabi becomes pres of UAE
• 1972 - "December Giant" largest sinkhole in US collapses (Alabama)
• 1972 - "Via Galactica" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 7 performances
• 1972 - 60th CFL Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeats Saskatchewan, 13-10
• 1972 - In 1 of their worst trades Yanks get Rich McKinney for Stan Bahnsen
• 1973 - 62nd Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Cleveland (5-0)
• 1973 - Capital Centre (USAir Arena) in Wash DC opens
• 1973 - US Air Arena opens in Landover Maryland, Bullets beat Seattle, 98-96
• 1974 - Cowhide, rather than just horsehide, can be used to make baseballs
• 1974 - Giant Baba beats Jack Brisco in Kagoshimi, to become NWA champ
• 1974 - Soyuz 16 launched into Earth orbit for 6 days
• 1975 - 7 South Moluccans hijack train at Wijster Drente, 3 killed
• 1975 - G S Chappell gets ton in each inn of 1st Test Cricket as capt v WI
• 1975 - Laos king Sisavang Vatthana resigns, republic forms
• 1975 - Lao People's Democratic Republic founded (National Day)
• 1978 - Chanting "Allah is great," anti-Shah protesters poured through Tehran
• 1978 - Neil Diamond & Barbra Striesand's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" hits #1
• 1978 - Streisand & Diamond's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," goes #1
• 1979 - Crowds attack US embassy at Tripoli Libya
• 1979 - Foots Walker becomes 1st Cleve Cavalier to score a triple-double
• 1979 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1980 - 4 American Maryknoll nuns killed by death squads in El Salvador
• 1981 - Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers) wins NL Rookie of the Year
• 1981 - Moscone Convention Center, SF opens at 11:30 AM
• 1981 - Spanish government requests membership in NATO
• 1982 - 1st permanent artificial heart successfully implanted (U of Utah) in retired dentist Barney Clark; lived 112 days with Jarvic-7 heart
• 1984 - 4th meeting of Giants-Jets, Giants even series at 2 with 20-10 win
• 1984 - Bob Holland takes 9-83 for NSW against South Australia, SCG
• 1984 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1985 - "Mystery of Edwin Drood" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 608 perfs
• 1985 - Philipine Chief staff Gen Fabian speaks of B Aquino's murder
• 1985 - Rupert Holmes' musical "Mystery of Edwin Drood," premieres in NYC
• 1986 - Dow-Jones index hits record 1955.57
• 1987 - Chicago City Council elects Eugene Sawyer acting mayor
• 1987 - Jennifer Steele, 17, of Colo becomes Miss Teen of America [Approx]
• 1987 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1987 - "334" club forms as 334 brave Devil fans journey through 20" of snow to attend NJ Devils 7-5 victory over Calgary at Meadowlands
• 1988 - "Naked Gun" premieres, a movie based on TV's "Police Squad"
• 1988 - 5 gunmen who hijacked Soviet Aeroflot jet, surrender in Israel
• 1988 - STS-27 Atlantis launched (Secret military mission)
• 1988 - UN votes 151-2 (Isr & US) to move PLO debate to Geneva, Brit abstains
• 1989 - 55th Heisman Trophy Award: Andre Ware, Houston (QB)
• 1989 - KHJ-TV in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KCAL-TV
• 1989 - Vishwanath Pratap Singh sworn in as president of India
• 1990 - 1st parlimentary election in newly reunified Germany
• 1990 - 1st time 12 people in space
• 1990 - 79th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in St Petersburg (3-2)
• 1990 - Beth Daniel/Davis Love wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
• 1990 - US 69th manned space mission STS 35 (Columbia 11) launches into orbit
• 1991 - Bobby Bonilla signs record $29 million-5 year pact with NY Mets
• 1991 - Muslim Shites release American held in Lebanon hostage Joseph Cicippio
• 1992 - WQEW-AM radio replaces WQXR on 1560 in NYC
• 1993 - A Websters musical "Sunset Promenade" premieres in LA
• 1993 - Dow-Jones hits record 3702.11
• 1993 - Houston Rockets tie NBA record of 15-0 start
• 1993 - Space shuttle STS-61 (Endeavour 5), launches
• 1994 - "Cobb" premieres
• 1994 - Achille Lauro (Willem Ruys) sinks off the coast of Somalia
• 1994 - Andrew Lloyd Webber admitted to the hospital for ulcer treatment
• 1994 - Jury finds Heidi Fleiss guilty of running a call girl ring
• 1995 - 17th ACE Cable Awards
• 1997 - MCI Center opens in Wash DC, Wizards vs SuperSonics