On this day in , lead singer of U2, Bono was born Paul David Hewson in Dublin, Ireland. He has written almost all of the lyrics to U2’s song using political, social and personal experiences. Bono’s philanthropic work have made him one of the world’s best known performers. he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II and named Time’s Persons of the Year in 2005. His work and performance for Amnesty International, Band aid and Live Aid. His advocacy for third world countries has brought the AIDS epidemic in Africa to the attention of the world and it’s leaders.
Happy Birthday, Bono, and thank you.
70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opens an full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city’s Third Wall to the northwest.
1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England.
1497 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
1503 – Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.
1655 – England, with troops under the command of Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, annexes Jamaica from Spain.
1749 – The final volume of Tom Jones is published
1774 – Louis XVI becomes King of France.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is captured by a small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the 13 colonies begin the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. At the same time, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold lead a successful attack on Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York.
1796 – First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.
1824 – The National Gallery in London opens to the public.
1837 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
1863 – Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after he is accidentally shot by his own troops during the American Civil War.
1864 – American Civil War: Colonel Emory Upton leads a 10-regiment “Attack-in-depth” assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton is wounded slightly but immediately is promoted to Brigadier general.
1865 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
1865 – American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6.
1869 – The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike.
1872 – Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
1877 – Hayes has first phone installed in White House: President Rutherford B. Hayes has the White House s first telephone installed in the mansion s telegraph room. President Hayes embraced the new technology, though he rarely received phone calls.
1893 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.
1908 – Mother’s Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
1909 – “Mother” Maybelle Carter is born: From the late 1920s all the way through the 1950s, she was a familiar presence on American radio and a powerful influence on the course of country music.
1922 – The United States annexes the Kingman Reef.
1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
1933 – Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
1940 – World War II: The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.
1940 – World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
1940 – As Germany invades Holland and Belgium, Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Great Britain: On this day in 1940, Hitler begins his Western offensive with the radio code word “Danzig,” sending his forces into Holland and Belgium. On this same day, having lost the support of the Labour Party, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns; Winston Churchill accedes to the office, becoming defense minister as well.
1940 – World War II: Invasion of Iceland by the United Kingdom.
1941 – World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Germany.
1942 – World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign.
1946 – First successful launch of a V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.
1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets release “Rock Around the Clock”, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
1960 – The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
1969 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
1979 – The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
1981 – François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French 5th republic.
1990 – China releases Tiananmen Square prisoners: The government of the People’s Republic of China announces that it is releasing 211 people arrested during the massive protests held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in June 1989. Most observers viewed the prisoner release as an attempt by the communist government of China to dispel much of the terrible publicity it received for its brutal suppression of the 1989 protests.
1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa’s first black
president.
1996 – A “rogue storm” near the summit of Mount Everest kills eight climbers, making this the deadliest day in the mountain’s history. Among the dead are experienced climbers Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, both of whom were leading paid expeditions to the summit.
2002 – F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
2005 – A hand grenade which is thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres) from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.
Birthdays:
1911 – Bel Kaufman, American author, 99
1933 – Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer, 77
1936 – Gary Owens, American actor and announcer,74
1938 – Maxim Shostakovich,, conductor, 72
1943 – David Clennon, American actor, 69
1944 – Marie-France Pisier, French actress, 66
1947 – Meg Foster, Conn, actress, 63
1947 – Andrew Card, American Politician, 63
1955 – Chris Berman, American sportscaster, 55
1955 – Mark David Chapman, American murderer of John Lennon, 55
1958 – Rick Santorum, American politician, 52
1958 – Yu Suzuki, Japanese creator of Virtua Fighter series, 52
1959 – Victoria Rowell, American actress, 51
1960 – Bono, Irish singer (U2), 50
1963 – Lisa Nowak, American astronaut, 47
1965 – Linda Evangelista, Canadian supermodel, 45
3 comments
Live version of Romeo And Juliet from 1983.
You think Americans are jealous of foreigners taking American jobs now?
According to Wiki it also “led to the creation of the first police force armed with deadly weapons.”
Did someone actually write “One of the worst disasters in the history of the theatre?” I guess the worst is a toss up between Kelly McGillis playing Hedda Gabler and Pia Zadora playing Anne Frank.