Year

Country

Event

1997

UK

Dolly The Sheep

Scottish scientists from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh announce they have successfully cloned an adult sheep named Dolly, The sheep was born in July of 1996, and Dolly was the world's first cloned mammal.

1967

Vietnam

Tet Offensive

The Tet offensive by communist forces of North Vietnam against South Vietnam ends

1972

UK

Aldershot Bombing

The IRA plant a bomb at the 16th Parachute Brigade headquarters at Aldershot, Hampshire killing 5 women and an army priest.

1974

USA

Patti Hearst Kidnappers

The ransom demanded by the kidnappers (Symbionese Liberation Army) of newspaper heiress, Patty Hearst of $2 million food handout to the hungry in slum areas throughout Los Angeles and San Francisco begins with many of the homeless refusing the handouts.

1991

USA

Full Scale War With Iraq

The US President, George Bush, has given Iraq until 1700 GMT tomorrow to pull out of Kuwait or face a full-scale war.

1879

USA

1st Woolworth 5 Cents Store Opened

Frank Winfield Woolworth opens the Great 5 Cents Store in Utica, New York. Pledging to sell "nothing" that cost more than a nickel expanding over the next 50 years to 1000 stores, but due to changes in the retail market the last Woolworths shop in the United States was closed down on July 17th, 1997.

1924

USA.

Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.

1938

Germany

Austrian Protection

In a speech to the Reichstag and the world on Sunday Adolf Hitler proclaimed oppressed and persecuted Germans in Austria, Czechoslovakia and the rest of the world are under the protection of Germany and force will be used if necessary for their protection. Germany does not want war but will protect its people with war if needed. Together with the alliance of Italy and Japan and Germany's large build up of military power France and Great Britain believe a second world war may well be inevitable.

1938

USA

Secretary of the Interior

The United States Secretary of the Interior Ickes was prepared to give an anti-communist and anti-fascist speech, and notes from this scheduled broadcast were revealed on this day. Ickes urged all democracies to fight against (“repulse against”) internal fascism and communism. Ickes’ speech was scheduled to be heard in places such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, India, and South Africa. Ickes had commented, saying that he was speaking as an individual and not as a representative of the president, or the United States.

1966

USA

Lee Harvey Oswald

The U.S. government was awarded custody of Lee Harvey Oswald’s weapons. He was convicted as of this time of being the assassin of John F. Kennedy. The custody of Oswald’s weapons was granted by U.S. District Judge Joe Estes. The weapons in question were a 6.5mm foreign rifle (for shot at the president) and a pistol (for shot at Dallas Policeman J.D. Tippit). The government wanted to place the weapons reported to have been used by Oswald in the National Archives in Washington.

1966

USA

Vietnam War Veteran

John A. Podoske, a resident of Logan, Ohio, was denied a Postmaster position on this day. He attempted to appeal to have this case re-opened several months ago, based on the fact that he was a disabled Vietnam War Veteran.

1967

Indonesia

President Sukarno

Indonesian President Sukarno surrenders all executive authority to military dictator General Haji Mohammad Suharto.

1971

USA

Three red lights seen

A report on this day has indicated that a plane search was planned. This scheduled search was decided necessary as a result of witnesses seeing “three balls of fire” or “three red lights” headed towards earth in the blowing snow. This possible crash was believed to have taken place in or near Elmore City, Oklahoma. Numerous reports came in from Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, confirming that this was most likely a crash. Further reports would be made in future-dated issues of local Oklahoma newspapers.

1972

USA

Welfare Appointment

The real name of the person who was appointed head of the Aiken County Department of Public Welfare is Richard T. Poore. No pun was intended in this case, as Poore was actually a highly educated person who received a degree from Florida State University in 1966. However, some people most likely could not help but “make fun” of his last name at least a little bit, as he was chairman of the board for this county’s welfare agency (news headline read “Poore to Head Welfare Agency”). Poore had already worked at the county level in Anderson County for quite a few years when he assumed this position as head of Aiken County’s agency. Despite the play on words, Poore was thought of as a qualified individual.

1974

USA

Attempt To Kill Nixon

An attempt was made to hijack a plane from the Baltimore-Washington International airport by Samuel Byck . If successful, he was planning on crashing the plane into the White House and killing President Richard Nixon.

1980

USA

United States Hockey Team

The United States hockey team, composed in great part of college players, defeats the defending champions and favorites to win the gold medal Soviet Union squad by 4-3.

1989

USA

Tina Turner

Tina Turner had won a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocalist at age 49 during this year, on this date. She originally had recorded with her husband Ike Turner, however, she had left Ike in 1976. From that time until 1981 she had remained behind the scenes. After 1981, she became one of the oldest female artists in history to stage such a strong comeback, and she changed her tune from a style to Rock and Roll. Her first solo album Private Dancer had sold five million copies. She was introduced in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

1994

USA

Aldrich Ames Soviet Spy

Former Central Intelligence Agency veteran Aldrich Ames and his wife, Rosario, are charged with selling national security secrets to the Soviet Union.

He later received a sentence of life imprisonment, and his wife received a 5-year prison sentence for conspiracy to commit espionage and tax evasion

1998

USA

Tornadoes Florida

Central Florida was hit by fatal tornadoes that had taken 42 people. Seven twisters in all had swept through this area, and quite a bit of damage had occurred in Kissimmee, Orlando, and surrounding areas.

2001

Netherlands

War Crimes Tribunal

A U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague convicts three Bosnian Serbs on charges of rape and torture.

2006

UK

Securitas Bank Robbery

An armed gang steals £53 million from the Securitas bank depot in Kent. It was the largest such theft in British history

2006

USA

South Dakota approves a ban on abortion

The South Dakota Senate has approved a bill that will outlaw nearly all abortions in the state. If the bill is signed by Governor Rounds, advocates of abortion rights have pledged to challenge it in court immediately. The bill passes by a vote of 23 to 12 after opponents had tried to attach amendments that would have created exceptions for cases of rape and incest.

2006

Russia

The U.S.S. Missouri makes Moscow’s Defender of the Motherland Day

Moscow has removed the posters that were put up for its celebratory war veterans parades that had the American warship U.S.S. Missouri on them. The posters were taken down a few hours before the Defender of the Motherland Day events began. The Russian defence ministry has said it did not produce the posters, and a city hall official said that the design should have been shown to someone that could distinguish different types of battleships. The defence ministry went on to say that the posters had been made by a civilian firm, and that the people who made it were 'simply incompetent.'

2007

USA

Tolkien Estate gets a court order to block online file-sharing of his works

It has been revealed that the Tolkien Estate has won a court order against a file-sharing Web site whose members posted scanned copies of J.R.R. Tolkien's work. The order, which had been issued earlier in February by the federal court in the Southern District of New York, will compell ESnips Ltd. to identify the subscribers who posted the material. High-quality copies of The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, the History of Middle Earth and the Silmarillion had been posted on the site, according to The Estate's law firm Manches. While ESnips has agreed to remove the material, it refused to identify the names of the posters without a court order. Such infringements are 'damaging not only to the estate's interest, but also to the integrity of the published works. It is not something we allow.' Tolkien's estate routinely takes action against internet infringers.

2008

Kosova

Moscow opposes Kosovan independence

Following the Kosova Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Serbia Serb officials have welcomed the support of Russia in opposition to Kosovo's independence. The Belgrade-based daily Press's headlines have said that Russia supported Serbia's desire to retrieve Kosovo, but Serbia is now under pressure from Washington and Brussels to stop the violence that started on February 17th. An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the Western recognition of Kosovo as a cocked gun ready for firing.

2009

USA

Slumdog Millionaire wins at the 2009 Oscars

Slumdog Millionaire wins eight Oscars. Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Simon Beaufoy it is set and filmed in India. It is the story of a man from Bombay who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It has won eight of its ten Oscar nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

2009

EU

Israel Suspected To Be Behind Hamas Killing

E.U. foreign ministers have 'strongly condemned' the use of forged European passports in the assassination of the Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Their statement has made no direct reference to Israel, whose secret services are widely accused of having carried out last month's killing in Dubai. The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met some of the foreign ministers on the sidelines of the meeting, and has repeated that there is 'no proof' of Israel's involvement.

2011

Germany

Defense Minister of Germany Forfeits PhD

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the defense minister of Germany gave up his doctorate after being accused of plagiarizing his doctoral thesis. Several claims against Guttenberg were made including one that he had completely lifted a part of his thesis from a newspaper article. Guttenberg admitted to mistakes and asked the University of Bayreuth to remove his PhD.

2012

UK

Comedian Frank Carson Dies

UK Comic Frank Carson died at the age of 85 after suffering from illness. The comedian was a regular on British television throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Born in Belfast, Carson was recognized for his charity work that he conducted in Northern Ireland.

2013

Djibouti

Djibouti Opposition Joins Elections

The opposition party in Djibouti decided to join elections ending a ten year boycott. Opposition parties banded together to campaign in parliamentary elections and were able to participate largely unhindered.

2014

Vatican City

Pope Francis Names New Cardinals

Pope Francis has appointed nineteen new cardinals in a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. This is his first of such appointments since becoming the Pope.