*960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries. *1555 – John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England. *1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one...
Betty Friedan, American author and activist
February 4 - 1921 ~ February 4 2006
1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. 1662 – The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. 1861 – American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States. 1865 – Abraham...
1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples. 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for plotting against Parliament and King James. 1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through...
1607 – An estimated 200 square miles along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths. 1649 – King Charles I of England is beheaded. 1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than...
1969 - The Beatles last public performance on the roof of
Apple Records in London
757 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang dynasty and emperor of Yan, is murdered by his own son, An Qingxu. 1790 – The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne. 1834 – President Andrew Jackson orders first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute....
1886 - Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
814 – Charlemagne dies of pleurisy in Aachen as the first Holy Roman Emperor. He is succeeded by his son Louis the Pious as king of the Frankish Empire. 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu’izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the...
In this photo from Jan. 9, 1986 the Challenger crew takes a break during countdown training at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Left to right are Teacher-in-Space payload specialist Sharon Christa McAuliffe; payload specialist Gregory Jarvis; and astronauts Judith A. Resnik, mission specialist; Francis R. Scobee, mission commander; Ronald E. McNair and Ellison Onizuka engineer and astronaut.
Image: NASA
