On this day in history: 1661 – Thomas Venner—a rebel who tried unsuccessfully to overthrow Oliver Cromwell and subsequently led a coup in London against the newly restored government of Charles II—is hanged, drawn, and quartered in London, England. 1812 – After a ten-day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, orders British soldiers of the Light and third divisions to storm Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain, on the night of January 19–January 20 after preparatory operations lasting about 10 days. In these clashes, the British capture the Greater Teson on January 8 and the Lesser Teson on January 16. Allied losses in the siege are 195 killed and 916 wounded. The 2,000-man French garrison under Brig-Gen Barrié has 529 men killed and wounded, while the rest are captured. The French Army of Portugal loses its entire siege train among the 142 captured cannon. The victory is marred when the British rank and file thoroughly sack the city, despite the efforts of their officers. 1861 – Georgia secedes from the United States. 1862 – The Battle of Mill Springs is fought in Pulaski County and Wayne County, Kentucky, during the American Civil War. Thirty-nine union soldiers are killed and 207 are wounded; 125 Confederate soldiers are killed and 404 are wounded or go missing. 1871 – The Battle of St. Quentin is fought in St. Quentin, France, during the Franco-Prussian War. Approximately 2,400 Prussian soldiers are killed or wounded; approximately 3,500 French soldiers are killed or wounded and 9,000 captured. 1871 – The Battle of Buzenval begins in Saint-Cloud, France, during the Franco-Prussian War and lasts until January 20. German losses and casualties include 7,879 killed or wounded; 4,070 French soldiers are killed or wounded. 1883 – Heavy fog in the North Sea causes the collision of two steamers—The Cimbria and The Sultan—and the death of 357 people. 1905 – A Midland Railway express passenger train overruns signals and collides with another train in Cudworth, England. Seven people are killed. 1915 – German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn in the United Kingdom during World War I, killing more than 20 people in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target. 1917 – Seventy-three are killed and 400 injured in an explosion in a munitions plant in Silvertown, England. 1935 – Chief Warrant Gunner and Naval Aviation Pilot Charles T. Thrun of the US Coast Guard is killed when his Grumman JF-2 Duck crashes into the Delaware Bay at Cape May, New Jersey. He is the first Coast Guard aviator to die in the line of duty. 1936 – An Indonesian named Musa uses a pole to kill six people and seriously wound a seventh at a hospital in Serui, a village on the island Yapen in the Dutch East Indies. 1942 – Japanese forces invade Burma during World War II. 1952 – The Bury Knowsley Street Station footbridge in Bury, England, collapses due to inadequate maintenance. Two are killed and 173 injured. 1952 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 324 attempts a precautionary landing at Sandspit, British Columbia, due to a failed engine. The landing is aborted and the aircraft crashes into the sea. Thirty-six out of 43 aboard die. 1960 – Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 871 crashes while on approach to Esenboğa Airport, Ankara, Turkey, killing all 42 on board. 1971 – Two Standard Oil tankers, the Arizona Standard and the Oregon Standard, collide in the San Francisco Bay. The resulting 800,000 gallon spill, the largest in Bay Area history, threatens sensitive natural habitats both inside and outside the bay, including the Bolinas Lagoon. 1975 – A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hits the northern Indian district of Kinnaur, killing 47. 1981 – An earthquake in eastern Indonesia kills more than 300 people, damaging structures and buildings across the Irian Jaya province. 1983 – A semi-trailer truck crashes into a toll booth on the Connecticut Turnpike in Stratford, Connecticut, after brake failure, killing six people and injuring four. 1987 – Soldier Jhonny José Gómez Romero uses a submachine gun to kill six people and seriously wound three others at the Santiago Mariño military camp in Cumaná, Venezuela. He is later arrested. 1988 – A Soviet tank in Forst Zinna, East Germany, gets stuck on a level crossing and gets hit by an express train. Six people die and 33 are injured. 1991 – Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries. 1994 – A LTTE bomb exploded in a private bus carrying civilians from Sripura to Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, causing the death of 10 Sinhalese civilians and injuring 51. 1996 – The tank barge North Cape and the tug Scandia ground on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, after the tug catches on fire in its engine room during a winter storm. An estimated 828,000 gallons of home heating oil are spilled. Oil spreads throughout a large area of Block Island Sound, including Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge. Hundreds of oiled birds and large numbers of dead lobsters, surf clams, and sea stars are recovered in the weeks following the spill. 1997 – A powerful bomb blast in Algiers, Algeria, kills 21 and injures 60. The Islamic Salvation Army fundamentalist group is blamed. 1997 – A bus plunges into a river after losing control on a curvy road in Punjab, India, killing 29 people and injuring 12. 2005 – Five suicide bombings take place in Baghdad, Iraq, killing a total of 26 people and wounding at least 30. All of the blasts target checkpoints manned by soldiers or police officers. 2006 – A bushfire started by a lightning strike begins near The Grampians in Australia. By the time it is extinguished two weeks later, nearly 47% of the Grampians National Park is burned, as well as a significant amount of private property, a total of 710 square miles. Approximately 25 homes are destroyed. Over 50 sheds and outbuildings, 932 miles of fencing, as well as 62,000 head of sheep and 500 head of cattle are lost to the blaze. 2006 – A Slovak Air Force military transport crashes in Hungary, near the Slovak border. Only one person survives and 42 are reported dead. The plane is carrying Slovak KFOR forces who had been serving in Kosovo for half a year. The accident remains the worst in Hungary. 2007 – In Sudbury, Massachusetts, 15-year-old James Alenson is stabbed to death with a knife in the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School washroom by 16-year-old John Odgren, who does not know Alenson and chooses to stab him at random. 2007 – A double-decker bus plunges into a river near Chiang Mai, Thailand, killing 22 people. 2007 – Twenty-five are killed in a terror attack in Gunagado, Ethiopia. 2011 – A bomb planted inside a parked horse cart is detonated near a school in Peshawar, Pakistan; two people are killed and 15 are injured. 2011 – A suicide bomber rams an explosive-laden ambulance into a police recruitment center Baquba, Iraq; 15 people are killed and more than 60 are injured. 2011 – Muslim separatists are suspected to be behind an attack on an army camp in Narathiwat, Thailand, after at least 40 armed men assault the Ror 15121 outpost. Four people are killed and six are inured. 2012 – A suicide bomber driving an ambulance attacks a police training center in the city of Baquba, Iraq, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 50. 2012 – A suicide bomber attacks the main gate of the Kandahar International Airport in Afghanistan, killing seven civilians and injuring at least eight more. Insurgents attack a police post in Nawzad District, sparking a firefight that kills two police officers and leaves two others injured. More than 10 militants are believed killed in this attack, including a local commander. 2012 – A bomb explodes close to a camp for displaced people in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing four refugees and two local policemen. 2014 – A massive explosion targets a military convoy as it begins to leave Bannu, Pakistan, to travel to Razmak. Twenty soldiers are killed and 24 others injured. 2014 – A bombing attack by the Taliban in Bannu, Pakistan, kills 26 Pakistani soldiers. Thirty-eight other people are injured as a result of the bombing.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 13:51:21 +0000
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