Today in History, December 23: 484 – Huneric dies and is succeeded by his nephew Gunthamund, who becomes king of the Vandals. During his reign the Catholics are free from persecutions. 562 – Hagia Sophia in Constantinople reopened with a rebuilt dome after a series of earthquakes caused the original to collapse. 962 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo. 1688 – As part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees from England to Paris, France after being deposed in favor of his nephew, William of Orange and his daughter Mary. 1783 – George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland. 1823 – A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, is published anonymously. 1893 – The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed. 1913 – The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve System. 1914 – World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt. 1916 – World War I: Battle of Magdhaba – Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypts Sinai Peninsula. 1940 – World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis (Y-2) sinks the Italian motor ship Antonietta. 1941 – World War II: After 15 days of fighting, the Imperial Japanese Army occupies Wake Island. 1947 – The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories. 1948 – Seven Japanese convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are executed at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, Japan. 1968 – The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea. 1970 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, New York is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world. 1970 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo officially becomes a single-party state. 1979 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital. 2002 – An MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25. 2010 – A monsoonal trough crosses the northeastern coast of Australia from the Coral Sea, bringing mass flooding across Queensland.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:03:27 +0000
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