1659 1st known cheque written (£400), now on display at Westminster Abbey.
1840 American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica.
1923 Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb and finds the sarcophagus.
1959 Fidel Castro becomes the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista.
2005 The Kyoto Protocol comes into force following its ratification by Russia committing industrialized nations to limit and reduce greenhouse gases.
Historical Events Today
Today in Film & TV
1938 “Bringing Up Baby” film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, is released.
Today in Music
1963 Beatles top British rock charts with “Please, Please Me”
1968 Beatles George Harrison, John Lennon and their wives fly to India for transcendental meditation study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Today in Sport
1926 Suzanne Lenglen defeats US champion Helen Wills in influential tennis match in Cannes, France
Do you know this fact about today?
600 Pope Gregory the Great decrees saying “God bless You” is the correct response to a sneeze
Would you believe this fact about today?
1861 Abraham Lincoln stops his train at Westfield on his way to Washington to thank 11-year old Grace Bedell in person for her advice to grow a beard to gain more votes
