1899 - Malolos, the capital of the fledgling Philippine Republic, falls to the imperialist American forces led by General Arthur MacArthur, thus forcing President Emilio Aguinaldo to transfer the capital northwards to Tarlac; American's sense of racial superiority is seen today as explaining US colonization of the Southeast Asian archipelago, as reflected in the diary of Sgt. Hiram Harlow, an American soldier who sees action in several battles in Malolos, with his multiple referral to the Filipinos as "niggers."
1959 - The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, escapes to India by crossing the Indian border following the fierce Chinese crackdown on the Tibetan uprising earlier this month; the Dalai Laima travelled for 15 days on foot from Lhasa, over the Himalayan mountains, to the Indian border and will be given Asylum in India where about 80,000 Tibetans will follow him in exile away from communist rule of Tibet.
1966 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, the first human-made unmanned space object to orbit the moon; also called Lunik 10, it is launched from an Earth orbiting platform and will enter the lunar orbit three days later and within 3 hours, will complete its first orbit (April 4, Moscow time).
1968 - United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson announces his irrevocable decision not to seek election, citing the need for national unity, which is America's "ultimate strength"; Johnson's decision is now seen the result of turmoil within the Democratic Party related to opposition to the Vietnam War.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
30 MARCH
1591 - During the Spanish colonial period, an ordinance is issued in the city of Manila, Philippines that forbids the wearing of silk and other fabrics from China, for the reason, that it is detrimental to the general welfare and the good government of the city; Western colonization of the Southeast Asian archipelago began in 1565 when the Spaniards established settlements in Cebu.
1856 - The Treaty of Paris forces Russia to accept the new status of the Black Sea as demilitarize and neutral, which effectively ensures British dominance in the eastern Mediterranean; Russia also renounced claims to a protectorate of all Balkan Christians.
1981 - United States President Ronald Reagan is shot outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by a deranged drifter named John Hinckley Jr while on his way to his limousine following his speech at a labor meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel; Hinckley, who has fired a total of six shots that hit Reagan three times as the other three bullets hit the House Press Secretary, a Secret Service agent and a DC policeman, will be found not guilty by reason of insanity while Reagan will survive the assassination attempt.
2002 - The Queen Mother of Great Britain dies peacefully in her sleep at age 101, seven weeks after the death of her daughter, Princess Margaret; her remains will be interred with the remains of Princess Margaret and will be buried beside King George VI, her husband, in St. George's chapel at Windsor Castle.
1856 - The Treaty of Paris forces Russia to accept the new status of the Black Sea as demilitarize and neutral, which effectively ensures British dominance in the eastern Mediterranean; Russia also renounced claims to a protectorate of all Balkan Christians.
1981 - United States President Ronald Reagan is shot outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by a deranged drifter named John Hinckley Jr while on his way to his limousine following his speech at a labor meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel; Hinckley, who has fired a total of six shots that hit Reagan three times as the other three bullets hit the House Press Secretary, a Secret Service agent and a DC policeman, will be found not guilty by reason of insanity while Reagan will survive the assassination attempt.
2002 - The Queen Mother of Great Britain dies peacefully in her sleep at age 101, seven weeks after the death of her daughter, Princess Margaret; her remains will be interred with the remains of Princess Margaret and will be buried beside King George VI, her husband, in St. George's chapel at Windsor Castle.
Monday, March 29, 2010
29 MARCH
1896 - The Supreme Council of the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK), the secret revolutionary movement in the Philippines aiming to overthrow Spanish colonial rule, decides to elevate Balangay Nagbangon, its branch in the town of Pasig, to the status of a Sangguniang Bayan (Sb.) and to create a new one under its jurisdiction, Balangay Pinaglabanan, with the newly elected officers of the two units immediately taking their oaths-of-office; according to the United States Library of Congress, the KKK "insinuated itself into the community by setting up mutual aid societies and education for the poor [and by] 1896, the Katipunan had over 30,000 members and functioned at the national, provincial, and municipal levels."
1951 - The United States completes a draft of a peace treaty with Japan, communicating ito to the Soviet Union and 13 other cobelligerent powers; during World War II that lasted until 1945 when the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the East Asian country was one of the Axis powers defeated by the Allied forces.
1966 - The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union starts, with the Chinese Communists not only rejecting the invitation to attend but also attacking Soviet policies; the USSR-China relations have been on a falling off course following Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's rebuff of Chinese call insisting for it to have a special place in the socialist world, maintaining instead that all Communist countries should be equal.
1973 - The last American troops leave South Vietnam, leaving behind an unfinished war that has deeply scarred both the Southeast Asian country and the United States; the US entered the Vietnam War beginning in the 1950s in the bid to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of the wider Cold War strategy of containment but the ferocity of the North Vietnamese coupled with anti-War protests, led it to Vietnamize the war until the South Vietnam government eventually fell.
1951 - The United States completes a draft of a peace treaty with Japan, communicating ito to the Soviet Union and 13 other cobelligerent powers; during World War II that lasted until 1945 when the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the East Asian country was one of the Axis powers defeated by the Allied forces.
1966 - The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union starts, with the Chinese Communists not only rejecting the invitation to attend but also attacking Soviet policies; the USSR-China relations have been on a falling off course following Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's rebuff of Chinese call insisting for it to have a special place in the socialist world, maintaining instead that all Communist countries should be equal.
1973 - The last American troops leave South Vietnam, leaving behind an unfinished war that has deeply scarred both the Southeast Asian country and the United States; the US entered the Vietnam War beginning in the 1950s in the bid to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of the wider Cold War strategy of containment but the ferocity of the North Vietnamese coupled with anti-War protests, led it to Vietnamize the war until the South Vietnam government eventually fell.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
28 MARCH
1907 - In accord with America's propaganda policy of falsely claiming that the Philippine-American War ("insurrection" daw) ended in 1902, Governor James F. Smith certifies that since the publication of the Philippine Census in 1905 there have been no serious disturbances of the public order save those committed by outlaws and religious fanatics and that the great mass of the Filipinos have been “law-abiding, peaceful and loyal to the United States”; decades later, even American historians will write that the war of resistance valiantly fought by Filipino patriots against the imperialist United States forces well continued on until 1915 [and in] years to come, Americans [will remain] divided over the nation’s actions and imperial ambitions.
1979 - The worst accident in the history of the United States nuclear power industry occurs at Three Mile Island when the pressure valve at its Unit-2 reactor is unable to close, thus overheating the core and draining the radiation-contaminated cooling water from the open valve into the adjoining structures; the safety devices of the state-of-the-art reactor would have prevented a larger crisis but the human operators, misreading the confusing and contradictory findings, has shut off the automatic emergency cooling pumps, subsequently melting down the core and causing deadly radiation to drift across the countryside.
1956 - Iceland's Parliament calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country and in four months, a new coalition government will be formed by the Progressive Party, the Social Democrats, and the Communist People's Alliance that will get two cabinet posts; five years earlier, in April 1951, at the request of the Danish government, the United States sent an armed force contingent to assist the country's defense during the Cold War.
1962 - Military leaders depose Argentine President Arturo Frondizi, who had won elections three years earlier with the support of former leader Juan Peron; the coup installs Senate President Jose Maria Guido as President, who will then nullify the recent provincial and legislative elections, establish dictatorial rule, and will ban the Peronist and Communist Parties.
1979 - The worst accident in the history of the United States nuclear power industry occurs at Three Mile Island when the pressure valve at its Unit-2 reactor is unable to close, thus overheating the core and draining the radiation-contaminated cooling water from the open valve into the adjoining structures; the safety devices of the state-of-the-art reactor would have prevented a larger crisis but the human operators, misreading the confusing and contradictory findings, has shut off the automatic emergency cooling pumps, subsequently melting down the core and causing deadly radiation to drift across the countryside.
1956 - Iceland's Parliament calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country and in four months, a new coalition government will be formed by the Progressive Party, the Social Democrats, and the Communist People's Alliance that will get two cabinet posts; five years earlier, in April 1951, at the request of the Danish government, the United States sent an armed force contingent to assist the country's defense during the Cold War.
1962 - Military leaders depose Argentine President Arturo Frondizi, who had won elections three years earlier with the support of former leader Juan Peron; the coup installs Senate President Jose Maria Guido as President, who will then nullify the recent provincial and legislative elections, establish dictatorial rule, and will ban the Peronist and Communist Parties.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
27 MARCH
1583 - As a result of a memorial sent by Bishop Salazar containing an account of the tyranny to which the natives of the newly conquered islands of the Philippines were subjected to by the encomenderos, King Philip II of Spain issues an order directing colonial government members to prevent slave owners from engaging in such conduct and requesting the bishop to keep him informed of the results; in 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan claimed the Southeast Asian archipelago in the name of Spain (he would later be killed by a native chieftain Lapu-Lapu) and in 1565, colonization will begin as Miguel Lopez de Legaspi forms the first settlements in Cebu.
196 BC - The Decree of Memphis that stipulates the terms of an agreement between Ptolemy V, the Macedonian ruler of Egypt, and a general synod of the kingdom's Egyptian priests are inscribed in hieroglyphic script, in Greek, and in demotic on what will be known as the Rosetta stone; centuries later, the stone will provide the first key to the ancient Egyptian language, thus forming the the foundation of modern Egyptology.
1958 - Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev becomes the Premier of the Soviet Union in addition to being First Secretary of the Communist Party following the dutiful and unanimous vote by the Soviet legislature; the 63-year-old Khrushchev is a former mine mechanic who, in the five years since Stalin's death, has emerged from the collective leadership and advanced to overwhelming responsibility and power.
1977 - 583 people die as two jumbo jets collided while taxiing for take-off on a runway in the holiday destination of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, in what has been called the history's worst aviation disaster involving aircraft on the ground; a KLM Boeing 747 has failed to check if his plane was already clear for take-off and collided with the Pan American 747 in the dense fog, the resulting explosion being heard across the island.
196 BC - The Decree of Memphis that stipulates the terms of an agreement between Ptolemy V, the Macedonian ruler of Egypt, and a general synod of the kingdom's Egyptian priests are inscribed in hieroglyphic script, in Greek, and in demotic on what will be known as the Rosetta stone; centuries later, the stone will provide the first key to the ancient Egyptian language, thus forming the the foundation of modern Egyptology.
1958 - Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev becomes the Premier of the Soviet Union in addition to being First Secretary of the Communist Party following the dutiful and unanimous vote by the Soviet legislature; the 63-year-old Khrushchev is a former mine mechanic who, in the five years since Stalin's death, has emerged from the collective leadership and advanced to overwhelming responsibility and power.
1977 - 583 people die as two jumbo jets collided while taxiing for take-off on a runway in the holiday destination of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, in what has been called the history's worst aviation disaster involving aircraft on the ground; a KLM Boeing 747 has failed to check if his plane was already clear for take-off and collided with the Pan American 747 in the dense fog, the resulting explosion being heard across the island.
Friday, March 26, 2010
26 MARCH
1920 - During the American colonial period, the Philippine Legislature passes Act No. 2928 adopting the Philippine flag as the official flag of the Government of the Philippine Islands to be flown next to the American flag; earlier, Act No. 1696 or the Flag Law of 1907 adopted by the imperialist government had outlawed the display of the Philippine flag midway into the protracted Filipino-American War (1899-1914).
1885 - The North-West Rebellion staged by the Metis people of the District of Saskatchewan breaks out against the Dominion of Canada over the issue of the government's failure to address the survival of the indigenous First People; also known as the North West Resistance Saskatchewan Rebellion, it would be a brief six-week rebellion that would end in the execution-by-hanging of its leader, elected Member of Parliament for Provencher Louis David Riel.
1973 - Women are allowed on to the trading floor of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for the first time in the institution's 200 year history; the historic development came following years of women's campaign in the financial sector, with the media describing the LSE as the "'last bastion of misogyny."
1979 - Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat sign the Camp David peace treaty brokered by United States President Jimmy Carter; the formal agreement signed by all parties in Arabic, English, and Hebrew versions ends more than 30 years of hostilities between the two neighboring Middle East countries.
1885 - The North-West Rebellion staged by the Metis people of the District of Saskatchewan breaks out against the Dominion of Canada over the issue of the government's failure to address the survival of the indigenous First People; also known as the North West Resistance Saskatchewan Rebellion, it would be a brief six-week rebellion that would end in the execution-by-hanging of its leader, elected Member of Parliament for Provencher Louis David Riel.
1973 - Women are allowed on to the trading floor of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for the first time in the institution's 200 year history; the historic development came following years of women's campaign in the financial sector, with the media describing the LSE as the "'last bastion of misogyny."
1979 - Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat sign the Camp David peace treaty brokered by United States President Jimmy Carter; the formal agreement signed by all parties in Arabic, English, and Hebrew versions ends more than 30 years of hostilities between the two neighboring Middle East countries.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
25 MARCH
1898 - Developments during the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule: Filipino revolutionary Isabelo and his man capture Candon, Ilocos Sur; Spanish soldiers massacre many Visayan sailors in Camba St., Manila, while the 74th Filipino regiment at the Cavite naval fort march out of the barracks, bringing arms and equipment with them as they join the revolution.
1669 - Mount Etna (Catania) in Sicily erupts with a roar that could be heard for 50 miles, sending a 2-mile-wide lava flood flow over 50 villages and towns; some 100,000 people died directly from the eruption that followed a series of earthquakes that has destroyed nearby Nicolosi.
1975 - Saudi Arabia's King Faisal is assassinated by his own nephew, Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed, using three pistol shots at point blank range; Musaed will be found to have acted alone and will be beheaded in the public square in Riyadh, the traditional Islamic method of execution.
1980 - The British Olympic Association (BOA) overwhelmingly votes to send athletes to the Moscow Olympic Games, defying government pressure for boycott of the summer games to the 22nd Olympics in 1980; the United States has led many countries in the boycott following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 in the bid to propel a fledgling Marxist government.
1669 - Mount Etna (Catania) in Sicily erupts with a roar that could be heard for 50 miles, sending a 2-mile-wide lava flood flow over 50 villages and towns; some 100,000 people died directly from the eruption that followed a series of earthquakes that has destroyed nearby Nicolosi.
1975 - Saudi Arabia's King Faisal is assassinated by his own nephew, Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed, using three pistol shots at point blank range; Musaed will be found to have acted alone and will be beheaded in the public square in Riyadh, the traditional Islamic method of execution.
1980 - The British Olympic Association (BOA) overwhelmingly votes to send athletes to the Moscow Olympic Games, defying government pressure for boycott of the summer games to the 22nd Olympics in 1980; the United States has led many countries in the boycott following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 in the bid to propel a fledgling Marxist government.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
24 MARCH
1897 - Filipino patriot Gen. Artemio Ricarte takes his oath of office as the General-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army, but not without initial reluctance because he believed that he was not qualified to head the revolutionary forces and because he believed the Tejeros Convention was tainted by fraud; the Tejeros Convention held two days earlier has been declared invalid and marred with fraud by Andres Bonifacio, the founder of the original revolutionary body, Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) .
1603 - Elizabeth I of England, the "Virgin Queen" dies at the age of 69, ending the period referred to as the Elizabethan Age; Elizabeth's rule has been marked by the rise of England from a state of despair and financial bankruptcy to the revival of commerce, including the selling of African black slaves in West Indies, the flourishing of literature, support for Protestant faith, and later, the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
1965 - Million watch as NASA's Ranger 9 moon lander directly beams out pictures to Earth while the space probe hurtles to its destruction on the Moon; The pictures show that the Moon's surface is capable of bearing the weight of a manned spacecraft, which is a key issue for NASA scientists of the period.
1996 - Former Marxist military rule Mathieu Kerekou wins the presidential runoffs in Benin (formerly Dahomey) and will pledge natinal reconciliation at his inauguration; Kerekou staged a coup in 1967 and has since then ruled the West African country, including the period from 1979 when transition to civilian rule occurred.
1603 - Elizabeth I of England, the "Virgin Queen" dies at the age of 69, ending the period referred to as the Elizabethan Age; Elizabeth's rule has been marked by the rise of England from a state of despair and financial bankruptcy to the revival of commerce, including the selling of African black slaves in West Indies, the flourishing of literature, support for Protestant faith, and later, the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
1965 - Million watch as NASA's Ranger 9 moon lander directly beams out pictures to Earth while the space probe hurtles to its destruction on the Moon; The pictures show that the Moon's surface is capable of bearing the weight of a manned spacecraft, which is a key issue for NASA scientists of the period.
1996 - Former Marxist military rule Mathieu Kerekou wins the presidential runoffs in Benin (formerly Dahomey) and will pledge natinal reconciliation at his inauguration; Kerekou staged a coup in 1967 and has since then ruled the West African country, including the period from 1979 when transition to civilian rule occurred.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
23 MARCH
1901 - Philippine President-on-the-run Emilio Aguinaldo is captured by imperialist American soldiers posing as prisoners of the traitorous local Macabebe scouts in Palanan, Isabela; instead of fighting the forces of Gen. Frederick Funston as a way of sustaining the morale of his soldiers still valiantly fighting the new colonizing forces during the Philippine-American, Aguinaldo will become a cooperative US Prisoner of War and will swear allegiance to the enemy flag within only a few days from capture.
1878 - The Treaty of San Stefano between the Ottoman Empire and Russia is ratified; the treaty provides that Montenego and Serbia are to be independent and to be enlarged; Romania to become independent as well; Bosnia and Herzegovina are to be granted reforms; Bulgaria will include much of Macedonia, to be occupied for a period of two years by Russian troops but will become an autonomous state under an elected monarch; Russia is to get Ardahan, Batum, Bayazid, and Batum; and finally, the Ottomans have to pay Russia a big indemnity sum.
1983 - United States President Ronald Reagan launches Cold War into space with the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a defensive shield utilizing laser or particle beam technology to "intercept and destroy" incoming missiles as they travel through the stars; the SDI, which will later be dubbed as "Star Wars," will worsen the relationship between the US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
1999 - Paraguay's Vice-President Luis Maria Argana is assassinated by unidentified government but President Raul Cubas will be largely blamed for the killing because Argana had earlier disagreed with Cubas over the decision to release Gen. Lino Cesar Oviedo; within a week, Cubas will be forced out of office and will flee the country, along with Ovieda whose imprisonment stemmed from his conviction of leading a failed coup attempt against former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy;
1878 - The Treaty of San Stefano between the Ottoman Empire and Russia is ratified; the treaty provides that Montenego and Serbia are to be independent and to be enlarged; Romania to become independent as well; Bosnia and Herzegovina are to be granted reforms; Bulgaria will include much of Macedonia, to be occupied for a period of two years by Russian troops but will become an autonomous state under an elected monarch; Russia is to get Ardahan, Batum, Bayazid, and Batum; and finally, the Ottomans have to pay Russia a big indemnity sum.
1983 - United States President Ronald Reagan launches Cold War into space with the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a defensive shield utilizing laser or particle beam technology to "intercept and destroy" incoming missiles as they travel through the stars; the SDI, which will later be dubbed as "Star Wars," will worsen the relationship between the US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
1999 - Paraguay's Vice-President Luis Maria Argana is assassinated by unidentified government but President Raul Cubas will be largely blamed for the killing because Argana had earlier disagreed with Cubas over the decision to release Gen. Lino Cesar Oviedo; within a week, Cubas will be forced out of office and will flee the country, along with Ovieda whose imprisonment stemmed from his conviction of leading a failed coup attempt against former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy;
Monday, March 22, 2010
22 MARCH
1897 - The controversial Tejeros Convention elects the new officers of the Philippine revolutionary government, with Andres Bonifacio, head of the Katipunan, the original revolutionary body fighting the colonial Spaniards, being elected Interior Director and Emilio Aguinaldo, the President; Bonifacio, who has been lured into Cavite so he can supposedly unite the Magdalo and Magdiwang factions of the province, will soon issue Acta de Tejeros declaring the corrupt elections invalid, but unfortunately, he will be caught by Aguinaldo's forces before reaching Manila.
1945 - The Arab League, a regional organization based in Cairo, Egypt, is formed with the original aims of strengthening and coordinating political, cultural, economic, and social programs and to mediate disputes, but will later add the aim of providing for coordinated military defense; the original members are Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan (formerly Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, and, as well, Yemen.
1956 - Civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King is convicted of organising an illegal boycott by black passengers of buses in the US state of Alabama; jailed many times for his Mahatma Gandhi-inspired non-violent method of campaigning for the equal rights of black Americans throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Nobel Peace Prize winner will later be assassinated.
1963 - Marchers demonstrate in Seoul, South Korea against ruling junta leader Pak's statement of March 16 in which he withdrew his promise of elections to a new government, claiming the necessity of four more years of military government; Pak's government will later relent and will hold elections in the fall to effect an interim military-civilian coalition government.
1945 - The Arab League, a regional organization based in Cairo, Egypt, is formed with the original aims of strengthening and coordinating political, cultural, economic, and social programs and to mediate disputes, but will later add the aim of providing for coordinated military defense; the original members are Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan (formerly Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, and, as well, Yemen.
1956 - Civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King is convicted of organising an illegal boycott by black passengers of buses in the US state of Alabama; jailed many times for his Mahatma Gandhi-inspired non-violent method of campaigning for the equal rights of black Americans throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Nobel Peace Prize winner will later be assassinated.
1963 - Marchers demonstrate in Seoul, South Korea against ruling junta leader Pak's statement of March 16 in which he withdrew his promise of elections to a new government, claiming the necessity of four more years of military government; Pak's government will later relent and will hold elections in the fall to effect an interim military-civilian coalition government.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
21 MARCH
1935 - Hiroshi Tamura, a major in the Japanese Imperial Army stationed in Taiwan, writes former revolutionary leader and Philippine President General Aguinaldo about his strong sentiments against imperialist American presence in the Southeast Asian Archipelago; the United States invaded the Philippines at the turn of the century and during World War II, Japan will drive out the US forces as it briefly occupies the same as part of its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity master plan.
1960 - Sixty-nine people are killed by some 300 policemen who fired into several thousand demonstrators during what will later be called the Sharpeville massacre in Johannesburg, South Africa; the demonstrators were protesting against the apartheid government's passage of pass laws requiring black people to carry reference books when moving in white areas.
1984 - The European Economic Community summit collapses over disagreements on Europe's annual rebate to Britain; British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's demand for a £730m rebate, which is intended to cover any shortfall between money the UK invests in Europe and how much is eventually returned, is denied by other EEC members.
1990 - Namibia, a country in Southern Africa, gains independence from South Africa following the Namibian War of Independence; formerly named South West Africa, the United Nations assumed direct responsibility over it beginning 1966 following a number of uprisings and demands made by African leaders.
1960 - Sixty-nine people are killed by some 300 policemen who fired into several thousand demonstrators during what will later be called the Sharpeville massacre in Johannesburg, South Africa; the demonstrators were protesting against the apartheid government's passage of pass laws requiring black people to carry reference books when moving in white areas.
1984 - The European Economic Community summit collapses over disagreements on Europe's annual rebate to Britain; British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's demand for a £730m rebate, which is intended to cover any shortfall between money the UK invests in Europe and how much is eventually returned, is denied by other EEC members.
1990 - Namibia, a country in Southern Africa, gains independence from South Africa following the Namibian War of Independence; formerly named South West Africa, the United Nations assumed direct responsibility over it beginning 1966 following a number of uprisings and demands made by African leaders.
Friday, March 19, 2010
20 MARCH
1900 - Filipino Gen. Manuel Tinio orders the execution of all local, civil and barrio officials who either assist the enemy Americans or fail to report to the nearest guerrilla commander the movements and plans of the imperialist troops during the Philippine-American War; Tinio's order is in response to the enemy's use of Philippine Scouts, making traitors out of locals to assist them in subjugating the Southeast Asian archipelago.
1815 - Napoleon enters Paris where he will be able to establish government anew and rebuild the army even amidst the ban issued by the Allies against him; the French ruler has earlier escaped from imprisonment in Elba and the troops sent to oppose him rallied around him instead.
1952 - The United States Senate ratifies the peace treaty with Japan, the target of its two atomic bombing missions during World War II; security agreements contracted with the Pacific countries of Australia, New Zealand, former colony the Philippines, and Japan are also approved.
1956 - Mount Bezymianny, Kamchatka Peninsula in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics USSR, erupts--the largest single volcanic eruption in the twentieth century; the eruption will lastfor one full year and total ashfall would be enough to cover the whole of Paris 49 feet deep but luckily for the country, the volcano is situated some 30 miles away from the nearest settlement.
1815 - Napoleon enters Paris where he will be able to establish government anew and rebuild the army even amidst the ban issued by the Allies against him; the French ruler has earlier escaped from imprisonment in Elba and the troops sent to oppose him rallied around him instead.
1952 - The United States Senate ratifies the peace treaty with Japan, the target of its two atomic bombing missions during World War II; security agreements contracted with the Pacific countries of Australia, New Zealand, former colony the Philippines, and Japan are also approved.
1956 - Mount Bezymianny, Kamchatka Peninsula in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics USSR, erupts--the largest single volcanic eruption in the twentieth century; the eruption will lastfor one full year and total ashfall would be enough to cover the whole of Paris 49 feet deep but luckily for the country, the volcano is situated some 30 miles away from the nearest settlement.
19 MARCH
1731 - Maria Josefa Gabriela Cari-oSilang, Filipina patriot who will lead a rebellion against the Spanish colonizers, is born in Sta. Caniogan, Ilocos Sur; better known as Gabriela Silang, she will take over leadership of her husband's rebel group in the Ilocos province and will thus become the first woman revolutionary of the Philippines
1982 - A group of around 50 Argentines land on the British colony Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic and plant their nation's flag; Britain and Argentina have disputed sovereignty over the islands the latter call Islas Malvinas and the incident will become a in what will be a trigger for a minor war between the two countries, won by the latter.
1990 - Columbian peasant-based rebel group M-19 (April 19 Movement) signs a peace accord with the government, giving its members amnesty and a right to political representation; its presidential candidate will soon be murdered following the assasination of another from the Popular Union party.
2003 - The United States begins to invade Iraq, with President George W. Bush shortly announcing on televised address that "At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger;" Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein will later be caught and executed but it will later be found that Bush's claims that the Hussein government has weapons of mass destruction and has been supporting Al Qaeda terrorists are false.
1982 - A group of around 50 Argentines land on the British colony Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic and plant their nation's flag; Britain and Argentina have disputed sovereignty over the islands the latter call Islas Malvinas and the incident will become a in what will be a trigger for a minor war between the two countries, won by the latter.
1990 - Columbian peasant-based rebel group M-19 (April 19 Movement) signs a peace accord with the government, giving its members amnesty and a right to political representation; its presidential candidate will soon be murdered following the assasination of another from the Popular Union party.
2003 - The United States begins to invade Iraq, with President George W. Bush shortly announcing on televised address that "At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger;" Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein will later be caught and executed but it will later be found that Bush's claims that the Hussein government has weapons of mass destruction and has been supporting Al Qaeda terrorists are false.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
18 MARCH
1901 - Filipino soldiers led by General Ananias Diokno are ambushed while trying to fight off the invading American imperialist forces in the island of Panay during the Philippine-American War; Gen. Diokno, who has been compelled to conduct a guerrilla war with a few men left in his control following the February 2 surrender of General Martin Delgado to enemy Gen. Robert P. Hughes, will patriotically refuse the American offer of the directorship of the Bureau of Agriculture.
1950 - The Belgian government falls as a plebiscite on the return of exiled King Leopold III resulted in a narrow majority; the King will be allowed to return by the parliament but he will abdicate in favor of his son Baudouin who, in turn, will rule until his death in the early 1990s.
1962 - France and Algeria sign a truce to end the Algerian War, signaling the end of 130 years of colonial French rule; beginning in 1954, Muslims belonging to the Front de Liberation Nationale embarked on a guerrilla-style war of independence and although they were contained, French President Charles de Gaulle saw the inevitability of Algerian independence and, thus, decided to forge the truce.
1992 - South Africa overwhelmingly votes yes in a referendum on instituting political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government; apartheid, expanded racial segregation that discriminated against the black majority, was officially adopted in the 1950s but internal and international opposition to the practice eventually pressured the white government to reform.
1950 - The Belgian government falls as a plebiscite on the return of exiled King Leopold III resulted in a narrow majority; the King will be allowed to return by the parliament but he will abdicate in favor of his son Baudouin who, in turn, will rule until his death in the early 1990s.
1962 - France and Algeria sign a truce to end the Algerian War, signaling the end of 130 years of colonial French rule; beginning in 1954, Muslims belonging to the Front de Liberation Nationale embarked on a guerrilla-style war of independence and although they were contained, French President Charles de Gaulle saw the inevitability of Algerian independence and, thus, decided to forge the truce.
1992 - South Africa overwhelmingly votes yes in a referendum on instituting political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government; apartheid, expanded racial segregation that discriminated against the black majority, was officially adopted in the 1950s but internal and international opposition to the practice eventually pressured the white government to reform.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
17 MARCH
1899 - A member of a prominent Manila family visits Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, for the purpose of convincing President Emilio Aguinaldo that further resistance against imperialist American forces was useless; upon hearing of his arguments, Aguinaldo [would order] his immediate execution, although the latter would himself swear allegiance to the American flag within only a few days of his capture by the enemy soldiers.
1921 - The Soviet Union adopts the New Economic Policy (NEP), sponsored by Vladimir Lenin, and which aims to prevent the economy from collapsing; the new policy, which allows limited small, private businesses while the states continues to control large industries, banks, and foreign trade, abolishes the food levy and in its place, a limited grain tax is adopted, thus leaving the peasants at least part of the surplus.
1978 - Palestinian civilians flee Southern Lebanon on the third day of Israeli attacks during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict; code-named Operation Litani, the Israeli invasion covering in Lebanon up the Litani River would prove to be a military success in its goal of pushing Palestinian Liberation Organization forces northwards, although objections from the Lebanese government would later lead to the creation of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force and a partial Israeli withdrawal.
2005 - The last statue of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco is taken down; Franco, who died in 1975, rose to power from a career army officer, to army chief of staff to head of government and ruled Spain as a regent for life when he abolished the republic and instead installed representative monarchy in 1947.
1921 - The Soviet Union adopts the New Economic Policy (NEP), sponsored by Vladimir Lenin, and which aims to prevent the economy from collapsing; the new policy, which allows limited small, private businesses while the states continues to control large industries, banks, and foreign trade, abolishes the food levy and in its place, a limited grain tax is adopted, thus leaving the peasants at least part of the surplus.
1978 - Palestinian civilians flee Southern Lebanon on the third day of Israeli attacks during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict; code-named Operation Litani, the Israeli invasion covering in Lebanon up the Litani River would prove to be a military success in its goal of pushing Palestinian Liberation Organization forces northwards, although objections from the Lebanese government would later lead to the creation of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force and a partial Israeli withdrawal.
2005 - The last statue of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco is taken down; Franco, who died in 1975, rose to power from a career army officer, to army chief of staff to head of government and ruled Spain as a regent for life when he abolished the republic and instead installed representative monarchy in 1947.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)