TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY

164	BC	the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated by Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias the Hasmonean
0		Feast of St. Maurus of Parentium, Bishop of Istria and Martyr, and that of St. Digain, Prince of Dumnonia, Confessor
235		Accession of Pope St. Anterus (Nov. 21 235-Jan 3, 236), martyred
533		the Emperor Justinian issued the "Institutiones", a codification of over a thousand years of Roman law
1338		An archer named Robin Hood is enlists in the service of King Edward III at the garrison on the Isle of Wight
1386		Timurlane of Samarkand captures and sacks Tbilisi, Georgia
1521		Battle of Bicocca: Prospero Colonna's Italo-Spanish army crushes the French & Swiss
1739		Adm. Lord Vernon captured Porto Bello, Panama -- Learn More
1739		Adm Lord Edward Vernon captured Porto Bello from the Spanish after a short siege -- Learn More
1783		Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Alandes made the first untethered balloon ascent -- Learn More
1818		Tsar Alexander I proposes a Jewish state in Palestine
1894		Port Arthur is captured by the Japanese from the Chinese, amidst great slaughter
1914		Battle of the Kolubara begins: Serbs defeat the second Austrian invasion by Dec 15th, routing two armies
1918		German ammunition trains explode in Hamont, Belgium, 1,750 die
1918		The German High Seas Fleet is interned at Scapa Flo, Scotland
1918		Pogrom in Lwów: Polish inhabitants attack Jews and Ukrainians, over 300 die
1920		Mussolini's Blackshirts kill 11 political opponents in Bologna
1920		"Bloody Sunday": After the IRA assassinates 12 British intelligence officers, plus two others, British security forces open fire at a football game in Dublin, killing 14, and later murder three prisoners
1927		Columbine Mine Massacre: Police officers disguised as civilians open fire on striking mine workers, 6 die, many wounded
1942		ALCAN (Alaska-Canada) Highway is officially opened
1970		Operation Ivory Coast: A joint Army-Air Force commando raid on the Son Tây prisoner-of-war camp finds all Americans have been moved elsewere
1971		Battle of Garibpur: Indian troops and Bangladeshi militia defeat the Pakistani Army
1981		Amsterdam: 400,000 demonstrate for Peace through Disarmament
1985		US Navy intelligence specialist Jonathan Pollard is arrested on charges of spying for Israel; convicted, he is released in 2015

BORN

1150		King García Ramírez "the Restorer" of Navarre (1134-1150, c. 48
1643		René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, French explorer of the Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley, & Gulf Coast, murdered 1687
1694		François-Marie Arouet, known as "Voltaire," philosopher, novelist, satirist, d. 1778
1725		Franz Moritz von Lacy, Austrian field marshal, d. 1801
1817		Richard B Garnett, Brig Gen, C.S.A., kia, July 3, 1863
1828		William McComb, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1918
1831		John Franklin Miller, Brig Gen, U.S., d.1886
1834		Joseph Jackson Bartlett, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1893
1834		Hetty Green, America's most miserable millionaire miser, d. 1916.
1840		Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, Princess Royal of Great Britain, wife to German Emperor & King of Prussia Frederick III (1888), mother to Emperor-King Wilhelm II -- "Kaiser Bill", d. 1901
1851		Désiré-Félicien-François-Joseph Mercier, Belgian Cardinal, opponent of the German occupation (1814-1918), d. 1926
1854		Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa - Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), scorned peacemaker
1857		Manuel José Estrada Cabrera, sometime President/Dictator of Guatemala (1898-1920), d. 1924
1914		Michael Grant, classicist, historian ("Gladiators"), d. 2004

DIED

53	BC	Marcus Licinius Crassus, c. 60, beheaded by the Parthians (no molten gold involved), his head is then used as a prop in a play
496		Pope Gelasius I (492-496)
1361		Philip I de Rouvres (16), Duke of Burgundy (1350-1361
1910		Count Leo Tolstoy, 82, veteran of Sebastopol, in a train station
1916		Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, etc. (1848-1916), 86 -- Learn More
1917		Lt. Rudolph von Eschwege, German ace with 20 confirmed kills, kia at 22 -- Learn More
1942		Leopold Graf Berchtold von und zu Ungarschitz, 79, inept Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister who helped start the Great War
1945		Alexander Patch, who commanded the Seventh Army in France, at 55
1969		MajGen Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa II, King of Buganda (1939-1969) and First President of Uganda (1962-1966), at 45
2005		Alfred Anderson, 109, veteran of the Black Watch, the last survivor of the Christmas Truce of 1914, the last Scottish veteran of the Great War, and the oldest man in Scotland -- Learn More