1844 12-inch gun aboard USS Princeton explodes, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer, and other high-ranking U.S. federal officials.
1854 Republican Party formally organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.
1933 After the Reichstag Fire Decree, the German Communist Party (KPD) is essentially outlawed (though not formally banned) after the German government blames the Communists for burning down the Reichstag building.
1933 On Adolf Hitler's advice, German President Paul von Hindenburg signs the Reichstag Fire Decree after the building is destroyed by fire in Berlin; this eliminates many civil liberties in Germany.
1942 German submarine U-578 torpedoes US Navy destroyer USS Jacob Jones (DD130) off Cape May, New Jersey, killing all but 11 of 113 man crew.
1971 A British soldier dies in Derry after his vehicle had been attacked with petrol bombs (he died as a result of inhaling chemicals from fire extinguishers that were used to put out the fire)
1981 People's Republic of China throws out the Netherlands ambassador due to Dutch sales of submarines to Taiwan.
|