First Nuclear Reaction
Italian-born American physicist Enrico Fermi demonstrates the first controlled nuclear fission reaction in an unused squash court in a basement at the University of Chicago. Two years earlier, Fermi, along with Hungarian-born physicist Leo Szilard and German-born physicist Albert Einstein, wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt warning of the danger of
Nazi development of an atomic weapon. Roosevelt approved a U.S. atomic program; the "Manhattan Project" to build an atomic bomb began in 1942. Fermi, who won the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics, scored one of the program's early triumphs with his
demonstration of a nuclear reaction. In July 1945, the United States successfully tested the world's first
atomic bomb, and in August two such bombs were dropped on
Japan. Fermi died in 1954, and the element fermium was named in his honor one year later.
1998
In
Britain, Conservative leader William Hague sacks his leader in the
House of Lords, Lord Cranborne, for going behind his back to negotiate a deal with the Labour Government over the scrapping of Hereditary Peers.
1993
Colombian drugs baron, Pablo Escobar, the so-called King of Cocaine, is shot dead in a gun battle with police.1990
West
German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl wins the first all-German election since 1933 following the collapse of the
Berlin Wall and the unification of East and West
Germany. 1966
In Britain, the symbol of the Swinging Sixties, the Mini skirt is banned from the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.1965
The hit musical 'Hello Dolly' opens at Drury Lane in London.1954
The anti-Communist witchhunt comes to an end in America when its main instigator, Senator Joseph McCarthy, is condemned for conduct unbecoming a US Senator.1927
The successor to the Model T Ford, the Model A, first goes on sale.1907
English footballers form the Professional Footballers' Association.1904
Members of the British Parliament representing Ulster, form an organisation that becomes the Ulster Unionist Council.1901
American businessman King Gillette patents the safety
razor with a double-edged disposable blade.
1859
American anti-slavery campaigner
John Brown is hanged for killing five pro-slavery men and leading an attack on the US arsenal at Harper's Ferry in October, 1859.
1852
Second French Empire is declared by Emperor
Napoleon III.
1823
In the United States, the 'Monroe Doctrine', announced by US President
James Monroe, warns all European powers against interfering in the politics of the American Republics-including any further colonisation of land on the American continent. Any breach would be considered a threat to US peace and security.
1816
Spa Fields Riots in England: a large crowd, gathered to
demand political reform, decides to march on London.
1805
Napoleon defeats Austro-Russian armies at the battle of Austerlitz.1697
Opening of the new St. Paul's Cathedral in London. 1934
English Actress Maggie Smith1924
Former US Secretary of State General Alexander Haig.1923
Greek-American operatic soprano Maria Callas born in New York.1899
British conductor and cellist Sir john Barbirolli1993
Colombian drugs baron, Pablo Escobar, the so-called King of Cocaine, is shot dead in a gun battle with police.
1859
Anti-slavery campaigner
John Brown is executed in Charleston, West Virginia.
1814
The Marquis de Sade, the French aristocrat whose perverted lifestyle gave the world the word 'sadism'.
