1306: Robert the Bruce and his followers stabbed to death Robert’s political rival, Scottish governor John Comyn, before the altar of Greyfriars Church at Dumfries in the First War of Scottish Independence. Robert seized the throne a few weeks later.
1355: The St. Scholastica Day riot broke out in Oxford, England, leaving nearly 100 people dead over two days. It started as a bar brawl and spread into the streets, pitting "town" vs. "gown."
1567: After an explosion at the Kirk o' Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, searchers could not find Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and father of future King James VI. He was found strangled in a nearby orchard. Suspects included Queen Mary herself and her next husband, Lord Bothwell; James Douglas, Earl of Morton, was eventually executed for his part in it.
1676: Nashaway chief Monoco led 400 native Americans on a raid of Lancaster, Mass., setting fire to houses, stealing provisions, killing villagers, and taking them prisoner.
1837: Beloved Russian poet and novelist Alexander Pushkin died from wounds received in a duel two days before. Russian Guard officer George d’Anthès had made advances to Pushkin’s wife Natalia, one of the most beautiful women in Russia.
1942: The SS Normandie, a former French liner, capsized in New York Harbor. The ship had caught fire the day before while it was being converted to a troopship. The mob claimed it sabotaged the liner to start a protection racket against the Navy.
1981: Troubled busboy Phillip Bruce Cline started the Las Vegas Hilton fire that left 8 people dead and 200 injured. Cline was convicted of arson and eight counts of murder.
1984: Kenyan security forces executed as many as 10,000 ethnic Somalis in the Wagalla massacre. In the years since, officials have resigned, condemnations made, and official probes ordered, but no one has yet been prosecuted.
1987: Philippine troops murdered 17 civilians in Lupao, claiming the unarmed men, women, and children were members of the New People's Army. All 24 soldiers were acquitted by a military court.
1992: An Indiana jury convicted fighter Mike Tyson of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant, the previous summer.
1997: The U.S. Army suspended its top-ranking enlisted soldier, Sgt. Major Gene McKinney, following allegations of sexual misconduct. Although he was convicted of obstruction of justice, McKinney was acquitted of 18 counts alleging sexual harassment.
1998: Expelled student Richard Machado became the first person convicted of committing a hate crime in cyberspace. The ex-UC Irvine student had sent e-mails threatening Asian students.
1998: Maine voters repealed a 1997 gay rights law. Maine was the first state to annul legislation that protects homosexuals from discrimination.
2013: During the Hindu festival Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India, that attracted 30 million people, railway police attacked an unruly crowd at the train station, triggering a stampede that killed 36 people and injured 39.
2018: 19 people were killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturned. The driver, previously convicted of careless driving in another accident, faces 19 counts of manslaughter and 18 counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
2019: The Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News reported widespread sexual abuse in U.S. Southern Baptist churches. Nearly 400 church members were implicated with over 700 victims over a 20-year span.
No comments:
Post a Comment