What Happened Years Ago Today - On This Day

• 200 years ago University College London founded; known until 1836 as London University
• 100 years ago UK transfers administration of Tokelau (Union) Islands in South Pacific to New Zealand
• 90 years ago Pumping begins to build Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay

• 80 years ago World War II: Royal Navy's Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 116 of 156 captured German U-boats
• 70 years ago British diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean deny working as spies for Soviet Russia after reappearing in the Soviet Union after going missing 5 years earlier
• 60 years ago SF Giants outfielder Willie Mays signs baseball's highest contract at $130,000 per year
• 50 years ago Clifford Alexander Jr confirmed as 1st African American US Secretary of Army
• 50 years ago John Curry wins Britain's first Olympic gold medal in figure skating at Innsbruck Winter Games; finishes men's singles ahead of Soviet skater Vladimir Kovalyov and Canadian Toller Cranston
• 45 years ago Australia all out 83 v India at MCG chasing 143 to win

45 years ago Polish premier Jozef Pinkowski replaced by Wojciech Jaruzelski

• 40 years ago Activist Anatoly Scharansky released by USSR, leaves country
• 40 years ago Iran begins Fajr-8 offensive against Iraq
• 35 years ago Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) forms in The Hague, Netherlands

20 years ago US Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots and injures Harry Whittington while on a quail hunt on a ranch in Riviera, Texas

15 years ago Egyptian Revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests during the Arab Spring

• 10 years ago Discover of gravitational waves (through collision of two black holes) announced by physicists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo)
• 10 years ago Last of Oregon militia occupying Malheur wildlife refuge surrenders to authorities after 41 days
• 10 years ago Riot between rival drug cartels at a prison in Monterrey, Mexico, leaves 52 dead
• 10 years ago Sixth Democratic presidential candidates debate, broadcast on CNN and PBS, and held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• 5 years ago Caitlin Clark scores a season-high 39 points for Iowa against Nebraska, breaking the single-game scoring record for Pinnacle Bank Arena
• 5 years ago California's COVID-19 death toll overtakes New York's, reaching 45,496 amid first sign of falling infection numbers (Johns Hopkins)
• 5 years ago UK Kent COVID-19 strain set "to sweep the world" and become the dominant strain globally according to UK scientist Sharon Peacock after strain detected in over 50 countries (later named Alpha)

5 years ago US President Joe Biden rescinds the national emergency order used by Donald Trump to fund the border wall with Mexico

• 5 years ago World's second oldest person, French nun Sister André, celebrates her 117th birthday after surviving COVID-19 in Toulon
• 4 years ago Australia lists the koala as endangered for the first time in Queensland, New South Wales and ACT after a steep decline in numbers [1]
• 2 years ago Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final; hosts Ivory Coast defeat Nigeria 2-1 at Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan [1]
• 2 years ago Argentina's first female saint María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, (Mama Antula) canonised at a ceremony attended by President Javier Milei at the Vatican [1]
• 2 years ago Former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb wins the presidential election over the Green Party [1]
• 2 years ago Super Bowl LVIII is the most-watched TV program in US history, averaging 123.4 million viewers across television and streaming platforms [1]

2 years ago Super Bowl LVIII, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada: Kansas City Chiefs win back to back titles and 3rd in 5 years with an overtime 25-22 win over the SF 49ers; MVP: Patrick Mahomes, KC, QB

2 years ago Usher performs the halftime show at Super Bowl LVIII with guests Alicia Keys, will.i.am, Lil Jon, H.E.R. and Ludacris [1]

Today's Historical Events

• 50 years ago Alexander Lippisch, German scientist and pioneer of aerodynamics, dies at 81
• 50 years ago Charles "Charlie" Naughton, Scottish actor (Frozen Limits), dies at 89
• 50 years ago Frank Arnau [Heinrich Schmitt], German crime fiction writer, dies at 81
• 50 years ago Lee J. Cobb [Leo Jacoby], American actor (Virginian, 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront), dies from a heart attack at 64
• 40 years ago Evelio Javier, Filipino politician, lawyer, and civil servant (b. 1942)

40 years ago American sci-fi author (Dune series), dies of a massive pulmonary embolism after surgery for pancreatic cancer at 65

• 35 years ago Ajla Rachmanova, Russian-Austrian author (Students), dies at 92
• 35 years ago Oscar Nitzchke, German architect (Alcoa building, Centre Pompidou), dies at 90
• 35 years ago Robert W. Holley, American biochemist who worked with RNA (Nobel Prize 1968), dies at 71
• 30 years ago Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet, commits suicide at 65
• 30 years ago Bob Shaw, Irish sci-fi writer, dies of cancer at 64
• 30 years ago Cyril Poole, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, 2 x 50; Nottinghamshire CCC), dies at 74
• 30 years ago Kebby Musokotwane, prime minister of Zambia in (1985-89), dies
• 30 years ago Phil Regan, American actor (Las Vegas Night, Dames, Housewife), dies at 88
• 20 years ago Jackie Pallo, English professional wrestler, dies at 79
• 20 years ago Jockey Shabalala, South African singer (Ladysmith Black Mambazo), dies at 62

20 years ago American novelist (Jaws; The Deep), dies at 65

• 15 years ago Chuck Tanner, American baseball manager (World Series 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates; Chicago WS, Oakland A's, Atlanta Braves), dies at 82
• 15 years ago Tom Carnegie, American sports announcer (b. 1919)
• 10 years ago Kevin Randleman, American mixed martial artist and pro wrestler (UFC Heavyweight Champion 1999), dies of pneumonia complications at 44
• 5 years ago Joan Weldon, American actress (So This is Love, Them), dies at 90
• 5 years ago Phil Horrocks-Taylor, English rugby union fly half (9 caps England, 1 British & Irish Lions; Leicester Tigers), dies at 86
• 3 years ago Hans Modrow, German politician (last Communist Prime Minister of East Germany 1989-90), dies at 95
• 2 years ago Randy Sparks, American folk singer-songwriter and impresario (New Christy Minstrels), dies at 90

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