Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. (2006) Hussein was tried in Iraq the Iraqi High Tribunal along with Awad Hamed al-Bandar and Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti. All were sentenced to death. Hussein was hanged to death on December 30, after his appeal was denied. The other two were hanged on January 15, 2007.
Susan B. Anthony attempted to vote in a US Presidential election. (1872) At the time, women were not allowed to vote in the US. Anthony, one of the leading founders of the women’s suffrage movement in the US, made a stand casting an illegal vote. She was arrested and fined $100 US Dollars (USD). She refused to pay the fine for the rest of her life. Her hard work, along with many others, finally paid off in 1920, but Anthony didn’t live to see it. She died of heart disease in 1906.
The first US patent for an automobile was awarded. (1895) Rochester, New York resident George B. Selden was awarded the first patent for a gas-powered car, though he hadn’t ever built one. His design was actually a copy of one he had seen at an exposition in 1872. In the end, his patent only ended up applying to cars of that exact design, allowing other automobile manufacturers to create new automobiles without infringing on Selden’s patent.
A writer’s strike brought Hollywood to a standstill. (2007) More than 12,000 entertainment industry writers, including those from film, TV and radio, walked out, protesting low wages. The 14-week walk-out worked — their contracts were successfully renegotiated, but not until after the entertainment industry suffered losses of more than $1 billion USD, with some estimates topping $2 billion USD.
The “Gunpowder Plot” was foiled, and the English Houses of Parliament were not blown up. (1605) The plot, led Robert Catesby, was an attempt to assassinate King James I. The explosion was to occur at the opening of Parliament on this day, but an anonymous letter had tipped off the authorities. Co-conspirator Guy Fawkes, who was charged with handling the explosives, was captured in the building with 36 barrels of gunpowder. Eight of the 12 conspirators who survived a confrontation with police and did not flee the country were convicted and sentenced to death.
Adolf Hitler announced his plan to obtain “living space” for German citizens in a secret meeting. (1937) “Living space,” or Lebensraum in German, was a major political ideology Hitler used to propagandize the expansionist plans he had to develop the “Greater Germany” — one of his main agendas that led to World War II.
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the only US President in history to be elected to a third Presidential term. (1940) The 32nd President of the United States served from 1933 to 1945.
China’s first lunar satellite successfully orbited the Moon. (2007) The satellite, Chang’e 1, was launched on October 24, and entered into orbit on this day. It orbited the Moon for more than one year as part of the first stage of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.
The biggest mass shooting ever to occur at a US military facility took place. (2009) Nidal Malik Hasan, a US Army Major, was the sole suspect in the shooting massacre at the Ford Hood military base in Texas. Thirteen people were killed and 30 others were injured in the incident. Hasan was charged with 32 counts of attempted murder and 13 counts of premeditated murder.
Italy annexed Cyrenaica and Tripoli after declaring war on the Ottoman Empire. (1911) Italy took control of the two countries during the Italo-Turkish War. It retained control of both regions and made Cyrenaica an Italian colony until World War II. In 1943, Britain took control of Tripoli until 1951, when the country declared its independence. Cyrenaica was liberated from Italian rule the Allies during the war and became part of the Kingdom of Libya in 1951.