19 September 2006

This day in history: 19 Sep

1356: The English (under Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince) defeated the French (under King John II) at the Battle of Poitiers, capturing the king.

1692: Giles Corey was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea during the Salem witch trials. (It is a misconception that people were burned at the stake after said trials; Corey was pressed, and the nineteen who were found guilty were hanged.)

1863: The second day of the Battle of Chickamauga, between Braxton Bragg's (Confederate) Army of Tennessee and William Rosecrans' (Union) Army of the Cumberland. The battle concluded the next day in a Confederate victory.

1881: President James Garfield died, eighty days after being shot by Charles Guiteau. (Guiteau was hanged on 30 Jun 1882.)

1893: The Governor of New Zealand, consented to the Electoral Act of 1893, giving all women the right to vote.

1934: Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

1991: The body of Ötzi, the Iceman, was discovered by German tourists.

And happy birthday to Mika Waltari (1908-1979), Sir William Golding (1911-1993), David McCallum (1933-TBD), Leslie Hornby (1949-TBD), and Trisha Yearwood (1964-TBD).

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