2020
Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi scores his 644th goal for FC Barcelona during 3-0 win over Real Valladolid to break Pele’s record for most goals for one club; Pele, 643 goals for Santos 1956-74.
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2019
New Orleans wide receiver Michael Thomas sets NFL record for most catches in a season with his 144th as Saints beat Tennessee 38-28; breaks 17-year old record held by Marvin Harrison (143).
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2018
A powerful tsunami hit Indonesia.
This tsunami took place at the Sunda Strait as a result of a portion of the Anak Krakatau volcano, which fell into the sea. The tsunami killed over 400 people.
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2018
The 2018 partial shutdown of the US federal government began.
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2010
The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy was repealed.
This policy had been in place for seventeen years before it was repealed. It banned homosexuals from serving openly in the US military. President Barack Obama signed the repeal.
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2001
Richard Reid made a failed attempt to blow up an airplane.
Infamously known as the “shoe bomber,” Reid hid plastic explosives in his shoes which he unsuccessfully attempted to detonate on board an American Airlines flight. Reid was subdued by passengers and arrested upon landing.
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1988
Two robbers who wore police uniforms robbed an armored truck of $3 million in New Jersey.
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1967
The Graduate American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols was released.
Mike Nichols went on to win Best Director.
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1956
The first gorilla born in captivity, called Colo, was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
Colo was a western gorilla and was the oldest known gorilla in the world. She died during her sleep at the age of 60, on January 17, 2017.
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1942
Adolf Hitler signed the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon during World War II.
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1932
The Mummy film, directed by Karl Freund, was released in the US.
The 1932 release of “The Mummy” was one of three of Freund’s horror movies, including Dracula and Frankenstein, that made Universal Pictures famous in the 1930s.
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1891
Asteroid 323 Brucia became the first asteroid discovered using photography.
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1885
A samurai called Itō Hirobumi became Japan’s first Prime Minister.
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1810
The British ship HMS Minotaur sunk, killing 480 people.
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401 AD
Pope Innocent I was elected.
It’s pretty likely that Pope Innocent I was the son of his papal predecessor, Pope Anastasius I. While records from the time vary, if this is true, it would be the only case in history when this has happened. Source