Person report

★23 Aug 1914
In their first major action of the First World War, the British Expeditionary Force engaged German troops in Mons, Belgium.

★25 Mar 1917
Following the overthrow of the Russian tsar Nicholas II, Georgia's bishops unilaterally restored the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

★01 Oct 1918
First World War: British and Arab troops captured Damascus from the Ottoman Empire.

★03 Jun 1921
At his trial for the assassination of Talat Pasha, viewed as the main orchestrator of the Armenian genocide, Soghomon Tehlirian was acquitted after arguing: "I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer.".

★08 May 1927
French aviators Charles Nungesser and François Coli aboard the biplane L'Oiseau Blanc, attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, disappeared after takeoff.

★07 Aug 1944
IBM presented the first program-controlled calculator to Harvard University, after which it became known as the Mark I.

★26 Sep 1944
World War II: The Soviet Army completed the Tallinn Offensive, driving German forces out of Estonia.

★20 Dec 1946
Frank Capra's popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life was first released in New York City.

★30 Nov 1954
The first verified case of a human being injured by an extraterrestrial object took place in Sylacauga, Alabama, U.S., when a meteorite crashed through a roof and hit a sleeping woman.

★31 Jan 1961
Aboard NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2, Ham the Chimp became the first hominid launched into outer space.

Historical data by Wikipedia Contributors CC BY-SA 3.0.