On this day in 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France in a ceremony at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The first savings bank in the US opened its doors on this day in 1816.

Militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged in 1859 for the raid he led on Harper’s Ferry in October of that year. Charles Ringling, the circus entrepreneur was born in 1862. The first disposable razor was patented by Gillette on this day in 1901.

The Model A automobile was unveiled on this day in 1927 by the Ford Motor Company.

It was the successor to the famous Model T. In 1939, La Guardia Airport in New York began operations on this day with an airliner landing from Chicago at 12.01am. The first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated in 1942. Dr. Enrico Fermi and his staff carried out this breakthrough at the University of Chicago.

In 1954 Senator Joseph R McCarthy was condemned in a vote by the US Senate for what was labeled as ‘conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.’ It was related to his controversial investigation into suspected communists holding positions in the US government, military and civilian society.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro on this day in 1961 announced in a nationally broadcast speech that he was a Marxist-Leninist and it was his intention to lead Cuba to communism.

191 people, mostly reporters and photographers were given the first chance to travel on the inaugural public flight of a Boeing 747 from Seattle to New York City in 1969. The Environmental Protection Agency began operations on this day in 1970.

The first implant of a permanent artificial heart was carried out on this day in 1982. It was implanted into the chest of a retired dentist, he lived with the device for 112 days.

Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988. A year later in neighbouring India, Prime Minister V.P. Singh was sworn in as his countries political leader. The first election to be held in a united Germany since 1932 were a victory for Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s coalition in 1990.

Also on this day in 1990, Iben Browning predicted a massive earthquake for the Midwest of the USA, preparations were put in place for a possible catastrophe. Nothing happened. American hostage Joseph Cicippio was released by his kidnappers on this day in 1991, he held been held  in Lebanon for 5 years.

In Medellin, Colombia drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot and killed by security forces in 1993. On the same day an unemployed man in Oxnard, California opened fire at an unemployment agency killing three employees and a police officer chasing him during his getaway attempt. The chase ended in Ventura, when the man was shot and killed.

The chairman of the Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates donated $100 million to help immunize the children of developing countries in 1998. The largest bankruptcy in US history occurred on this day in 2001 when the Enron Corporation filed after a $8.4 billion buyout fell through five days previously.

Famous birthdays on this day include in 1923 Maria Callas, Tracy Austin in 1962, former tennis star Monica Seles in 1973 and singers Nelly Furtado in 1978 and Britney Spears in 1981.

‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ by Gene Autry first hit the record charts on this day in 1949. In 1973 the British band The Who were jailed overnight after causing $6,000 damage to a hotel room in Canada after a show.

As you can see over the years this has been quite an eventful day for a number of very different reasons. Check back to see what the next day in the calendar year has to offer tomorrow.