1510 Goa, History: Duke Afonso de Albuquerque claimed the area for Portugal which retained Goa until 1961 when, after years of fruitless negotiation, India seized it by force of arms. From Lisbon dictator Salazar ordered the governor of Goa to fight to the death. But the governor decided he had not received the wire and quickly surrendered. A biography of Salazar is discussed elsewhere on this blog.
1801 Washington D.C., Politics: After a tied vote in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives took a week and more than thirty votes finally to select Thomas Jefferson ahead of Aaron Burr for president. It was an acrimonious and duplicitous exercise by all involved. In the end Jefferson bought more votes than did Burr with promises of jobs, offices, and favours. Thereafter Burr devoted his considerable energies and wit to undermining Jefferson.
1820 Washington, D.C., Politics: The Senate passed the legislation for the Missouri Compromise to stave off regional conflict over slavery and trade. Henry Clay was instrumental in bringing the conflicting parties to the table, and keeping them there. He became known as the Great Compromiser who looked for the middle ground, and preferred compromise to conflict. For this preference he was widely reviled.
1905 Washington, D.C., Law: The statue of the first woman in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol building was unveiled: Frances Willard. A tireless campaigner for universal suffrage, she had been a founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. I worked for the WCTU briefly once upon a time.
1966 The Beach Boys released ‘Good Vibrations,’ one of their quintessential tunes. It is widely available.
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