1214 Oxford University was chartered and the plumbing was installed which has since remained unchanged. Its purpose was to train priests. Been to conferenceville there a few times. Once in January at New College we all wore scarves, hats, and gloves at the college dinner table.
1789 Paris. Members of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath. In a fiscal crisis, the King had called each of the three Estates into session to raise taxes. The Third included wealthy merchants and land owners and officials of towns and villages who were to represent 98% of the population. To insure that the members voted as the King Louis XVI wished, once assembled in the royal tennis court, the doors were locked. They numbered 577 and they agreed unanimously not to vote new taxes. This was the first open rebellion against the status quo in the slide to the French Revolution.
1819 Liverpool, Technology. The paddle-wheel steamship Savannah arrived after a voyage from Norfolk Virginia of twenty-seven days. The first steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The engine and wood fuel took up so much room there was little cargo so that there was no commercial gain, and the ship was converted back to sail. It was twenty years before another steamship made the passage.
1963 Moscow. The Soviet Union and the United States agreed to establish a hotline telephone to ally nuclear tensions. Since that time many people have claimed credit for suggesting the idea, but none of them negotiated with the Soviets.
1979 Washington, Environment. President Jimmie Carter marked the installation of solar energy panels on the White House which were removed by his successor never to return.
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