1. On this day in 1787 – Pennsylvania ratified the United States Constitution, and thus became the second State to do so. Delaware was the first State.
2. On this day in 1901 –
Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter
"S" [***] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
3. On this day in 1911 – Delhi
replaced Calcutta as the capital of India.
4. On this day in 1941 – During
World War II: The United Kingdom declared war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania
declared war on the United States and India declared war on Japan.
5. On this day in 1941 – Adolf
Hitler declared the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the
Reich Chancellery.
6. On this day in 1942 – During
World War II: German troops began Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve
encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
7. On this day in 1958 – Guinea
joined the United Nations.
8. On this day in 1963 – Kenya
gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
9. On this day in 2012 – North
Korea successfully launched its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2, using
a Unha-3 carrier rocket.