On This Day: US Forces Defeat the British at the Battle of New Orleans

On Jan. 7, 1999, the Senate began hearings on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice arising from President Bill Clinton’s affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

On Jan. 6, 1540, King Henry VIII of England wed Anne of Cleves, the fourth of his six wives. The marriage ended in divorce just six months later.

On Jan. 5, 1968, Alexander Dubcek became first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. He initiated the "Prague Spring," a period of liberalization in the socialist state that prompted violent Soviet suppression.

On Jan. 4, 1948, Burma ended 60 years of colonial rule when it officially declared independence from Britain.

On Jan. 3, 1870, Washington Roebling began construction on the Brooklyn Bridge; when it opened 13 years later, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world.

On Jan. 2, 1929, Canada and the United States agreed to divert the Niagara River to protect the world famous falls.

On Jan. 1, 1959, Cuban President Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba as Fidel Castro’s guerrilla forces seized control of the country.

On Dec. 31, 1972, Roberto Clemente, all-star outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was killed en route to deliver assistance to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. His humanitarian legacy survives to this day.

On Dec. 30, 1922, Russia and three other republics formed the constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

On Dec. 29, 1890, U.S. soldiers killed nearly 200 unarmed Sioux in what would later be referred to as the Wounded Knee Massacre.

On Dec. 28, 1908, the most destructive earthquake in European history struck Messina, in Sicily, flattening the city and claiming more than 70,000 lives. The earthquake registered 7.2 on the Richter scale.

On Dec. 27, 1900, prohibitionist Carrie A. Nation smashed $400 of property in the Carey Hotel bar in Witchita, Kan.; she dubbed her militant campaign against drinking “hatchetation.”

On Dec. 26, 1941, less than three weeks after the United States entered World War II, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress. 

On Dec. 25, 1914, five months into World War I, British and German troops on the Western Front stopped fighting in a spontaneous ceasefire; soldiers from opposing nations put their weapons aside to enjoy carols and a game of soccer together.

On Dec. 24, 1992, President George H.W. Bush granted contentious pardons for six former members of his administration facing prosecution in the Iran-Contra investigation.

On Dec. 23, 1972, the Steelers beat the Raiders on a miraculous—and disputed—last-second touchdown dubbed the “Immaculate Reception.”

On Dec. 22, 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu fled the Romanian capital of Bucharest; they were caught, tried and executed. Romania remains haunted by corruption and poverty to this day.

On Dec. 21, 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie isolated a new element that came to be called “radium,” a landmark moment in chemistry and physics.