Person report

★22 Aug 1864
Under the leadership of Henry Dunant and the International Red Cross Committee, twelve European nations signed the First Geneva Convention, establishing the rules for protection of the victims of armed conflicts.

★18 Feb 1865
American Civil War: Union forces destroyed much of Columbia, South Carolina, during their occupation of the town.

★05 Oct 1869
During construction of the Hennepin Island tunnel in St. Anthony, Minnesota, U.S., the Mississippi River broke through the tunnel's limestone ceiling, nearly destroying Saint Anthony Falls.

★21 Nov 1894
First Sino-Japanese War: After capturing the city of Port Arthur, the Japanese Second Army began a massacre of the residents of the city—soldiers and civilians.

★05 Feb 1909
Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.

★25 Jun 1910
The United States Congress passed the Mann Act, which prohibited interstate transport of females for "immoral purposes".

★28 Jul 1911
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition began with the departure of SY Aurora from London.

★17 Oct 1931
American gangster Al Capone was convicted on five counts of income tax evasion.

★12 Dec 1941
At a Nazi Party meeting in the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler declared the imminent destruction of the Jewish people.

★16 Dec 1942
World War II: Americans engaged Imperial Japanese forces at the Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse in the hills near the Matanikau River area on Guadalcanal during the Guadalcanal campaign.

Historical data by Wikipedia Contributors CC BY-SA 3.0.