(1773) Colonists throw British tea into Boston Harbor |
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Members of the underground Sons of Liberty, some dressed as Indians, throw 342 chests of tea off British ships to protest “tax tyranny,” or Britain’s Tea Act of 1773, which gave the East India Company a monopoly on the American tea trade. The Boston Tea Party will bring tensions between colonists and the British to a head. |
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(1893) Dvořák premieres his symphony for the New World |
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Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, premieres his Symphony No. 9 at Carnegie Hall. Heavily influenced by African-American spirituals, the ‘New World Symphony’ is received with rapturous applause and will become one of the world’s most popular pieces of classical music. |
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(1944) The Battle of Bulge begins in Belgium |
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In the heavily forested Ardennes region, German forces launch a surprise counterattack and push deep into the American line, creating a 50-mile wide “bulge” in the Allied front. The battle will continue for a month and will be the deadliest one for US troops in World War II. |
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(1985) Mob boss Paul Castellano is gunned down in NYC |
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The “Howard Hughes of the Mob,” head of the Gambino crime family, is killed along with Thomas Bilotti outside a steak house on the orders of John Gotti. Gotti will assume leadership of the family, though will later be found guilty of the murders and will be sentenced to life in prison in 1992. |
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DIH v2.11.d16 |