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449 The so-called Robber Council of Ephesus upheld the Monophysite view. Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning 'one' and physis meaning 'nature') is the christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, as opposed to the Chalcedonian position which holds that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human.

1296 The Stone of Scone was stolen by Edward I, King of England.

The Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone, and the Coronation Stone, is a block of sandstone historically kept at the now-ruined abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland. It is also known as Jacob's Pillow and as the Tanist Stone.

In Celtic mythology, the Lia Fail was a magical stone brought to Ireland by the Tuatha de Danaan. When the rightful King of Ireland put his feet on it, the stone was said to roar in joy. This is believed to be the origin of the Stone of Destiny.

Traditionally, it is supposed to be the stone which the Biblical Jacob used as a pillow. It was originally supposed to have been used as the Coronation Stone of the early Dalriada Scots when they lived in Ireland. When they invaded Caledonia, it is said to have been taken with them for that use. Certainly, since the time of Kenneth Mac Alpin at around 847, Scottish kings were seated upon the stone during their coronation ceremony. At this time the stone was situated at Scone, a few miles north of Perth.

See also Secret of the Unhewn Stone, December 23 in the Book of Days

1509 The Indian Emperor Krishnadeva Raya was crowned, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire.

1585 John Davis entered Cumberland Sound in a quest for the North West Passage.

1588 The Battle of Gravelines ended. Defeated by the English during an invasion attempt, the surviving parts of the Spanish Armada set sail for home. Only 67 of the original 130 ships reached Spain, most of them in poor condition.

1647 The Battle of Dangan Hill: British Parliamentary forces defeated those of the Irish.

1648 Ibrahim 'the Mad', Ottoman sultan, was deposed and killed.

1786 Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard (1757 - 1827) and his porter, Jacques Balmat, reached the summit of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe.

After Paccard's successful climb he prepared a manuscript about the ascent but this was never published because of attacks made on him by the mountaineer Bourrit, who claimed that the real hero was Balmat. This began one of the greatest mountaineering controversies of all time.

Modern historians have established the legitimacy of Pacccard's claims, but his famous manuscript of the first climb has never been discovered.

1789 The first police force in the New South Wales (Australia) colony was established, consisting of 12 tractable convicts.

1804 Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Eroica symphony in honour of Napoleon. He later cancelled the dedication when Napoleon declared himself Emperor.

1809 Death in Kyoto of Ueda Akinari (b. July 25, 1734; pseudonym of Ueda Senjiro), writer and poet (waka), best known for his tales of the supernatural.

1834 The introduction in Britain of workhouses for the poor.

1835 USA: Between 10 and 20 people were killed in a clash between a citizens' militia and rioters protesting the collapse of the Bank of Maryland.

1844 During a meeting held in Nauvoo, the Quorum of Twelve, headed by Brigham Young, was created as the leading body of the Mormon Church. Young succeeded the murdered (June 17) founder Joseph Smith as leader of the Church.

1845 Norway: "The next communication, dated Sund's Parsonage, August 31st, 1846, records the appearance of a supposed sea-serpent, on the 8th, in the course between the islands of Sartor Leer and Tös. Early on this day, just as the steamer Biörgvin passed through Rogne Fjord, towing a vessel to Bergen, Daniel Solomonson, a cotter, saw a sea-monster swimming from Rogne Fjord in a westerly direction towards his dwelling at Grönnevigskiæset, in the northern part of the parish of Sund. The head appeared like a Færing boat (about twenty feet long) keel uppermost; and from behind it raised itself forward in three, and sometimes four and five undulations, each apparently about twelve feet long. On the same morning a lad, out fishing in the Rogne Fjord, saw a serpent, which he describes to have been sixty feet long."   Source

1851 Calvin Page of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, was returned his two daughters, who had been held hostage by the Pai Ute Indians in the Dakotas for 12 years.

1876 Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.

"At 2.25am the SS Catterthun hit the reef at full speed (about 11 knots) and carried on until it hit again eight seconds later. It still continued and was now past the reef but her days were numbered. These reefs were probably Little Seal Rocks and/or some reef nearby.

"Most of the sleeping crew and passengers were awoken by the two impacts and were soon up but many went back to bed after finding nothing awray [sic]. Meanwhile, the crew examined below deck and found the forepeak and number four hold almost full of water. The Captain ordered that the lifeboats be prepared for launching but the passengers had not yet been informed of the impending problem. Very soon the ship was listing to starboard and the boat was becoming difficult to handle. The Captain decided to try to beach the ship in Seal Rocks Bay and the course was altered to almost due west. By now there was a foot of water in the cabins on the Saloon Deck and only ten minutes had passed from the first impact.

"The Captain and two others were washed off the bridge by a wave and one of them, Joshua Fawkes (a Torres Strait Pilot), watched as the ship powered on without anyone in control. Some lifeboats were launched and just 20 minutes after hitting the reef (at 2.45am), the Catterthun went down. One boat had 26 people in it and after considerable rowing, they came across a small sailing boat, the Olga, anchored south of Charlotte Head. The small vessel then towed the lifeboat to Foster and arrived there at 11am.

"After taking the two vessels over the bar, the tug Marion Mayfield headed towards the wreck site but had to turn back because of the seas. The next morning she attempted again as did the tug Gamecock which left Newcastle. The Gamecock did not find anything but the Marion Mayfield found one lifeboat with a dead Chinese in it and two more crew. A total of 55 people died in the accident. A Coroner's Inquest into the three bodies was held at Foster on 12 August 1895."   Source

"Catterthun. Iron screw ship, 2179 tons. (Sister Tannadice). Built Sunderland, Great Britain, 1881 for the Eastern and Australian Steamship Company; reg. London. Arrived Sydney harbour 18 August 1881 under the command of Captain J. Miller. Lbd 302 x 36.6 x 23 ft. Under Captain Shannon, foundered about 2 nm north of  Seal Rocks, NSW, 8 August 1895. Seventy-seven lives lost; most of her passengers were asleep when she struck and had no chance to escape. She steamed from Sydney on 6 August with 99 passengers and crew, and a mixed cargo which included golden sovereigns. Heavy rain squalls and a south-easterly gale reduced visibility and in the early hours of the morning, when most were asleep, she struck rocks and sank quickly. A big sea swept the bridge, drowning the captain, the chief and second officers. A Court of Inquiry blamed the master for the wreck as he set a course which took the ship near the dreaded Seal Rocks and he had also navigated the ship too close to land throughout the voyage. On 19 August 1895 two steamers, the tugs Marion Mayfield and Gamecock,  searched for the wreck and it was located about a fortnight later, enabling a diver to be lowered to verify its position. As the wreck lay in 30 fathoms, special 'Heinche' diving suits were brought out from England and experiments were carried out with them off Sydney Heads, while plans were prepared to recover the £11,000 worth of gold sovereigns carried in the ship's strongroom; £7,350 was recovered. Steamer Electra involved in rescue. Steamers Stirling, Mermaid, Sophia Ann and Sir William Wallace involved in salvage. Fifty-five lives lost.  [LN],[NH],[SAN],[#DG],[#MGS],[LAH],[WL],[BNN]
In 1881, took in tow the distressed Siamese barque Fabius, near Hong Kong.
@ Wrecksite known but due to depth of sixty metres, and frequent heavy sea conditions, not frequently dived. However, is regarded by author Max Gleeson as 'the most exciting wreck dive in the state'. After all, there is still the opportunity to find some of the remaining bullion. A major expedition in 1990 recovered artifacts but no gold, so it is reported. She sits upright, with scattered wreckaage from bow to amidships, then reasonably intact to the stern. The deck has collapsed on to the cabins and engine room, but boilers and enhine can be seen.
~ Artifacts recovered may be found at the Newcastle Maritime Museum."   Source

1911 Public Law 62-5 set the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law took effect in 1913.

1914 In the midst of a huge government propaganda campaign, a flood of enlistment began for recruits to fight for Britain's Empire with the Australian Imperial Force in World War I. 

From Australia's adult male population of only 2.7 million (including men too old to serve), a staggering figure of 416,809 Australians joined the the AIF, with major theatres of war being in France and the Middle East. Back home, women regularly gave white feathers, signifying cowardice, to boys and men to shame them into travelling 18,000 kilometres to kill strangers, and to be killed.

Australia's young male population was decimated by World War One, a huge setback economically and socially, with a huge demographic lack of fit young males for years. Men as young as 15 sailed across the world to die in the trenches of Europe for a Britain they had only heard about but never seen. For many years after the war, amputees were a common sight; thousands of veterans suffered from 'shellshock' – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, filling 'mental asylums'.

"During World War One, 416,809 Australians joined the the AIF. This was 13.43 per cent of the white male population at the time, and close to half those eligible for service.

"63,163, or roughly one in five, died while in active service. 155,00 were casualties, and some of these later died from war wounds. The total casualties altogether was around 215,000 which was 64.94 per cent of those who embarked with the AIF."   Source

Depicting the war  

1918 World War I: Battle of Amiens – Canadian and Australian troops (it was to involve the 1^st French and 4^th British armies, but was led by combined Australian and Canadian forces), began a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines. German First Quartermaster-General Erich Ludendorff later called this the "black day of the German army".

British casualties: just over 22,200 of all ranks, killed, wounded and missing;
Canadian Corps 9,074 (2,266);
Australian Corps 5,991 (850);
German losses approx. 74,000.
Source

1923 Fourteen-year-old Benny Goodman got his first band leader job.

1929 The German airship Graf Zeppelin began a round-the-world flight (ended on August 29).

1938 The Mauthausen concentration camp was opened.

1940 The Battle of Britain commenced.

1942 World War II: In Washington, DC, six German would-be saboteurs were executed (two others were cooperative and received life imprisonment instead).

1944 Adolph Hitler had four men executed for their part in a conspiracy to assassinate him. They were hanged with piano wire.

1945 World War II: The Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria with more than 1 million troops. This action prompted Emperor Hirohito to plead with the war council to reconsider surrender.

1945 The United Nations Charter was ratified by the United States, which thus became the first to join the new international organisation.

1949 Bhutan became independent.

1950 American swimmer Florence Chadwick swam the English Channel in record time.

1958 Cliff Richard, 17-year-old English singer, signed with Columbia Records.

1963 History's most famous heist, the Great Train Robbery, took place in England. A 16-member gang stole 2,631,784 pounds – worth over 26 million pounds ($AU75.5 million) today –  in used bank notes which were on their way back to the Bank of England for burning.

Two London gangs combined for the stick-up. Best known of the robbers, the fun-loving birthday boy Ronnie Biggs (pictured, born on this day in 1929), was a member of neither, but was chosen because he knew the train driver. For his minor role in the robbery, Biggs was given a 30-year sentence, considered by many to be out of proportion to his crime. He gained fame by escaping from prison and remaining free for 28 years under the noses of Scotland Yard. Biggs lived secretly in Australia, then publicly in Brazil, made a movie with the Sex Pistols, and became an even bigger celebrity, making a living by being available for barbecues for a fee.

Old and infirm, Ronnie Biggs in 2001 made a celebrated voluntary return to Britain, and despite having lived a reformed life for 38 years, was arrested at London's airport and remains in prison. One can only presume Biggs decided that English prison was preferable to Brazilian hospital. One might also conclude that British justice has an elephantine memory not only for people who break the law, but also for those who embarrass it.

The story of Buster Edwards, who fled to Mexico but gave himself up, was dramatized in the 1988 film, Buster, which starred Phil Collins in the title role. The Great Train Robbery is also the name of one of the earliest narrative films (1903; more).

1963 Britain, the USSR and the USA signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in Moscow. It entered into force on October 10, 1963.

1964 Riots erupted at a Rolling Stones concert in The Hague.

1967 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded.

1968 Sir Johannes Bjelke-Peterson began his record 19-year incumbency as Premier of the state of Queensland, Australia. His premiership was marked by corruption among some of his colleagues, and extremely conservative politics.

1970 American singer Bessie Smith (1894 - 1937) finally got a marker for her grave in Philadelphia, 33 years after her death. Janis Joplin purchased the marker for the grave, stating that Smith was one of her influences.

Source: The Daily Bleed

1988 Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York gave birth to a daughter, Princess Beatrice of York, in London's Portland Hospital.

1989 STS-28: The Space Shuttle Columbia took off on a secret five-day military mission.

1991 British journalist John McCarthy was freed by Lebanese terrorists.

1998 England: Animal Liberation Front (ALF) freed 6,000 minks.

2000 American Confederate submarine HL Hunley was raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.

Tomorrow: Charles Fort, chronicler of the bizarre

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