December 5th, 2008

Today in History

1958:
Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost. http://www.bt.com/archives/history/19461959.htm#1958

1934:
Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Ethiopia (it took four days to capture the city).

1776:
At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Phi Beta Kappa is founded as the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.

1766:
In London, James Christie holds his first sale (he later founded Christie's, the world's oldest auction house).

1560:
Francis II of France dies and is succeeded by Charles IX of France.