1904 – A fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland, destroying over 2,000 buildings in 30 hours. Much of the destroyed area was rebuilt in relatively short order, and the city adopted a building code, emphasizing fire-resistant materials. Fortunately, this tragedy had no casualties. This would be one of the worst fire disasters in this US state.
1974 – The small island of Grenada in the Caribbean declares independence from the UK. On February 10, 1763, Grenada surrendered to the British under the Treaty of Paris. British rule continued until 1974, except for a period of French rule. On March 3, 1967, Grenada was granted full autonomy over its domestic affairs as an associated state. The first island leader was elected Eric Gairy while the capital was St George.
1975 – Born in Montpellier, Remi Gaillard. Gaillard is a French poster who uploads videos to YouTube. As of January 2017, his channel is the 26th most popular comedy subscription on YouTube. Gaillard garnered attention in the French media after making a series of jokes, including a disguised appearance as a footballer, in the final match of the 2002 Coupe de France, during which he participated in the celebrations, and was greeted by the then president of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac.
1986 – Twenty-eight years of Duvalier dynasty rule over in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier leaves the impoverished Caribbean country. The Duvalier dynasty had ruled Haiti since 1957 when Jean Claude’s father Francois took power. They fueled corruption, government repression, and ethnic cleansing, which turned the country into the poorest of the Western Hemisphere.
1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is formally signed, leading to the creation of the European Union. It was signed by the members of the European Communities in Maastricht, the Netherlands, for further European integration. In December 1991, the same city hosted the EC that drafted the treaty. The Treaty established the European Union and established its pillar structure which remained in place until the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009.
1999 – Died in Amman, aged 63, King Hussein of Jordan. Hussein reigned as monarch of Jordan from August 11, 1952, until his death in 1999. According to Hussein, he was a direct descendant of the 40th generation of Mohammed as he belonged to the Hashemite family who has ruled Jordan since. 1921. He would be one of the most successful monarchs in the Middle East.
2006 – Ibrahim Shaban Likmetaj Kodra passed away, he was an internationally renowned Albanian painter. Kodra is considered the most important Albanian painter known internationally. His life in Tirana in the dormitory of the school “Naim Frashëri”, is interrupted when 20 years old (1938) leaves Albania forever with a scholarship from the royal court to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. He leaves Rome and ends up in Milan, at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. He exhibits in Rome, Milan, Venice, Paris, Belgrade, New York. In 1948, Ibrahim Kodra became friends with Pablo Picasso, on this very topic in the “International Conference for the Peace of Rome”, in which the two together they conducted an in-depth artistic research, you were a writer. Ibrahim Kodra has left behind about 6 thousand works, distributed by private museums, collectors and only 2 thousand of them are registered and documented. In Kodra’s artistic research, Pablo Picasso’s Cubism would have a great influence, especially after their friendship in Rome in 1948, to the point that the same Spanish newspapers talking about Picasso portrayed Kodra as “the last post-Cubist in Europe” as Picasso.
2012 – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns after 23 days of anti-government protests demanding the release of the Chief Justice illegally arrested by the military. The next day Nasheed stated that he had been forced to resign “under the guise of guns” by police and soldiers, who he said had joined the opposition and where carrying out a coup.
2013 – The state of Mississippi in the U.S. officially endorses the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was formally ratified by Mississippi in 1995. Amendment 13 Amendment XIII to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary slavery, except as a conviction for a crime.
