This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1886

	January 29th	Automobile pioneer Karl Benz received a patent for the first gasoline powered automobile.
	June 13th	A huge fire devastated much of the city of Vancouver, Canada. Approximately 1000 wooden houses were destroyed in a matter of 45 minutes.
	July 31st	Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt, was born in Doborjan, Hungary. He was a virtuoso pianist and one of the most significant composers of the romantic period.
	October 16th	Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, was born in Plonsk, Poland. He was elected as the first Prime Minister of the state of Israel in 1949 and served as such until 1953 and then again in 1956 until 1963.
	December 8th	Mexican painter, Diego Rivera, was born in Mexico City. He was a famous cubist painter who received notoriety when in 1930 he was commissioned to paint a mural in the lobby of the Rockefeller Building. His mural depicted prominent communist figures along with the Founding Fathers of the United States, something which caused outrage and was destroyed before completion. He was also married to famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, both of whom were staunch communists and supporters of exiled Soviet revolutionary, Leon Trotsky.

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