1415 - English King Henry V lays the foundation stone for Syon Abbey for nuns of the Bridgettine Order. Became one of the wealthiest abbeys in England. 1633 - St. Peter's Baldachin‚ the cathedral's sculptural centerpiece‚ by Gian Lorenzo Bernini is inaugurated by Pope Urban VIII in Rome 1922 - London issues a unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence 1935 - Airplanes are no longer permitted to fly over the White House 1941 - German assault on El Agheila Libya 1945 - British troops take Ramree Island‚ Burma 1956 - 1st English soccer match at Kunstlicht: Portsmouth vs Newcastle United 1989 - UK physicist Stephen Hawking calls the proposed missile defense system known as Star Wars a "deliberate fraud" 1998 - Petr Svoboda scores the winner as the Czech Republic claims its first ever Olympic ice hockey gold medal with a 1-0 victory over Russia in Nagano‚ Japan 2014 - Snowboard Olympic parallel special slalom event debuts and is run for the only time at the Sochi Winter Games; Russian Vic Wild and Julia Dujmovits of Canada win unique gold medals More Historical Events »