Events

• 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks.
• 1407 - After several invitations by the Yongle Emperor of China since 1403, the fifth Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, the lama Deshin Shekpa, finally visits the Ming Dynasty capital, then at Nanjing. In his twenty-two day visit, he thrilled the Ming court with alleged mircales that were recorded in a gigantic scroll translated into five different languages. In a show of mystical prowess, Deshin Shekpa added legitimacy to a questionable succession to the throne by Yongle, who had killed his nephew the Jianwen Emperor in the culmination of a civil war. For his services to the Ming court, including his handling of the ceremonial rites of Yongle's deceased parents, Deshin Shekpa was awarded with the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma (大寶法王).
• 1500 - Ludovico Sforza is captured by the Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
• 1606 - The Charter of the Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
• 1710 - The first law regulating copyright is issued in Great Britain.
• 1741 - War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Mollwitz.
• 1815 - The Mount Tambora volcano begins its peak eruption period that lasts until July 15.
• 1816 - The United States Government approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
• 1821 - Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Turks from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
• 1826 - The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town Messolonghi start leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
• 1856 - The Theta Chi Fraternity is founded at Norwich University.
• 1857 - The Sepoy Mutiny popularly known as the "Revolt of 1857" broke out in Meerut, India as part of the Indian independence movement.
• 1858 - The original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonne bell for the Tower of London is cast in Stockton-on-Tees by Warner's of Cripplegate. This however cracked during testing and was recasted into the 13.76 tonne bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry and is still in use to date.
• 1864 - Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is elected emperor of Mexico.
• 1865 - American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
• 1866 - The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
• 1868 - At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Theodore. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two die from the British/Indian troops.
• 1869 - José Martí founds the Cuban Revolutionary Party.
• 1874 - The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
• 1912 - The RMS Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and only voyage.
• 1916 - The Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
• 1919 - Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
• 1925 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner's Sons.
• 1933 - New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps is created.
• 1941 - World War II: The Axis Powers in Europe establish the Independent State of Croatia from occupied Yugoslavia with Ante Pavelić's Ustase fascist insurgents in power.
• 1944 - Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escape from the Birkenau death camp.
• 1957 - The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
• 1959 - Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, weds Michiko.
• 1963 - The submarine USS Thresher is lost at sea, with all hands (129 officers, crewmen and civilian technicians).
• 1968 - Shipwreck of the New Zealand inter-island ferry TEV Wahine outside Wellington harbour.
• 1971 - Ping Pong Diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a weeklong visit.
• 1972 - 20 days after he was kidnapped in Buenos Aires, Oberdan Sallustro is executed by communist guerrillas.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
• 1973 - A British Vanguard turboprop crashes during a snowstorm at Basel, Switzerland killing 104.
• 1979 - Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
• 1991 - Italian ferry Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140.
• 1991 - A rare tropical storm develops in the Southern Hemisphere near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
• 1998 - The Belfast Agreement is signed.
• 2006 - Hundreds of thousands protest H.R. 4437 (aka the "Sensenbrenner Bill") in cities across the United States.

Births