Today in History

1306		King Wenceslas of Poland is murdered.
1570		Charles IX of France signs the Treaty of St. Germain, ending the third war of religion and giving religious freedom to the Huguenots.
1636		The invading armies of Spain, Austria and Bavaria are stopped at the village of St.-Jean-de-Losne, only 50 miles from France.
1648		Ibrahim, the sultan of Istanbul, is thrown into prison, then assassinated.
1786		Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michael-Gabriel Baccard become the first men to climb Mont Blanc in France.
1844		Brigham Young is chosen to head the Mormon Church, succeeding Joseph Smith.
1863		Confederate President Jefferson Davis refuses General Robert E. Lee's resignation.
1876		Thomas Edison patents the mimeograph.
1899		The first household refrigerating machine is patented.
1925		The first national congress of the Ku Klux Klan opens.
1937		The Japanese Army occupies Beijing.
1940		The German Luftwaffe attacks Great Britain for the first time, begining the Battle of Britain.
1942		U.S. Marines capture the Japanese airstrip on Guadalcanal.
1944		U.S. forces complete the capture of the Marianas Islands.
1945		The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
1950		U.S. troops repel the first North Korean attempt to overrun them at the battle of Naktong Bulge, which continued for 10 days.
1963		The "Great Train Robbery"
1974		President Richard Nixon resigns from the presidency as a result of the Watergate scandal.