Today in History

1264   King Henry III is captured by his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, at the Battle of Lewes.
1509   At the Battle of Agnadello, the French defeat the Venitians in Northern Italy.  
1610   French King Henri IV (Henri de Navarre) is assassinated by François Ravillac, a fanatical monk. 1796   English physician Edward Jenner gives the first successful smallpox vaccination.  
1804   Explorer William Clark sets off from St. Louis, Missouri.  
1853   Gail Borden applies for a patent for condensed milk.  
1863   Union General Nathanial Banks heads towards Port Hudson along the Mississippi River.  
1897   Guglielmo Marconi sends first communication by wireless telegraph.  
1897   "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa is performed for the first time in Philadelphia.  
1935   A plebiscite in the Philippines ratifies an independence agreement.  
1940   Holland surrenders to Germany.  
1942   The British Army, in retreat from Burma, reach India.  
1948   Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion establishes the State of Israel.  
1961   A bus carrying black and white civil rights activists is bombed and burned in Alabama.  
1969   Three companies of the 101st Airborne Division fail to push North Vietnamese forces off Hill 937 in South Vietnam.  
1973   The U.S. space station Skylab is launched.  
1991   In South Africa, Winnie Mandela is sentenced to six years in prison for her part in the kidnapping and beating of three black youths and the death of a fourth.