Today in History

1476 - 400 Burgundian soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy
1515 - Thomas Wolsey appointed English Lord Chancellor
1565 - Compromise of the Nobles in Habsburg Netherlands closes against inquisition
1568 - Uprising of Moriscos in Granada
1593 - Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed
1715 - Swedish troops occupy Norway
1799 - Jacobin plot against Napoleon uncovered
1814 - Treaty of Ghent (end of US-Britain War of 1812) signed
1851 - Fire devastates US Library of Congress in Washington, destroys 35,000 volumes
1865 - The Ku Klux Klan is formed in Pulaski, Tn
1889 - Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake
1893 - Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor
1894 - Scheveningse fishing boats destroyed by storm
1900 - The French Chamber of Deputies and Senate pass a bill calling for an end to agitation or prosecutions against those involved in the Dreyfus affair, which has divided France since 1894
1900 - Foreign powers present the Chinese Empress with their list of 'irrevocable conditions' before their nations will withdraw troops from China
1904 - German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children
1914 - German plane drops bombs on Dover England
1920 - Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (NYC)
1936 - 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, Ca
1956 - "I Love Lucy" Xmas show airs, never put in syndication
1973 - District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.

2012 - 11 kindergarten children are killed after a minivan plunges into a roadside pond in Jiangxi, China