Today in History

454		In Italy, Aetius, the supreme army commander, is murdered in Ravenna by Valentinian III, the emperor of the West.
1327		Edward II of England is murdered by order of his wife.
1520		Suleiman (the Magnificent), son of Selim, becomes Ottoman sultan in Constantinople.
1589		The Duke of Mayenne of France is defeated by Henry IV at the Battle of Arques.
1673		James Needham returns to Virginia after exploring the land to the west, which would become Tennessee.
1745		A Scottish Jacobite army commanded by Lord George Murray routs the Royalist army of General Sir John Cope at Prestonpans.
1863		Union troops defeated at Chickamauga seek refuge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is then besieged by Confederate troops.
1904		Exiled Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph dies of a "broken heart".
1915		Stonehenge is sold by auction for 6,600 pounds sterling ($11,500) to a Mr. Chubb, who buys it as a present for his wife. He presents it to the British nation three years later.
1929		Fighting between China and the Soviet Union breaks out along the Manchurian border.
1936		The German army holds its largest maneuvers since 1914.
1937		The women’s airspeed record is set at 292 mph by American pilot Jacqueline Cochran.
1937		J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel The Hobbit is published.
1941		The German Army cuts off the Crimean Peninsula from the rest of the Soviet Union.
1942		British forces attack the Japanese in Burma.
1944		U.S. troops of the 7th Army, invading Southern France, cross the Meuse River.
1978		Two Soviet cosmonauts set a space endurance record after 96 days in space.
1981		Belize granted full independence from the United Kingdom.
1989		General Colin Powell is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1991		Armenia granted independence from USSR.
1993		The Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 begins when Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspends parliament and invalidates the existing constitution.
1999		Earthquake in Taiwan kills more than 2,400, injures over 11,305, and causes $300 billion New Taiwan dollars ($10 billion in US dollars).
2003		Galileo space mission ends as the probe is sent into Jupiter’s atmosphere where it is crushed.