Today in History

1099		Christian Crusaders march around Jerusalem as Muslims watch from within the city.
1608		The first French settlement at Quebec is established by Samuel de Champlain.
1663		The British crown grants Rhode Island a charter guaranteeing freedom of worship.
1686		The Austrians take Budapest from the Turks and annex Hungary.
1709		Peter the Great defeats Charles XII at Poltava, in the Ukraine, effectively ending the Swedish empire.
1755		Britain breaks off diplomatic relations with France as their disputes in the New World intensify.
1758		The British attack on Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga, New York, is foiled by the French.
1794		French troops capture Brussels, Belgium.
1815		With Napoleon defeated, Louis XVIII returns to Paris.
1822		29-year old poet Percy Bysshe Shelley drowns while sailing in Italy.
1859		The Truce at Villafranca Austria cedes Lombardy to France.
1863		Demoralized by the surrender of Vicksburg, Confederates in Port Hudson, Louisiana, surrender to Union forces.
1864		Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston retreats into Atlanta to prevent being flanked by Union General William T. Sherman.
1865		Four of the conspirators in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination are hanged in Washington, D.C.
1879		The first ship to use electric lights departs from San Francisco, California.
1905		The mutinous crew of the battleship Potemkin surrenders to Rumanian authorities.
1918		Ernest Hemingway is wounded in Italy while working as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross.
1941		20 B-17s fly in their first mission with the Royal Air Force over Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
1943		American B-24 bombers strike Japanese-held Wake Island for the first time.
1960		The Soviet Union charges American pilot Francis Gary Powers with espionage.