Today in History

1208		King John of England opposes Innocent III on his nomination for archbishop of Canterbury.
1603		Queen Elizabeth I dies which will bring into power James VI of Scotland.
1663		Charles II of England awards lands known as Carolina in North America to eight members of the nobility who assisted in his restoration.
1664		In London, Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island.
1720		The banking houses of Paris close in the wake of financial crisis.
1721		In Germany, the supremely talented Johann Sebastian Bach publishes the Six Brandenburg Concertos.
1765		Britain passes the Quartering Act, requiring the colonies to house 10,000 British troops in public and private buildings.
1862		Abolitionist Wendell Phillips speaks to a crowd about emancipation in Cincinnati, Ohio and is pelted by eggs.
1900		Mayor Van Wyck of New York breaks ground for the New York subway tunnel that will link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
1904		Vice Admiral Togo sinks seven Russian ships as the Japanese strengthen their blockade of Port Arthur.
1927		Chinese Communists seize Nanking and break with Chiang Kai-shek over the Nationalist goals.
1938		The United States asks that all powers help refugees fleeing from the Nazis.
1944		The Gestapo rounds up innocent Italians in Rome and shoot them to death in reprisal for a bomb attack that killed 33 German policemen.
1947		Congress proposes limiting the presidency to two terms.
1951		General Douglas MacArthur threatens the Chinese with an extension of the Korean War if the proposed truce is not accepted.
1954		Great Britain opens trade talks with Hungary.
1955		Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens at the Morosco Theatre in New York City.
1958		Elvis Presley trades in his guitar for a rifle and Army fatigues.
1965		The Freedom Marchers, citizens for civil rights, reach Montgomery, Alabama.
1967		Viet Cong ambush a truck convoy in South Vietnam damaging 82 of the 121 trucks.
1972		Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.
1985		Thousands demonstrate in Madrid against the NATO presence in Spain.
1989		The Exxon Valdez oil tanker spills 240,000 barrels of oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound.
1999		NATO planes, including stealth aircraft, attack Serbian forces in Kosovo.