Today in History

1296		Edward I defeats the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar.
1509		Pope Julius II excommunicates the Italian state of Venice.
1565		The first Spanish settlement in Philippines is established in Cebu City.
1773		British Parliament passes the Tea Act.
1746		King George II wins the battle of Culloden.
1813		American forces capture York (present-day Toronto), the seat of government in Ontario.
1861		President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
1861		West Virginia secedes from Virginia after Virginia secedes from the Union.
1863		The Army of the Potomac begins marching on Chancellorsville.
1865		The Sultana, a steam-powered riverboat, catches fire and burns after one of its boilers explodes. At least 1,238 of the 2,031 passengers–mostly former Union POWs–are killed.
1909		The Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, is overthrown.
1937		German bombers of the Condor Legion devastate Guernica, Spain.
1941		The Greek army capitulates to the invading Germans.
1950		South Africa passes the Group Areas Act, formally segregating races.
1961		The United Kingdom grants Sierra Leone independence.
1975		Saigon is encircled by North Vietnamese troops.
1978		The Afghanistan revolution begins.
1989		Protesting students take over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.