Today in History

1260		At the Battle of Montaperto in Italy, the Tuscan Ghibellines, who support the emperor, defeat the Florentine Guelfs, who support papal power.
1479		After four years of war, Spain agrees to allow a Portuguese monopoly of trade along Africa’s west coast and Portugal acknowledges Spain’s rights in the Canary Islands.
1781		Los Angeles, first an Indian village Yangma, is founded by Spanish decree.
1787		Louis XVI of France recalls parliament.
1790		Jacques Necker is forced to resign as finance minister in France.
1804		USS Intrepid explodes while entering Tripoli harbor on a mission to destroy the enemy fleet there during the First Barbary War.
1820		Czar Alexander declares that Russian influence in North America extends as far south as Oregon and closes Alaskan waters to foreigners.
1862		Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army invades Maryland, starting the Antietam Campaign.
1870		A republic is proclaimed in Paris and a government of national defense is formed.
1881		The Edison electric lighting system goes into operation as a generator serving 85 paying customers is switched on.
1886		Elusive Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Ariz.
1893		Beatrix Potter sends a note to her governess’ son with the first drawing of Peter Rabbit, Cottontail and others. The Tale of Petter Rabbit is published eight years later.
1915		The U.S. military places Haiti under martial law to quell a rebellion in its capital Port-au-Prince.
1941		German submarine U-652 fires at the U.S. destroyer Greer off Iceland, beginning an undeclared shooting war.
1942		Soviet planes bomb Budapest in the war’s first air raid on the Hungarian capital.
1943		Allied troops capture Lae-Salamaua, in New Guinea.
1944		British troops liberate Antwerp, Belgium.
1945		The American flag is raised on Wake Island after surrender ceremonies there.
1951		The first transcontinental television broadcast in America is carried by 94 stations.
1957		Arkansas governor Orval Faubus calls out the National Guard to bar African-American students from entering a Little Rock high school.
1967		Operation Swift begins as US Marines engage North Vietnamese Army troops in Que Son Valley.
1972		Mark Spitz becomes first Olympic competitor to win 7 medals during a single Olympics Games.
1975		Sinai II Agreement between Egypt and Israel pledges that conflicts between the two countries "shall not be resolved by military force but by peaceful means."
1998		Google founded by Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin.