Today in History

1520		The Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes is driven from Tenochtitlan and retreats to Tlaxcala.
1609		The Catholic states in Germany set up a league under the leadership of Maximilian of Bavaria.
1679		The British crown claims New Hampshire as a royal colony.
1776		The statue of King George III is pulled down in New York City.
1778		In support of the American Revolution, Louis XVI declares war on England.
1850		Millard Fillmore is sworn in as the 13th president of the United States following the death of Zachary Taylor.
1890		Wyoming becomes the 44th state.
1893		Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performs the first successful open-heart surgery, without the benefit of penicillin or blood transfusion.
1925		The trial of Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes opens, with Clarence Darrow appearing for the defense and William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution.
1940		Germany begins the bombing of England.
1942		General Carl Spaatz becomes the head of the U.S. Air Force in Europe.
1943		American and British forces complete their amphibious landing of Sicily.
1945		U.S. carrier-based aircraft begin airstrikes against Japan in preparation for invasion.
1951		Armistice talks between the United Nations and North Korea begin at Kaesong.
1960		Belgium sends troops to the Congo to protect whites as the Congolese Bloodbath begins, just 10 days after the former colony became independent of Belgian rule.
1962		The satellite Telstar is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, beaming live television from Europe to the United States.
1965		“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” becomes the Rolling Stones’ first No. 1 single in the USA.
1967		Singer Bobbie Gentry records “Ode to Billie Joe,” which will become a country music classic and win 4 Grammys.
1976		In Seveso, near Milan, Italy, an explosion in a chemical factory covers the surrounding area with toxic dioxin. Time magazine has ranked the Seveso incident No. 8 on its list of the 10 worst environmental disasters.
1985		Coca-Cola Co. announces it will resume selling “old formula Coke,” following a public outcry and falling sales of its “new Coke.”
1991		Boris Yeltsin is sworn in as the first elected president of the Russian Federation, following the breakup of the USSR.
1993		Kenyan runner Yobes Ondieki becomes the first man to run 10,000 meters in less than 27 minutes.