Today in History

1419		John the Fearless is murdered at Montereau, France, by supporters of the dauphin.
1547		The Duke of Somerset leads the English to a resounding victory over the Scots at Pinkie Cleugh.
1588		Thomas Cavendish returns to England, becoming the third man to circumnavigate the globe.
1623		Lumber and furs are the first cargo to leave New Plymouth in North America for England.
1813		The nine-ship American flotilla under Oliver Hazard Perry wrests naval supremacy from the British on Lake Erie by capturing or destroying a force of six English vessels.
1846		Elias Howe patents the first practical sewing machine in the United States.
1855		Sevastopol, under siege for nearly a year, capitulates to the Allies during the Crimean War.
1861		Confederates at Carnifex Ferry, Virginia, fall back after being attacked by Union troops. The action is instrumental in helping preserve western Virginia for the Union.
1912		Jules Vedrines becomes the first pilot to break the 100 m.p.h. barrier.
1914		The six-day Battle of the Marne ends, halting the German advance into France.
1923		In response to a dispute with Yugoslavia, Mussolini mobilizes Italian troops on the Serb front.
1961		Jomo Kenyatta returns to Kenya from exile, during which he had been elected president of the Kenya National African Union.
1963		President John F. Kennedy federalizes Alabama’s National Guard to prevent Governor George C. Wallace from using guardsmen to stop public-school desegregation.
1967		Gibraltar votes to remain a British dependency instead of becoming part of Spain.
1974		Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese Guinea) gains independence from Portugal.
1981		Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica is returned to Spain and installed in Madrid’s Prado Museum. Picasso stated in his will that the painting was not to return to Spain until the Fascists lost power and democracy was restored.
2001		Contestant Charles Ingram cheats on the British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and wins 1 million pounds.
2003		Sweden’s foreign minister, Anna Lindh, is stabbed while shopping and dies the next day.
2007		Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister of Pakistan, returns after 7 years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.
2008		The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator—described as the biggest scientific experiment in history—is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.