Today in History

741		Charles Martel of Gaul dies at Quierzy. His mayoral power is divided between his two sons, Pepin III and Carloman.
1707		Four warships in a Royal Navy fleet off the Isles of Scilly run aground in severe weather because their navigators are unable to accurately calculate their positions. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and more than 1,500 sailors aboard the wrecked vessels drown, making the incident one of the worst maritime disasters in the history of the British Isles.
1746		Princeton University, in New Jersey, receives its charter.
1797		The first successful parachute descent is made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who jumps from a balloon at some 2,200 feet over Paris.
1824		The Tennessee Legislature adjourns ending David “Davy” Crockett‘s state political career.
1836		Sam Houston is sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
1862		Union troops push 5,000 confederates out of Maysville, Ark., at the Second Battle of Pea Ridge.
1859		Spain declares war on the Moors in Morocco.
1907		Ringling Brothers buys Barnum & Bailey.
1914		The U.S. places their economic support behind Allies.
1918		The cities of Baltimore and Washington run out of coffins during the “Spanish Influenza” epidemic.
1938		Chester Carlson invents the photocopier. He tries to sell the machine to IBM, RCA, Kodak and others, but they see no use for a gadget that makes nothing but copies.
1954		As a result of the Geneva accords granting Communist control over North Vietnam, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes a crash program to train the South Vietnamese Army.
1955		The prototype of the F-105 Thunder Chief makes its maiden flight.
1962		The U.S. reveals Soviet missile sites in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy orders a naval and air blockade on further shipments of military equipment to Cuba. Following a confrontation that threatens nuclear war, Kennedy and Khrushchev agree on October 28 on a formula to end the crisis. On November 2 Kennedy reports that Soviet missile bases in Cuba are being dismantled.
1964		Jean Paul Sartre declines the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1966		The Soviet Union launches Luna 12 for orbit around the moon
1972		Operation Linebacker I, the bombing of North Vietnam with B-52 bombers, ends.
1978		The Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II takes place; born Karol Jozef Wojtyla. The Polish-born Wojtyla is the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI died in 1523; he would become the second-longest serving pope in the history of the Papacy and exercise considerable influence on events of the later portion of the 20th century.
1981		The US Federal Labor Relations authority decertifies the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) from representing federal air traffic controllers, as a result of a PATCO strike in August that was broken by the Reagan Administration.
1999		Maurice Papon, formerly an official in the Vichy France government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity for his role in deporting more than 1,600 Jews to concentration camps.
2005		Tropical Storm Alpha forms, making 2005 the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 22 named storms.