847 Consecration of Pope Leo IV (847-55), who would fortify the Vatican against the Moors & is later canonized

879 Coronation of King Louis III of France, at c. 14 (879–882)

1241 Battle of the Sajo River, Day 1: The Hungarians hold the Mongols

1500 Duke Ludovico "Il Moro" Sforza of Milan is deposed and imprisoned by the French, after being back in power for only two months.

1534 Khair Ed-Din "Barbarossa" & his Turkish corsairs sack Fondi, and begin a march on Itri

1734 Great Fire of Montreal: c. 50 buildings burn, a black woman is lynched

1741 Battle of Mollwitz: Prussians defeat the Austrians

1815 Austria declares war on King Giacchino Murat of Naples

1845 Great fire of Pittsburgh, c. 1,000 buildings damaged or destroyed

1848 Battle of Castelnuovo: Austrians defeat Italian Nationalists

1864 Austrian Archduke Maximilian becomes Emperor of Mexico (1864-1867), executed 1867

1865 Appomattox: R. E. Lee issues Gen Order #9, his last

1868 Battle of Magdala: The British defeat King Theodorus of Abyssinia

1880 War of the Pacific: Chilean fleet blockades Callao, Peru

1917 Eddystone, PA, munitions factory explosion, 133 die

1918 Near Toul, in eastern France, the 104th Infantry begins four days determined defense against a German assault, to become the first American regiment to be awarded the Croix de Guerre

1923 Hitler speaks of "hatred and more hatred" in Berlin

1940 First Battle of Narvik: Royal Navy destroyers defeat German destroyers, two of which are lost

1941 Axis troops capture Cyrenaica, invest Tobruch, initiating an unsuccessful seven-month siege

1941 USS 'Niblack' (DD-424) depth charges a u-boat; first US action against Germany in WW II

1942 Manila Bay: Japanese bombard Corregidor and other forts

1942 Philippines: Japanese land on Cebu

1942 The Netherlands: Germans impose cigarette & candy rationing

1943 USS 'Triton' (SS-201) reported overdue, presumed lost, Admiralty Islands

1944 Burma: British offensive on the Imphal-Kohima front.

1944 Soviet forces liberate Odessa from the Germans

1945 Allies liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp

1945 British carriers attack Japanese airbases on Formosa.

1948 Jewish Hagana repels an Arab attack on Mishmar Ha-Emek

1963 Lee Harvey Oswald attempts to assassinate right-wing segregationist Edwin A. Walker, a retired general

1963 USS 'Thresher' (SSN-593) sinks east of Cape Cod, 124 die

1972 US, USSR, & 70 other nations agree to ban biological weapons

1984 US Senate condemns CIA mining of Nicaraguan harbours