1492: Christopher Columbus lands on Santo Domingo Island in search of gold.
1812: Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Armeé staggers into Vilna, Lithuania, ending the failed Russian campaign
1862: US President Abraham Lincoln orders the hanging of 39 of the 303 convicted Indians participating in the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota.
1865: The 13th Amendment of the US Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery.
1877: Thomas A. Edison makes the first sound recording. He recites “Mary had a Little Lamb” into his phonograph machine.
1917: The Bolsheviks imprison Czar Nicholas II, his family in Tobolsk.
1921: 26 southern counties of Ireland become independent from Britain to form the Irish Free State.
1938: France, Germany sign a treaty of friendship.
1957: Vanguard TV3 explodes on the launch-pad. It thwarted the first US attempt to launch a satellite into the Earth’s orbit.
1967: Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.
1971: Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India after the latter recognizes the state of Bangladesh.
1992: India’s Babri Mosque in Ayodhya destroyed during a riot.
2006: NASA reveals photographs from Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of water on Mars.
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