1558 King Francis II of France marries Mary, Queen of Scots.
1580 Battle of Alcantara, Spain defeats Portugal
1609 Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers
1689 Montr‚al taken by Iroquois
1718 Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans, founded
1804 Alice Meynell becomes first woman jockey (England)
1814 British capture Washington DC (too bad we lost it)
1814 The US Library of Congress and its 3,000 books is destroyed by British troops.
1825 Uruguay declares independence from Brazil (National Day)
1825 Uruguay declares its independence from Brazil.
1830 Belgium revolts against Netherlands
1835 NY Sun publishes Moon hoax story about John Herschel
1843 First Trans-Atlantic crossing by U.S. steam powered ship
1862 Secretary of War authorizes Gen Rufus Saxton to arm 5,000 slaves
1864 Combination rail & ferry service available from SF to Alameda
1864 Petersburg Campaign-Battle of Ream's Station
1867 Scientist Michael Faraday dies.
1875 Matthew Webb becomes first to swim English Channel (21h 45m)
1888 Henry Slocum wins US Lawn Tennis Assn singles title
1900 Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche dies in Weimar, Germany.
1902 The first Arabic language US daily newspaper begins publication in New York City.
1904 Jim Jefferies KOsJack Munroe & retains boxing heavyweight title
1908 Allen Winter wins US first $50,000 trotting race
1915 Hurricane kills 275 in Galveston, Texas with $50 million damage
1916 National Park Service established in the Dept of the Interior
