0837 15th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1526 Saxony & Hesse form League of Gotha (league of Protestant princes)
1531 Evangelical German monarchy/towns form Schmalkaldische Union
1557 First Russian Embassy opens in London, Russia & US sign trade agreement
1563 William Byrd is appointed organist at Lincoln Cathedral
1594 Henri IV crowned king of France
1665 Battle at Elmina, Gold Coast Vice-Admiral De Ruyter beats English
1667 Abraham Crijnssen conquerors Fort Willoughby (Zeelandia), Suriname
1670 Jews are expelled from Austria by order of Leopold I
1678 Earl of Shaftesbury freed out of London Tower
1696 English/Welsh nobles lay down Oath of Association
1700 Pacific island of New Britain discovered
1713 French troops bomb Willemstad Curaçao
1801 The District of Columbia is placed under the jurisdiction of the US Congress.
1803 Great fire in Bombay, India
1807 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poet was born
1813 Congress authorizes use of steamboats to transport mail
1813 First federal vaccination legislation enacted
1814 Ludwig von Beethovens 8th Symphony in F, premieres
1816 Dutch regain Suriname
1827 First Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans LA
1844 Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti (National Day)
1854 Composer Robert Schumann saved from suicide attempt in Rhine
1861 US Congress authorizes first stamped newspaper wrappers for mailing
1861 Warsaw Massacre Russians fire on crowd demonstrating against Russian rule of Poland
