0079 The city of Pompei is buried by an erupting Mt Vesuvius
1210 King John of England begins imprisoning Jews
1512 Michelangelo's paintings on ceiling of Sistine Chapel, is exhibited
1604 William Shakespeare's tragedy"Othello" is presented
1611 Shakespeare's romantic comedy "The Tempest" is presented
1623 Fire at Plymouth, Massachusetts destroys several buildings
1755 Lisbon earthquake kills more than 50,000
1765 Stamp Act went into effect in the British colonies
1776 San Juan Capistrano Mission founded in California
1784 Maryland grants citizenship to Lafayette and his descendants
1800 John Adams is the first President to live in the White House
1861 Gen George B McClellan made general in chief of Union armies
1863 Fortifications built on Angel Island (San Francisco Bay) by troops
1870 US Weather Bureau begins operations (24 locations)
1884 The Harbour Grace Railway, the first railway on Newfoundland, is opened for traffic between St. Johns and Harbour Grace. The last spike was driven by Prince George, later to become King George V, who was at the time visiting Newfoundland as a midshipman aboard H.M.S. Cumberland.
1885 First train service established over CP between Montreal and Winnipeg via Ottawa, Sudbury and the Lakehead.
1894 Vaccine for diphtheria announced by Dr Roux of Paris
1911 Introduction of compulsory military training
1914 The First Division of the AIF sails from Albany, Western Australia, for Egypt
1918 97 die in NYC subway's worst accident
1918 Sgt. Hugh Cairns (46th Cdn. Infantry Batt.) wins the Victoria Cross at Valenciennes, Belgium
1922 Ottoman Empire abolished
1928 Graf Zeppelin sets airship distance record of 6384 km
1929 Lundy, part of the British Isles, issue their own stamps
1932 Wernher von Braun named head of German liquid-fuel rocket program
