Today:
1. 1748: The ruins of Pompeii were discovered by the Spanish engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre, leading to the excavation and preservation of the ancient Roman city.
2. 1789: The United States House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City.
3. 1853: Cincinnati, Ohio, became the first U.S. city to pay firefighters a regular salary.
4. 1867: Singapore became a British crown colony after being transferred from the East India Company to the British government.
5. 1873: The British White Star steamship RMS Atlantic sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 547 people in one of the worst maritime disasters of the 19th century.
6. 1924: Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempted coup in Munich, Germany. He served only nine months of his sentence.
7. 1946: An earthquake struck the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, triggering a tsunami that caused significant damage and loss of life.
8. 1970: The American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was founded.
9. 1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) in Cupertino, California.
10. 2001: The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.