Today:
1. 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapsed. Emperor Justinian I immediately ordered that the dome be rebuilt.
2. 1274 – The Second Council of Lyon opened in France. It was an ecumenical council that focused on church reforms and the crusade plans against the Holy Land.
3. 1664 – Louis XIV of France inaugurated the Palace of Versailles.
4. 1718 – The city of New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
5. 1824 – Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony premiered in Vienna, Austria. This symphony is famous for its use of the “Ode to Joy,” a poem written by Friedrich Schiller, in the final movement.
6. 1915 – The RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner, was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat off the southern coast of Ireland, leading to the deaths of 1,198 people. This event significantly influenced the United States’ decision to enter World War I.
7. 1945 – World War II: General Alfred Jodl, representing the German High Command, signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces to the Allies at Reims, France.
8. 1954 – The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended with a Vietnamese victory. This decisive battle led to the end of French involvement in Indochina and paved the way for the division of Vietnam into North and South.
9. 1992 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on its first mission, STS-49. It was the first flight to include three spacewalks and featured the capture and repair of a stranded communications satellite.
10. 1998 – Mercedes-Benz bought Chrysler for $40 billion USD and formed DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger up to that time.