Today:
1. 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, stood trial in England accused of treason, adultery, and incest. She was found guilty and sentenced to death.
2. 1618 – Johannes Kepler confirmed his previously formulated laws of planetary motion, which became fundamental to the field of astronomy.
3. 1718 – The first machine gun, James Puckle’s “Puckle Gun,” was patented in London. It was an early attempt at creating a repeating firearm.
4. 1905 – Las Vegas, Nevada, was founded when 110 acres of land were auctioned off. This date is considered the birth of the city.
5. 1928 – The first appearance of Mickey Mouse, in the cartoon “Plane Crazy,” was shown. It was a silent film and did not gain much attention until later.
6. 1940 – McDonald’s fast-food restaurant was founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California.
7. 1948 – The State of Israel was proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion, its first Prime Minister, leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
8. 1957 – Britain tested its first hydrogen bomb over Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean, marking its entry into the nuclear arms race.
9. 1970 – President Richard Nixon appointed Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington as the first female U.S. Army generals.
10. 2008 – California became the second U.S. state (after Massachusetts) to legalize same-sex marriage following a Supreme Court ruling.