Today:
1. 1494: Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between them along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands.
2. 1654: Louis XIV was crowned King of France.
3. 1776: Richard Henry Lee presented the “Lee Resolution” to the Continental Congress, calling for the colonies’ independence from Great Britain, leading to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.
4. 1863: Mexico City was captured by French troops during the French intervention in Mexico.
5. 1893: Gandhi’s first act of civil disobedience took place when he refused to comply with racial segregation rules on a train in South Africa.
6. 1929: The Lateran Treaty was ratified, establishing Vatican City as a sovereign state.
7. 1942: The Battle of Midway ended with a decisive American victory, marking a turning point in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
8. 1965: The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, recognizing a constitutional right to privacy in striking down a law banning contraceptive use.
9. 1977: The first personal computer, the Apple II, went on sale.
10. 1991: Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines began erupting, which led to one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century.