Today:
1. 1534: Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, sails into the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada, opening up the interior of North America to future exploration and settlement by Europeans.
2. 1870: Charles Dickens, one of the greatest English novelists, dies at the age of 58.
3. 1934: Donald Duck makes his first appearance in the cartoon “The Wise Little Hen.”
4. 1944: The Soviet Union launches a major offensive against Finnish positions in Karelia, part of the Continuation War during World War II.
5. 1946: King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascends to the throne of Thailand, beginning his reign as the world’s longest-serving current head of state until his death in 2016.
6. 1954: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings, famously asking, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?”
7. 1973: Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.
8. 1993: The political and legal drama “The Firm,” based on John Grisham’s novel, is released, starring Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman.
9. 1999: NATO suspends its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo, ending the Kosovo War.
10. 2014: ISIS captures the Iraqi city of Mosul, marking a significant gain for the terrorist organization during the Iraqi Civil War.