Today:
622 – The Islamic calendar begins with the Hijra (migration) of Muhammad and his followers to Medina.
1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches, marking the start of the East-West Schism.
1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
1790 – The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after the Residence Act is signed.
1862 – David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in the U.S. Navy to hold the rank.
1918 – Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family are executed by Bolsheviks.
1945 – The United States conducts the first test of a nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
1969 – Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the Moon, is launched.
1990 – An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 hits Luzon in the Philippines, resulting in over 1,600 deaths.
2004 – Millennium Park, considered Chicago’s most ambitious public art project, officially opens.