Today:
986 – Byzantine forces under Emperor Basil II were defeated by the Bulgarians at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan.
1560 – The Scottish Reformation began when the Scottish Parliament adopted a confession of faith, effectively abolishing the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.
1585 – The Roanoke Colony, the first English colony in the Americas, was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in what is now North Carolina.
1786 – American frontiersman Davy Crockett was born in Greene County, Tennessee.
1807 – Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat, later known as the Clermont, began its first successful trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany.
1862 – The Dakota War of 1862 began as the Dakota Sioux attacked settlements along the Minnesota River, leading to a violent conflict with the United States.
1943 – The U.S. Eighth Air Force suffered its heaviest losses to date during a daylight raid on the ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt and Regensburg in Germany during World War II.
1945 – Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands, leading to the Indonesian National Revolution.
1962 – Peter Fechter, an 18-year-old East German bricklayer, was shot and killed by East German border guards while attempting to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin.
1978 – The Double Eagle II became the first balloon to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean, landing in Miserey, France, after a flight from Presque Isle, Maine.
Disclaimer: Snake does not fact check these items. In fact, he doesn’t even read them before posting. Often he doesn’t read them after posting. If you have a complaint, click here