Today:
79 – Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae under ash and pumice.
410 – The Visigoths, under King Alaric I, sack Rome, marking the first time in 800 years that the city has fallen to a foreign enemy.
1215 – Pope Innocent III declares the Magna Carta invalid, leading to the First Barons’ War in England.
1349 – Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz, Germany, after being blamed for the Black Death.
1572 – The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre begins in Paris, where thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants) are killed on the orders of King Charles IX.
1814 – During the War of 1812, British forces invade Washington, D.C., and set fire to the White House, the Capitol, and other buildings.
1857 – The Panic of 1857 begins, a financial crisis that spreads across the United States, affecting the economy for several years.
1891 – Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera, marking a significant moment in the history of film.
1949 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty is signed by President Harry S. Truman, bringing NATO into existence as a military alliance.
1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as leader of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party after a failed coup attempt, signaling the collapse of Soviet control and leading to the dissolution of the USSR.
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