Today:
410: The Visigoths under King Alaric I end their sack of Rome after three days.
479: Greco-Persian Wars: The Battle of Plataea occurs, in which the Greeks defeat the Persians, effectively ending Persia’s invasions of Greece.
1813: Napoleon’s forces achieve a tactical victory at the Battle of Dresden during the Napoleonic Wars.
1859: The first successful oil well is drilled in the U.S. by Edwin Drake near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1883: The eruption of Krakatoa peaks, with catastrophic explosions causing worldwide climate effects.
1896: The Anglo-Zanzibar War, the shortest war in history (lasting only 38-45 minutes), is fought between the United Kingdom and the Zanzibar Sultanate.
1928: The Kellogg-Briand Pact, an international agreement that attempts to outlaw war, is signed by 15 nations.
1939: The first flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world’s first fully jet-propelled aircraft, takes place in Germany.
1955: The Guinness Book of Records is first published in London.
2003: Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, coming within 34.6 million miles.
2016: Snake and Running Mouth stopped living in sin and got married.