
Today:
31 BC: The Battle of Actium takes place, where Octavian defeats the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, leading to the end of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.
1649: The Italian city of Casale Monferrato surrenders to the French after a prolonged siege during the Franco-Spanish War.
1666: The Great Fire of London begins in Pudding Lane, devastating the city over three days.
1789: The United States Department of the Treasury is established by Congress.
1807: The British Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen, beginning the second Battle of Copenhagen.
1859: The Carrington Event, a massive solar storm, triggers a powerful geomagnetic storm, which causes widespread electrical disruptions and auroras.
1862: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after his failure in the Peninsula Campaign during the American Civil War.
1870: The Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War results in the capture of French Emperor Napoleon III and a decisive Prussian victory.
1945: The formal surrender of Japan in World War II is signed aboard the USS Missouri, officially ending the war.
1969: The first automatic teller machine (ATM) in the United States is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.