Today:
1609 – English explorer Henry Hudson begins his exploration of what is now the Hudson River in present-day New York.
1683 – The Battle of Vienna ends as Polish forces, led by King John III Sobieski, defeat the Ottoman Empire, marking a turning point in European history.
1846 – Elizabeth Barrett elopes with poet Robert Browning, and they marry secretly in London.
1910 – Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, also known as the “Symphony of a Thousand,” premieres in Munich, conducted by Mahler himself.
1940 – Four teenagers discover the Lascaux Cave in France, home to prehistoric cave paintings.
1953 – U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island.
1958 – The United States Supreme Court orders the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, to continue despite opposition.
1962 – President John F. Kennedy delivers his “We choose to go to the moon” speech at Rice University, emphasizing the goal of sending a man to the moon.
1974 – Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie is deposed in a military coup.
1992 – NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour on its second mission, STS-47, a cooperative effort with Japan.