Today:
668 – Byzantine Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse, Italy.
921 – Saint Ludmila of Bohemia is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law.
1440 – Gilles de Rais, a French nobleman and companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc, is arrested for the murder of children in France.
1616 – The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.
1776 – British forces occupy New York City during the American Revolutionary War.
1821 – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua gain independence from Spain.
1835 – Charles Darwin arrives at the Galápagos Islands aboard HMS Beagle.
1916 – Tanks are used in battle for the first time during the Battle of the Somme in World War I.
1935 – The Nuremberg Laws are enacted in Nazi Germany, institutionalizing racial discrimination against Jews.
1940 – The Royal Air Force wins the Battle of Britain, preventing a German invasion of Britain in World War II.