Today:
202 BC – Second Punic War: The Battle of Zama results in a decisive Roman victory, ending Hannibal’s command of Carthaginian forces.
1216 – King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son, Henry III.
1469 – Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabella I of Castile, a major step toward the unification of Spain.
1512 – Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology at the University of Wittenberg.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown, ending major hostilities in the war.
1812 – Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow begins after his failed invasion of Russia.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Cedar Creek results in a Union victory under General Philip Sheridan.
1914 – World War I: The First Battle of Ypres begins on the Western Front.
1950 – Korean War: United Nations forces enter Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
2005 – Saddam Hussein’s trial for crimes against humanity begins in Baghdad, Iraq.