Today:
1260 – The Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France.
1648 – The Peace of Westphalia is signed, ending the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire.
1836 – The matchstick is patented by Alonzo Dwight Phillips of Springfield, Massachusetts.
1857 – Sheffield F.C., the world’s oldest football club, is founded in England.
1901 – Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
1926 – Harry Houdini performs his last show, in Detroit, Michigan.
1929 – The Wall Street Crash of 1929 (“Black Thursday”) begins the Great Depression.
1945 – The United Nations officially comes into existence as its charter takes effect.
1964 – Zambia gains independence from the United Kingdom.
2003 – The Concorde makes its last commercial flight, ending the era of supersonic passenger travel.