Today:
1272 – Edward I becomes King of England following the death of his father, Henry III, though he is abroad and will not return to England for nearly two years.
1532 – Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro captures Inca Emperor Atahualpa after the Battle of Cajamarca in Peru.
1776 – British troops capture Fort Washington in New York during the American Revolutionary War.
1822 – Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opening the Santa Fe Trail as a trade route.
1849 – Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky is sentenced to death for anti-government activities, but his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.
1864 – Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his “March to the Sea” during the American Civil War.
1907 – Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form the state of Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th state of the United States.
1945 – UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is founded.
1959 – The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music” opens on Broadway.
1988 – Benazir Bhutto becomes Prime Minister of Pakistan, the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority country.