Today:
1190 – The massacre of Jews at Clifford’s Tower in York, England, took place as anti-Semitic violence spread across England.
1244 – The Montségur fortress, a stronghold of the Cathars, surrendered to the French Crusaders, leading to the mass execution of around 200 Cathars who refused to renounce their faith.
1802 – The United States Military Academy at West Point was established by an act of Congress.
1850 – Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter was published in the United States.
1916 – The Battle of Verdun in World War I saw German forces capture the French village of Vaux after intense fighting.
1926 – Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts, marking a major milestone in rocketry.
1935 – Adolf Hitler ordered the rearmament of Germany in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, setting the stage for World War II.
1968 – The My Lai Massacre occurred during the Vietnam War, where American soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians.
1978 – Italy’s former Prime Minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigades, a left-wing terrorist group.
1988 – Saddam Hussein’s regime launched a chemical attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq, killing thousands of civilians.