Today:
1578 – King Henry III of France lays the cornerstone for the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris, which would become the oldest standing bridge across the Seine.
1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright law, protecting books, maps, and charts for a 14-year term.
1859 – The clock tower housing Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster in London begins operation.
1889 – The Johnstown Flood devastates Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people after the South Fork Dam collapses.
1910 – The Union of South Africa is created from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River Colony.
1961 – South Africa becomes a republic and leaves the Commonwealth of Nations.
1970 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes northern Peru, triggering a landslide that buries the town of Yungay and kills around 70,000 people.
1991 – South African President F. W. de Klerk announces the repeal of apartheid laws.
2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that former FBI agent Mark Felt was “Deep Throat,” the key source in the Watergate scandal.
2010 – Nine people are killed when Israeli naval forces raid a flotilla of ships attempting to break the Gaza blockade.