Today:
1215: England’s King John sealed Magna Carta at Runnymede, a document that greatly influenced constitutional law and limited the power of the monarchy.
1667: The first fully documented human blood transfusion was performed by French physician Jean-Baptiste Denys, transfusing a small amount of sheep blood into a 15-year-old boy.
1775: The Continental Congress voted to appoint George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army.
1836: Arkansas was admitted into the Union as the 25th U.S. state.
1844: Charles Goodyear received a patent for vulcanization, a process used to strengthen rubber.
1846: The Oregon Treaty was signed between the United States and Britain, establishing the 49th parallel as the border between the U.S. and Canada west of the Rocky Mountains.
1864: Arlington National Cemetery was established in Virginia, designated as a military burial ground by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
1904: Over 1,000 people died when fire erupted aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York’s East River.
1991: Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing over 800 people.
2012: Nik Wallenda became the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.
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