Today:
1066: William the Conqueror and his invasion fleet set sail from Normandy for England.
1540: The Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits, is formally recognized by Pope Paul III.
1779: John Adams is appointed by the Continental Congress to negotiate peace terms with Great Britain.
1825: The world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is opened.
1908: The first Ford Model T automobile is built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
1938: The ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth is launched at Clydebank, Scotland.
1940: Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact in Berlin, forming the Axis Powers.
1962: Rachel Carson’s influential book “Silent Spring,” which warned of the dangers of pesticides, is published.
1998: The internet search engine Google claims this date as its birthday.
2008: Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang performs China’s first spacewalk.