Today:
1609: Galileo Galilei first observed the Moon through his telescope, discovering its surface was rough with mountains and valleys, challenging the ancient belief that the Moon was a perfect sphere.
1700: In the Great Northern War, an 8,000-man Swedish army under King Charles XII decisively defeated a Russian force of at least 50,000 at the Battle of Narva.
1782: Representatives from the United States and Great Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, officially ending the American Revolutionary War.
1803: Spanish representatives officially transferred the Louisiana Territory to the French First Republic in New Orleans, three weeks before France transferred it to the United States (the Louisiana Purchase).
1864: The Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, ended with a severe Confederate defeat, marking one of the final major engagements of the American Civil War.
1872: The first-ever officially recognized international football (soccer) match was played in Glasgow, Scotland, between Scotland and England, ending in a 0-0 draw.
1936: The Crystal Palace in London, originally built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, was destroyed by a fire.
1939: The Winter War began as the Soviet Red Army invaded Finland and bombed Helsinki, an action that led to the USSR’s expulsion from the League of Nations.
1954: Ann Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, was injured by an 8.5-pound meteorite that crashed through her roof, the only confirmed case of a human being hit by a meteorite.
1966: Barbados achieved full independence from the United Kingdom, becoming a Commonwealth realm.