Today:
1431: The trial of Joan of Arc began in Rouen, France, before an ecclesiastical court led by Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
1804: The world’s first steam locomotive railway journey took place in Wales as Richard Trevithick’s engine hauled a load of iron and passengers.
1842: John Greenough was granted the first United States patent for a sewing machine.
1848: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto in London, a pamphlet that would become one of the most influential political documents in history.
1878: The first telephone directory in the United States was issued in New Haven, Connecticut; it consisted of a single piece of cardboard listing 50 names.
1885: The Washington Monument was formally dedicated in Washington, D.C., standing as the world’s tallest stone structure at the time.
1916: The Battle of Verdun, one of the longest and deadliest battles of World War I, began with a massive German artillery bombardment against French positions.
1948: The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, better known as NASCAR, was officially incorporated.
1965: Civil rights leader Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York.
1972: Richard Nixon became the first United States president to visit the People’s Republic of China, beginning a historic trip to normalize relations between the two nations.