Today:
1469 – Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile in Valladolid, Spain. Their marriage united two powerful Spanish kingdoms and laid the foundation for the emergence of Spain as a major European power. The couple later sponsored Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage to the Americas in 1492.
1781 – British General Charles Cornwallis formally surrendered his army to American and French forces at Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War. The surrender marked the last major battle of the war and effectively secured American independence from Great Britain.
1812 – Napoleon Bonaparte began his disastrous retreat from Moscow after his invasion of Russia failed. Facing freezing temperatures, dwindling supplies, and relentless Russian attacks, Napoleon’s once-powerful army suffered catastrophic losses during its withdrawal.
1914 – The First Battle of Ypres began in Belgium during World War I. German forces launched a major offensive against British, French, and Belgian troops in an attempt to capture strategic positions near the English Channel. The battle lasted more than a month and resulted in enormous casualties on both sides.
1943 – Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey isolated streptomycin, an antibiotic that became the first effective drug treatment for tuberculosis. Graduate student Albert Schatz made the discovery while working in the laboratory of microbiologist Selman Waksman. The breakthrough revolutionized treatment of the deadly disease.
1960 – Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Atlanta, Georgia. King and other demonstrators were protesting racial segregation in public accommodations. His arrest attracted national attention and increased pressure on political leaders to address civil rights issues.
1977 – The supersonic Concorde made its first commercial landing in New York City, arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The aircraft could cross the Atlantic Ocean in approximately three and a half hours, less than half the time required by conventional passenger jets.
1985 – The first Blockbuster video rental store opened in Dallas, Texas. Featuring approximately 8,000 videotapes and a computerized checkout system, the store introduced a new approach to home entertainment rentals. Blockbuster eventually expanded into a worldwide chain with thousands of locations.
1987 – The United States stock market experienced “Black Monday,” one of the most dramatic financial crashes in history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, losing 22.6% of its value in a single trading session. It remains the largest one-day percentage decline in the index’s history.
2003 – Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa during a ceremony at the Vatican attended by hundreds of thousands of people. The Catholic nun, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, devoted her life to caring for the poor and seriously ill. She was later declared a saint by Pope Francis in 2016.