Today:
79 CE: Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash.
410: The Visigoths, led by King Alaric I, begin a three-day pillaging of Rome.
1572: The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre begins, as thousands of Protestant Huguenots are killed by Catholics in Paris and throughout France.
1814: During the War of 1812, British troops enter Washington, D.C., and set fire to the White House and other public buildings.
1853: The first potato chips are reportedly prepared by chef George Crum in Saratoga Springs, New York.
1869: Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York, receives a patent for the waffle iron.
1932: Amelia Earhart completes the first solo, non-stop flight by a woman across the United States, flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey.
1949: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formally comes into effect.
1991: Ukraine declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
2006: The International Astronomical Union reclassifies Pluto as a “dwarf planet,” removing it from the solar system’s list of planets.