Today:
410: The Sack of Rome by the Visigoths, which had begun three days earlier, comes to an end. This marked the first time in nearly 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy.
1776: In the Battle of Long Island, British forces under General William Howe defeat the American Continental Army led by General George Washington. It was the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
1859: Edwin Drake successfully drills for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, striking “black gold” and launching the first commercially successful oil well in the U.S. This event is considered the start of the modern petroleum industry.
1883: The volcanic island of Krakatoa, in what is now Indonesia, erupts in one of the most powerful and destructive volcanic events in recorded history. The cataclysmic explosion and resulting tsunamis killed an estimated 36,000 people.
1928: The Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed in Paris by fifteen nations. The agreement, which renounced war as an instrument of national policy, was ultimately ineffective but represented a high point of pacifist sentiment between the World Wars.
1939: The Heinkel He 178, the world’s first aircraft to fly under jet power, makes its inaugural flight in Germany. This pioneering flight ushered in the age of jet aviation. ✈️
1955: The first edition of “The Guinness Book of Records” is published. It was conceived to settle arguments in pubs and went on to become an international bestseller.
1962: NASA launches the Mariner 2 space probe toward Venus. It became the first spacecraft to successfully fly by another planet, sending back valuable data about Venus’s atmosphere.
1991: Moldova declares its independence from the Soviet Union following the failed August Coup in Moscow.
2003: Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, coming within about 34.65 million miles. The event provided an exceptional viewing opportunity for astronomers and amateur skygazers alike.