Today:
1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
1604: William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Othello’ is presented for the first time at Whitehall Palace in London.
1755: A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastate Lisbon, Portugal, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties.
1765: The British Parliament’s Stamp Act goes into effect in the Thirteen Colonies.
1800: John Adams becomes the first U.S. President to live in the Executive Mansion, which was later renamed the White House.
1848: The Boston Female Medical School, the first medical school for women in the United States, opens.
1870: The U.S. Weather Bureau makes its first official meteorological forecast.
1952: The United States detonates the first large hydrogen bomb, codenamed “Mike,” at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
1968: The Motion Picture Association of America’s film rating system (G, M, R, and X) is implemented.
1993: The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.