Today:
1240: The Mongol invasion of Rus’ culminated in the fall of Kyiv, which was captured and destroyed by forces under Batu Khan.
1492: Explorer Christopher Columbus landed on an island he named Hispaniola, which is now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
1648: Pride’s Purge occurred in England, where soldiers under Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed members of Parliament who supported the King, paving the way for the trial of Charles I.
1790: The United States Congress officially moved the nation’s capital from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1865: The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery, was ratified.
1884: The construction of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., was completed when the 3,300-pound marble capstone was placed on top.
1907: An explosion in a coal mine in Monongah, West Virginia, killed 362 workers in one of the worst industrial disasters in American history.
1917: The Halifax Explosion occurred in Nova Scotia, Canada, when a French munitions ship and a Norwegian vessel collided in the harbor, killing over 1,500 people.
1917: Finland declared its independence from the Russian Empire following the Russian Revolution.
1973: Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Spiro Agnew.