Today:
1461: Edward IV defeats Henry VI at the Battle of Toowton, the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil during the Wars of the Roses.
1549: The city of Salvador, Bahia, is founded as the first capital of Brazil.
1848: An ice jam on the Niagara River causes the flow of water over Niagara Falls to stop for approximately 30 hours.
1867: The British Parliament passes the British North America Act, which creates the Dominion of Canada.
1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
1961: The 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.
1971: Lieutenant William Calley Jr. is found guilty of the premeditated murder of 22 Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai Massacre.
1973: The last United States combat troops withdraw from South Vietnam, ending direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.
1974: NASA’s Mariner 10 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by the planet Mercury.
2004: Ireland becomes the first country in the world to implement a nationwide ban on smoking in all enclosed workplaces, including bars and restaurants.