Today:
1609 – English explorer Henry Hudson began exploring the river that now bears his name while searching for a northwest passage to Asia. His voyage helped establish Dutch claims in the region that became New York.
1814 – The Battle of North Point was fought near Baltimore during the War of 1812. American forces delayed the British advance toward Baltimore, buying valuable time for the city’s defenses.
1846 – Poet Elizabeth Barrett secretly married fellow poet Robert Browning at St. Marylebone Parish Church in London. Their marriage became one of literature’s most famous romances.
1910 – Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 premiered in Munich. Featuring an enormous orchestra and chorus, it became popularly known as the “Symphony of a Thousand.”
1940 – Four teenagers discovered the Lascaux Cave in southwestern France. Its walls contain spectacular prehistoric paintings of animals created roughly 17,000 years ago.
1943 – German commandos carried out a daring raid at Gran Sasso in Italy and rescued deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity.
1953 – John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island. More than 1,000 guests attended their wedding reception.
1959 – Bonanza premiered on NBC. The Western, starring Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, ran for 14 seasons and became one of the longest-running and most popular Western series in television history.
1962 – President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous “We choose to go to the Moon” speech at Rice University in Houston, rallying public support for America’s effort to land astronauts on the Moon before the end of the decade.
1992 – NASA astronaut Mae Jemison launched aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-47, becoming the first Black woman to travel into space.