Today:
1603 – Queen Elizabeth I of England died, ending the Tudor dynasty. She was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England, beginning the Stuart era.
1765 – Britain passed the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to house and supply British troops.
1882 – German physician Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
1898 – The first recorded automobile accident in the United States involving two cars occurred in New York City.
1921 – The 1921 Women’s Olympiad, considered the first international women’s sporting event, opened in Monte Carlo.
1934 – The Tydings–McDuffie Act was signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, providing for Philippine independence after a 10-year transition period.
1944 – 335 Italian civilians were killed by Nazi troops in the Ardeatine massacre near Rome as a reprisal for a partisan attack.
1958 – Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army as a private at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.
1989 – The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil.
1999 – NATO began air strikes against Yugoslavia in response to the conflict in Kosovo, marking the first time NATO attacked a sovereign nation without UN approval.