Today:
1484 – William Caxton prints his English translation of Aesop’s Fables in London.
1636 – Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.
1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly-shaped voting districts.
1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York, by Joseph Smith.
1931 – Swissair is founded as the national airline of Switzerland.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends with an American victory.
1971 – Bangladesh declares independence from Pakistan, beginning the Bangladesh Liberation War.
1979 – The Camp David Peace Accords are signed by Egypt and Israel, with U.S. President Jimmy Carter as a witness.
1997 – Thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate cult are found dead in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California.
2010 – The ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean naval ship, sinks near the border with North Korea, killing 46 sailors.