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TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
417BC the desecration of the Herms at Athens [Alt]
0    The festival of the Ludi Piscatorii, celebrated by the fishermen of Rome in honor of Father Tiber
0    Feast of St. Paul the Confessor, thrice Patriarch of Constantinople
1099    The First Crusade arrives at Jerusalem
1416    Battle of Sant'Egidio: The Bracceschi defeat the Malatesti
1424    Jan Ziska defeated the Ultraist Hussites in the Battle of Malesov -- Learn More
1451    Unsuccessful coup at Bologna by the Canetoli family against the Bentivogli
1494    Treaty of Tordesillas: America is divided between Spain and Portugal, which gets Brazil
1498    Columbus begins his third voyage
1546    Peace of Ardres: ends Anglo-French War (1544-46), favorably for England
1586    Sir Francis Drake sacks and burns St. Augustine, Florida
1629    Peace of Lubeck: between HRE Ferdinand II & Christian IV of Denmark and Norway
1672    Battle of Solebay: Dutch Admiral Michael de Ruyter trounces the English
1775    The "United Colonies" change their name to the "United States"
1776    British defeat the Americans at Trois Rivers, Canada
1776    Richard Lee moves the adoption of a Declaration of Independence in Congress
1780    Anti-Catholic riots in London, hundreds die
1799    First Battle of Zurich, Day 4: Austrians defeat the French
1862    Skirmish at Union Church, VA
1863    Battle of Milliken's Bend: Black recruits beat off Rebel veterans
1863    French troops under Gen. Bazaine capture Mexico City
1866    Battle of Pigeon Hill, Que: Canadians defeat Fenians, who retreat to the US (see May 31)
1880    Chilean troops storm and capture Arica from the Peruvians
1898    Battle of Camp McCalla: U.S. Marines and Spanish troops skirmished at Guantanamo Bay -- Learn More (Scroll down)
1905    Norway declares independence from Sweden, which acquiesces
1912    US Army Air Service tests an airplane-mounted machine gun
1916    Germans capture Fort Vaux, Verdun
1917    The first American troops to reach Europe in W.W. I landed at Liverpool
1917    Battle of Messines: Mines totaling nealry 500 tons of explosives demolish the German trenches, and the Canadian Corps storms the ridge
1929    Italo-Papal Lateran Treaty establishes the sovereign "State of the Vatican City"
1939    King George VI & Queen Elizabeth arrive at Niagara Falls, NY, by rail from Canada - the first British sovereign to visit the US
1940    British and French troops evacuate Narvik, Norway
1942    Aleutians Campaign: Japanese troops land on Attu.
1942    Battle of Midway: The USS 'Yorktown' (CV-5) goes down, after a desperate fight to save the ship -- Learn More
1942    The Germans capture Sebastopol
1942    B-17s from Midway reported sinking a Japanese cruiser -- Learn More
1943    Guadalcanal: Japanese air raid, lose 23 a/c vs 9 Allied.
1944    British 50th division liberates Bayeux
1944    Burma: Chinese on the Salween reach Lung-ling.
1958    Fighting breaks out between Turks and Greeks on Cyprus
1962    NASA civilian test pilot Joseph Walker takes X-15 to 31,580 m
1971    Soviet Soyuz 11 crew completes 1st transfer to orbiting Salyut
1981    Israeli air strikes destroy Iraqi nuclear weapons facilities
2013    Maniac in Santa Monica kills six by arson and gunfire, injures many others, before being slain

BORN
1422    Federico III da Montefeltro, Condottiero, patron of the arts, Lord and Duke of Urbino (1444-1482)
1502    King Jao III "the Pious" of Portugal (1521-57)
1778    George Bryan "Beau" Brummell, sometime officer, 10th Royal Hussars, English fashionista, d. 1840.
1812    Theophilus Toulmin Garrard, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1902
1837    Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant, d. 1903
1840    Carlota of Saxe-Coburg, sometime Empress of Mexico (1864-67), d. 1927 -- Learn More
1857    Rudolf Carl Slatin, later Freiherr von Slatin, Austrian lieutenant, Egyptian Pasha, British Maj. Gen., d. 1932
1894    Alexander P. de Seversky, aviator, author, aeronautical engineer, d. 1974
1896    Imre Nagy, sometime Austrian-Hungarian soldier, later Communist PM of Hungary, leader of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, executed 1958

DIED
555    Pope Vigilus (r. 537-555)
1329    King Robert Bruce of Scotland (1306-29), at 53
1492    King Kasimir IV King of Poland (1447-92), at 64
1631    Mumtaz Mahal, 38, Mrs. Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal for her
1701    Prince Ferdinand of Wurttemberg-Neustadt, at 41
1840    King Frederik Wilhelm III of Prussia (1797-1840), at 69
1855    Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora, 56, Italian soldier, founder of the Bersaglieri, of cholera on campaign in the Crimea
1862    James J. Andrews, c. 32, civilian US Army scout, who hijacked the locomotive "The General," hanged at Atlanta by the Confederates
1862    William Mumford, hanged at New Orleans by Ben Butler for desecrating the American flag
1998    James Byrd Jr., 49, black American, murdered by white supremacists in Jasper, Texas