1282 – The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers
1533 – Henry VIII divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
1822 – Florida became a U.S. territory.
1855 – About 5,000 “Border Ruffians” from western Missouri invaded the territory of Kansas and forced the election of a pro-slavery legislature. It was the first election in Kansas.
1856 – The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War
1867 – The U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars.
1870 – The 15th amendment, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, was passed by the U.S. Congress.
1870 – Texas becomes last confederate state readmitted to Union
1909 – In Oklahoma, Seminole Indians revolted against meager pay for government jobs.
1916 – Pancho Villa killed 172 at the Guerrero garrison in Mexico.
1942 – SS murders 200 inmates of Trawniki concentration camp
1950 – U.S. President Truman denounced Senator Joe McCarthy as a saboteur of U.S. foreign policy.
1959 – Dalai Lama flees China and is granted political asylum in India
1965 – Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others
1969 – Loyalists bomb water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland in the hope that the attacks would be blamed on the IRA and on elements of the civil rights movement, which was demanding an end to discrimination against Catholics
1976 – Thousands of Palestinians protest against Israel’s massive land expropriation – In the event, which is annually commemorated on Land Day, 6 protesters were killed and scores injured by Israeli police.
1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in Washington, DC, by John W. Hinckley Jr. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady were also wounded.
1993 – In the Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown hit his first home run.
2002 – Suspected Islamic militants set off several grenades at a temple in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Four civilians, four policemen and two attackers were killed and 20 people were injured.
2013 – North Korea declares it is at a state of war with South Korea
2018 – Palestinians begin a “Great March of Return”, 6 weeks of protests on the Gaza Strip demanding Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to Israel. 19 Palestinians killed, 1,416 injured on the first day.
2020 – Three out of four Americans now ordered to stay home due to COVID-19 as states of Virginia, Maryland, Arizona and Florida issue lockdowns
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
