1598 – King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes which granted political rights to French Protestant Huguenots.
1759 – The French defeated the European allies in Battle of Bergen.
1775 – Lord North extended the New England Restraining Act to South, Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The act prohibited trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland.
1782 – Washington, NC, was incorporated as the first town to be named for George Washington.
1829 – The English Parliament granted freedom of religion to Catholics.
1849 – The Hungarian Republic was proclaimed.
1860 – The first mail was delivered via Pony Express when a westbound rider arrived in Sacremento, CA from St. Joseph, MO.
1861 – After 34 hours of bombardment, the Union-held Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederates.
1916 – The first hybrid, seed corn was purchased for 15-cents a bushel by Samuel Ramsay.
1933 – The first flight over Mount Everest was completed by Lord Clydesdale.
1941 – German troops captured Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.
1945 – Vienna fell to Soviet troops.
1960 – The first navigational satellite was launched into Earth’s orbit.
1961 – The U.N. General Assembly condemned South Africa due to apartheid.
1970 – An oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, preventing a planned moon landing.
1984 – U.S. President Reagan sent emergency military aid to El Salvador without congressional approval.
1984 – Christopher Walker was killed in a fight with police in New Hampshire. Walker was wanted as a suspect in the kidnappings of 11 young women in several states.
1990 – The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest. The Soviets had previously blamed the massacre on the Nazis.
