1. 531 - Battle of Callinicum: Roman general Belisarius was defeated by the Sasanian army led by Azarethes in northern Syria, and heavy losses on both sides led to a stalemate.

2. 607 - Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approached within 0.0898 astronomical units of Earth.

3. 1012 - Alphege was martyred in Greenwich, London.

4. 1451 - Alam Shah of Delhi resigned from the throne.

5. 1524 - Pope Clement VII fired the Netherlandish inquisitor - general, French van de Holly.

6. 1539 - Charles, the Protestant German monarch, signed the Treaty of Frankfurt.

7. 1552 - Maurice of Saxony captured Karel.

8. 1591 - The French city of Chartres surrendered to King Henry IV.

9. 1619 - Theatrum Anatomicum opened in Amsterdam.

10. 1713 - Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issued the Pragmatic Sanction, decreeing that Habsburg possessions could be inherited by a daughter.

11. 1770 - Amsterdam bought the Van Aerssen family's one - third part of Suriname.

12. 1770 - British explorer Captain James Cook first sighted Australia.

13. 1775 - The American Revolution began in Lexington, Massachusetts. The "shot heard round the world" took place later that day in Concord.

14. 1775 - Minutemen Capt. John Parker ordered not to fire unless fired upon.

15. 1775 - New England militiamen began the siege of Boston, hemming in the British army garrison.

16. 1782 - John Adams secured the Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government.

17. 1810 - Venezuela achieved home rule, and the governor of the captaincy general, Vicente Emparán, was removed by the people of Caracas, and a junta was installed.

18. 1825 - 33 patriotic exiles returned to Uruguay.

19. 1836 - Nikolai Gogol's "The Inspector - General" premiered in St. Petersburg.

20. 1837 - Cheyney University formed as the Institute for Colored Youth.

21. 1839 - The Treaty of London constituted Belgium an independent kingdom and Luxembourg a grand duchy.

22. 1852 - The California Historical Society was founded.

23. 1853 - The Netherlands Van Hall government formed.

24. 1861 - The Baltimore riots occurred, with 4 soldiers and 9 civilians killed.

25. 1861 - Lincoln ordered the blockade of Confederate ports (Civil War).

26. 1863 - Union troops and fleet occupied Fort Huger, Virginia.

27. 1874 - The barracks on Alcatraz Island were destroyed by fire.

28. 1882 - British biologist Charles Darwin died.

29. 1883 - British banker Thomas Agnew and others founded the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC).

30. 1901 - In the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo, the captured insurgent leader, issued a proclamation advising his countrymen to end the rebellion and work with the US toward independence peacefully.

31. 1904 - Much of Toronto was destroyed by fire.

32. 1906 - The Belgian naval education ship Comte de Smet de Naeyer set sail.

33. 1906 - The San Francisco earthquake ended, killing 452 people.

34. 1909 - A convention with Turkey recognized Bulgarian independence.

35. 1910 - Halley's Comet was seen with the naked eye for the first time on this trip (Curaçao).

36. 1911 - George Bernard Shaw's play "Fanny's First Play" premiered in London.

37. 1916 - "The Bing Boys Are Here" opened in London.

38. 1916 - Italians troops conquered Col di Lana at Merano.

39. 1919 - The French assembly decided on an 8 - hour workday.

40. 1921 - The funeral of the last German empress, Augusta Victoria, took place.

41. 1923 - The new Egyptian law allowed suffrage for men, except soldiers.

42. 1927 - "The Vagabond King" opened in London.

43. 1928 - The 125th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.

44. 1932 - Bonnie Parker was captured in a failed hardware store burglary and subsequently jailed.

45. 1932 - US President Herbert Hoover suggested a 5 - day workweek.

46. 1933 - FDR announced that the US would leave the gold standard.

47. 1936 - The first day of the Great Uprising in Palestine, anti - Jewish riots broke out.

48. 1939 - Connecticut finally approved the Bill of Rights (148 years late).

49. 1940 - The "Lake Shore Ltd." derailed near Little Falls, New York, killing 34 people.

50. 1940 - Dutch Prime Minister de Geer declared a state of siege.