1. In 475, Byzantine Emperor Zeno was forced to flee his capital at Constantinople.

2. In 1296, Earl Floris V signed an accord with the French king.

3. In 1317, Phillip V, the Tall, crowned king of France.

4. In 1349, 700 Jews of Basel, Switzerland, were burned alive in their houses.

5. In 1431, the judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc began in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.

6. In 1464, the 1st meeting of States - General of the Netherlands was held.

7. In 1493, Christopher Columbus 1st sights manatees.

8. In 1522, Adriaan F Boeyens was elected the only Dutch pope (Adrian VI).

9. In 1558, Geneva became independent from Berne canton, Switzerland.

10. In 1570, Tsar Ivan the Terrible killed 1,000 - 2,000 residents of Novgorod.

11. In 1580, Francis Drake's ship the "Golden Hind" struck a reef off the Celebes Islands, slipped off the next day and sailed onward to Java then round the Cape of Good Hope and back to Plymouth in England.

12. In 1718, France declared war on Spain.

13. In 1728, the coronation of 12 - year - old Peter II Alexeyevich as Tsar of Russia took place in Moscow.

14. In 1760, Afghans defeated Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.

15. In 1768, Philip Astley staged the world's first modern circus in London.

16. In 1793, the first public reading of the poem "The Star - Spangled Banner" took place in Baltimore, Maryland.

17. In 1812, The U.S. frigate Constitution defeated the British frigate Java off Brazil.

18. In 1821, Mexico became independent from Spain.

19. In 1831, Alabama was admitted as the 22nd U.S. state.

20. In 1847, The U.S. Congress established the Smithsonian Institution.

21. In 1855, The first ship to use screw propulsion arrived in New York City.

22. In 1861, Mississippi seceded from the United States.

23. In 1862, The first military railroad bridge in the United States was completed.

24. In 1863, West Virginia was admitted as the 35th U.S. state.

25. In 1878, Thomas Edison patented the phonograph.

26. In 1881, The first international electric lighting exhibition opened in Paris.

27. In 1896, Utah was admitted as the 45th U.S. state.

28. In 1905, Albert Einstein completed his special theory of relativity.

29. In 1914, The first electric range was installed in a home in Chicago.

30. In 1916, Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress.