870 Zanji Kharijite rebels sack Ubulla, Persia

1195 Battle of Al Arcos: The Almohads defeat the Castillians

1269 Louis IX of France decrees Jews must wear a badge of shame

1306 Battle of Methven: The Earl of Pembroke defeats the Bruce's rebels

1481 Battle of Yenisehir: Ottoman Sultan Bajazet defeats his brother Prince Djem, who flees to Egypt, and later Italy

1498 Niccolo Machiavelli is appointed Secretary to the Signoria of Florence, effectively Minister of War

1778 Washington's troops leave Valley Forge

1800 Battle of Hochstadt: French defeat the Austrians

1821 Battle of Dragasani: Turks defeat the Greeks

1864 CSS 'Alabama' is sunk by USS 'Kearsarge' off Cherbourg

1865 Slaves in Texas are freed by Union forces

1868 Maj Gen E R S Canby removes the anti-Reconstruction mayor of Columbia, SC

1878 Congress passes the Posse Comitatus Act, to prevent the Army from enforcing civil rights laws

1933 Austrian Premier Dollfuss bans Nazi-organizations

1936 "Hitler's Heavyweight" Max Schmeling KOs Joe Louis in the 12th round

1937 Franco's Nationalists capture Bilbao from the Republicans

1940 Goring orders seizure of Dutch horses, cars, buses, and ships

1942 U.S. submarine 'S-27' lost by grounding in the Aleutians.

1944 "Marianas Turkey Shoot" - Battle of the Philippine Sea: by 21st Japanese lose 3 CVs, 426 a/c, US c. 70 a/c.

1944 French troops free Elba from the Nazis

1947 An F-80 becomes the first plane to exceed 600 mph

1948 USSR blocks access to West-Berlin: Berlin Blockade begins

1963 Valentina Tereshkova, the 1st woman in space, returns to Earth

1967 Muhammad Ali is convicted of refusing induction into the Army

2014 Abdication of 76-year old King Juan Carlos of Spain (1975-2014) and accession of his 46-year old son Felipe VI.