876 Battle of Dayr al-‘Aqul: The Abbasid Caliphate decisively defeats an invasion of Iraq by the Saffarids under Emir Ya'qub ibn Laith

1195 Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelus (1185-1195) is ousted & blinded by his brother Alexius III (1195-1203); will later be restored as Emperor (1203-1204)

1271 Krak de Chevaliers in Syria is captured from the Knights Hospitaler by Mamluk Sultan Baibars after a 36-day siege

1341 Petrarch is crowned "Poet Laureate" on the Capitoline in Rome

1378 Bartolomeo Prignano of Itri elected Pope as Urban VI (1378-1389)

1455 Alfonso Borja elected Pope as Callistus III (1455-1458)

1500 Battle of Novara: King Louis XII beats Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan1596 Battle of Amiens: The Spanish capture the city from the French

1730 Dedicaton of Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City

1801 Riot in Bucharest, 128 Jews slain

1861 US mint at Dahlonega, Georgia, seized by Confederate officials

1864 Battle of Mansfield, La; U.S. forces routed by Lt Gen Richard Taylor

1865 Lee's retreat cut off near Appomattox Court House1898 Battle of the Atbara River: Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian forces crush the Sudanese Mahdists

1904 France & Britain conclude the Entente Cordiale

1918 Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin hold a major war bond rally on Wall St.

1925 First planned night landings on a carrier, USS 'Langley' (CV 1), by VF-1

1940 HM Destroyer 'Glowworm' is sunk after a gallant fight with the German heavy cruiser 'Admiral Hipper'

1945 Okinawa: Marines probe Japanese lines on the Motobu Peninsula

1950 Unarmed USN patrol plane downed over the Baltic Sea by Soviet aircraft

1956 Parris Is, SC: Six Marine recruits drown during an unauthorized night exercise

1961 Persian Gulf: Explosion aboard the British liner Dara, 236 die