Joan of Arc withstood the first day of interrogation during her trial for heresy. (1430)
The Prussian Confederation was formed. (1440)
British poet Robert Southwell was hanged and quartered for treason for being a Catholic. (1595)
Michael Romanov, son of Patriarch of Moscow, was elected first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov. (1613)
US Congress resolved the establishment of a US mint. (1782)
US Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act. (1792)
Freedom of worship was established in France under the constitution that came out of the French Revolution. (1795)
The first locomotive, Richard Trevithick’s, ran for the first time along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. (1804)
First American Indian newspaper in US, Cherokee Phoenix, was published. (1828)
First known sewing machine was patented in US. (1842)
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto. (1848)
US Congress outlawed foreign currency as legal tender in US. (1857)
Ranavalona II, ruler of Madagascar, and her court converted to Christianity ending decades of persecution. (1869)
World’s first telephone directory was issued to 50 subscribers in New Harbor, Connecticut. (1878)
Washington Monument was dedicated. (1885)
Oregon became the first US state to make Labor Day a holiday. (1887)
North Carolina Legislature adjourned for day to mark the death of Frederick Douglass. (1895)
Walter Taylor, missionary to railroad men and miners in Colorado and at the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal, gave his life to Christ after his Christian wife died. (1896)
World’s Fair in San Francisco opened. (1915)
WW1: Battle of Verdun began. It led to one million casualties. (1916)
The last Carolina parakeet died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. (1918)
Britain declared Egypt a sovereign state. (1922)
Alka Seltzer was introduced. (1931)
Camera exposure meter was patented. (1932)
WW2: Eric Liddell died in Japanese captivity of a brain tumor. He was an Olympic champion runner from the film Chariots of Fire who later became missionary to China until he was captured by the Japanese. (1945)
The National Association for Stock Car Racing, NASCAR, was founded. (1948)
Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of DNA-molecule. (1953)
Rights activist Malcolm X was shot dead by Nation of Islam followers at Audubon Ballroom in New York City. (1965)
Jackson 5 made their TV debut on American Bandstand. (1970)
Richard Nixon became the first US president to visit China. (1972)
Watergate figures John Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, and John D Ehrlichman were sentenced to prison terms for conspiracy and obstruction of justice. (1975)
Jimmy Swaggert admitted to visiting a prostitute and announced he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time. (1988)
Today in HisStory 