1248 – Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile after the city capitulates. 1407 – Louis I, ducd’Orléans, was assassinated by agents of John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, during a power struggle over control of the French king Charles VI. 1644 – “Areopagitica“, a pamphlet by John Milton decrying censorship, is published. 1765 – The British Stamp Act received its first repudiation from jurists in the Frederick County Court House in Frederick, Maryland 1855 – Passed this day in 1855 in Mexico, the Ley Juárez abolished special courts for the clergy and military in an attempt by justice minister Benito Juárez to eliminate the remnants of colonialism in Mexico and promote equality. 1863 – The Battle of Chattanooga, a decisive Union victory during the American Civil War, began. 1869 – The clipper Cutty Sark is launched In Dumbarton, Scotland, one of the last clippers ever built and the only one still surviving. 1935 – Lincoln Ellsworth landed on Ellsworth Land, Antarctica, and claimed it for the United States, a claim the U.S. government has never taken up. 1936 – The first issue of Life was published, and the magazine later became a pioneer in photojournalism and one of the major forces in that field’s development. 1946 – At least 6,000 Vietnamese civilians were killed in a French naval bombardment of the port city of Haiphong. 2005 – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is elected president of Liberia, the first woman to lead an African country.
Sport: 1892 – Pierre de Coubertin launches plan for modern Olympic Games at the Union des SociétésFrançaises de Sports Athlétiques AGM.
Music: 1979 – Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” released, sells 6 million copies in 2 weeks.
TV & Film:1923 – Cecil B. DeMille’s first version of “The Ten Commandments” premieres in the USA.
1963 – The first episode of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who aired, and the show became a landmark of British popular culture.
