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• 1602 - Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to discover Cape Cod.
• 1618 - Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).
• 1718 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun.
• 1756 - Seven Years' War: The war begins when EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England declares war on FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents..
• 1795Events January 16 French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands. January 20 French troops enter Amsterdam and later proclaim Batavian Republic. January 23 Dutch fleet freezes in Issel Meer. February 7 The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed. - First CoalitionThe name First Coalition ( 1793 1797) designates the first major concerted effort of multiple European powers to contain revolutionary France. After the stated aim of the National Convention to export revolution, the guillotining of Louis XVI of France (J: Napoleon I of FranceFor other meanings, see Napoleon (disambiguation . Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 5 May 1821) was a general and ruler of France. General of the French Revolution, he was the effective ruler of France starting in 1799: First Consul Premier Consul of t enters MilanThis is about the Italian city of Milan. For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). Milan Milano in the Italian language, and Milan in Milanese dialect, from Latin, Mediolanum with the meaning of 'in the middle of the plain') is the main city in northern in triumph.
• 1836Events January Book by Maria Monk claims that she was sexually exploited in a Canadian convent February 3 United States Whig Party holds its first convention in Albany, New York. February 23 The siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas. February 24 - Francis BailyFrancis Baily ( April 28 1774 August 30 1844), English astronomer, was born at Newbury, Berkshire. After a tour in the unsettled parts of North America in 1796 1797, his journal of which was edited by Augustus de Morgan in 1856, he entered the London Stoc observes " Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse.
• 1851 - Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
• 1858 - The third Royal Opera House officially opens in London.
• 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln of America signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed USDA).
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia - Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
• 1869 - Woman's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
• 1902 - In a field outside Grass Valley, California, Lyman Gilmore reportedly becomes the first person to fly a powered airplane (a steam-powered glider).
• 1905 - Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres (0.4 km²), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
• 1911 - The United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be dissolved.
• 1918 - Civil War in Finland ends.
• 1918 - The American Post Office Department (later renamed the USPS) begins the first regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC).
• 1928 - Release of the animated short Plane Crazy, featuring the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
• 1930 - Aboard a Boeing tri-motor, Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess (the flight was from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois).
• 1932 - The May 15 incident. In an attempted coup the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed.
• 1934 - The United States Department of Justice offers a $25,000 reward for John Dillinger.
• 1934 - Karlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia.
• 1940 - Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the United States.
• 1940 - World War II: German troops occupy Amsterdam and invade Northern France.
• 1941 - Baseball player Joe DiMaggio starts his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak.
• 1942 - World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
• 1943 - Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).
• 1948 - Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel.
• 1955 - First ascent of Makalu, the World's fifth highest mountain.
• 1957 - Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.
• 1958 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
• 1960 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.
• 1963 - Mercury program: America launches the last mission of the program, Mercury 9 (on June 12 NASA Administrator James E. Webb told Congress the program was complete).
• 1970 - The Beatles' last LP, Let It Be, is released in the United States.
• 1970 - Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green killed at Jackson State University by police during student protest s.
• 1972 - In Laurel, Maryland a disturbed, out-of-work janitor named Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while Wallace is campaigning to be American President.
• 1978 - Lagumot Harris, having only been elected President less than a month before, is replaced as the leader of the republic of Nauru. He is succeeded by Hammer DeRoburt.
• 1988 - Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Red Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• 1990 - Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million.
• 1991 - Edith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister.
• 1992 - The Genoa Expo '92 World's Fair opens in Genoa, Italy.
• 2004 - The largest prime number to be discovered, 2^24036583 − 1, is found by Josh Findley and the GIMPS collaborative effort.