On this day in 845, Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
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On this day in 1566, the foundation stone of Valletta, Malta's capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
On this day in 1802, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man.
On this day in 1854, during the first Crimean War, France and Britain declare war on Russia.
On this day in 1871, the Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.
On this day in 1933, the Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airline lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board.
On this day in 1945, German V-1 buzz bombs rain down on London for the last time before the end of the war. Read Thomas Pynchon's excellent, mind-bending novel Gravity's Rainbow for a well-rounded view of the philosophical/metaphysical implications/consequences of the technological slippery-slope that led directly from these fascinating and deadly creations.
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On this day in 1946, the United States State Department releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
On this day in 1969, the "McGill français movement" protest occurs, the second largest protest in Montreal's history with 10,000 trade unionists, leftist activists, college students, and some McGill students at McGill's Roddick Gates. The majority of the protesters are arrested.
On this day in 1979, the 3 Mile Island nuclear power plant comes this close to full-on, Chernobyl-style MELTDOWN in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Kinda gives a lot more satirical heft to Homer's safety-ignoring power-plant antics in The Simpsons, when you think about it.
On this day in 1990, President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
On this day in 1994, fans, friends and family of John Lennon and Elvis Presley all feel a little weight lifting from their shoulders as reviled "biographer" Albert Goldman shuffles off this mortal coil at the tender age of 66 from a debilitating, painful "mystery disease."
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