On this day in 1632, the treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.
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On this day in 1683, Yaoya Oshichi, 15-year-old Japanese girl, burnt at the stake for an act of arson committed due to unrequited love.
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On this day in 1792, King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.
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On this day in the year 1827, over twenty-thousand mourners – many of them physically overwhelmed by grief – show up to watch as cultural titan Ludwig van Beethoven is lowered into the cold, damp ground of his beloved Vienna.
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On this day in 1848, the Niagara Falls stop flowing for a full 30 hours as the water is held back by a mighty jam of hard-packed ice.
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On this day in 1867, Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.
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On this day in 1871, the Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.
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On this day in 1882, a bunch of disgruntled Catholics get together and form the Knights of Columbus as an alternative secret society to the Freemasons, which frowned upon "Papists" for reasons that should be obvious to anybody who knows anything about the origins of Freemasonry. Their greatest contribution to society so far? Getting "under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, then convincing a nation of sheep that it was there all along.
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On this day in 1936, in Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.
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On this day in 1951, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
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On this day in 1971, Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison for the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
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On this day in 1982, the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.
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On this day in 1989, not-gay actor Tom Cruise experiences elation and suffers humiliation on the very same day, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards the Oscar for best picture to Rainman, and the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation awards the Razzie for worst picture to Cocktail.
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On this day in 1991, White House advisor Karl Rove's mentor, Republican political strategist Lee Atwater, dies of a brain tumor at the ripe old age of 40. Among his many crimes - and they were legion - taking part in the destruction of popular music was among the worst. Renouncing his ways on his deathbed probably didn't prevent him from being cast into the shitty-most bowels of Hell, where he still burns to this day.
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On this day in 1999, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the internet boom.
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On this day in 2010, two female suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.
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And finally, on this day in 2014, the first same sex weddings are being performed in England and Wales, right now, as you read this. Mazel-Tov!
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