1258-Baghdad, then a city of 1 million, falls to the Mongols as the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed, tens of thousands slaughtered, ending the Islamic Golden Age
1601-Fleet of five British East India Company vessels departs on their 1st voyage from London, led by Sir James John Lancaster commanding the "Red Dragon"; journey takes nearly 16 months
1689-Parliament of England adopts the Bill of Rights which establishes the rights of parliament and places limits on the crown
1942-Operation Sealion, Nazi Germany’s invasion of England, is cancelled by Adolf Hitler
1945-Allied planes begin bombing the German city of Dresden, resulting in a devastating firestorm that destroys the city and kills over 22,000 people
1945-Soviet forces capture Budapest after a 49-day battle with Nazi Germany that killed 159,000 people
1960-France becomes the 4th nuclear nation by exploding their 1st device, a 70 kilo-ton "Gerboise Bleue" atomic bomb in the French Algerian Sahara desert
1991-U.S. bombs Iraqi air raid shelter, killing 334