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1534: Jacques Cartier sets out for Canada.
Cartier was commissioned by the French King Francis I to seek a Northwest Passage by which ships could sail above the Americans to reach Asia. He was the first European to explore Newfoundland. Prince Edward Island, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and claimed Canada as a French possession.
1817: The last trial by combat occurs in England.
Abraham Thorton was being tried a second time for the murder of Mary Ashford after having been acquitted the first time. Ashford's brother William appealed for a retrial, claiming that the evidence against Thorton was overwhelming. Thornton demanded the right to trial by combat, a practice that had been common in the medieval period and fallen out of usage, but never formally repealed by parliament. The court granted his request. Ashford declined to meet Thornton in battle, and Thornton was set free. As a result of the trial, the Parliament hastily passed a bill abolishing trial by combat. Thorton, who was widely reviled by those who thought he was guilty, sailed to America, where he lived until he died in Baltimore in 1860.
1898: The Spanish-American War begins. After the USS Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana during the Cuban War for Independence, the United States entered the war. The war lasted four months and ended with the United States gaining control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands for 20 million dollars.
1916: The Chicago Cubs play their first game at Wrigley Field.
At the time the ballpark was called Weeghman Park after its then-owner. The Cubs beat the Cincinnati Red 7-6 in eleven innings.
1946: The League of Nations is dissolved.
The international body was established after World World War I to mediate disputes between nations and prevent the outbreak of wars. It failed in that purpose due to its inability to enforce its mandates, and that weakness allowed the Second World War to break out. Following the War, the Allies organized the United Nations to replace it.
1999: The Columbine school massacre.
Two students at Columbine High School brought an arsenal of weapons to the school and murdered twelve students and one teacher. At the time it was one of the worst mass shootings in American history. The perpetrators also planted explosives that failed to detonate and committed suicide following the shooting spree.
2008: Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300.
In doing so she became the first woman to win an Indy Car Series race, finishing nearly six seconds ahead of the next driver. She went on to become the first female driver to win a NASCAR pole, at the Daytona 500, and first to lead an Indianapolis 500 race.
2010: Deepwater Horizon explodes.
The explosion of the oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and resulted in the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history at the time.
