Today in History

1212 - Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa; end of Moslem power in Spain

1439 - Kissing is banned in England (to stop germs from spreading)

1519 - Public debate between Martin Luther & theologist John Eck

1548 - La Paz, Bolivia is founded

1618 - Capt John Gilbert patents 1st dredger in Britain

1661 - 1st banknotes in Europe were issued by Bank of Stockholm

1790 - US Congress establishes District of Columbia

1809 - The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declared its independence
from Spanish Crown and formed the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, lead by Pedro Domingo Murillo.

1880 - Dr. Emily Stowe becomes the first woman licenced to practice medicine in Canada.

1920 - 15th Davis Cup: USA beats Australasia in Auckland (5-0)

1945 - 1st test detonation of an atomic bomb, Trinity Site, Alamogordo, New Mexico

1950 - Uruguay beats Brazil 2-1 for soccer's 4th World Cup in Rio de Janeiro

1980 - Ronald Reagan nominated for Pres by Republicans in Detroit

1988 - Carl Lewis runs a wind-assisted 100 m in 9.78 sec

1990 - 400 die in a (7.7) earthquake in Philippines

1999 - John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette are killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The Piper Saratoga aircraft was piloted by Kennedy.

2007 - An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and aftershock of 6.6 occurs off the Niigata coast, Japan, killing 8 people with at least 800 injured and damaging a nuclear power plant. See 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake.