Today in history
1540 - Thomas Cromwell, principal adviser to King Henry VIII of England, is executed for treason.
1586 - First potatoes arrive in England from Colombia, brought by Sir Thomas Harriot.
1588 - Lord Admiral Howard of Effingham sends British fire ships to destroy Spanish Armada off Calais, France.
1741 - Italian violinist and composer Antonio Vivaldi dies aged 63.
1750 - Death of Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer and organist.
1794 - French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre and 22 of his supporters are executed by guillotine before a cheering crowd in Paris.
1821 - Peru’s independence from Spain is formally declared.
1858 - First time fingerprints are taken as a means of identification, by William Herschel of the Indian Civil Service at Jungipur in India.
1914 - World War I begins when Austria-hungary declares war on Serbia.
1937 - Japanese seize Beijing in China and subsequently occupy it until 1945.
1945 - United States Army bomber crashes into Empire State Building in New York City, killing 14 people.
1965 - President Lyndon Johnson announces he is increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.
1976 - An earthquake kills more than 240,000 people and almost completely destroys the city of T’angshan in northeastern China.
1992 - The UN Security Council authorises an urgent airlift of food and medicine for Somalia and demands the co-operation of warring factions.
1998 - Backed by tanks, Serb forces drive ethnic Albanian fighters from their stronghold in Malisevo in central Kosovo.
2000 - Peruvians furious with the inauguration of Alberto Fujimori protest in the streets of Lima, setting government buildings on fire and throwing rocks.
2005 - The Irish Republican Army guerilla group formally announces an end to its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.
2013 - US announces the resumption of Israeli-palestinian peace talks following years of stalemate after Israel’s Cabinet agrees to release 104 Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks.
2015 - Boko Haram launches attacks in multiple northern Nigerian villages leaves at least 29 dead. Today’s Birthdays: Beatrix Potter, British author and illustrator (1866-1943); Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former US first lady (1929-1994); Sir Garfield Sobers, great West Indies cricket all-rounder (1936-); Jim Davis, Garfield US cartoonist (1945-).