On this date

1437 — James I, King of Scots, 42, was assassinated in Perth by a group of conspirators led by Walter, Earl of Atholl; his 6-year-old son succeeded him as James II.

1513 — Pope Julius II, who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, died nearly four months after the project was completed.

1613 — Mikhail Romanov, 16, was unanimously chosen by Russia’s national assembly to be czar, beginning a dynasty that would last three centuries.

1885 — The Washington Monument was dedicated.

1916 — The World War I Battle of Verdun began in France as German forces attacked; the French were able to prevail after 10 months of fighting.

1945 — during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima, the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea was sunk by kamikazes with the loss of 318 men.

1947 — Inventor Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, which used self-developing film to produce a black & white photograph in 60 seconds.

1958 — The USS Gudgeon (SS-567) became the first American submarine to complete a round-the-world cruise, eight months after departing from Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

1972 — President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing.

1986 — Larry Wu-tai Chin, the first American found guilty of spying for China, killed himself in his Virginia jail cell.

1992 — Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States won the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating at the Albertville Olympics; Midori Ito of Japan won the silver, Nancy Kerrigan of the U.S., the bronze.

2012 — A location was selected on the corner of South Broad Street and East Main Street for the new Anna K. Davie Elementary School.