ON THIS DAY
1498: Christopher Columbus lands on mainland America, mistakenly thinking it was an island.
1778: World’s first savings bank is opened in Hamburg, Germany.
1793: France becomes the first country to use the metric system of weights and measures.
1798: British navy under Admiral Horatio Nelson destroys French fleet in Battle of the Nile.
1834: Slavery abolished in British Empire; an estimated 770,280 slaves become free.
1914: Germany declares war on Russia at the start of World War I.
1936: The Olympic Games open in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.
1981: Rock music video channel MTV makes its first broadcast.
Birthdays: Roman Emperor Claudius (10BC54AD); US author Herman Melville (1819-1891); US rock musician Jerry Garcia (1942-1995).