Historical Events

1. The US declares independence from Great Britain with the signing of the Declaration

2. Julius Caesar is stabbed to death at the Ides of March

3. The Black Plague enters Europe via ships from Asia

4. Neil Armstrong becomes the first astronaut to walk on the Moon

5. Hernan Cortes' forces take over Tenochtitlan, ending the Aztec empire

6. Christopher Columbus "discovers" America but lands in the Bahamas

7. The Berlin Wall falls, reuniting West and East Germany after almost 30 years

8. Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Fords Theater

9. King John is forced to sign the Magna Carta by rebellious barons

10. William of Normandy defeats Harold Godwinson at Hastings

11. Washington DC is burned by the British in retaliation of the American fire of Toronto

12. Nazi forces invade Poland

13. The Protestant Reformation begins when Martin Luther nails his 95 theses in Wittenberg, Germany

14. Leonidas and his outnumbered Spartans battle the mighty Persian army at Thermopylae

15. Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press, revolutionizing book production

16. The Incan empire falls to the Spanish under Francisco Pizarro, leading to a conquistador victory

17. Thomas Jefferson purchases the Louisiana territory from France, doubling the size of the US

18. The Wright Brothers, out of Kitty Hawk, NC, successfully fly the first engine powered airplane

19. President Kennedy is assassinated in a Dallas motorcade by Lee Harvey Oswald

20. Henry Hudson discovers the area of New York City and explores the river named after him