1642 – King Charles I with 400 soldiers attacks the English parliament

1698 – Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.

1717 – Netherlands, England & France sign Triple Alliance

1903 – Topsy, an elephant, electrocuted by Thomas Edison during the War of Currents campaign.

1912 – Smallest earth-moon distance this century, 356,375 km center-to-ctr

1926 – Theodorus Pangalos resigns as Greek dictator

1932 – British East Indies Viceroy Willingdon arrests Gandhi & Nehru

1945 – US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after Japanese kamikaze attack

1948 – Burma declares independence from UK

1951 – Chinese forces capture Seoul (Korean War)

1958 – Sir Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole

1959 – Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes 1st craft to leave Earth’s gravity

2004 – Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.