2017
Donald Trump launched 59 missiles into Syria.
The attack came three days after a chemical attack on Khan Shaykhun.
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2003
US forces circled the city of Baghdad, which led to the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime two days later.
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2001
NASA launched the 2001 Mars Odyssey space probe from Cape Canaveral.
The space probe was initially called the Astrobiological Reconnaissance and Elemental Surveyor (ARES). However, the naming committee faced heavy criticism and was forced to reconsider its options. 2001 Mars Odyssey had previously come up as an option, but due to licensing concerns, they rejected it.
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1989
The Soviet K-278 Komsomolets nuclear submarine caught fire and sank off the coast of Norway.
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1977
Donald Trump married his first wife, Ivana Zelníčková, in Manhattan, New York.
The two met at a New York City watering hole for singles.
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1948
The United Nations formed the World Health Organization (WHO).
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1947
Car engineer Henry Ford died at the age of 83.
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1940
Booker T. Washington became the first Black person pictured on a US postage stamp.
Booker T. Washington, a former slave, was an American author, educator, and advisor to several US presidents. He was a prominent leader in the Black community.
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1906
Mount Vesuvius volcano erupted, devastating Naples in the process.
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1902
Texaco was formed.
Originally named “The Texas Company,” it started from the Fee Oil Well No. 3 in Sour Lake, Texas.
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1827
Englishman John Walker invented modern-day wooden matches that create a flame through friction.
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1798
The Territory of Mississippi was formally organized.
The region had previously been contested territory between the USA and Spain, but Spain signed away their claims in 1795 with the Treaty of Madrid. At its point of organization, Mississippi Territory only included the lower halves of modern-day Mississippi and Alabama.
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1509
France initiated the War of the League of Cambra against Venice.
The League of Cambra was a coalition of Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire, Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, and Ferdinand II of Aragon (NW Spain).
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