69 Following the Second Battle of Bedriacum, Vespasian's victorious troops sack Cremona

1137 Battle of Rignano: Count Ranulf II of Alife defeats King Roger II of Sicily

1270 The Eighth Crusade begins and accomplishes nothing

1281 Battle of Homs: The Mamlukes defeat the Mongols

1340 Battle of Rio Salado: Afonso IV of Portugal & Alfonso XI of Castile defeat Abu al-Hasan 'Ali the Marinid & Yusuf I the Nasrid

1488 The Baglioni drive out the Oddi to seize Perugia

1489 Peace of Tours: Emperor Maximilian I and the Flemings end hostilities

1501 Alleged great orgy involving 50 courtesans held by the Borgia in the Vatican

1502 Cesare Borgia's troops capture Rimini

1799 William Balch becomes the US Navy's first commissioned Chaplain

1805 Second Battle of Caldiero: French defeat the Austrians

1808 Battle of Durango: French defeat the Spanish

1813 Battle of Hanau: Napoleon defeats "Poor Wrede" & the Austro-Bavarians

1841 Fire destroys the Armoury of the Tower of London, with a devastating loss of historic arms & relics

1889 William T Sherman lays the foundation for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch on the Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn

1917 Vittorio Emanuele Orlando becomes premier of Italy

1938 Orson Welles' radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" sparks some panic across America

1941 US Navy oiler 'Salinas' (AO-19) survives a torpedo off Newfoundland

1943 U.S. subs mine the waters off Indochina.

1944 Anne Frank is transferred from Auschwitz to Belsen

1944 US Navy TG 38.4 is attacked by Kamikaze off Leyte, two carriers damaged.

1945 US announces the end of shoe rationing

1953 General of the Army George C Marshall is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

1954 Defense Department announces the elimination of all segregated units

1956 Israel captures Egyptian military post at El-Thamad

1961 Soviet Union tests a 58 megaton hydrogen bomb

1975 Pr Juan Carlos assumes power in Spain, as Franco nears death