On this day in history
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Source: HistoryNet.com
1582: Russia ends its 25-year war with Poland.
1779: Louis XVI of France frees the last remaining serfs on royal land.
1841: Oronhyatekha (“Burning Cloud”) is born on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford. In 1866, he completes a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, becoming the first Indigenous person to earn a degree at a Canadian university.
1846: The Smithsonian Institution is established in Washington through the bequest of James Smithson.
1911: The House of Lords in Great Britain gives up its veto power, making the House of Commons the more powerful House.
1954: The groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held at Massena, New York.
1960: NASA launches Discoverer 13 satellite; it would become the first object ever recovered from orbit.
1970: Rocker Jim Morrison tried in Miami on "lewd & lascivious behavior." Although convicted and sentenced to jail, he was free on bond while his case was being appealed.
1975: David Frost purchases the exclusive rights to interview Richard Nixon.
1977: U.S. and Panama sign Panama Canal Zone accord, guaranteeing Panama would have control of the canal after 1999.
1997: The last British troops leave Hong Kong. After 156 years of British rule, the island is returned to China.
2006: All toiletries are banned from commercial airplanes after Scotland Yard disrupts a a major terrorist plot involving liquid explosives. After a few weeks, the toiletries ban was modified.
