1258-Baghdad, then a city of 1 million, falls to the Mongols as the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed, with tens of thousands slaughtered, ending the Islamic Golden Age
1601-A fleet of five British East India Company vessels departs on its first voyage from London, led by James Lancaster commanding the "Red Dragon"; the journey lasts nearly 16 months
1689-Parliament of England adopts the Bill of Rights, establishing the rights of Parliament and placing limits on the Crown
1942-Germany's planned invasion of England, Operation Sea Lion, is canceled by Adolf Hitler
1945-Allied planes begin bombing the German city of Dresden, resulting in a devastating firestorm that destroys the city and kills over 22,000 people
1945-Soviet forces capture Budapest after a 50-day battle with Nazi Germany that kills 159,000 people
1960-France becomes the fourth nuclear nation by detonating its first device, a 70-kiloton "Gerboise Bleue" atomic bomb in the Algerian Sahara Desert
Source: Korea Times News
