1789

In an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners held there.

1798

Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to publish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the United States government.

1881

Outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias “Billy the Kid,” was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in present-day New Mexico.

1945

Italy formally declared war on Japan, its former Axis partner during World War II.

1960

26-year-old Jane Goodall first arrived at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her study of wild chimpanzees living there.