1492 Christopher Columbus signs a contract with the Spanish monarchs to find the "Indies" with the stated goal of converting people to Catholicism. This promises him 10% of all riches found, and the governorship of any lands encountered.
1808 Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships.
1875 Modern Snooker invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain, a bored British officer in Jabalpur, India.
1941 Egyptian steamer SS Zamzam attacked and later scuttled by German cruiser Atlantis (all on board rescued)
1943 Marshal Admiral Yamamoto flies from Truk to Rabaul (he is shot down the next day by US bombers after intelligence intercepts his itinerary)
1961 1,400 Cuban exiles land in the Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.
1979 Four Royal Ulster Constabulary officers are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army van bomb in Bessbrook, County Armagh; the bomb is believed to be the largest PIRA bomb used up to that point.
1986 Netherlands & Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651)
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