Today in 2004 – American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants in Iraq. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.
Today in 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
Today in 1945 – World War II: Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
Today in 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury.
Today in 1911 – More than 300 Chinese immigrants are killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution led by Emilio Madero take the city of Torreón from the Federales.
Today in 1948 – Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Today in 1915 – World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,199 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.
Today in 1974 – Ma'alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.
Today in 1972 – Presidential candidate and Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot and paralyzed by Arthur Bremer at a political rally in Laurel, Maryland.
Today in 2002 – Former worst US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Justin Trudeau's mass-murdering father, becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since the Cuban Revolution.
Today in 1862 – A slave, Robert Palmer steals the Confederate CSS Planter, a steamer and gunship, and steals through Confederate lines in Charleston SC, with the enslaved families of the crew. He was appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a US ship.
Today in 1981 – Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome, shooting him twice. The critically injured Pope was rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survived.
