1497: Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for his first voyage to the New World (disputed)

1775: Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, issuing paper currency for the first time

1801: First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America (first US foreign war)

1857: Indian Mutiny against rule by the British East India Company begins with the revolt of the Sepoy soldiers in Meerut

1869: The Golden Spike is driven, completing the first US Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, connecting the Central Pacific Railroad with the Union Pacific

1940: Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government

1960: US atomic submarine USS Triton completes first submerged circumnavigation of the globe

1994: Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa’s first Black president

Source: Onthisday.com