1599: Jacob van Neck’s fleet leaves Bantam, Java in modern day Indonesia with 1 million pounds of pepper and cloves and a further half a ship full of nutmeg, mace and cinnamon

1838: First public demonstration of telegraph messages sent using dots and dashes at Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail

1879: Anglo-Zulu War begins as British Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford invades Zululand in South Africa

1922: Insulin first used on humans to treat diabetes, Frederick Banting injects fellow Canadian Leonard Thompson, aged 14

1964: First government report by US Surgeon General Luther Terry warning that smoking may be hazardous

Source: Onthisday.com