1009: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock

1685: French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants

1867: Alaska Purchase: US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million

1931: American gangster Al Capone convicted of tax evasion

1962: James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA

Source: Onthisday.com