1490: First dated edition of Maimonides’ “Mishneh Torah” is published, a code of Jewish religious law

1775: Patrick Henry proclaims “Give me liberty or give me death” in a speech encouraging Virginia troops to join the American Revolutionary War

1919: 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party re-establishes a five-member Politburo, which becomes the center of political power in the Soviet Union. Original members are Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev, and Nikolai Krestinsky

1933: German Reichstag hastily passes the Enabling Act and President Paul von Hindenburg signs it the same day, granting Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers

1945: Battle of Okinawa: US Navy ships bomb the Japanese island of Okinawa in preparation for the Allied invasion; the largest battle of the Pacific War in World War II

2019: Syrian Democratic Forces announce that the last Islamic State territory has been retaken, raising flags in Baghuz, Syria, and ending the five-year Islamic State “caliphate”

Source: Onthisday.com