79: Believed until 2018 to be the date of the massive eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae, killing untold thousands. Latest evidence suggests the eruption occurred after 17 October.

410: Rome overrun by Visigoths under Alaric I for the first time in nearly 800 years, seen as the fall of the Western Roman Empire

1516: Battle of Marj Dabiq: Ottoman forces decisively beat the Mamluk Sultanate

1572: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Protestants by Roman Catholics begins in Paris and later spreads to the French provinces

1662: Act of Uniformity requires English to accept Book of Common Prayer

1814: British forces capture Washington, D.C. and destroy many landmarks (War of 1812)

1968: France becomes the world’s fifth thermonuclear power with a detonation on Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific

Source: Onthisday.com