1240: Mongols led by Batu Khan occupy and destroy Kyiv after an 8 day siege; out of 50,000 people in the city only 2,000 survive

1865: 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery (except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted)

1877: Thomas Edison enters the offices of Scientific American and turns the crank on his cylinder phonograph, astonishing those present with the recording, “Good morning. How do you do? How do you like the phonograph?”

1921: Anglo-Irish Treaty signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland

1998: Hugo Chávez is elected President of Venezuela

2006: NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars

Source: Onthisday.com