1483: Edward V (aged 12) succeeds his father Edward IV as king of England. He is never crowned, and disappears presumed murdered, after incarceration in the Tower of London with his younger brother Richard (the “Princes in the Tower”)

1731: British mariner Robert Jenkins’ ear cut off by Spanish Guarde Costa in the Caribbean, later catalyst for war between Britain & Spain

1768: John Hancock refuses to allow two British customs agents to go below deck of his ship, considered by some to be the first act of physical resistance to British authority in the colonies

1865: Confederate General Robert E. Lee and 26,765 troops surrender at Appomattox Court House to US Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant ending the Civil War in North Virginia

1869: Hudson Bay Company cedes its territory to Canada

1992: John Major elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after his Conservative Party wins the most votes in British electoral history

2003: Baghdad falls to U.S. forces, ending the Invasion of Iraq, but resulting in widespread looting

Source: Onthisday.com