1616: First non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy

1821: Act of Independence of Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua declare their independence from the Spanish Empire

1835: HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, reaches the Galápagos Islands

1916: First use of tanks in warfare, Britain’s Mark I “Little Willies” at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Battle of the Somme

1928: Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while sorting through petri dishes containing colonies of the bacteria Staphylococcus

1940: Battle of Britain Day: Royal Air Force repulses a major Luftwaffe attack, losing 29 aircraft to the Germans’ 57-61 as the tide begins to turn

1992: George Soros’ Quantum Fund begins selling large amounts of pound sterling, helping force the pound out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism the next day and earning him the label “the man who broke the Bank of England”

Source: Onthisday.com