On this day in history

The Battle of Princeton is fought in New Jersey, where George Washington's Continental Army defeats British regulars in a key victory of the Revolutionary War.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak incorporate Apple Computer, the company that later reshapes personal computing, music, and phones.

Source: On This Day

Stephen F. Austin receives a Mexican land grant authorizing him to bring 300 American families to settle in Texas, founding Anglo American colonization there.

Source: On This Day

Construction begins on the Brooklyn Bridge, the steel wire suspension bridge linking Manhattan and Brooklyn that opens 13 years later.

Source: Wikipedia

Alaska is admitted to the Union as the 49th state.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Source: On This Day

Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine of his own design.

Source: On This Day

Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther by papal bull, formally cutting the reformer off from the Catholic Church and deepening the Protestant Reformation.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Benito Mussolini delivers a speech to the Italian parliament asserting dictatorial powers, a public declaration that Fascist Italy is now a one party state.

Source: Council on Foreign Relations