Important Events

1850 Robert McClure sights the fabled Northwest Passage for the first time (from Banks Island towards Melville Island)

1861 Pony Express (Missouri to California) ends after 19 months

1863 International conference begins in Geneva aimed at improving medical conditions on battlefields – beginning of the Red Cross

1977 Last natural case of smallpox discovered in Merca district, Somalia. Considered the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination

2019 Raid by US Special Forces kills ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria

Today In Film & TV

1984 “The Terminator” directed by James Cameron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton is released in the US

Today In Music

1919 Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, his last notable work, premieres in Queen’s Hall London

Today In Sports

1863 Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer, splitting with rugby