British soldiers opened fire on a taunting crowd of colonists in Boston, killing five men and hardening resolve toward independence.

Ludwig van Beethoven, likely born a day or two earlier, was baptized in Bonn, Germany, the record that anchors his official birthdate.

Captain James Cook's ship Endeavour struck the Great Barrier Reef off Australia, nearly sinking during his historic voyage of Pacific exploration.

James Hargreaves patented the spinning jenny, a multi-spindle frame that let one worker spin eight threads at once and helped ignite the Industrial Revolution.

A Boston jury acquitted six British soldiers of murder charges from the Boston Massacre, with defense lawyer John Adams arguing self-defense against a violent mob.

Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in Bonn, Germany, on this date, one day after his likely birth, beginning the life of history's most towering composer.