Louis Braille, who would invent the tactile reading system used by blind people worldwide, was born in Coupvray, France, to a family of leatherworkers.

Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France; blinded in a childhood accident, he later invented the tactile reading system that bears his name.

Louis Braille was born in a small French town; blinded by a childhood accident, he would grow up to invent a tactile reading system for the blind.

Charles Darwin is born in Shrewsbury, England, on the same day as Abraham Lincoln, the man who would later revolutionize biology and one who would reshape a nation.

Abraham Lincoln is born in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky, to a poor farming family with almost no formal schooling ahead of him.

Swedish and Russian forces continued fighting across Finland's frozen terrain as the war that would sever Finland from Sweden ground into its second year.

The Treaty of Fredrikshamn negotiations conclude Sweden's loss of Finland, though the formal treaty itself was signed later that year in September.

Criollo leaders in Quito deposed the Spanish president and formed a short-lived autonomous junta, one of the earliest revolts in Spanish South America.

Criollo leaders in Quito declared independence from Spain, forming a short-lived junta that became one of the earliest revolts in Spanish South America.