1539 – Hernando De Soto, Spanish explorer and conquistador, claimed Florida for Spain.
1839 – Lin Tse-hsü destroyed 1.2 million kg of opium in Humen, confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a Casus belli to open hostilities with China, resulting in the First Opium War.
1924 – Franz Kafka died.
1937 – The Duke of Windsor married Wallis Simpson.
1940 – The Luftwaffe bombed Paris.
1946 - The first (modern) bikini bathing suit was displayed in Paris. Where else?
1956 – British Rail renamed 'Third Class' passenger facilities as 'Second Class'. Second Class facilities had been abolished in 1875, leaving just First Class and Third Class. (That's Britain for you.)