Today in History

The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator—described as the biggest scientific experiment in history—is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister of Pakistan, returns after 7 years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.

Sweden’s foreign minister, Anna Lindh, is stabbed while shopping and dies the next day.

Contestant Charles Ingram cheats on the British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, wins 1 million pounds.

Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica is returned to Spain and installed in Madrid’s Prado Museum. Picasso stated in his will that the painting was not to return to Spain until the Fascists lost power and democracy was restored.

Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese Guinea) gains independence from Portugal.

Gibraltar votes to remain a British dependency instead of becoming part of Spain.

President John F. Kennedy federalizes Alabama’s National Guard to prevent Governor George C. Wallace from using guardsmen to stop public-school desegregation.

Jomo Kenyatta returns to Kenya from exile, during which he had been elected president of the Kenya National African Union.

Colin Firth, Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor (The King’s Speech).

Rosie Flores, singer, musician.

Bill O’Reilly, TV host (The O’Reilly Factor), author.

Margaret Trudeau, actress (Kings and Desperate Men), author, photographer.

Jose Feliciano, guitarist, singer, songwriter.

Gunpei Yokoi, inventor of Game Boy.

Mary Oliver, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.

Charles Kuralt, journalist, known for his popular “On the Road” television program.

Arnold Palmer, golfer who won four Masters, two British Opens and one U.S. Open.

In response to a dispute with Yugoslavia, Mussolini mobilizes Italian troops on Serb front.

The six-day Battle of the Marne ends, halting the German advance into France.

Jules Vedrines becomes the first pilot to break the 100 m.p.h. barrier.

Arthur Compton, physicist.

Carl Van Doren, historian and critic who won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography on Benjamin Franklin.

Confederates at Carnifex Ferry, Virginia, fall back after being attacked by Union troops. The action is instrumental in helping preserve western Virginia for the Union.

Sevastopol, under siege for nearly a year, capitulates to the Allies during the Crimean War.

John Roy Lynch, first African American to deliver the keynote address at a Republican National Convention.

Elias Howe patents the first practical sewing machine in the United States.

The nine-ship American flotilla under Oliver Hazard Perry wrests naval supremacy from the British on Lake Erie by capturing or destroying a force of six English vessels.

William Bligh, British naval officer who was the victim of two mutinies, the most famous on the HMS Bounty which was taken over by Fletcher Christian.

Lumber and furs are the first cargo to leave New Plymouth in North America for England.

Thomas Cavendish returns to England, becoming the third man to circumnavigate the globe.

The Duke of Somerset leads the English to a resounding victory over the Scots at Pinkie Cleugh.

Pope Julius III, who promoted the Jesuits.

John the Fearless is murdered at Montereau, France, by supporters of the dauphin.