On today's date in 1771: The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1960: American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu. 
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On today's date in 1527: The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 392: Roman emperor Valentinian II (pictured) was found hanged in his residence in Vienne, in present-day France. 
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On today's date in 1953: Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, an event for Cub Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America where wooden cars built by the scouts are raced. 
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On today's date in 1945: The British Army directed fleeing Croatian soldiers to surrender to the Yugoslav Partisans, beginning the Bleiburg repatriations. 
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On today's date in 1252: Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1863: American Civil War: Union troops captured Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. 
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On today's date in 1097: The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1509: Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Republic of Venice. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1856: Major Henry C. Wayne arrived in Indianola, Texas, with 34 camels to form the short-lived United States Camel Corps (pictured). 
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On today's date in 1501: Amerigo Vespucci, this time under Portuguese flag, set sail for western lands. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1909: The inaugural edition of the Giro d'Italia, a long-distance multiple-stage bicycle race, began in Milan; the Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna was the eventual winner. 
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On today's date in 1958: The Australian adventurer Ben Carlin became the only person to circumnavigate the world in an amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 80,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) by land and sea. 
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On today's date in 1619: Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after being convicted of treason. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 254: Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1968: Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force began the defence of Fire Support Base Coral in the largest unit-level action of the war for the Australian Army. 
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On today's date in 1833: The Lady of the Lake strikes an iceberg off Newfoundland and sinks with the loss of up to 265 passengers and crew. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1813: William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across the Blue Mountains, opening up inland Australia to settlement. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1768: Rioting occurs in London after John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticizing King George III. #history #grownostr