Today in 1819, 204 years ago: Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.

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Today in 2012, 11 years ago: NASA's Curiosity rover lands on Mars. Among others, it carries the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) instrument, the first Spanish-made instrument to reach this planet.

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Today in 1926, 97 years ago: in the United Kingdom, Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

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Today in 1479, 544 years ago: in Quel (La Rioja) the Festival of Bread and Cheese was founded, one of the oldest pilgrimages in Spain whose uninterrupted celebration continues today.

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Today in 1890, 133 years ago: in Auburn (New York) the first execution in the electric chair in history is carried out.

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Today in 1944, 79 years ago: The Warsaw Uprising occurs on August 1. It is brutally suppressed and all able-bodied men in Kraków are detained afterwards to prevent a similar uprising, the Kraków Uprising, that was planned but never carried out.

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Today in 1661, 362 years ago: The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.

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Today in 1824, 199 years ago: at the battle of Junín (Peru), Simón Bolívar's forces defeated the Spanish forces commanded by José de Canterac.

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Today in 2011, 12 years ago: Riots begin in London after the death of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, black, who was shot dead by the London Metropolitan Police.

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Today in 1870, 153 years ago: Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a German victory.

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Today in 1862, 161 years ago: American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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Today in 1777, 246 years ago: American Revolutionary War: The bloody Battle of Oriskany prevents American relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix.

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Today in 1956, 67 years ago: After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.

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Today in 1914, 109 years ago: World War I: U-boat campaign: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.

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Today in 1875, 148 years ago: in the stands of the Presidential Palace (Palacio de Carondelet), in the city of Quito (Ecuador), the re-elected president Gabriel García Moreno is assassinated.

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Today in 1973, 50 years ago: the Soviet Union launches the Mars 6 probe bound for Mars.

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Today in 1882, 141 years ago: Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, today known as ExxonMobil, is established officially. The company would later grow to become the holder of all Standard Oil companies and the entity at the center of the breakup of Standard Oil.

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Today in 2004, 19 years ago: at Lake Tiberias (Israel), a group of archaeologists publishes the discovery of the oldest known evidence of bread making.

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Today in 1941, 82 years ago: the Battle of Smolensk ends with the victory of the army of Nazi Germany over the Soviet army.

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Today in 1949, 74 years ago: in Ambato (Ecuador) an earthquake killed 3,000 people.

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