Discover What Happened Today in History
Following the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon's Grande Armée entered Moscow, only to find the city largely abandoned and set ablaze by the retreating Russians. This marked the beginning of the disastrous French retreat from Russia.
U.S. President William McKinley died from gangrene caused by gunshot wounds sustained eight days earlier. His death led to the succession of Vice President Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency.
The Soviet space probe Luna 2 became the first human-made object to make contact with the Moon, intentionally crashing onto its surface. This event was a major milestone in the Space Race.
Bashir Gemayel, the newly elected President of Lebanon, was assassinated by a bomb explosion at his party's headquarters in Beirut. His death triggered the Sabra and Shatila massacre and further destabilized Lebanon.
Microsoft launched the Windows Millennium Edition (ME) operating system for home users. It was notable for its multimedia features but was widely criticized for stability issues and was the last DOS-based version of Windows.