TODAY IN HISTORY

1282 – Prince Llywelyn (Llewelyn ap Gruffydd) was killed in Cilmeri, central Wales.

1719 – The first recorded sighting of the aurora borealis took place in New England.

1769 – Edward Beran of London patented venetian blinds.

1792 – France’s King Louis XVI went before the Convention, which had replaced the National Assembly, to face charges of treason. He was convicted and condemned and was sent to the guillotine the following January.

1816 – Indiana was admitted to the Union as the 19th American state.

1844 – Dr. Horace Wells became the first person to have a tooth extracted after receiving an anesthetic for the dental procedure. Nitrous Oxide, or laughing gas, was the anesthetic.

1872 – Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became America’s first black governor when he took office as acting governor of Louisiana.