Today in history

1491: Birth of Henry VIII, King of England who presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation.

• 1491: Birth of Henry VIII, King of England who presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation.

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• 1914: Charles I of Spain, who by birth already held sway over much of Europe and Spanish America, was elected the successor of his late grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Voltaire later famously described it as “neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire”.

• 1919: Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles with the Allies, officially ending World War I. The English economist John Maynard Keynes in his The Economic Consequences of the Peace strongly criticised the punitive agreement and predicted that the harsh terms imposed would lead to the financial collapse of Germany, which in turn would have serious economic and political repercussions on Europe and the world.

• 1969: The Stonewall riot outside the Stonewall Inn, a gay hangout in Greenwich Village began a series of violent conflicts between homosexuals and police officers in New York City. The riot is considered the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S. and worldwide. It is also regarded by many as history's first major protest on behalf of equal rights for homosexuals.

• 1997: Boxer Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting off part of the ear of his opponent Evander Holyfield.