The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The United States Navy defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy in what military historian John Keegan has called "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare."

Ancient Egyptian pillows were wooden or stone headrests.

In 1492, Columbus sailed out of Palos de la Frontera on the Santa Maria. The two accompanying ships were named the Nina and the Pinta.

Ronald Reagan was a lifeguard during high school and saved 77 lives. Other Presidents with swimming backgrounds include John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, John Quincy Adams, and Teddy Roosevelt.

Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Prince Arthur, heir apparent to the English throne. They married in 1501, and Arthur died five months later.

Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who, along with the Gauls Crixus, Oenomaus, Castus and Gannicus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.

A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the United Nations was established after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states.

When Louis XVI ascended to the throne upon the death of his grandfather Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette became Queen of France.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 which became the first artificial Earth satellite. This surprise success triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War.

In 1838, General Antonio López de Santa Anna had part of his leg amputated after it was destroyed by canon-fire. He ordered a full military burial for the lost limb.