Events Pre-1600 1091 – Battle of Levounion: The Pechenegs are defeated by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. 1386 – Battle of the Vikhra River: The Principality of Smolensk is defeated by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and becomes its vassal. 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans. 1483 – Gran Canaria, the main island of the Canary Islands, is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile. 1521 – Swedish War of Liberation: Swedish troops defeat a Danish force in the Battle of Västerås. 1601–1900 1624 – French king Louis XIII names Cardinal Richelieu chief minister of France. 1760 – French forces commence the siege of Quebec which is held by the British. 1770 – James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique. 1826 – The galaxy Centaurus A or NGC 5128 is discovered by James Dunlop. 1852 – Roget's Thesaurus, created by Peter Roget, was released to the public. 1861 – Maryland in the American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union. 1862 – American Civil War: The Capture of New Orleans by Union forces under David Farragut. 1864 – Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the only fraternity to be founded during the American Civil War. 1901–present 1903 – A landslide kills 70 people in Frank, in the District of Alberta, Canada. 1910 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public. 1911 – Tsinghua University, one of mainland China's leading universities, is founded. 1916 – World War I: The UK's 6th Indian Division surrenders to Ottoman Forces at the Siege of Kut in one of the largest surrenders of British forces up to that point. 1916 – Easter Rising: After six days of fighting, Irish rebel leaders surrender to British forces in Dublin, bringing the Easter Rising to an end. 1944 – World War II: New Zealand-born SOE agent Nancy Wake, a leading figure in the French Resistance and the Gestapo's most wanted person, parachutes back into France to be a liaison between London and the local maquis group. 1945 – World War II: The Surrender of Caserta is signed by the