Events Pre-1600 217 – Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. 1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Innocent II for supporting Anacletus II as pope for seven years, even though Roger had already publicly recognized Innocent's claim to the papacy. 1232 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty. 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur. 1271 – In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers. 1601–1900 1605 – The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden. 1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in continental North America, is dedicated. 1812 – Czar Alexander I, the Russian Emperor and the Grand Duke of Finland, officially announces the transfer of the status of the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki. 1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos. 1832 – Black Hawk War: Around 300 United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans. 1866 – Austro-Prussian War: Italy and Prussia sign a secret alliance against the Austrian Empire. 1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons. 1895 – In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional. 1901–present 1904 – The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale. 1906 – Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, dies. 1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School. 1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity. 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law. 1918 – World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City's financial district. 1924 – Sharia courts are abolished in Turkey, as part of Atatürk's Reforms. 1929 – Indian independence movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest. 1935 – The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency