Events Pre-1600 476 – Romulus Augustulus is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thus ending the Western Roman Empire. 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne over the Tang dynasty of China. 929 – Battle of Lenzen: Slavic forces (the Redarii and the Obotrites) are defeated by a Saxon army near the fortified stronghold of Lenzen in Brandenburg. 1260 – The Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of Manfred, King of Sicily, defeat the Florentine Guelphs at Montaperti. 1282 – Peter III of Aragon becomes the King of Sicily. 1479 – The Treaty of Alcáçovas is signed by the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal. 1601–1900 1607 – The Flight of the Earls takes place in Ireland. 1666 – In London, England, the most destructive damage from the Great Fire occurs. 1774 – New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook. 1781 – Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels) by 44 Spanish settlers. 1797 – Coup of 18 Fructidor in France. 1800 – The French garrison in Valletta surrenders to British troops who had been called at the invitation of the Maltese. The islands of Malta and Gozo become the Malta Protectorate. 1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire. 1827 – The Great Fire of Turku almost completely destroys Finland's former capital city. 1839 – Battle of Kowloon: British vessels open fire on Chinese war junks enforcing a food sales embargo on the British community in China in the first armed conflict of the First Opium War. 1862 – American Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North. 1867 – Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are founded at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield becoming one of the first football clubs in the world. 1870 – Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared. 1882 – The Pearl Street Station in New York City becomes the first power plant to supply electricity to paying customers. 1886 – American Indian Wars: After almost 30 years of fighting,