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Our on this day in history archives contain over 200,000 events, birthdays and deaths from 6,000 years of history. Here is a roundup of a few of them:

HISTORICAL EVENTS

1027 - John XIX crowns Conrad II Holy Roman Emperor, founder of the Salian dynasty

1812 - Earthquake destroys 90% of Caracas, Venezuela; about 20,000 die

1871 - Paris Commune founded

1909 - In support of Mohammed Ali Shah's coup d'etat against the constitutional government in Persia, a Russian military force invades northern Persia to relieve the siege of Tabriz

1942 - First "Eichmann transport" to Auschwitz & Birkenau concentration camps

1945 - Iwo Jima occupied, after 18,000 Japanese & 6,000 Americans killed

1953 – Dr. Jonas Salk announces vaccine to prevent polio

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