1781: Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.
On this day in 1781, Britain's Lord Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington, commander of the American army, at Yorktown, Virginia, effectively ending the American Revolution and assuring America's independence.
| 1998: | | The antitrust trial against Microsoft Corporation brought by the U.S. government opened in Washington, D.C. |
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| 1987: | | The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 23 percent, the largest one-day drop in the stock market's history. |
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| 1897: | | | American industrialist George M. Pullman, inventor of the Pullman sleeping car used on railroads, died. |
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| 1864: | | Confederate soldiers based in Canada crossed into St. Albans, Vermont, and robbed three banks in order to agitate the Union during the American Civil War. |
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| 1812: | | Napoleon began his disastrous retreat from Russia. |
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