1199 Richard the Lionheart of England is hit in the shoulder by a crossbow bolt. Richard had laid siege to a castle in France either because of a feudal quarrel with the Viscount of Limoges or because a treasure trove was supposedly on the domain. This tawdry skirmish resulted in a wound that turned gangrenous and would kill him. Conflicting stories are told about the boy who shot him after he was taken prisoner – he was either pardoned and sent off with a reward by Richard or he was skinned alive by Richard’s angry men.
1401 Mongols sack Baghdad. The second great wave of Mongol expansion began in central Asia led by Timur (aka Tamerlane) and swept almost to the Mediterranean. On the way Timur besieged Baghdad for 40 days and on capturing it killed everyone in the city except for Muslim clergy.
1603 Tokugawa leyasu begins the Tokugawa Shogunate, an isolationist dynasty that crushed high-ranking provincial lords, nearly exterminated Japanese Christianity, and forbade contact with the outside world. It will end only in the mid-19th century when the American navy forces open the country to foreign trade and diplomacy.
1989 The tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska and spills 240,000 barrels of crude oil. This ecological disaster did much to advance the cause of environmental activism and new mandates for maritime safety.