On This Day: February 22nd

British customs officer Ebenezer Richardson fires blindly into a crowd during a protest in North End, Boston, fatally wounding 11-year-old Christopher Seider; the first American fatality of the American Revolution.

War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.

St. Peter's Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.

Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.

King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.

Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.

The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.

The Franciscan Girolamo Maschi is elected pope, choosing the name Nicholas IV.

Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14-20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

Pope Formosus crowns Arnulf of Carinthia as Emperor in Rome. Arnulf suffers a stroke soon after and retreats from Italy.