On this day:
1815: Napoleon suffers a shattering defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
1940: A speech by Charles de Gaulle sparks the French Resistance to German occupation
Born on this day:
1929: Jürgen Habermas, German sociologist, philosopher
Gone on this day:
1858: Rani Lakshmibai, queen of Jhansi in North India, one of the leading figures of the Indian rebellion of 1857