James Hargreaves patented the spinning jenny, a multi-spindle frame that let one worker spin eight threads at once and helped ignite the Industrial Revolution.

A Boston jury acquitted six British soldiers of murder charges from the Boston Massacre, with defense lawyer John Adams arguing self-defense against a violent mob.

Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in Bonn, Germany, on this date, one day after his likely birth, beginning the life of history's most towering composer.