On this day in 1814, First Lady Dolley Madison helped save a portrait of George Washington from being destroyed by British troops during the War of 1812.

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On this day in 1762, Ann Smith Franklin became the sole editor and publisher of the Newport Mercury newspaper. 

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On this day in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosted its inaugural auto race. 

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On this day in 1227, notorious warlord Genghis Khan died from unknown causes during the conquest of the Chinese kingdom of Xi Xia.

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On this day in 1962, eighteen-year-old Peter Fechter was gunned down by East German border guards while attempting to climb over the Berlin Wall.

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On this day in 1898, inventor and mechanic Edwin Prescott was granted the first patent for a vertical loop roller coaster.

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On this day in 1057, Malcolm Canmore avenged his father’s death by slaying King Macbeth of Scotland at the Battle of Lumphanan.

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On this day in 1990, fossil hunters in South Dakota uncovered the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever found.

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On this day in 1866, James Plimpton opened the first public roller skating rink in the United States.

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On this day in 1846, thanks to an unusual bequest from British scientist James Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution was established in the United States.

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