Quebec held a referendum on whether to begin negotiations with Canada to become independent.
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President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Acts into law.
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patented the first blue jeans with copper rivets.
The first Christian ecumenical council opens at Nicaea, Asia Minor. It was the first attempt to achieve agreement in the church.
After decades of failed attempts to reach the Indies, Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut, India.
Shakespeare's Sonnets were first published in London.
