Today in History
Today in History
1556 Henry II of France and Philip of Spain sign the truce of Vaucelles.
1631 A ship from Bristol, the Lyon, arrives with provisions for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1762 Martinique, a major French base in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, surrenders to the British.
1783 Sweden recognizes U.S. independence.
1846 The first Pacific Coast newspaper, Oregon Spectator, is published.
1864 Federal forces occupy Jackson, Miss.
1865 The three-day Battle of Hatcher’s Run, Va., begins.
1900 The United States and Great Britain sign the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, giving the United States the right to build a canal in Nicaragua but not to fortify it.
1917 U.S. Congress nullifies President Woordrow Wilson‘s veto of the Immigration Act; literacy tests are required.
1918 The Soviets proclaim separation of church and state.
1922 The Reader’s Digest begins publication in New York.
1922 William Larned’s steel-framed tennis racquet gets its first test.
1945 American and French troops destroy German forces in the Colmar Pocket in France.
1947 The Soviet Union and Great Britain reject terms for an American trusteeship over Japanese Pacific Isles.
1952 New York adopts three-colored traffic lights.
1961 The Soviets launch Sputnik V, the heaviest satellite to date at 7.1 tons.
1968 U.S. troops divide Viet Cong at Hue while the Saigon government claims they will arm loyal citizens.
1971 Two Apollo 14 astronauts walk on the moon.
1972 It is reported that the United States has agreed to sell 42 F-4 Phantom jets to Israel.
1985 U.S. halts a loan to Chile in protest over human rights abuses.
Born
1723 John Witherspoon, Declaration of Independence signer.
1788 Sir Robert Peel, British prime minister.
1837 Dwight L. Moody, evangelist, founder of the Moody Bible Institute.
1848 Belle Starr, Western outlaw.
1872 Lafayette Benedict Mendel, biochemist.
1898 Ralph McGill, editor and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution.
1900 Adlai E. Stevenson II, Illinois governor and presidential candidate.
1914 Sir Alan Hodgin, English physiologist and biophysicist.
1915 Robert Hofstadter, physicist who won the Nobel prize in 1961 for his studies of neutrons and protons.
1926 Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, longtime New York Times publisher.
1934 Hank Aaron, American hall of fame baseball player.
1938 John Guare, playwright (The House of Blue Leaves).
History
