Today in History

Today in History

495 Pope Gelasius asserts that his authority is superior to Emperor Anastasius.

1568 French forces in Florida slaughter hundreds of Spanish.

1855 Macon B. Allen becomes the first African American to be admitted to the Bar in Massachusetts.

1859 France declares war on Austria.

1863 The Battle of Chancellorsville rages for a second day.

1865 President Abraham Lincoln‘s funeral train arrives in Springfield, Illinois.

1926 U.S. Marines land in Nicaragua.

1952 The first airplane lands at the geographic North Pole.

1968 After three days of battle, the U.S. Marines retake Dai Do complex in Vietnam, only to find the North Vietnamese have evacuated the area.

1971 James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King Jr.‘s assassin, is caught in a jail break attempt.

1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman prime minister of Great Britain.

1982 A British submarine sinks Argentina’s only cruiser during the Falkland Islands War.

Born

1469 Niccolo Machiavelli, political advisor and writer (The Prince).

1849 Jacob Riis, American reformer (How the Other Half Lives).

1898 Golda Meir, Fourth Prime Minister of Israel

(1969-1974).

1903 Bing [Harry Lillis] Crosby, singer and actor. Various dates given for his birth date.

1912 May Sarton, poet and writer.

1913 William Inge, American playwright (Picnic, Bus Stop).

1919 Betty Comden, lyricist.

1919 Pete Seeger, folksinger and songwriter.

1920 John Lewis, jazz pianist.

1920 Walker Smith, Jr. (Sugar Ray Robinson), champion middleweight boxer.

1933 James Brown, American singer and songwriter.

History