Today in History

1248		The city of Seville, France, surrenders to Ferdinand III of Castile after a two-year siege.
1785		John Hancock is elected president of the Continental Congress for the second time.
1863		Union forces win the Battle of Orchard Knob, Tennessee.
1863		The Battle of Chattanooga, one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War, begins (also in Tennessee).
1903		Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his American debut in a Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi's Rigoletto.
1904		Russo-German talks break down because of Russia's insistence to consult France.
1909		The Wright brothers form a million-dollar corporation for the commercial manufacture of their airplanes.
1921		President Warren G. Harding signs the Willis Campell Act, better known as the anti-beer bill. It forbids doctors to prescribe beer or liquor for medicinal purposes.
1933		President Franklin D. Roosevelt recalls the American ambassador from Havana, Cuba, and urges stability in the island nation.
1934		The United States and Great Britain agree on a 5-5-3 naval ratio, with both countries allowed to build five million tons of naval ships while Japan can only build three. Japan will denounce the treaty.
1936		The United States abandons the American embassy in Madrid, Spain, which is engulfed by civil war.
1941		U.S. troops move into Dutch Guiana to guard the bauxite mines.
1942		The film Casablanca premieres in New York City.
1943		U.S. Marines declare the island of Tarawa secure.
1945		Wartime meat and butter rationing ends in the United States.
1953		North Korea signs 10-year aid pact with Peking.
1968		Four men hijack an American plane, with 87 passengers, from Miami to Cuba.
1980		In Europe's biggest earthquake since 1915, 3,000 people are killed in Italy.