Today in History

708		Constantine begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
1634		Lord Baltimore founds the Catholic colony of Maryland.
1655		Puritans jail Governor Stone after a military victory over Catholic forces in the colony of Maryland.
1668		The first horse race in America takes place.
1776		The Continental Congress authorizes a medal for General George Washington.
1807		British Parliament abolishes the slave trade.
1813		The frigate USS Essex flies the first U.S. flag in battle in the Pacific.
1865		Confederate forces capture Fort Stedman, during the siege of Petersburg, Va.
1879		Japan invades the kingdom of Liuqiu (Ryukyu) Islands, formerly a vassal of China.
1905		Rebel battle flags that were captured during the American Civil War are returned to the South.
1911		A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, a sweatshop in New York City, claims the lives of 146 workers.
1915		The first submarine disaster occurs when a U.S. F-4 sinks off the Hawaiian coast.
1919		The Paris Peace Commission adopts a plan to protect nations from the influx of foreign labor.
1931		Fifty people are killed in riots that break out in India. Mahatma Gandhi was one of many people assaulted.
1940		The United States agrees to give Britain and France access to all American warplanes.
1941		Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers.
1953		The USS Missouri fires on targets at Kojo, North Korea, the last time her guns fire until the Persian Gulf War of 1992.
1954		RCA manufactures its first color TV set and begins mass production.
1957		The European Common Market Treaty is signed in Rome. The goal is to create a common market for all products–especially coal and steel.
1965		Martin Luther King Jr. leads a group of 25,000 to the state capital in Montgomery, Ala.
1969		John Lennon and Yoko Ono stage a bed-in for peace in Amsterdam.
1970		The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight.
1975		Hue is lost and Da Nang is endangered by North Vietnamese forces. The United States orders a refugee airlift to remove those in danger.
1981		The U.S. Embassy in San Salvador is damaged when gunmen attack, firing rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.
1986		President Ronald Reagan orders emergency aid for the Honduran army. U.S. helicopters take Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border.