Today in History

1804   Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of France in Notre Dame Cathedral.  
1805   Napoleon Bonaparte celebrates the first anniversary of his coronation with a victory at Austerlitz over a Russian and Austrian army.
1823   President James Monroe proclaims the principles known as the Monroe Doctrine, "that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European powers."  
1863   General Braxton Bragg turns over command of the Army of Tennessee to General William Hardee at Dalton, Ga.  
1864   Major General Grenville M. Dodge is named to replace General William Rosecrans as Commander of the Department of Missouri.  
1867   People wait in mile-long lines to hear Charles Dickens give his first reading in New York City.
1907   Spain and France agree to enforce Moroccan measures adopted in 1906.  
1909   J.P. Morgan acquires majority holdings in Equitable Life Co. This is the largest concentration of bank power to date.  
1914   Austrian troops occupy Belgrade, Serbia.  
1918   Armenia proclaims independence from Turkey.
1921   The first successful helium dirigible, C-7, makes a test flight in Portsmouth, Va.
1927   The new Ford Model A is introduced to the American public.
1932   Bolivia accepts Paraguay's terms for a truce in the Chaco War.  
1942   The Allies repel a strong Axis attack in Tunisia, North Africa.  
1944   General George S. Patton's troops enter the Saar Valley and break through the Siegfried line.  
1946   The United States and Great Britain merge their German occupation zones.  
1964   Brazil sends Juan Peron back to Spain, foiling his efforts to return to his native land.  
1970   The U.S. Senate votes to give 48,000 acres of New Mexico back to the Taos Indians.  
1980   A death squad in El Salvador murders four US nuns and churchwomen.  
1982   Dentist Barney Clark receives the first permanent artificial heart, developed by Dr. Robert K. Jarvik.
1993   NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavor on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.  
1999   UK devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive, the administrative branch of the North Ireland legislature.  
2001   Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, one of the most complex bankruptcy cases in US history.