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.  
1974   Patty Hearst is kidnapped at gunpoint.  
1985   U.S. halts a loan to Chile in protest over human rights abuses.