Today in History

1687		The French explorer La Salle is murdered by his own men while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
1702		On the death of William III of Orange, Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeds to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1822		Boston is incorporated as a city.
1879		Jim Currie opens fire on the actors Maurice Barrymore and Ben Porter near Marshall, Texas. His shots wound Barrymore and kill Porter.
1903		The U.S. Senate ratifies the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
1916		The First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, NM to join Gen. John J. Pershing and his Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico.
1917		The Adamson Act, eight hour day for railroad workers, is ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1918		Congress authorizes Daylight Savings Time.
1920		The U.S. Senate rejects the Versailles Treaty for the second time.
1924		U.S. troops are rushed to Tegucigalpa as rebel forces take the Honduran capital.
1931		The state of Nevada legalizes gambling.
1935		The British fire on 20,000 Muslims in India, killing 23.
1936		The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
1944		The German 352nd Infantry Division deploys along the coast of France.
1945		Adolf Hitler orders a scorched-earth policy for his retreating German armies in the west and east.
1947		Chiang Kai-Shek’s government forces take control of Yenan, the former headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party.
1949		The Soviet People’s Council signs the constitution of the German Democratic Republic, and declares that the North Atlantic Treaty is merely a war weapon.
1963		In Costa Rica, President John F. Kennedy and six Latin American presidents pledge to fight Communism.
1977		Congo President Marien Ngouabi is killed by a suicide commando.
1981		One technician is killed and two others are injured during a routine test on space shuttle Columbia.