Today in History

254		St. Stephen I begins his reign as catholic pope.
1588		King Henry III flees Paris after Henry of Guise triumphantly enters the city.
1641		The chief advisor to Charles I, Thomas Wentworth, is beheaded in the Tower of London
1780		The Continental Army surrenders Charleston, South Carolina, to British forces in its largest defeat of the Revolutionary War.
1851		The Tule River War ends.
1863		With a victory at the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi, Union General Ulysses S. Grant closes in on Vicksburg.
1864		Union General Benjamin Butler attacks Drewry’s Bluff on the James River.
1865		The last land battle of the Civil war occurs at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory.
1881		Tunisia, in North Africa becomes a French protectorate.
1885		In the Battle of Batoche, French Canadians rebel against the Canadian government.
1926		The Airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
1932		The body of Charles Lindbergh’s baby is found.
1935		Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio by “Bill W.,” a stockbroker, and “Dr. Bob S.,” a heart surgeon.
1940		The Nazi conquest of France begins with the crossing Musee River.
1942		The Soviet Army launches its first major offensive of the war, taking Kharkov in the eastern Ukraine.
1943		Axis forces in North Africa surrender.
1949		The Berlin Blockade ends.
1969		Viet Cong sappers try unsuccessfully to overrun Landing Zone Snoopy in Vietnam.
1975		The U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez is seized by Cambodian forces.