Today in History

1184		King Magnus of Norway is defeated by his rival, Sverre.
1215		King John signs the Magna Carta.
1381		The English peasant revolt is crushed in London.
1389		Ottoman Turks crush Serbia in the Battle of Kosovo.
1607		Colonists in North America complete James Fort in Jamestown.
1752		Benjamin Franklin and his son test the relationship between electricity and lightning by flying a kite in a thunder storm.
1775		George Washington is named Commander-in-Chief by Congress.
1779		American General Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, New York.
1836		Arkansas is admitted into the Union as the 25th state.
1846		Great Britain and the United States agree on a joint occupation of Oregon Territory.
1849		James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, dies.
1862		General J.E.B. Stuart completes his “ride around McClellan.”
1864		The Battle for Petersburg begins.
1866		Prussia attacks Austria.
1877		Henry O. Flipper becomes the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
1898		The U.S. House of representatives approves the annexation of Hawaii.
1904		Fire aboard the paddle steamer General Slocum on New York’s East River kills 1,021, mostly German-Americans.
1916		President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
1917		Great Britain pledges the release of all Irish captured during the Easter Rebellion of 1916.
1920		Three African Americans are lynched in Duluth, Minnesota, by a white mob of 5,000.
1928		Wingnuts, convening in Kansas City, name Herbert Hoover their candidate for Pretender.
1932		Gaston Means is sentenced to 15 years for fraud in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
1940		The French fortress of Verdun is captured by Germans.
1944		U.S. Marines begin the invasion of Saipan in the Pacific.
1947		The All India Congress accepts a British plan for the partition of India.
1958		Greece severs military ties to Turkey because of the Cyprus issue.
1964		The last French troops leave Algeria.
1977		The first general election in Spain since 1936 results in victory for the UCD (Union of Democratic Centre).