Today in History

54		Nero succeeds his great uncle Claudius, who was murdered by his wife, as the new emperor of Rome.
1307		Members of the Knights of Templar are arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the order of King Philip the Fair of France.
1399		Henry IV of England is crowned.
1670		Virginia passes a law that blacks arriving in the colonies as Christians cannot be used as slaves.
1775		The Continental Congress authorizes construction of two warships, thus instituting an American naval force.
1776		Benedict Arnold is defeated at Lake Champlain.
1792		President George Washington lays the cornerstone for the White House.
1812		At the Battle of Queenston Heights, a Canadian and British army defeats the American who have tried to invade Canada.
1849		The California state constitution, which prohibits slavery, is signed in Monterey.
1903		Boston defeats Pittsburgh in baseball's first World Series.
1904		Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published.
1942		In the first of four attacks, two Japanese battleships sail down the slot and shell Henderson field on Guadalcanal, in an unsuccessful effort to destroy the American Cactus Air Force.
1943		Italy declares war on Germany.
1944		Troops of the advancing Soviet Army occupy Riga, capital of Latvia.
1946		The Fourth Republic begins in France; will continue to 1958.
1958		First appearance of Paddington Bear, now a beloved icon of children's literature.
1967		First game of the fledgling American Basketball Association; Oakland Oaks beat Anaheim Amigos 134-129 in Oakland, Cal.
1972		Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes Mountains, near the Argentina-Chile border; only 16 survivors (out of 45 people aboard) are rescued on Dec. 23.
1976		Dr. F.A. Murphy at Center for Disease Control obtains the first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle.
1983		The Space Shuttle Challenger, carrying seven, the largest crew to date, lands safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
1990		The Lebanese Civil War ends when a Syrian attack removes Gen. Michel Aoun from power.
2010		After being underground for a record 69 days, all 33 miners trapped in a Copiapo, Chile, mine are rescued.