Today in History

1624		Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed.
1811		In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida.
1865		Union troops capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
1913		The first telephone line between Berlin and New York is inaugurated.
1919		Peasants in Central Russia rise against the Bolsheviks.
1920		The Dry Law goes into effect in the United States. Selling liquor and beer becomes illegal.
1920		The United States approves a $150 million loan to Poland, Austria and Armenia to aid in their war with the Russian communists.
1927		The Dumbarton Bridge opens in San Francisco carrying the first auto traffic across the bay.
1929		The U.S. Senate ratifies the Kellogg-Briand anti-war pact.
1930		Amelia Earhart sets an aviation record for women at 171 mph in a Lockheed Vega.
1936		In London, Japan quits all naval disarmament talks after being denied equality.
1944		The U.S. Fifth Army successfully breaks the German Winter Line in Italy with the capture of Mount Trocchio.
1949		Chinese Communists occupy Tientsin after a 27-hour battle with Nationalist forces.
1965		Sir Winston Churchill suffers a severe stroke.
1967		Some 462 Yale faculty members call for an end to the bombing in North Vietnam.
1973		US President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action by US troops in Vietnam.
1973		Four of six remaining Watergate defendants plead guilty.
1975		The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of independence and granting that country independence from Portugal.
1976		Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life in prison for her failed attempt to assassinate US President Gerald Ford.
1991		UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw its forces from occupied Kuwait passes, setting the stage for Operation Desert Storm.
1991		Britain's Queen Elizabeth II approves Australia instituting its own Victoria Cross honors system, the first county in the British Commonwealth permitted to do so.
1992		Slovenia and Croatia's independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is recognized by the international community.
2001		Wikipedia goes online.