Today in History

1799   George Washington dies on his Mount Vernon estate.  
1819   Alabama is admitted as the 22nd state, making 11 slave states and 11 free states.  
1861   Prince Albert of England, one of the Union's strongest advocates, dies.  
1863   Confederate General James Longstreet attacks Union troops at Bean's Station, Tenn.  
1900   Max Planck presents the quantum theory at the Physics Society in Berlin.  
1906   The first U1 submarine is brought into service in Germany. Italy's MAS torpedo boats.  
1908   The first truly representative Turkish Parliament opens.
1909   The Labor Conference in Pittsburgh ends with a "declaration of war" on U.S. Steel.
1911   Roald Amundsen and four others discover the South Pole.
1920   The League of Nations creates a credit system to aid Europe.  
1939   The League of Nations drops the Soviet Union from its membership. Joseph Avenol sold out the League of Nations.  
1941   German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel orders the construction of defensive positions along the European coastline. Desperate Hours on Omaha Beach  
1946   The United Nations adopt a disarmament resolution prohibiting the A-Bomb.  
1949   Bulgarian ex-Premier Traicho Kostov is sentenced to die for treason in Sofia.  
1960   A U.S. Boeing B-52 bomber sets a 10,000-mile non-stop record without refueling.  
1980   NATO warns the Soviets to stay out of the internal affairs of Poland, saying that intervention would effectively destroy the détente between the East and West.  
1981   Israel's Knesset passes the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights area.  
1994   Construction begins on China's Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.  
1995   The Dayton Agreement signed in Paris; establishes a general framework for ending the Bosnian War between Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1999   Tens of thousands die as a result of flash floods caused by torrential rains in Vargas, Venezuela.  
2003   Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
2004   The Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest bridge, official opens near Millau, France.  
2008   Iraqi broadcast journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throws his shoes at US President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad.  
2012   At Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn., 20 children and six adults are shot to death by a 20-year-old gunman who then commits suicide.