Today in History

1246   Henry Raspe is elected anti-king by the Rhenish prelates in France.  
1455   King Henry VI is taken prisoner by the Yorkists at the Battle of St. Albans, during the War of the Roses.  
1804   The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.  
1856   U.S. Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane for Sumner's earlier condemnation of slavery, which included an insult to Brooks' cousin, Senator Andrew Butler.  
1863   Union General Ulysses S. Grant's second attack on Vicksburg fails and a siege begins.  
1868   The "Great Train Robbery" takes place as seven members of the Reno Gang make off with $98,000 in cash from a train's safe in Indiana.  
1872   The Amnesty Act restores civil rights to Southerners.  
1882   The United States formally recognizes Korea.
1908   The Wright brothers register their flying machine for a U.S. patent.  
1939   Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini sign a "Pact of Steel" forming the Axis powers.  
1947   The Truman Doctrine brings aid to Turkey and Greece.  
1967   The children's program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood premiers.  
1972   Ceylon becomes the Republic of Sri Lanka as its constitution is ratified.  
1985   Baseball player Pete Rose passes Hank Aaron as National League run scoring leader with 2,108.  
1987   An Iraqi missile hits the American frigate USS Stark in the Persian Gulf.  
1990   In the Middle East, North and South Yemen merge to become a single state.