Today in History

69		Defeated by Vitellius’ troops at Bedriacum, Otho commits suicide.
556		Pelagius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
1065		The Norman Robert Guiscard takes Bari, ending five centuries of Byzantine rule in southern Italy.
1705		Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton.
1746		Prince Charles is defeated at the Battle of Culloden, the last pitched battle fought in Britain.
1818		The U.S. Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot amendment to form an unarmed U.S.-Canada border.
1854		San Salvador is destroyed by an earthquake.
1862		Confederate President Jefferson Davis approves a conscription act for white males between 18 and 35.
1862		Slavery is abolished in the District of Columbia.
1917		Vladimir Lenin returns to Russia to start the Bolshevik Revolution.
1922		Annie Oakley shoots 100 clay targets in a row, setting a woman’s record.
1942		The Island of Malta is awarded the George Cross in recognition for heroism under constant German air attack. It was the first such award given to any part of the British Commonwealth.
1945		The destroyer USS Laffey survives horrific damage from attacks by 22 Japanese aircraft off Okinawa, earning the nickname “The Ship That Would Not Die.”
1945		American troops enter Nuremberg, Germany.
1947		A lens which provides zoom effects is demonstrated in New York City.
1968		The Pentagon announces the “Vietnamization” of the war.
1972		Two giants pandas arrive in the U.S. from China.