Today in History

357		Julian Caesar defeats the Alamanni at Strasbourg in Gaul.
1346		Edward III of England defeats Philip VI’s army at the Battle of Crecy in France.
1758		The Prussian army defeats the invading Russians at the Battle of Zorndorf.
1765		In protest over the stamp tax, American colonists sack and burn the home of Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson.
1830		The “Tom Thumb” steam locomotive runs its famous race with a horse-drawn car. The horse wins because the engine, which had been ahead, breaks down.
1862		Union and Confederate troops skirmish at Waterloo Bridge, Virginia, during the Second Bull Run Campaign.
1864		Confederate General A.P. Hill pushes back Union General Winfield Scott Hancock from Reams Station where his army has spent several days destroying railroad tracks.
1875		“Captain” Matthew Webb becomes the first man to swim across the English Channel.
1916		The National Park Service is established as part of the Department of the Interior.
1921		The United States, which never ratified the Versailles Treaty ending World War I, finally signs a peace treaty with Germany.
1925		A. Phillip Randolph organizes the Sleeping Car Porters’ Union.
1940		The first parachute wedding ceremony is performed by Rev. Homer Tomlinson at the New York City World’s Fair for Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward. The minister, bride and groom, best man, maid of honor and four musicians were all suspended from parachutes.
1941		British and Soviet forces enter Iran, opening up a route to supply the Soviet Union.
1943		The Allies complete the occupation of New Georgia.
1944		Paris is liberated from German occupation by Free French Forces under General Jacques LeClerc.
1948		The House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing.
1950		President Harry Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike.
1980		Zimbabwe joins the United Nations.
1981		Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.
1989		NASA scientists receive stunning photographs of Neptune and its moons from Voyager 2.
1989		Mayumi Moriyama, formerly head of Japan’s Environmental Agency, becomes Japan’s first female cabinet secretary
1991		The Airbus A340 makes its first flight.
1991		Belarus gains independence from the USSR.
1991		Croatian War of Independence: Battle of Vukovar begins, an 87-day siege of a Croatian city by the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), supported by various Serbian paramilitary forces.
2012		Severe flooding in Burma.