Today in History

337		Constantine’s three sons, already Caesars, each take the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans share the west while Constantius II takes control of the east.
1087		William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, dies in Rouen while conducting a war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat.
1513		King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by English at Flodden.
1585		Pope Sixtus V deprives Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown.
1776		The term “United States” is adopted by the Continental Congress to be used instead of the “United Colonies.”
1786		George Washington calls for the abolition of slavery.
1791		French Royalists take control of Arles and barricade themselves inside the town.
1834		Parliament passes the Municipal Corporations Act, reforming city and town governments in England.
1850		California, in the midst of a gold rush, enters the Union as the 31st state.
1863		The Union Army of the Cumberland passes through Chattanooga as they chase after the retreating Confederates. The Union troops will soon be repulsed at the Battle of Chickamauga.
1886		The Berne International Copyright Convention takes place.
1911		An airmail route opens between London and Windsor.
1915		A German zeppelin bombs London for the first time, causing little damage.
1926		The Radio Corporation of America creates the National Broadcasting Co.
1942		A Japanese float plane, launched from a submarine, makes its first bombing run on a U.S. forest near Brookings, Oregon.
1943		Allied troops land at Salerno, Italy and encounter strong resistance from German troops.
1948		Kim Il-sung declares the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
1956		Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; cameras focus on his upper torso and legs to avoid showing his pelvis gyrations, which many Americans—including Ed Sullivan—thought unfit for a family show.
1965		US Department of Housing and Urban Development established.
1965		Hurricane Betsy, the first hurricane to exceed $1 billion in damages (unadjusted), makes its second landfall, near New Orleans.
1969		Canada’s Official Languages Act takes effect, making French equal to English as a language within the nation’s government.
1970		U.S. Marines launch Operation Dubois Square, a 10-day search for North Vietnamese troops near Da Nang.
1971		Attica Prison Riot; the 4-day riot leaves 39 dead.
1976		Communist Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung dies in Beijing at age 82.
1990		Sri Lankan Army massacres 184 civilians of the Tamil minority in the Batticaloa District of Sri Lanka.
1991		Tajikistan declares independence from USSR.
1993		The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state.
2001		Two al Qaeda assassins kill Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.
2001		A car bomb explodes outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, killing 10 people.