Today in History

1789		The National Guard is created in France.
1812		The last remnants of Napoleon Bonaparte‘s Grand Armeé reach the safety of Kovno, Poland, after the failed Russian campaign.
1814		General Andrew Jackson announces martial law in New Orleans, Louisiana, as British troops disembark at Lake Borne, 40 miles east of the city.
1862		Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats Union Major General Ambrose Burnside at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia. A witness will later describe the battle to President Abraham Lincoln as a “butchery.”
1902		The Committee of Imperial Defense holds its first meeting in London.
1908		The Dutch take two Venezuelan Coast Guard ships.
1937		The Japanese army occupies Nanking, China.
1940		Adolf Hitler issues preparations for Operation Marita, the German invasion of Greece.
1941		British forces launch an offensive in Libya.
1945		France and Britain agree to quit Syria and Lebanon.
1951		After meeting with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, President Harry S. Truman vows to purge all disloyal government workers.
1968		President Lyndon B. Johnson and Mexico’s President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz meet on a bridge at El Paso, Texas, to officiate at ceremonies returning the long-disputed El Chamizal area to the Mexican side of the border.
1972		Astronaut Gene Cernan climbs into his lunar lander on the moon and prepares to lift off. He is the last man to set foot on the moon.
1973		Great Britain cuts the work week to three days to save energy.
1981		Polish labor leader Lech Walesa is arrested and the government decrees martial law, restricting civil rights and suspending operation of the independent trade union Solidarity.
1985		France sues the United States over the discovery of an AIDS serum.
2001		Terrorists attack the Parliament of India Sansad; 15 people are killed, including the terrorists
2003		Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured; he is found hiding near his home town of Tikrit.