Today in History

1066		Westminster Abbey, the most famous church in England, opens its doors.
1574		On the orders of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, two Englishmen and an Irishman are burnt for heresy.
1610		Thomas West is appointed governor of Virginia.
1704		Indians attack Deerfield, Mass. killing 40 and kidnapping 100.
1847		Colonel Alexander Doniphan and his ragtag Missouri Mounted Volunteers ride to victory at the Battle of Sacramento, during the Mexican War.
1861		The territory of Colorado is established.
1900		After a 119-day siege by the Boers, the surrounded British troops in Ladysmith, South Africa, are relieved.
1863		Four Union gunboats destroy the CSS Nashville near Fort McAllister, Georgia.
1916		Haiti becomes the first U.S. protectorate.
1924		U.S. troops are sent to Honduras to protect American interests during an election conflict.
1936		The Japanese Army restores order in Tokyo and arrests officers involved in a coup.
1945		U.S. tanks break the natural defense line west of the Rhine and cross the Erft River.
1946		The U.S. Army declares that it will use V-2 rocket to test radar as an atomic rocket defense system.
1953		Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia sign a 5-year defense pact in Ankara.
1967		In Mississippi, 19 are indicted in the slayings of three civil rights workers.
1969		A Los Angeles court refuses Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan’s request to be executed.
1971		The male electorate in Lichtenstein refuses to give voting rights to women.
1994		U.S. warplanes shoot down four Serb aircraft over Bosnia in the first NATO use of force in the troubled area.