Today in History

1377		Richard II, who is still a child, begins his reign, following the death of his grandfather, Edward III. His coronation takes place July 16.
1558		The French take the French town of Thionville from the English.
1772		Slavery is outlawed in England.
1807		British seamen board the USS Chesapeake, a provocation leading to the War of 1812.
1864		Confederate General A. P. Hill turns back a Federal flanking movement at the Weldon Railroad near Petersburg, Virginia.
1876		General Alfred Terry sends Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer to the Rosebud and Little Bighorn rivers to search for Indian villages.
1910		German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich announces a definitive cure for syphilis.
1911		King George V of England is crowned.
1915		Austro-German forces occupy Lemberg on the Eastern Front as the Russians retreat.
1925		France and Spain agree to join forces against Abd el Krim in Morocco.
1930		A son is born to Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
1933		Adolf Hitler bans political parties in Germany other than the Nazis.
1938		Joe Louis floors Max Schmeling in the first round of the heavyweight bout at Yankee Stadium.
1940		France and Germany sign an armistice at Compiegne, on terms dictated by the Nazis.
1941		Under the code-name Barbarossa, Germany invades the Soviet Union.
1942		A Japanese submarine shells Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River.
1944		President Franklin Roosevelt signs the “GI Bill of Rights” to provide broad benefits for veterans of the war.
1956		The battle for Algiers begins as three buildings in The Casbah are blown up.
1970		Nixon signs the 26th amendment, lowering the voting age to 18.
1973		Skylab astronauts splash down safely in the Pacific after a record 28 days in space.
1980		The Soviet Union announces a partial withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan.
1981		Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon.
1995		Nigeria’s former military ruler Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo and his chief deputy are charged with conspiracy to overthrow Gen. Sani Abacha’s military government.