Today in History

A private plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. is lost over the waters off Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Apollo 11 blasts off from Cape Kennedy, Florida, heading for a landing on the moon.

Pinchas Zukerman, violinist and conductor.

The United States detonates the first atomic bomb in a test at Alamogordo, N. M.

Soviet troops occupy Vilnius, Lithuania, in their drive towards Germany.

Dag Solstad, Norwegian novelist and playwright.

Adolf Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of England.

Anita Brookner, writer (Hotel du Lac).

Czar Nicholas and his family are murdered by Bolsheviks at Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Ginger Rogers, actress and dancer.

Barbara Stanwyck, actress.

Trygve Lie, first secretary-general of the United Nations.

Mary Todd Lincoln, the widow of Abraham Lincoln, dies of a stroke.

The new French constitution is finalized.

Ida Bell Wells, journalist.

Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science movement.

American troops under General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, N.Y.

Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainardji, ending their six-year war.

English Prime Minister Lord Grenville resigns and is replaced by Lord Rockingham.

Joshua Reynolds, British portrait painter.