1846
President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico looms.
1900
To combat Czech nationalism, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary decrees German the official language of the Imperial Army.
1943
General Leclerc's Free French forces merge with the British under Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery in Libya.
1955
Chase National and the Bank of Manhattan agree to merge resulting in the second largest U.S. bank.
1980
The United States offers Pakistan a two-year aid plan to counter the Soviet threat in Afghanistan.
1982
Air Florida Flight 90 Boeing 737 jet crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge shortly after takeoff, then plunges into the Potomac River; 78 people, including 4 motorists, are killed.
1990
In Virginia, Douglas Wilder, the first African American elected governor of a US state, takes office.