Today in History

The Army of Morocco executes 10 leaders accused of leading a revolt.

In Geneva, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and France reach an accord on Indochina, dividing Vietnam into two countries, North and South, along the 17th parallel.

Britain and the Soviet Union sign a mutual aid pact, providing the means for Britain to send war materiel to the Soviet Union.

Frank Sinatra records his first song, “From the Bottom of My Heart,” with the Harry James Band.

Jack Kemp, football player, politician.

Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian playwright.

David Storey, English novelist (The Sporting Life).

Robert N.C. Nix, Jr., first African-American chief justice of a state supreme court.

Edward J. Flanagan, Catholic priest, founder of Boys’ Town.

The Congress of Berlin divides the Balkans among European powers.

The Great Eastern begins a two week voyage to complete a 12-year effort to lay telegraph cable across the Atlantic between Britain and the United States.

Opponents of the draft begin three days of rioting in New York City.

Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats a Union army at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Henry Schoolcraft discovers the source of the Mississippi River in Minnesota.

English poet William Wordsworth visits the ruins of Tintern Abbey.

John Clare, English poet.

Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, enacts the Northwest Ordinance, establishing rules for governing the Northwest Territory, for admitting new states to the Union and limiting the expansion of slavery.

George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to the French, leaving them in control of the Ohio Valley.

In England, the Roundheads, led by Sir William Waller, are defeated by Royalist troops under Lord Wilmot in the Battle of Roundway Down.

A group of 108 English colonists, led by Sir Richard Grenville, reaches Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

Led by the Count of Egmont, the Spanish army defeats the French at Gravelines, France.

Ottoman armies capture Tabriz in northwestern Persia.

The Crusaders launch their final assault on Jerusalem.