Today in History

Coach John Thompson of Georgetown University becomes the first African-American coach to win an NCAA basketball tournament.

Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States after a twenty-year absence.

Three-thousand South Vietnamese Army troops lead a protest against the Ky regime in Saigon.

President Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan. It will revive war-torn Europe.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that black citizens are eligible to vote in all elections, including primaries.

The Japanese begin their all-out assault on the U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan.

Bruno Hauptmann, killer of the Lindbergh baby, is executed.

Jane Goodall, British anthropologist, known for her work with African chimpanzees.

Helmut Kohl, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Doris Von Kappelhoff [Doris Day], American singer and actress.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre are married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Alaska’s Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America is climbed.

Henry R. Luce, magazine publisher, founder of Time, Fortune and Life.

Gertrude Bridget “Ma” Rainey, American singer, “the mother of the blues.”