Today in History

President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes the use of ground troops in combat operations.

German forces invade Greece and Yugoslavia.

The United States recognizes Nazi Germany’s conquest of Austria.

Merle Haggard, American country musician.

Andre Previn, pianist and conductor.

James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.

Gerry Mulligan, jazz saxophonist.

Four planes leave Seattle on the first successful flight around the world.

The United States declares war on Germany and enters World War I on Allied side.

Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first men to reach the North Pole.

W. Warrick Cardozo, physician, researcher of Sickle Cell Anemia.

French Army Nationalists are revealed to have forged documents to guarantee a conviction for Alfred Dreyfus.

The Modern Olympics begin in Athens with eight nations participating.

Lincoln Joseph Steffens, journalist.

At the Battle of Sailer’s Creek, a third of Lee‘s army is cut off by Union troops pursuing him to Appomattox.

Confederate forces attack General Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh, Tennessee.

Joseph Smith and five others organize the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Seneca, New York.

Granted sovereignty in the island of Elba and a pension from the French government, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates at Fontainebleau. He is allowed to keep the title of emperor.

The First U.S. Congress begins regular sessions at Federal Hall in New York City.

Sacagawea (also Sacajawea), American explorer.

Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), Italian painter (Sistine Madonna).

English King Richard I is killed by an arrow at the Siege of the Castle of Chalus in France.