Today in History

A truck bomb explodes in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

The FBI ends a 51-day siege by storming the Branch Davidian religious cult headquarters in Waco, Texas.

The battleship USS Iowa‘s number 2 turret explodes, killing sailors.

NASA names Sally Ride to be the first woman astronaut.

Alex Haley receives a special Pulitzer Prize for his book Roots.

Russia launches its first Salyut space station.

Baseball uniforms begin displaying player’s names on their backs.

The Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi rule begins.

Connecticut finally approves the Bill of Rights.

General Francisco Franco declares victory in the Spanish Civil War.

Shirley Temple appears in her first movie.

Etheridge Knight, poet.

In China, Hankow communists declare war on Chiang Kai-shek.

Glenn T. Seaborg, physicist.

Tom Hopkinson, British writer.