Today in History

F-22 Raptor Stealth fighter enters active service with the US Air Force.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after an 11-year, $27 million project to fortify it without eliminating its famed lean.

The Downing Street Declaration, issued jointly by UK and the Republic of Ireland, affirms the UK would transfer Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland only if a majority of Northern Ireland’s people approved.

In what is often called the first modern suicide bombing, a suicide car bomb kills 61 people at the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon; Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon is among the casualties.

Adam Brody, actor (Gilmore Girls and The O.C. TV series).

US President Jimmy Carter announces the United States will recognize the People’s Republic of China and will sever all relations with Taiwan.

The oil tanker MV Argo Merchant causes one of the worst marine oil spills in history when it runs aground near Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The American Psychiatric Association votes to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders.

The Commonwealth of Australia orders equal pay for women.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the meat bill in the presence of Upton Sinclair, the author of the controversial book The Jungle.

The United States drops 12 tons of bombs on an industrial center near Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam.

Adolf Eichmann, the former German Gestapo official accused of a major role in the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews, is sentenced by a Jerusalem court to be hanged.

Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh sends a note to the new French Premier, Leon Blum, asking for peace talks.

The battle for Luzon begins.

U.S. forces invade Japanese-held New Britain Island in New Guinea.