Today in History

Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president of South Africa.

Canada expels 11 Soviets in spying case.

The U.S. embassy in Moscow is stoned by Chinese and Vietnamese students.

The French destroy six Viet Minh war factories hidden in the jungles of Vietnam.

Actress Greta Garbo gets U.S. citizenship.

Stalin announces the new five-year plan for the Soviet Union, calling for production boosts of 50 percent.

Alice Walker, Pulitzer prize winning author (The Color Purple).

The Red Army takes back Kursk 15 months after it fell to the Germans.

Chiang Kai-shek meets with Sir Stafford Cripps, the British viceroy in India.

Brendan Behan, Irish playwright and poet (The Hostage, The Quare Fellow).

The U.S. Congress establishes the World War Foreign Debt Commission.

Conscription begins in Great Britain as the Military Service Act becomes effective.

Dean Rusk, Secretary of State under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Japanese troops land near Seoul, Korea, after disabling two Russian cruisers.