Today in History

Eris, largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System is discovered in images taken Oct. 21, 2003, at Palomar Observatory.

The South Ossetia War (1991-92) begins as Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, Georgia.

A Federal judge voids a state law requiring balanced classroom treatment of evolution and creationism.

Ohio officials approve an out-of-court settlement awarding $675,000 to the victims and families in the 1970 shootings at Kent State University, in which four students were killed and nine wounded by National Guard troops.

President Richard M. Nixon names Robert Dole as chairman of the Republican National Party.

President Richard M. Nixon appoints Henry Cabot Lodge as negotiator at the Paris Peace Talks.

U.S. forces in Vietnam launch Operation Niagara I to locate enemy units around the Marine base at Khe Sanh.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington to confer with President Harry S. Truman.

Inchon, South Korea, the site of General Douglas MacArthur’s amphibious flanking maneuver, is abandoned by United Nations force to the advancing Chinese Army.

Great Britain nationalizes its coal mines.

U.S. and Filipino troops complete their withdrawal to a new defensive line along the base of the Bataan peninsula.

Juan Carlos I, King of Spain.

Daggha Bur, Ethiopia, is bombed by the Italians.

Umberto Eco, Italian novelist (The Name of the Rose).

Walter Mondale, 42nd Vice President of the United States, Democratic presidential nominee who lost to Ronald Reagan in 1984, and Ambassador to Japan.

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is sworn in as the first woman governor in the United States.

The U.S. Senate debates the benefits of Peyote for the American Indian.

Wagner’s “Die Walkyrie” opens in Paris. This is the first German opera performed in Paris since the beginning of World War I.

GOP women demand equal representation at the Republican National Convention in June.

British ships shell the Bolshevik headquarters in Riga.

Bulgarian and German troops occupy the Port of Braila.

Henry Ford astounds the world as he announces that he will pay a minimum wage of $5 a day and will share with employees $10 million in the previous year’s profits.

American Marines arrive in Seoul, Korea, to guard the U.S. legation there.

Conrad Adenauer, first chancellor of post-World War II West Germany.

The merchant vessel Star of the West sets sail from New York to Fort Sumter, in response to rebel attack, carrying supplies and 250 troops.

Federalists from all over New England, angered over the War of 1812, draw up the Hartford Convention, demanding several important changes in the U.S. Constitution.

Stephen Decatur, American naval hero during actions against the Barbay pirates and the War of 1812.

Robert Francois Damiens makes an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate King Louis XV of France.

Swiss troops defeat the forces under Charles the Bold of Burgundy at the Battle of Nancy.