Today in History

The British Army’s longest continual operation, Operation Banner (1969-2007), ends as British troops withdraw from Northern Ireland.

Fidel Castro temporarily hands over power to his brother Raul Castro.

NASA purposely crashes its Discovery Program’s Lunar Prospector into the moon, ending the agency’s mission to detect frozen water on Earth’s moon.

The US and the USSR sign a long-range nuclear weapons reduction pact.

Bosnia-Herzegovina declares independence from Yugoslavia.

Bridge collapse at Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal in Butterworth, Malaysia, kills 32 and injures more than 1,600.

An F4 tornado in Edmonton, Alberta kills 27 and causes $330 million in damages; the day is remembered as “Black Friday.”

Apollo 15 astronauts take a drive on the moon in their land rover.

J.K. Rowling, author (Harry Potter series).

Federation of Malaysia formally proposed.

Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player.

The Soviet army takes Kovno, the capital of Lithuania.

Adolf Hitler‘s Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazis) doubles its strength in legislative elections.

Horace Silver, jazz pianist, composer and bandleader.

Whitney Young, Jr., civil rights leader and executive director of the National Urban League.