Today in History

Millions of Americans watch former football player O.J. Simpson–facing murder charges–drive his Ford Bronco through Los Angeles, followed by police.

Five men are arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

North Vietnamese troops cut the last operating rail line in Cambodia.

27 B-52s hit Viet Cong outposts, but lose two planes in South Vietnam.

The U.S. Supreme Court bans the required reading of the Lord’s prayer and Bible in public schools.

Soviet tanks fight thousands of Berlin workers rioting against the East German government.

Surgeon Richard Lawler performs the first kidney transplant operation in Chicago.

French troops land on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.

Rod Padgett, poet.

The Soviet Union occupies Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

The U.S. Senate defeats the Bonus Bill as 10,000 veterans mass around the Capitol.

British authorities in China arrest Indochinese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh.

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill becomes law, placing the highest tariff on imports to the United States.

Spain threatens to quit the League of Nations if Germany is allowed to join.

The Fascist militia marches into Rome.

The Russian Duma meets in secret session in Petrograd and votes for an immediate Russian offensive against the German Army.

John Hersey, novelist and journalist (Men on Bataan, Hiroshima).

U.S. Marines set sail from San Diego to protect American interests in Mexico.

The German Zeppelin SZ 111 burns in its hangar in Friedrichshafen.

Igor Stravinsky, Russian-born U.S. composer (The Rite of Spring, The Firebird).

Carl Van Vechten, writer.

General George Crook‘s command is attacked and bested on the Rosebud River by 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Crazy Horse.

George M. Hoover begins selling whiskey in Dodge City, Kansas–a town which had previously been “dry.”

James Weldon Johnson, African-American poet and novelist (The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man).

On the way to Gettysburg, Union and Confederate forces skirmish at Point of Rocks, Maryland.

President Abraham Lincoln witnesses Dr. Thaddeus Lowe demonstrate the use of a hot-air balloon.

The Republican Party opens its first national convention in Philadelphia.

The Red Turban revolt breaks out in Guangdong, China.

Austrian General Alfred Windisch-Gratz crushes a Czech uprising in Prague.

Napoleon Bonaparte incorporates Italy into his empire.

The British take Bunker Hill outside of Boston, after a costly battle.

William Hooper, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

John Wesley, English evangelist and theologian, founder of the Methodist movement.

Sir Francis Drake claims San Francisco Bay for England.

Edward I (Longshanks), King of England (1272-1307).

Emperor Julian issues an edict banning Christians from teaching in Syria.