Today in History

President Reagan takes full responsibility for the Iran-Contra affair in a national address.

Queen Elizabeth II knights Charlie Chaplin.

Fifty-seven people are killed as the French submarine Eurydice sinks in the Mediterranean Sea.

Six people get the death sentence in Paris plotting to kill President Charles de Gaulle.

North Korea accuses the United nations of using germ warfare.

Berlin is bombed by the American forces for the first time.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated to his first term as president in Washington, D.C.

Miriam Makeba, South African singer.

Alan Sillitoe, novelist (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner).

Warren G. Harding is sworn in as America’s 29th President.

Doctor Fillatre of Paris, France successfully separates Siamese twins.

The French council of war unanimously votes a mandatory three-year military service.

The New York board of education bans the act of whipping students in school.

Ding Ling, Chinese writer and women’s rights activist.

Charles Goren, world expert on the game of bridge.

Knute Rockne, football player and coach for Notre Dame.

The Russian Imperial Ballet stages the first performance of “Swan Lake” in Moscow.

The Confederate States of America adopt the “Stars and Bars” flag.

Lady (Isabella Augusta) Gregory, Irish playwright, helped found the Abbey Theatre.

The Russians fighting against Napoleon reach Berlin. The French garrison evacuates the city without a fight.

Thomas Jefferson becomes the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.

Vice-President John Adams, elected President on December 7, to replace George Washington, is sworn in.

George Washington is inaugurated as President for the second time.

Vermont is admitted as the 14th state. It is the first addition to the original 13 colonies.

The first Congress of the United States meets in New York and declares that the Constitution is in effect.

The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, the cause of bitter and violent opposition in the colonies

Casimir Pulaski, American Revolutionary War general.

Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer and violinist.

Samuel Cole opens the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts.

Henry VI is deposed and the Duke of York is proclaimed King Edward IV.

Prince Henry the Navigator, sponsor of Portuguese voyages of discovery

Frederick Barbarossa is chosen as emperor and unites the two factions, which emerged in Germany after the death of Henry V.