Today in History

The movie Star Wars debuts.

Apollo 10 returns to Earth.

A U.S. Air Force bomber flies across the Atlantic in a record of just over three hours.

Union Square, San Francisco, becomes a state historical landmark.

Sally Ride, astronaut, the first American woman in space.

A patent is filed in the United States for the H-bomb.

The evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk begins.

The House Committee on Un-American Activities begins its work of searching for subversives in the United States.

James Arness, actor (Gunsmoke).

Peggy Lee, jazz singer.

Jay Silverheels, actor (The Lone Ranger).

John Wayne [Marion Michael Morrison], American actor and film icon.

Estes Kefauver, Tennessee senator.

The last czar of Russia, Nicholas II, is crowned.

Dorothea Lange, documentary photographer.

Al Jolson, jazz singer and film actor.

Mamie Smith, blues singer.

President Andrew Johnson is acquitted of all charges of impeachment.

The last Confederate army surrenders in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The territory of Montana is organized.

Edward Porter Alexander, artillery general during the American Civil War.

The Russians defeat the Poles at the Battle of Ostroleka.

British and Chickasaw forces defeat the French at the Battle of Ackia.

Jacob Leisler, leader of the popular uprising in support of William and Mary’s succession to the throne, is executed for treason.

Charles II and Louis XIV sign a secret treaty in Dover, England, ending hostilities between England and France.

Abraham De Moivre, mathematician.

A new law bans Catholic priests from the colony of Massachusetts. The penalty is banishment or death for a second offense.

William of Ockham is forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII.

Germanicus of Rome celebrates his victory over the Germans.