Today in History

North Korea reportedly tests its first nuclear device.

Last flight of the Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” stealth reconnaissance aircraft.

The president of South Korea, Doo Hwan Chun, with his cabinet and other top officials are scheduled to lay a wreath on a monument in Rangoon, Burma, when a bomb explodes. Hwan had not yet arrived so escaped injury, but 17 Koreans–including the deputy prime minister and two other cabinet members–and two Burmese are killed. North Korea is blamed.

Chris O’Dowd, comedian, actor (The IT Crowd and Family Tree TV series, Bridesmaids).

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, writer, radio host; prominent figure in Modern Orthodox Judaism.

U.N. forces, led by the First Cavalry Division, cross the 38th parallel in South Korea and begin attacking northward towards the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

Harvard Law School begins admitting women.

Jackson Browne, singer, songwriter, musician, producer; member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (“Running on Empty,” “Take It Easy”).

Eugene O’Neill’s play The Iceman Cometh opens at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York.

Trent Lott, politician, Republican Senate Majority Whip (1995-96), Senate Majority Leader (1996–2001) and Minority Leader (2001-02); resigned during controversy over making remarks that praised Strom Thurmond’s 1948 presidential campaign that had called for preservation of racial segregation.

John Lennon, musician, singer, songwriter; one of the Beatles (“Imagine,” “Give Peace a Chance”).

In Marseilles, a Macedonian revolutionary associated with Croat terrorists in Hungary assassinates King Alexander of Yugoslavia and French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. The two had been on a tour of European capitals in quest of an alliance against Nazi Germany. The assassinations bring the threat of war between Yugoslavia and Hungary, but confrontation is prevented by the League of Nations.

Germans take Antwerp, Belgium, after 12-day siege.

Jacques Tati, French actor and director.

Bruce Catton, U.S. historian and journalist, famous for his works on the Civil War.

The Washington Monument, designed by Robert Mills, opens to the public.

Max von Laue, German physicist.

Charles Rudolph Walgreen, “the father of the modern drugstore.”

Confederate cavalry raiders return to Chattanooga after attacking Union General William Rosecrans’ supply and communication lines all around east Tennessee.

Alfred Dreyfus, French artillery officer who was falsely accused of giving French military secrets to foreign powers.

Francis Parker, educator and founder of progressive elementary schools.

The first Norwegian immigrants to America arrive on the sloop Restaurationen.

Americans begin shelling the British surrounded at Yorktown.

The Luddite riots being in Manchester, England in reaction to machinery for spinning cotton.

Austrian and Russian troops enter Berlin and begin burning structures and looting.

Henry VI of England restored to the throne.

The Temple of Apollo is dedicated on the Palatine Hill in Rome.