Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1572

The slaughter of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris.

1814

British troops invade Washington, D.C. and during the Burning of Washington the White House, the Capitol and many other buildings are set ablaze.

1932

Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop across the United States, traveling from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in just over 19 hours.

1949

The North Atlantic Treaty went into effect.

1949

The Communist Control Act went into effect, virtually outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

1959

Three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. senator while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. representative.

1968

France became the world's fifth thermonuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.

1970

A bomb planted by anti-war extremists exploded at the University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht.

1981

Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of rock star John Lennon.

1989

Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose from major league baseball for gambling.

1992

Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing record damage; 55 deaths in Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas were blamed on the storm.

1998

The United States and Britain agreed to allow two Libyan suspects in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 to be tried by a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands.

1899

Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator (d. 1986)

1998

Actor E.G. Marshall died in Mount Kisco, N.Y, at age 84.