Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1861

Tennessee seceded from the Union.

1915

Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned in a disagreement over U.S. handling of the sinking of the Lusitania.

1948

The ''Texaco Star Theater'' made its debut on NBC TV with Milton Berle guest-hosting the first program. Berle was later named the show's permanent host.

1949

Author George Orwell published his famous dystopian novel 1984

1953

The Supreme Court ruled that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve blacks.

1967

Israeli forces raided the Liberty, a Navy ship stationed in the Mediterranean, killing 34 U.S. servicemen. Israel called the attack a tragic mistake.

1968

James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr., was captured at London’s Heathrow Airport

1969

The New York Yankees retired Mickey Mantle's uniform No. 7 during ''Mickey Mantle Day'' at Yankee Stadium.

1969

Authorities announced the capture in London of James Earl Ray, the suspected assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

1972

The infamous photo of a young Vietnamese girl being burned in a bombing by the American-supported South Vietnamese forces was published by the New York Times. The photo would win a Pulitzer Prize.

1978

A jury in Clark County, Nev., ruled the so-called ''Mormon will,'' purportedly written by the late billionaire Howard Hughes, was a forgery.

1982

President Reagan became the first American chief executive to address a joint session of the British Parliament.

1987

Fawn Hall began testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings, describing how, as secretary to National Security aide Oliver L. North, she helped to shred some documents and spirit away others.

1995

U.S. Marines rescued Capt. Scott O'Grady, whose F16-C fighter jet had been shot down by Bosnian Serbs on June 2.

1998

The National Rifle Association elected Charlton Heston its president.

1998

The shuttle Discovery pulled away from Mir, ending America's three-year space partnership with Russia.

2009

American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by the North Korean government for "committing hostilities" when they allegedly entered North Korean territory without permission.

1845

Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn.

2018

Celebrity chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain died by suicide at the age of 61