Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1794

Congress passed the Neutrality Act, prohibiting Americans from enlisting in the service of a foreign power.

1884

Civil War hero Gen. William T. Sherman refused the Republican presidential nomination, saying, ''I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.''

1933

The United States went off the gold standard.

1940

The Battle of France began during World War II.

1947

Secretary of State George C. Marshall, speaking at Harvard University, outlined an aid program for Europe that came to be known as the Marshall Plan.

1967

War erupted in the Middle East as Israel, convinced an Arab attack was imminent, raided Egyptian military targets. Syria, Jordan and Iraq entered the conflict.

1968

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded just after claiming victory in California's Democratic presidential primary. Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was immediately arrested.

1975

Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to international shipping, eight years after it was closed because of the 1967 war with Israel.

1981

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that five gay men in Los Angeles were suffering from a rare pneumonia found in patients with weakened immune systems. They were the first recognized cases of what came to be known as AIDS.

1983

More than 100 people are killed when the Russian river cruise ship <i>Aleksandr Suvorov</i> collides with a girder of the Ulyanovsk Railway Bridge. The collision caused a freight train to derail, further damaging the vessel, yet the ship remained afloat and was eventually restored and returned to service.

1984

Under orders from India's prime minister, Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army begins Operation Blue Star, an invasion of the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion.

1986

A federal jury in Baltimore convicted Ronald W. Pelton of selling secrets to the Soviet Union. (Pelton was sentenced to three life prison terms plus 10 years.)

1989

The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

1991

Space Shuttle <i>Columbia</i> is launched on STS-40, the fifth spacelab mission.

1998

A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants. The strike lasts seven weeks.

2000

The Six-Day War in Kisangani begins in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces. A large part of the city is destroyed.

2001

Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm causes $5.5&#160;billion in damages, making Allison the second costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.

2002

Space Shuttle <i>Endeavour</i> launches on STS-111, carrying the Expedition 5 crew to the International Space Station to replace the Expedition 4 crew. Astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz becomes the second person to have flown on seven spaceflights.

2006

Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

2009

After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31 people are killed in clashes between security forces and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru.

2015

An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.0 strikes Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia, killing 18 people, including hikers and mountain guides on Mount Kinabalu, after mass landslides that occurred during the earthquake. This is the strongest earthquake to strike Malaysia since 1975.

2017

Montenegro becomes the 29th member of NATO.

2017

Six Arab countries-Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates-cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilizing the region.

2022

A constitutional referendum is held in Kazakhstan following violent protests and civil unrest against the government.

1723

Economist Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.

1883

Economist John Maynard Keynes was born in Cambridge, England.

1999

Singer Mel Torme died in Los Angeles at age 73.

2012

Renowned Science Fiction Author Ray Bradbury died in Southern California, he was 91.