Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1810

Emperor Napoleon of France was married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.

1861

The Confederate convention in Montgomery, Ala., adopted a constitution.

1888

The famous "Blizzard of '88" struck the northeastern United States, resulting in some 400 deaths.

1941

President Roosevelt signed into law the Lend-Lease Bill, providing war supplies to countries fighting the Axis.

1942

As Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia, vowing: "I shall return." He did, nearly three years later.

1954

The U.S. Army charged that Wisconsin Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy and his subcommittee's chief counsel, Roy Cohn, had exerted pressure to obtain favored treatment for Pvt. G. David Schine, a former consultant to the subcommittee.

1977

More than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations.

1978

Palestinian guerrillas went on a rampage on the Tel Aviv Haifa highway, killing 34 Israelis.

1985

Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Soviet President Konstantin U. Chernenko.

1990

The Lithuanian parliament voted to break away from the Soviet Union and restore its independence.

1993

Janet Reno was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to be the nation's first female attorney general.

1993

North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in a harsh rebuff of Western demands to open suspected nuclear weapons development sites for inspection.

1997

Paul McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1948

George Kooymans Dutch guitarist and vocalist. He was best known as the co-founder of the Dutch group Golden Earring. (d 2025)

1965

The Rev. James J. Reeb, a white minister from Boston, died after whites beat him during civil rights disturbances in Selma, Ala.