Today In History...

   

In 1521 Martin Luther is banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs and writings.

   

In 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned king of Italy.

   

In 1865 Arrangements are made in New Orleans, LA, for the surrender of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi.

   

In 1868 The Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal as the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

   

In 1913 The Actors Equity Association is formed.

   

In 1917 The longest tornado path (293 miles) terrorizes Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana for 7 hours and 39 minutes.

   

In 1940 Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, begins during World War II.

   

In 1946 A patent is filed in the U.S. for the Hydrogen Bomb.

   

In 1960 U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge accuses the Soviets of a hiding a microphone inside a wood carving of the Great Seal of the United States that had been presented to the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

   

In 1969 Apollo X astronauts return to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.

   

In 1977 Human fly George Willig is arrested after scaling 110 stories of the World Trade Center in New York City.

   

In 1978 The first legal casino in the eastern U.S. opens in Atlantic City. In 1980 Soyuz 36 is launched. 

In 1981 14 people are killed when a Marine jet crashes onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz off Florida.

   

In 1983 Benjamin L. Hooks is reinstated as executive director of the NAACP, eight days after being suspended by chairman Margaret Bush Wilson.

   

In 1986 A ceremony is held at the Vietnam war memorial to add 110 names to the black wall.

   

In 1987 The U.S. Supreme Court rules it is legal to deny bail to someone who is considered unusually dangerous.

   

In 1987 Former PTL leader Jim Bakker tells ABC's "Nightline" he had made a "terrible mistake" in turning control of the ministry over to the Rev. Jerry Falwell. He accused Falwell of misleading him.

   

In 1988 The NHL's Edmonton Oilers complete a 4-game sweep of the Boston Bruins to capture their fourth Stanley Cup in five seasons.

   

In 1989 Radio stations nationwide go silent for 30 seconds to emphasize the medium's importance.

   

In 1991 A Lauda Boeing 767 crashes in Thailand, killing all 223 aboard.

   

In 1991 Rick Mears becomes the third driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times.

   

In 1992 The White House announces that the Coast Guard was returning a group of Haitian refugees picked up at sea to their homeland under a new executive order signed by President Bush.

   

In 1993 First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton denounces price gougers and profiteers in medicine before an enthusiastic audience of union activists in Washington, DC.

   

In 1994 President Clinton renews trade privileges for China, and said his administration would no longer link China's trade status with its human rights record.

   

In 1995 In the tobacco industry's largest recall ever, Philip Morris USA halts sales of several cigarette brands, including some versions of top-selling Marlboro, because some filters are contaminated.

   

In 1996 A police sergeant searching the murky waters where ValuJet Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people aboard, found the crucial cockpit voice recorder.

   

In 1997 The U.S. Supreme Court rules Paula Jones may pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton while he is in office.

   

In 1997 French prime minister Alain Juppe announces he would resign, a day after the country's governing center-right coalition suffered major losses in first-round parliamentary elections.

   

In 1997 President Clinton departs for Paris to sign a new agreement between NATO and Russia.

   

In 1998 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police officers in high-speed chases are liable for bystander injuries only if "actions shock the conscience."

   

In 2001 Republicans and moderate Democrats drive a President Bush's sweeping $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax cut through Congress.

   

In 2002 Fourteen people are killed when barges being pushed by a towboat crashed into the piers of the Interstate 40 bridge in Oklahoma,causing part of the structure to fall into the Arkansas River.

   

In 2003 An airplane carrying Spanish peacekeepers returning from Afghanistan crashes in Turkey, killing all 75 aboard. 

   

In 2004 Nearly a decade after the Oklahoma City bombing, Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the attack. (Nichols later received 161 consecutive life sentences.)

   

In 2010 TV host Art Linkletter ("Kids Say the Darnedest Things") dies at 97.

   

In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI’s butler is arrested for allegedly leaking confidential documents.