Today In History...

   In 1509 Henry VIII ascends to the throne of England following the death of

           his father Henry VII.

   In 1864 Congress votes to include the phrase "In God We Trust" on all U.S.

           currency.

   In 1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush begins at noon as thousands of homesteaders

           stake claims.

   In 1898 The first shot of the Spanish-American War is fired when the USS

           Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship off Key West, Florida.

   In 1915 The German army uses poison gas for the first time in World War I.

   In 1930 The U.S., Britain and Japan sign the London Naval Treaty which

           regulates submarine warfare and limits shipbuilding.

   In 1937 Thousands of college students in New York City stage the 4th annual

           "peace strike."

   In 1944 During World War II, U.S. forces begin invading Japanese-held New

           Guinea with amphibious landings near Hollandia.

   In 1952 An atomic test conducted in Nevada is the first such explosion to be

           shown live on network television.

   In 1954 The televised U.S. Senate Army-McCarthy hearings begin.

   In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson opens the New York World's Fair.

   In 1970 Millions of Americans observe "Earth Day" for the first time.

   In 1971 Soyuz 10 is launched.

   In 1976 The last American convertible of the decade is made in Detroit; a

           Cadillac Eldorado.

   In 1976 Barbara Walters becomes first female nightly network news anchor

           with Harry Reasoner on ABC-TV.

   In 1983 Soyuz T-8 returns to Earth.

   In 1983 The West German news magazine Stern announces the discovery of 60

           volumes of Adolph Hitler's personal diaries. (The diaries turn out

           to be a hoax.)

   In 1985 The board of directors of CBS Inc. unanimously reject Ted Turner's

           bid for a controlling interest, prompting the Atlanta cable and

           sports executive to launch an unsuccessful hostile takeover.

   In 1986 Britain rounds up 21 Libyans -- all but one of them university

           students -- and said it would expel them for what was termed

           "revolutionary activity."

   In 1987 27-year-old Joe Hunt is convicted of murder in the Billionaire

           Boy's Club case in Santa Monica, CA.

   In 1987 19-year-old Nicole Rader files a paternity suit against actor Eddie

           Murphy, seeking support of her 6-week-old daughter.

   In 1988 Secretary of State George Schultz, visiting the Soviet Union, meets

           with President Mikhail Gorbachev, who criticized the Reagan

           administration for its "confrontational" approach to U.S.-Soviet

           relations.

   In 1990 Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon free American hostage Robert

           Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity.

   In 1991 Sixty people are killed when a strong earthquake shook Costa Rica

           and neighboring Panama.

   In 1991 The White House promises a full accounting of chief of staff John

           Sununu's travels as it sought to stem political fallout over reports

           of his extensive personal use of military jets.

   In 1992 In Guadalajara, Mexico, more than 200 people are killed by a series

           of sewer explosions.

   In 1992 Sixteen U.S. and Dutch parachutists are killed when their plane

           crashed at Perris Valley Airport in California.

   In 1993 The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated in Washington, DC,

           to honor the victims of Nazi extermination.

   In 1994 Richard M. Nixon, the 37th U.S. president, dies at age 81, four days

           after suffering a stroke.

   In 1995 At least 2,000 Rwandan refugees are massacred by Rwandan troops at a

           camp in Kibeho.

   In 1996 Homemaker-humorist Erma Bombeck dies in San Francisco at age 69.

   In 1997 Government commandos in Lima, Peru, surprise Tupac Amaru rebels

           ending a 126-day hostage crisis, the longest in Latin American

           history. All 14 rebels die; 71 hostages were rescued.

   In 1997 President Clinton flies over the flooded town of Grand Forks, ND.

   In 1997 A jury of seven men and five women is chosen in Denver to hear the

           Oklahoma City bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh.

   In 2000 In dramatic pre-dawn raid, armed immigration agents seize Elian

           Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami. He is reunited with his

           father at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.

   In 2000 Broadway producer Alexander Cohen dies in New York at age 79.

   In 2001 Two spacewalking astronauts, including Canadian Chris Hadfield,

           install a massive Canadian-built robot arm on the international

           space station.

   In 2001 Hasim Rahman defeats Lennox Lewis in the fifth round winning the WBC

           and IBF heavyweight titles.

   In 2002 Actor Robert Blake is charged with murder, solicitation of murder 

           and conspiracy in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

   In 2002 Linda Boreman, once known as porn star Linda Lovelace, dies at 53. 

   In 2003 President Bush announces he will nominate Alan Greenspan for a 

           fifth term as Federal Reserve chairman. 

   In 2012 A 30-year-old women collapses and dies during the London Marathon.