| On this date in: |
| 1483 |
Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, was born in Eisleben, Germany. |
| 1775 |
The U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress. |
| 1871 |
Journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley found missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone in central Africa and delivered his famous greeting: “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” |
| 1928 |
Hirohito was enthroned as Emperor of Japan. |
| 1938 |
Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on network radio. |
| 1942 |
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, discussing the recent victory over Rommel at El Alamein, Egypt, said “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” |
| 1951 |
Direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service began with a call between the mayors of Englewood, N.J., and Alameda, Calif. |
| 1954 |
The U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, depicting the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, was dedicated in Arlington, Va. |
| 1961 |
The satirical anti-war novel “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller was published. |
| 1969 |
“Sesame Street” debuted on PBS. |
| 1975 |
The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution equating Zionism with racism. |
| 1982 |
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died at age 75. |
| 1997 |
A judge in Cambridge, Mass., reduced Louise Woodward’s murder conviction to manslaughter and sentenced the English au pair to time served in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen. |
| 1997 |
WorldCom Inc. and MCI Communications Corp. agreed to a $37 billion merger. |
| 2001 |
The World Trade Organization approved China’s membership. |
| 2007 |
Author Norman Mailer died at age 84. |
| 2009 |
John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks that killed 10 in the Washington, D.C. region, was executed. |
