| On this date in: |
| 1783 |
The British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States, during the Revolutionary War. |
| 1914 |
Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, Calif. |
| 1947 |
Movie studio executives agreed to blacklist the Hollywood 10, who were jailed a day earlier for contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. |
| 1973 |
Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted in a bloodless military coup. |
| 1986 |
The Iran-Contra affair erupted as President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels.
|
| 1987 |
Chicago Mayor Harold Washington died after suffering a heart attack in his City Hall office. |
| 1999 |
Six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida. |
| 2002 |
President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security. |
| 2003 |
The Senate gave final congressional approval to Medicare legislation combining a new prescription drug benefit with measures to control costs before the baby boom generation reaches retirement age. |
| 2003 |
Yemen arrested Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, a top al-Qaida member suspected of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker off Yemen’s coast. |
| 2006 |
Israel and the Palestinians agreed to a cease-fire to end a five-month Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and the firing of rockets by Palestinian militants into the Jewish state. |
| 2008 |
Football player Michael Vick pleaded guilty to a Virginia dogfighting charge and received a three-year suspended sentence. |
