ALSO ON THIS DAY
Lead Story
- 1904 Madame Butterfly premieres
American Revolution
- 1782 French and British battle in the Indian Ocean
Automotive
- 1972 Beetle overtakes Model T as world’s best-selling car
Civil War
- 1865 Sherman sacks Columbia, South Carolina
Cold War
- 1947 Voice of America begins broadcasts to Russia
Crime
- 1906 The first “Trial of the Century”
Disaster
- 1993 Ferry sinks near Haiti
General Interest
- 1801 Deadlock over presidential election ends
- 1957 Gromyko becomes foreign minister
- 1979 China invades Vietnam
Hollywood
- 1982 Lee Strasberg dies
Literary
- 2000 Dave Eggers’ Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius debuts
Music
- 1966 Brian Wilson rolls tape on “Good Vibrations,” take one
Old West
- 1820 Senate passes Missouri Compromise
Presidential
- 1801 Thomas Jefferson is elected
Sports
- 1996 Kasparov defeats chess-playing computer
Vietnam War
- 1966 Taylor testifies on Operation Rolling Thunder
- 1968 U.S. casualty rate reaches record high
World War I
- 1915 Zeppelin L-4 crashes into North Sea
World War II
- 1944 U.S. troops land on Eniwetok atoll
