TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, April 4, the 95th day of 2024. There are 271 days left in the year. On this date in:

1818: Flag Act of 1818 in which Congress revised the rules for the U.S. flag: thirteen horizontal stripes for the colonies and number of stars match the current number of states. At the time, the flag had 13 red and white stripes with 20 stars.

1850: Los Angeles incorporated as a U.S. city. California would join the Union five months later.

1887: Susan Salter was elected as mayor in Argonia, Kansas, becoming the first woman to hold that position. While her name was initially put on the ballot as a stunt by a group of men hoping to discourage women from political discourse, she won the election by a two thirds majority.

1928: Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri. A woman of many talents – poet, memoirist, civil rights activist and actress – Angelou was best known for exploring the themes of race, oppression and economic disparities.

1933: The USS Akron, an helium filled dirigible of the U.S. Navy, crashed off the coast of New Jersey during a thunderstorm, killing 73 crewmen and passengers. It was the deadliest airship disaster in U.S. history.

1945: Liberation of Ohrdruf concentration camp in Germany by the 4th Armored Division and the 89th Infantry Division. It was the first of such camp to be liberated by the U.S. Army.

1949: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established via treaty signed in Washington, D.C. It was created as a counter measure to encroaching Soviet forces in Central and Eastern Europe. The founding member nations are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.

1968: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. A watershed moment for the Civil Rights Movement, his assassination led to riots across the nation and further calls for social justice and equality.