Today in history

In 1831, Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55 whites. (Turner was later executed.)

In 1858, the first of seven seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place.

In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later

in Italy.) In

1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Leon Trotsky. Trotsky died in a Mexican hospital from wounds inflicted by an assassin the day before.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman ended the LendLease program that had

shipped some $50 billion in aid supplies to America's allies during World War II.

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.

In 1963, martial law was declared in South Vietnam as police and army troops began a violent crackdown on Buddhist anti-government protesters.

In 1972, the Republican National Convention opened in Miami Beach.

In 1983, Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., ending a self-imposed exile in the United States, was shot dead moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport.

In 1987, Sgt. Clayton Lonetree, the first Marine court-martialed for spying, was convicted of passing secrets to the KGB. He served eight years.