TODAY IN HISTORY

HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY

1989

student protesters in Beijing erected a “Goddess of Democracy” statue in Tiananmen Square.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1431

Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

1883

12 people were trampled to death in a stampede sparked by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing.

1911

the first Indy 500took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the winner was Ray Harroun, who drove a Marmon Wasp for more than 6 1⁄2 hours at an average speed of 74.6 mph and collected a prize of $10,000.

1922

the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.

1935

Babe Ruth played in his last major league baseball game for the Boston Braves, leaving after the first inning of the first game of a double-header against the Philadelphia Phillies, who won both games.

1937

ten people were killed when police fired on steelworkers demonstrating near the Republic Steel plant in Chicago.

1943

during World War II, American troops secured the island of Attu from Japanese forces.

1972

three members of the Japanese Red Army opened fire at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, killing 26people. Two attackers died; the third was captured.

2002

a solemn, wordless ceremony marked the end of the agonizing cleanup at ground zero in New York, 8 1⁄2 months after 9 /11.