TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT March 13, 1928

At least 400 people died when the San Francisquito Canyon in Southern California was inundated with water after the nearly two-year-old St. Francis Dam collapsed just before midnight the evening of March 12. ALSO ON THIS DATE

1639

New College was renamed Harvard College for clergyman John Harvard.

1781

The seventh planet of the solar system, Uranus, was discovered by Sir William Herschel.

1865

Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed a measure allowing black slaves to enlist in the Confederate States Army with the promise they would be set free.

1901

The 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, died in Indianapolis at age 67.

1925

The Tennessee General Assembly approved a bill prohibiting the teaching of the theory of evolution. signed the measure on March 21.)

1954

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu began during the First Indochina War as Viet Minh forces attacked French troops, who were defeated nearly two months later.