TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

2020

Chinese officials said they couldn’t rule out the possibility that a new coronavirus in central China could spread between humans, though they said the risk of transmission appeared to be low.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1865

As the Civil War neared its end, Union forces captured Fort Fisher near Wilmington, North Carolina, depriving the Confederates of their last major seaport.

1892

The original rules of basketball, devised by James Naismith, were published for the first time in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the game originated.

1943

Work was completed on the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of War (now Defense).

1973

President Richard M. Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.

1976

Sara Jane Moore was sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford in San Francisco.

1993

A historic disarmament ceremony ended in Paris with the last of 125 countries signing a treaty banning chemical weapons.

2009

U.S. Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger ditched his Airbus 320 in the Hudson River after a flock of birds disabled both engines; all 155 people aboard survived.

2014

A highly critical and bipartisan Senate report declared that the deadly Sept. 2012 assault on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, could have been prevented; the report spread blame among the State Department, the military and U.S. intelligence.