TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

1998

Terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1782

Gen. George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers.

1789

The U.S. Department of War was established by Congress.

1942

U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. (Japanese forces abandoned the island the following February.)

1964

Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

1971

The Apollo 15moon mission ended successfully as its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

1989

A plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later with no survivors.)

1990

President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.

2000

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate; Lieberman became the first Jewish candidate on a major party’s presidential ticket.

2010

Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.