TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

1974

Seven people, including former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman, former Attorney General John Mitchell and former assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian, were indicted on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the Watergate break-in.

1781

The Continental Congress declared the Articles of Confederation to be in force, following ratification by Maryland.

1790

President George Washington signed a measure authorizing the first United States Census.

1932

Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, New Jersey.

1961

President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps.

1966

The Soviet space probe Venera 3impacted the surface of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to reach another planet; however, Venera was unable to transmit any data, its communications system having failed.

1971

A bomb went off inside a men’s room at the U.S. Capitol; the radical group Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn blast.

1996

President Bill Clinton slapped economic sanctions on Colombia, concluding that Colombian authorities had not fully cooperated with the U.S. war on drugs. The Food and Drug Administration approved a powerful new AIDS drug, saying ritonavir could prolong slightly the lives of severely ill patients.