TODAY IN HISTORY

1802

Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

1937

Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Gone with the Wind.”

1947

Japan’s postwar constitution took effect.

1948

The Supreme Court, in Shelley v. Kraemer, ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to Blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable.

1960

The Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical “The Fantasticks” began a nearly 42-year run at New York’s Sullivan Street Playhouse.

1979

Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain’s first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labour government in parliamentary elections.