TODAY IN HISTORY

1541

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

1846

The first major battle of the MexicanAmerican War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas; U.S. forces led by Gen. Zachary Taylor were able to beat back Mexican forces.

1915

Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby.

1945

President Harry S. Truman announced on radio that Nazi Germany’s forces had surrendered, and that “the flags of freedom fly all over Europe.”

1973

Militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.

1996

South Africa took another step from apartheid to democracy by adopting a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for Blacks and whites.