TODAY IN HISTORY

1536

Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn invalid after she failed to produce a male heir; Boleyn, already condemned for high treason, was executed two days later.

1940

The Nazis occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War II.

1946

President Harry S. Truman seized control of the nation’s railroads, delaying — but not preventing — a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.

1954

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.

1973

A special committee convened by the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal.

2004

Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages.