On this date
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate and urged its ratification. (However, the Senate rejected it.) In 1929, American paper currency was reduced in size as the government began issuing bills that were about 25% smaller.
In 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as the Luftwaffe started attacking southern England. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)
In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong. (An armistice was signed in 1953.)
In 1973, John Paul Getty III, the teenage grandson of the oil tycoon, was abducted in Rome by kidnappers who cut off his ear when his family was slow to meet their ransom demands; Getty was released in December 1973 for nearly $3 million. In 1985, the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk with explosives in Auckland, New Zealand, by French intelligence agents; one activist was killed. In 1985, bowing to pressure from irate customers, Coca-Cola Co. said it would resume selling old-formula Coke, while continuing to sell New Coke. Ten years ago: General Motors completed an unusually quick exit from bankruptcy protection with promises of making money and building cars people would be eager to buy. Five years ago: Germany demanded that the CIA station chief in Berlin leave the country as a new round of allegations of U.S. espionage worsened friction between the two allies.
One year ago: A daring rescue mission in Thailand was completed successfully, as the last four of the 12 boys who were trapped in a flooded cave for 21⁄2 weeks were brought to safety along with their soccer coach. (The other eight had been brought out in the two preceding days.)