TODAY IN HISTORY

On May 28, 1863, the

54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, made up of freed blacks, left Boston to fight for the Union in the Civil War.

In 1908, British author Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was born in London.

In 1912, the Senate Commerce Committee issued its report on the Titanic disaster citing a “state of absolute unpreparedness” as one of the causes of an “unnecessary tragedy.”

In 1940, during World War II, the Belgian army surrendered to Germany.

In 1987, to the embarrassment of Soviet officials, Mathias Rust, a young West German pilot, landed a private plane in Moscow’s Red Square without authorization. (Rust was freed the following year.)

In 2003, President George W. Bush signed a 10-year, $350 billion package of tax cuts, saying they already were “adding fuel.”