TODAY IN HISTORY

1861

Union Gen. John C. Fremont instituted martial law in Missouri and declared slaves there to be free.

1945

U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan to set up Allied occupation headquarters.

1967

The Senate confirmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1983

Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first Black American astronaut to travel in space as he blasted off aboard the Challenger.

1997

Americans received word of the car crash in Paris that claimed the lives of Princess Diana, her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul.

2005

A day after Hurricane Katrina hit, floods were covering 80 percent of New Orleans, looting continued to spread and rescuers in helicopters and boats picked up hundreds of stranded people.

2007

In a serious breach of nuclear security, a B-52 bomber armed with six nuclear warheads flew cross-country unnoticed; the Air Force later punished 70 people.