TODAY IN HISTORY

1781

British troops under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, as the American Revolution neared its end.

1944

The U.S. Navy began accepting Black women into WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).

1950

During the Korean Conflict, United Nations forces entered the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

1953

The Ray Bradbury novel “Fahrenheit 451,” set in a dystopian future where books are banned and burned by the government, was first published by Ballantine Books.

1960

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-down protest at a lunch counter in Atlanta.

2001

U.S. special forces began operations on the ground in Afghanistan, opening a significant new phase of the assault against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

2010

The Pentagon directed the military to accept openly gay recruits for the first time in the nation’s history.