TODAY IN HISTORY

1944

During World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2 1⁄2 years after saying, “I shall return.”

1947

The House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged communist influence and infiltration in the U.S. motion picture industry.

1967

A jury in Meridian, Mississippi, convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of slain civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner; they received prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.

1973

In the so-called “Saturday Night Massacre,” special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned.

1977

Three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed along with three others in the crash of a plane near McComb, Mississippi.