TODAY IN HISTORY

1909

American explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson and four Inuits became the first men to reach the North Pole.

1917

The United States entered World War I as the House joined the Senate in approving a declaration of war against Germany that was then signed by President Woodrow Wilson.

1945

During World War II, the Japanese warship Yamato and nine other vessels sailed on a suicide mission to attack the U.S. fleet off Okinawa; the fleet was intercepted the next day.

1954

Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., responding to CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow’s broadside against him on “See It Now,” said in remarks filmed for the program that Murrow had, in the past, “engaged in propaganda for Communist causes.”

1985

William J. Schroeder became the first artificial heart recipient to be discharged from the hospital as he moved into an apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.

Birthdays

Nobel Prize-winning scientist James D. Watson is 93. Actor Roy Thinnes is 83. Movie director Barry Levinson is 79. Actor John Ratzenberger is 74. Actor Michael Rooker is 66. Actor Paul Rudd is 52. Actor Zach Braff is 46. Actor Eliza Coupe is 40. Actor Charlie McDermott is 31.