This Day in History

In the nation

• In 1649, the Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.

• In 1789, John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.

• In 1836, an army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.

• In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn., at age 74.

• In 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.

• In 1998, astronomers announced in Washington they had discovered possible signs of a new family of planets orbiting a star 220 light-years away, the clearest evidence to date of worlds forming beyond our solar system.

In the world

• In 1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I.

• In 1816, Charlotte Bronte, author of "Jane Eyre," was born in Thornton, England.

• In 1960, Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.