This Day in History

In the nation

• In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing due process of law, was certified in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward.

• In 1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand money they weren't scheduled to receive until 1945.

• In 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York's Empire State Building, killing 14 people.

• In 1945, the U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2.

• In 1965, President Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000 "almost immediately."

• In 1977, Roy Wilkins turned over leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to Benjamin L. Hooks.

• In 2002, nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset, Pa., were rescued after 77 hours underground.

• In 1998, Bell Atlantic and GTE announced a $52 billion merger deal that created Verizon.

In the world

• In 1540, King Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed, the same day Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

• In 1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain.

• In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

• In 1928, the Olympic games opened in Amsterdam.