This Day in History
In Alaska
In 1922, the Ready Bullion Mine on Douglas Island near Juneau was permanently shut down.
In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was signed into law, creating the 13 regional native corporations in Alaska.
In the Nation
In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect.
In 1944, in a pair of rulings, the Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also said undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not be detained.
In 1997, comedian Chris Farley, 33, was found dead in his Chicago apartment.
In the World
In 1940, Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.
In 1956, Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
In 1969, Britain's Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.
In 1972, the United States began its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam at that time during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 12 days later.)
In 1992, the U.N. Security Council unanimously denounced Israel's deportation of more than 400 Palestinians and demanded their immediate return. Kim Young-sam was elected South Korea's first civilian president in three decades.
In 1997, President Clinton extended indefinitely the deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops helping with the U.N. peacekeeping effort in Bosnia. One-time dissident Kim Dae-jung of South Korea was elected the country's president.