On This Day

On June 2, 1941, Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig died at age 37 of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which would come to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

On May 24, 1844, Samuel Morse launched the country’s first telegraph service, sending his now-famous message, “What hath God wrought!” by wire from Washington to Baltimore.

On May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde, the famed couple of crime, were killed in a police ambush near Sailes, La., as they were driving a stolen Ford V8.

On May 22, 1455, the Duke of York attacked King Henry VI’s forces in the town of St. Albans, beginning the Wars of the Roses.

On May 17, 1978, the body of Charlie Chaplin, stolen from its resting place in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, was recovered. Chaplin’s coffin was then reburied, this time under concrete.

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal.

On May 16, 1977, the turning blades of a collapsed helicopter sliced into several passengers waiting to board the aircraft atop Manhattan’s Pan Am Building.

On May 11, 1973, Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. cleared whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg of all criminal wrongdoing in leaking the Pentagon Papers to the press.

On Dec. 2, 2001, Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection, prompting a government investigation whose findings would have far-reaching implications for all of corporate America.

On Dec. 1, 1990, British and French construction workers joined the two halves of the Eurotunnel, physically linking Britain and France for the first time since the end of the ice age.

On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations approved a proposal, by a vote of 33 to 13, to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish.

On Nov. 28, 1990, after more than 11 years as the nation’s first female premier, Mrs. Thatcher resigned. Although credited with reducing inflation and victory in the Falklands War, she was and remains a profoundly divisive figure in British politics.

On Nov. 27, 1910, Pennsylvania Station opened in New York City, with trains entering Manhattan for the first time by way of tunnels under the Hudson River.

On Nov. 25, 1998, charges that Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz tampered with a state bank's $600 million sale and had mafia connections led to a no-confidence vote.

On Nov. 24, 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activities cited 10 prominent writers and directors for contempt of Congress after they refused to confirm or deny that they were communists.

On Nov. 24, 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activities cited 10 prominent writers and directors for contempt of Congress after they refused to confirm or deny that they were communists.

On Nov. 23, 1981, President Ronald Reagan provided the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency with $19 million in military aid to support guerrilla groups fighting Nicaragua’s Sandinista government; the decision led to the 1986 Iran-Contra affair.

On Nov. 22, 1950, a two-train pileup on the Long Island Rail Road killed 79 and injured hundreds more.

On Nov. 21, 1877, Thomas Alva Edison announced that he had devised a method to record sound; the phonograph was a marvel of engineering that ushered in a new era of music, spoken word and celebrity.

On Nov. 20, 1945, the International Military Tribunal began proceedings against 22 high-ranking Nazis indicted for war crimes; the Nuremberg Trials set a precedent in international human rights law.

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, a speech that redefined the meaning of the Civil War.

On Nov. 16, 1988, 35-year-old Benazir Bhutto became the first woman leader of a Muslim-majority nation; eight years later her premiership ended in corruption allegations and an 11-year exile.

On Nov. 15, 1940, German bombers completed a 10-hour blitz on Coventry, which killed over 500 people and destroyed the city’s cathedral.

On Nov. 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a ruling to strike down Montgomery, Ala.’s segregated bus laws, ending the bus boycott inspired by Rosa Parks.

On Aug. 15, 1914, the SS Ancon passed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in a record nine hours, officially opening the Panama Canal.

On June 19, 1865, two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect, slaves in Texas learned of their freedom. The day is still celebrated as “Juneteenth.”

On Feb. 29, 1960, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Agadir, Morocco. The 15-second event killed thousands and leveled parts of the city.