Today in History

A British submarine sinks Argentina’s only cruiser during the Falkland Islands War.

Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman prime minister of Great Britain.

James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King Jr.‘s assassin, is caught in a jail break attempt.

After three days of battle, the U.S. Marines retake Dai Do complex in Vietnam, only to find the North Vietnamese have evacuated the area.

The first airplane lands at the geographic North Pole.

The Supreme Court rules that movie studios must sell off its theaters, breaking apart a huge monopoly forming within the film industry.

James Brown, American singer and songwriter.

U.S. Marines land in Nicaragua.

Walker Smith, Jr. (Sugar Ray Robinson), champion middleweight boxer.

Pete Seeger, folksinger and songwriter.

William Inge, American playwright (Picnic, Bus Stop).

May Sarton, poet and writer.

Bing [Harry Lillis] Crosby, singer and actor. Various dates given for his birth date.

Golda Meir, Fourth Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974).

President Abraham Lincoln‘s funeral train arrives in Springfield, Illinois.

The Battle of Chancellorsville rages for a second day.

France declares war on Austria.

Macon B. Allen becomes the first African American to be admitted to the Bar in Massachusetts.

Jacob Riis, American reformer (How the Other Half Lives).

French forces in Florida slaughter hundreds of Spanish.

Niccolo Machiavelli, political advisor and writer (The Prince).

Pope Gelasius asserts that his authority is superior to Emperor Anastasius.