Today In History

In 1818: Congress decided the flag of the United States would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

In 1841: President William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office.

In 1902: British financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships for Americans at Oxford University in England.

In 1949: 12 nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty.

In 1968: Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was murdered in Memphis, Tenn.