Today In History

In 1859: ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

In 1898: the United States formally declared war on Spain.

In 1915: During World War I, Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Turkish Empire out of the war.

In 1945: Delegates from some 50 countries met to organize the United Nations.

In 1945: during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, in central Europe, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany.

In 1983: The Pioneer 10 spacecraft crossed Pluto’s orbit, speeding on its endless voyage through the Milky Way.

In 1990: Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua, ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule.