Today In History

In 1718: English pirate Edward Teach - better known as “Blackbeard” - was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast.

In 1963: President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Texas Gov. John B. Connally was seriously wounded. A suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president.

In 1967: The U.N. Security Council approved Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from territories it captured in 1967, and implicitly called on adversaries to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

In 1980: Actress Mae West died in Hollywood at age 87.

In 1990: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win re-election of the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced her resignation.