Today In History

In 1649: England’s King Charles I was beheaded.

In 1798: A brawl broke out in the House of Representatives in Philadelphia, as Matthew Lyon of Vermont spat in the face of Roger Griswold of Connecticut.

In 1933: Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.

In 1948: Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist.

In 1962: Two members of the “Flying Wallendas” high-wire act were killed when their 7-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit.

In 1968: The Tet Offensive began as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals.

In 1972: 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

In 1979: The civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who’d been living in exile in France, to return.