Today In History

In 1792: Highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine.

In 1859: Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

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

In 1901: New York became the first state to require car license plates; the fee was $1.

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: During World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany’s defenses.

In 1945: Some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.