Today In History

In 1807: Robert Fulton’s North River Steam Boat began heading up New York’s Hudson River on its successful round-trip to Albany.

In 1896: A prospecting party discovered gold in Alaska, a finding that touched off the Klondike gold rush.

In 1940: President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Mackenzie King met in Ogdensburg, N.Y., where they agreed to set up a joint defense commission.

In 1943: The Allied conquest of Sicily was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina.

In 1945: Indonesian nationalists declared their independence from the Netherlands.

In 1962: East German border guards shot and mortally wounded 18-year-old Peter Fechter, who had attempted to cross the Berlin Wall into the western sector.

In 1969: 248 people were killed as Hurricane Camille slammed into the Gulf Coast.

In 1969: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair concluded near Bethel, N.Y.

In 1978: The first successful transatlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris.