Today In History

In 1848: The Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war with Mexico.

In 1864: Ulysses S. Grant became commander of the Union armies in the Civil War.

In 1876: The first voice transmission over Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone took place in Boston as his assistant heard Bell say, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.”

In 1969: James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tenn., to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (Ray later repudiated that plea, maintaining his innocence until his death.)