Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1861

Arkansas seceded from the Union.

1882

Over President Arthur's veto, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese immigrants from the United States for 10 years.

1889

The Paris Exposition formally opened, featuring the just completed Eiffel Tower.

1937

The hydrogen-filled German dirigible Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 of the 97 people on board.

1941

Dictator Josef Stalin assumed the Soviet premiership, replacing Vyacheslav M. Molotov.

1942

During World War II, some 15,000 Americans and Filipinos on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese.

1954

Medical student Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile during a track meet in Oxford, England, finishing in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

1960

Britain's Princess Margaret married Anthony Armstrong Jones, a commoner, at Westminster Abbey. They divorced in 1978

1994

Former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones filed suit against President Clinton, alleging he'd sexually harassed her in 1991. (Jones reached a settlement with Clinton in November 1998.)

1994

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand formally opened the Channel Tunnel between their countries.

1997

Hemophiliacs who contracted AIDS between 1978 and 1985 from tainted blood products accepted a $600 million settlement from four health-care companies.

1895

Legendary silent-screen star Rudolph Valentino was born in Castellaneta, Italy.

1910

Britain's King Edward VII died.

1987

CIA Director William J. Casey died at age 74.

1992

Actress Marlene Dietrich died at her Paris home at age 90.