Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1940

Norway surrendered to the Nazis during World War II.

1953

About 100 people died when a tornado struck Worcester, Mass.

1954

Army counsel Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during the Senate-Army Hearings over McCarthy's attack on a member of Welch's law firm, Frederick G. Fisher. Said Welch: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?

1969

The U.S. Senate confirmed Warren Burger to be chief justice of the United States, succeeding Earl Warren.

1973

Secretariat became horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years by winning the Belmont Stakes.

1978

Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood.

1980

Comedian Richard Pryor suffered almost fatal burns at his San Fernando Valley, Calif., home when a mixture of ''free-base'' cocaine exploded.

1985

American educator Thomas Sutherland was kidnapped in Lebanon. He was released in November 1991 along with fellow hostage Terry Waite.

1986

The Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster,criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problemsleading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.

1993

Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito wed commoner Masako Owada in an elaborate Shinto religious ceremony.

1997

Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, who had admitted that he'd had an adulterous affair years earlier, gave up his fight to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1999

After 78 days of intense NATO airstrikes, Yugoslav and Western generals signed a pact clearing the way for a Kosovo peace plan.

2000

The Justice Department released a report saying an 18-month investigationhad found no credible evidence that conspirators aided or framed James EarlRay in the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

1870

Author Charles Dickens died in Godshill, England.