TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 1968

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot and killed while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; his slaying was followed by a wave of rioting (Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago were among cities particularly hard hit.) Suspected gunman James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming he’d been the victim of a setup.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1818

Congress decided the flag of the United States would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

1841

President William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office.

1850

The city of Los Angeles was incorporated.

1865

President Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by his son Tad, visited the vanquished Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, where he was greeted by a crowd that included former slaves.

1917

The U.S. Senate voted 82-6in favor of declaring war against Germany.

1933

The Navy airship USS Akron crashed in severe weather off the New Jersey coast with the loss of 73lives.

1945

During World War II, U.S. forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp Ohrdruf in Germany. Hungary was liberated as Soviet forces cleared out remaining German troops.

1949

12 nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.