| On this date in: |
| 1542 |
The fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery. |
| 1635 |
The Boston Public Latin School, the first public school in what is now the United States, was founded. |
| 1914 |
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers was founded in New York City. |
| 1920 |
The League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland. |
| 1945 |
Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden during World War II. |
 |
| AP Photo |
|
| 1960 |
France exploded its first atomic bomb. |
| 1984 |
Konstantin Chernenko succeeded the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party’s Central Committee. |
| 1991 |
During Operation Desert Storm, allied warplanes destroyed an underground shelter in Baghdad that had been identified as a military command center; Iraqi officials said 500 civilians were killed. |
| 1997 |
The Dow Jones industrial average broke through the 7,000 barrier for the first time, closing at 7,022.44. |
| 2000 |
Charles Schulz’s final “Peanuts” comic strip ran in Sunday newspapers, the day after the cartoonist died at age 77. |
| 2002 |
John Walker Lindh pleaded not guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to conspiring to kill Americans and supporting the Taliban and terrorist organizations. (Lindh later pleaded guilty to lesser offenses and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.). |
| 2005 |
Ray Charles won eight posthumous Grammy awards for his final album, “Genius Loves Company.” |
| 2008 |
Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens denied having taken performance-enhancing drugs in testimony before Congress. |
| 2011 |
Egypt’s military leaders dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and promised elections in moves cautiously welcomed by protesters who’d helped topple President Hosni Mubarak. |
| 2012 |
Washington became the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage. |
