In 1770, British troops killed five colonials in the so-called Boston Massacre, one of the events that led to the American Revolution.
In 1933, in German elections, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party won nearly half the seats in the Reichstag, the German parliament.
In 1946, Winston Churchill, speaking in Fulton, Mo., established the Cold War boundary during his famed “Iron Curtain” speech.
In 1953, the Soviet Union announced that dictator Josef Stalin had died at age 73.
In 1984, the Standard Oil Co. of California, also known as Chevron, bought Gulf Corp. for more than $13 billion in the largest business merger in U.S.
history at the time.
In 1991, rebellions against Saddam Hussein were reported in southeastern Iraq. U.S. military officials predicted the unrest probably would lead to his
downfall.
In 1993, Canada’s Ben Johnson, once called the world’s fastest human, tested positive for drugs and was banned for life from track competition.
In 1997, Switzerland announced plans to establish a $4.7 billion government-financed fund, using interest from its gold reserves, to compensate survivors
of the Nazi Holocaust and their descendants.
In 1998, NASA announced that ice had been found at the moon’s north and south poles.
In 2006, Iran threatened to launch full-scale uranium enrichment if its nuclear program was referred to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions.
In 2007, on the eve of a five-nation tour of Latin America, U.S. President George W. Bush pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid for
poor people of the region.
In 2008, OPEC turned a deaf ear to U.S. President George W. Bush’s request for increased oil production, citing what some members called “mismanagement”
of the U.S. economy as a major cause for high oil prices.
In 2009, 10 New Jersey co-workers said they were laying plans to split a $216 million Mega Millions jackpot — and it only cost $5 a head. The winners,
who worked for Chubb Commercial Insurance in Whitehouse Station, N.J., had a news conference after getting word of the win.
