| On this date in: |
| 1685 | Composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany. |
| 1790 | Thomas Jefferson took office as America's first secretary of state. |
| 1804 | The French civil code, the Code Napoleon, was adopted. |
| 1918 | Germany launched the Somme offensive during World War I, hoping to break through the Allied line before American reinforcements could arrive. |
| 1945 | Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany during World War II. |
| 1946 | The United Nations set up temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City. |
| 1960 | Police fired on black demonstrators in Sharpeville, South Africa, killing some 70 people. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1963 | Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates. |
| 1985 | Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings, killing at least 21 demonstrators. |
| 1987 | Irish rockers U2 released "The Joshua Tree" album. |
| 2000 | A divided Supreme Court ruled the government lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug. |
| 2005 | Armed with a new law rushed through Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube re-inserted. (The judge later refused.) |
