Today in 1864, the United States Congress mandated that all coins minted as U.S. currency bear the inscription "In God We Trust.”
Today in 1952, an atomic test in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network television as a 31-kiloton bomb was dropped from a B-50 Superfortress.
Today in 1961, President Kennedy accepted “sole responsibility” following the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. During the invasion, almost 1,200 members of Brigade 2056, which was the Cuban-exile invasion force, surrendered to the Cuban troops and more than 100 were killed when the planes arrived an hour late and were shot down by the Cubans.
Today in 1969, the first human eye transplant was performed.
Today in 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke walked and rode on the surface of the moon for seven hours, 23 minutes.
Today in 1994, disgraced former President Richard Nixon died following a stroke.
Today in 1998, teenager Amy Grossberg and her high school sweetheart, Brian Peterson, pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter for murdering their newborn baby at a Delaware motel. Grossberg was later sentenced to two and a-half years in prison – Peterson received a lesser sentence of two years because he'd cooperated with authorities.
Today in 2000, armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez from the safety of his relatives' home in Miami during a pre-dawn raid. The frightened child was reunited with his father at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.
Today in 2013, a seriously wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev [[joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv]] was charged in his hospital room with bombing the Boston Marathon in a plot with his older brother, Tamerlan (TAM’-ehr-luhn), who died after a fierce gunbattle with police.
Today in 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled six to two in favor of a Michigan ban on affirmative action. The ban didn’t allow public universities to use race as a factor when making acceptance decisions.