Today in 1816, New England saw 10" of snowfall as part of a "year without a summer," which followed the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia.
Today in 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded – but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe and ultimately defeated Hitler.
Today in 1946, the Basketball Association of America was formed in New York City.
Today in 1966, black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration.
Today in 2002, an asteroid exploded over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya, giving off a force slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
Today in 2005, United States Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities could prosecute sick people who smoke marijuana on doctor's orders. The ruling concluded that state medical marijuana laws did not protect uses from the federal ban on the drug.
Today in 2012, the Solar Impulse completed the world's first intercontinental flight powered by the sun.
Today in 2013, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper issued a rare public statement in an effort to tamp down a public uproar spurred by the disclosure of secret surveillance programs involving phone and Internet records, declassifying key details about one of the programs while insisting the efforts were legal, limited in scope and necessary to detect terrorist threats
Today in 2017, Bill Cosby’s chief accuser, Andrea Constand, took the stand at his sexual assault trial to tell her story publicly for the first time, saying the comedian groped her after giving her three blue pills that left her paralyzed and helpless (The jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial, but Cosby was convicted in a second trial).
Today in 2019, on 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, New York City’s police commissioner James O’Neill apologized for his department's actions during the 1969 raid on the Stonewall Inn.