In order to operate within community standards, certain portions of this history, including the naughty bits , have been excised. For the full story please visit MSNBC.
Highlights in history on this date:
1776 - Members of the Continental Congress begin adding their signatures to the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
1934 - Germany's President Paul von Hindenburg dies at age 87, and Adolf Hitler assumes the title of "Der Fuehrer."
1939 - Scientist Albert Einstein says in letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that America should start an atomic research program.
1940 - Hermann Goering, Germany's chief of the Luftwaffe, gives the "Eagle Day" directive to destroy British air power and start to invade Britain.
1943 - A U.S. Navy patrol torpedo boat, PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sinks after being hit by a Japanese destroyer off the Solomon Islands. Kennedy is credited with saving members of the crew.
1951 - In an effort to slow down the influx of illegal immigrants to the United States, a Mexican-U.S. migrant labor treaty is signed, bringing 300,000 Mexicans to work on U.S. harvests.
1959 - The U.S. military discloses it has successfully tested heat-seeking missiles to be used by infantrymen targeting low-flying planes.
1962 - North Vietnamese patrol boats fire on U.S. destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, prompting the U.S. Congress to authorize intervention in Vietnam.
1963 - The United States the tells United Nations it will halt all sales of military equipment to South Africa because of its apartheid policy.
1990 - Iraqi tanks and infantry overrun Kuwait in a predawn strike; Kuwaiti royal family flees to Saudi Arabia.
1997 - The United States ends a 20-year-old ban on the sale of most advanced weapons to Latin America.
2003 - The U.S. State Department suspends two programs that allowed foreign air travelers on certain routes to enter the country without a visa.
Today's Birthdays:
Edward A. Freeman, English historian (1823-1892); Romulo Gallegos, Venezuelan president and novelist (1884-1969); Myrna Loy, U.S. actress (1905-1993); James Baldwin, U.S. author (1924-1987); Peter O'Toole, British actor (1932--); Isabel Allende, Chilean author (1942--); Joanna Cassidy, U.S. actress (1945--).
