This Week In History

1617   The Treaty of Stolbovo ends the occupation of Northern Russia by Swedish troops. 1734   The Russians take Danzig (Gdansk) in Poland. 1788   Connecticut becomes the 5th state. 1796   Napoleon Bonaparte marries Josephine de Beauharnais in Paris, France. 1812   Swedish Pomerania is seized by Napoleon. 1820   Congress passes the Land Act, paving the way for westward expansion. 1839   The French Academy of Science announces the Daguerreotype photo process. 1841   The rebel slaves who seized a Spanish slave ship, the Amistad, in 1839 are freed by the Supreme Court despite Spanish demands for extradition. 1862   The first and last battle between the ironclads U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Virginia ends in a draw. 1864   General Ulysses Grant is appointed commander-in-chief of the Union forces. 1911   The funding for five new battleships is added to the British military defense budget. 1915   The Germans take Grondno on the Eastern Front. 1916   Mexican bandit Pancho Villa leads 1,500 horsemen on a raid of Columbus, N.M. killing 17 U.S. soldiers and citizens. 1932   Eamon De Valera is elected president of the Irish Free State and pledges to abolish all loyalty to the British Crown. 1936   The German press warns that all Jews who vote in the upcoming elections will be arrested.1939   Czech President Emil Hacha ousts pro-German Joseph Tiso as the Premier of Slovakia in order to preserve Czech unity. 1940   Britain frees captured Italian coal ships on the eve of German Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop’s visit to Rome. 1956   British authorities arrest and deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus. He is accused of supporting terrorists. 1957   Egyptian leader Nasser bars U.N. plans to share the tolls for the use of the Suez Canal. 1959   The Barbie doll is unveiled at a toy fair in New York City. 1964   The first Ford Mustang rolls off the Ford assembly line. 1967   Svetlana Alliluyeva, Josef Stalin’s daughter defects to the United States.1968   General William Westmoreland asks for 206,000 more troops in Vietnam. 1975   Iraq launches an offensive against the rebellious Kurds. 1986   Navy divers find the crew compartment of the space shuttle Challenger along with the remains of the astronauts. – See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.BuHenn89.dpuf