The courtmartial of Benedict Arnold convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After a relatively clean record in the early days of the American Revolution, Arnold was charged with malfeasance, misusing government wagons, illegally buying and selling goods, and favoritism to the British Loyalists.

1789 – Congress passed its first act which mandated the procedure for administering oaths of public office.

1792 – Kentucky became the 15th state of the union.

1862 – Slavery was abolished in all U.S. possessions.

1877 – U.S. troops were authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico.

1921 – A race riot errupts in Tulsa, Oklahoma, officially killing 85 people though the actual death toll may never be known.

1924 – Congress establishes the Border Patrol, under the jurisdiction of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Previously, border duty was done sporadically by the Army or the militia of the border states.

1940 – Despite increased Luftwaffe attacks a total of 64,429 men are evacuated from Dunkirk. However, German planes sink four destroyers and damage five more as well as several of the Channel ferries and other ships, which form the backbone of the evacuation fleet.

1942 – Twentyfive American submarines from various forces assume stations around Midway. 1942 – A Warsaw underground newspaper, the Liberty Brigade, makes public the news of the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a death camp in Poland-almost seven months after extermination of prisoners began.

1944 – Gen’ls. Montgomery, Patton, Bradley, Dempsey and Crerar met in Portsmouth.

1951 – Operation PILEDRIVER began as elements of the I and IX Corps advanced towards the Wyoming Line, some 30 kilometers north in the “Iron Triangle.” Eighth Army had pushed north of the 38th parallel in most sectors. It was during PILEDRIVER the last major U.N. offensive before the commencement of truce talks, that the U.N. forces reached the limit of their advance and the war of movement came to a close.

1954 – A threeman board reviews J. Robert Oppenheimer’s request for reinstatement as a consultant to the Atomic Energy Commission. The board denies Oppenheimer’s request on a 2-1 vote. Oppenheimer headed the Los Alamos laboratory for atomic research during World War II.

1965 – US planes initiate a two week campaign of bombing raids on military installations throughout North Vietnam.