1778 The United States gained official recognition from France as the two nations signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris.

1865 General Robert E. Lee is appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederacy armies.

1926 The National Football League adopted a rule that made players ineligible for competition until their college class graduated.

1932 Dog sled racing happened for the first time in Olympic competition.

1943 Having left the Tommy Dorsey Band four months prior, Frank Sinatra makes his vocalist debut on the radio show, "Your Hit Parade."

1952 Britain's King George VI died. His daughter, Elizabeth II, succeeded him.

1971 NASA Astronaut Alan B. Shepard used a six-iron that he had brought inside his spacecraft and swung at three golf balls on the surface of the moon.

1972 Over 500,000 pieces of irate mail arrived at the mailroom of CBS-TV, when word leaked out that an edited-for-TV version of the X-rated movie, "The Demand," would be shown.

1987 President Ronald Reagan turned 76 years old this day, and became the oldest U.S. President in history.

1995 Robert Holland, Jr. is named the new Ben & Jerry's CEO after the Vermont ice cream company holds a "Yo! I Want To Be A CEO!" search.

1998 Washington National Airport was renamed for Ronald Reagan with the signing of a bill by President Clinton.

1999 King Hussein of Jordan transferred full political power to his oldest son, the Crown Prince Abdullah.

1999 Heavy fighting resumed along the common border between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

2000 Russia's acting President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian forces had captured Grozny, Chechnya. The capital city had been under the control of Chechen rebels.

2000 In Finland, Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen became the first woman to be elected president.

2000 U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton formally declared that she was a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat from the state of New York.

Famous Birthdays:
Actress Kathy Najimy born 1957
Singer Bob Marley born 1945
Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor born 1919
U.S. President Ronald Wilson Reagan born 1911
Playwright Christopher Marlowe born 1564