1862:
The Union Army of the Potomac occupies Fredericksburg, Virginia, as General Ambrose Burnside continues to execute his plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond.
1863:
Union gunboats Restless, Bloomer and Caroline enter St. Andrews Bay, Fla., and begin bombardment of both Confederate quarters and saltworks.
1933:
Paraguay captures 11,000 Bolivians in the war over Chaco.
1941:
The United States declares war on Italy and Germany.
1941:
Adolf Hitler declares war on the United States, bringing America, which had been neutral, into the European conflict.
1945:
A Boeing B-29 Superfortress shatters all records by crossing the United States in five hours and 27 minutes.
1950:
The 1st Marine Division completed its breakout from the Chosin/Changjin Reservoir entrapment and began its march to join the rest of X Corps at Hungnam.
1955:
Israel raids Syrian positions on the Sea of Galilee.
1961:
The ferry carrier, USNS Core, arrives in Saigon with the first U.S. helicopter unit. This contingent included 33 Vertol H-21C Shawnee helicopters and 400 air and ground crewmen to operate and maintain them. Their assignment was to airlift South Vietnamese Army troops into combat.
1969:
Paratroopers from the U.S. Third Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, depart from Vietnam.
