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Today in History (1862) - The U.S. government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. On the same day in 1865, the Confederate Congress voted to enlist 300,000 black troops, granting them freedom with the consent of their owners. Lee surrendered a few weeks later. |
Today in United Nations History - In 1947, the General Assembly votes to partition Palestine between Arabs and Jews; in 1950, North Korean and Chinese troops force a desperate retreat of UN forces from North Korea; in 1982, the General Assembly passes Resolution 37/37, stating that Soviet forces should withdraw from Afghanistan; in 1990, the Security Council passes Resolution 678, authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that nation did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.