1896
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Supreme Court affirmed racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson as "separate but equal."
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1642
The city of Montreal was founded by the French.
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1804
Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.
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1920
Pope John Paul II was born near Krakow, Poland.
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1953
Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound.
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1974
India became the 6th country to become a nuclear power.
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1980
Mount St. Helens, in Washington state, erupted after being dormant for 123 years.
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1994
Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza strip after three decades of occupation and Palestinians took over.
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2000
A bill was finally passed that removed the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse.
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2003
President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia declared martial law and sent 30,000 troops into Aceh.
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2004
Sonia Gandhi stunned her party, the Indian National Congress, by refusing to accept the prime ministership of India.
