1782CE
Politics
Purple Heart Created
General George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit, the precursor to the Purple Heart. It was the first military award available to common soldiers.
General George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit, the precursor to the Purple Heart. It was the first military award available to common soldiers.
A Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. Her life and subsequent execution by a French firing squad made her one of history's most famous female spies.
Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew crash their balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, into a reef in the Tuamotu Archipelago. They had successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean from South America to prove ancient migration theories.
The US Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad military powers in Vietnam. It effectively served as a blank check for presidential war powers without a formal declaration of war.