Today in Histroy

1453 Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire falls to the Turks under Muhammad II; ends the Byzantine Empire
1592 Battle of Sacheon: Korean navy led by Admiral Yi Sun Shin repels a Japanese fleet – first use of Korean Turtle ship

1660 On his 30th birthday Charles II returns to London from exile in the Netherlands to claim the English throne after the Puritan Commonwealth comes to an end
1851 Sojourner Truth addresses 1st Black Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio
1953 Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) are first to reach the summit of Mount Everest as part of a British Expedition

Today in TV & Movies

1942 Bing Crosby records “White Christmas”, world’s best-selling single (estimated 100 million copies sold)
1942 “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, based on life of George M. Cohan, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring James Cagney and Joan Lesley, premieres in NYC (Academy Awards Best Actor 1943)