On this day in 1977, at Baumetes Prison in Marseille, France, Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant convicted of murder, becomes the last person executed by guillotine. On this day in 1813, the American navy defeats the British in the Battle of Lake Erie, forcing the British out of Detroit and giving the US control of the lake and the Northwest Territories. It is the first time in naval history that a British force suffers an unqualified defeat. Afterward, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, in command of the 9-ship American squadron, sends a message to General William Henry Harrison that reads,"We have met the enemy and they are ours." On this day in 2000, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats closes after its 7,485th performance in 18 years. Its the longest-running show on Broadway until Webber breaks his own record with Phantom of the Opera.
On this day in 1793, George Washington lays the cornerstone for the US Capitol building. Undergoing several design changes, burning by the British in the War of 1812, and a work stoppage during the Civil War, it will be nearly a century before the building appears as we know it today. On this day in 1810, the War for Chilean Independence begins, with a 9-man junta seizing control of government. Spain would finally give up its colony and grant Chile independence on January 15, 1826. On this day in 1976, newspaper heiress and fugitive Patty Hearst was arrested in her San Fransisco apartment. Hearst had been kidnapped on February 4, 1974, by the leftist Symbionese Liberation Army, which began blackmailing the Hearst family for food goods for the needy in Southern California. The family would quietly distribute more than $2 million in food commodities, but two months later, Patty sent authorities a tape in which she declared she was joining the SLA of her own free will. She was caught on surveillance cameras participating in a bank robbery less than a month later. Hearst was sentenced to 7 years in prison, but her sentence was commuted by President Carter, and she received a full pardon from President Clinton in 2001.
Today was the Air Force's 72nd birthday. Yesterday was my 72nd birthday. Guess which branch of the service I spent 20 years in?