April 19, 1775: At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into
Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town’s common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, a shot was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud
of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others
were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the
American Revolution had begun.

John Parker
(July 13, 1729 – September 17, 1775)

Battle of Lexington State Historic Site today.

This April 1865 image provided by the Library of Congress
shows Federal troops in front of the Appomattox Court
House near the time of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, in Appomattox,
VA. (AP Photo/Library of Congress)

On March 29, 1865, the final campaign of the Civil War began in
Virginia when Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant
moved against the Confederate trenches around Petersburg.
General Robert E. Lee’s outnumbered Rebels were soon forced
to evacuate the city and begin a desperate race west.

 
Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender (left) to Union Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant.

The west Pacific volcanic island of Iwo Jima was declared secured
by the U.S. military after weeks of fiercely fighting its Japanese defenders.

The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense
of Iwo Jima in February 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers raided
the island for 74 days straight. It was the longest pre-invasion bombardment of the war,

Iwo Jima island today.

SANDY KOZEL

George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum)
(January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996)

George Burns has three stars on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame: a motion pictures star at 1639 Vine
Street, a television star at 6510 Hollywood Boulevard,
and a live performance star. Burns is also a member
of the Television Hall of Fame, where he and Gracie
Allen were both inducted in 1988.

The Famous comedy duo of George Burns and Gracie Allen.

George Burns & Gracie Allen were not only
married in real life, their work from the
mid-1930s through the mid-1950s made them
one of the biggest comedy duos in Hollywood.

TIM MAGUIRE

Author Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker is 78 today.