Hopelessly trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American
force, effectively bringing an end to the American Revolution on this day
in 1781.

Lord Cornwallis was one of the most capable British generals of the
American Revolution.

Storming of Redoubt #9.

The storming of Redoubt No. 10.

The victory at Yorktown was honored in a 1783 medallion minted in
Paris and designed there by US Ambassador Benjamin Franklin.

An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale hit the San
Francisco Bay  area in California. The quake caused about 67
deaths, 3,000 injuries, and damages up to $7 billion.     


     

On this day in 1931, one of the most famous gangsters of all time Al Capone
is sentenced to eleven years in Federal prison for tax evasion. He is also
fined $80,000. This is the beginning of the end for Capone and his criminal
empire, that in the 1920s and 1930s, had virtually run the city of Chicago
and its environs.

    
Cell 181 in Alcatraz where Capone was imprisoned. 
       
    

Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947)       
        .

Capone was released early from Alcatraz in 1939 for good behavior,
after spending his final year in a prison hospital, suffering from
syphilis. He died in 1947 at age 48 at his home in Palm Island,
Florida.

TIM MAGUIRE

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev speaking at the UN Assembly in 1960.

TIM MAGUIRE

After months of maintaining his innocence, Agnew pleaded no 
contest to a single felony charge of tax evasion and resigned
from office. Nixon replaced him with House Republican leader
Gerald Ford. Agnew spent the remainder of his life quietly,
rarely making public appearances.    
    
    
    
    
   
    
Gerald Ford (center) was sworn in as Vice President. Ford, the longtime
House Minority Leader, was selected as VP by Richard Nixon (far right)
after the resignation of Spiro Agnew.  Ford would become president
eight months later when Nixon himself resigned.