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.

TIM MAGUIRE

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

The Japanese surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri.

Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu (center) signs
the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, Gen. Richard K. Sutherland
(left) observes.

Japan surrendered to the U.S. aboard the USS Missouri, ending
World War II. The war ended six years and one day after it began.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur signs the Japanese surrender document.

President Harry S. Truman proclaiming this day in 1945 as V-J Day.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1886, pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton (below)
developed an early version of a beverage that would later become
known as"Coca-Cola." Pemberton sold his rights to the soft drink
shortly before his death.

John Stith Pemberton
(July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888)

SANDY KOZEL

The Hindenburg flies over Manhattan on May 6, 1937.

Hindenburg Crash Site Memorial today in Lakehurst, NJ .