TODAY

1692 ÷ The Salem Witch Hunt begins in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1932 ÷ Charles Lindbergh III, the newborn son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family's new mansion in Hopewell, N.J.

1961 ÷ President Kennedy issues Executive Order 10924, establishing the Peace Corps under the Department of State.

TOMORROW

1836 ÷ During the Texas Revolution, a convention of American Texans meets at Washington-on-the-Brazos in modern-day Texas and declares the independence of Texas from Mexico.

1925 ÷ Director, producer and screenwriter Cecil B. DeMille founds his own studio.

1965 ÷ Operation Rolling Thunder begins with more than 100 U.S. Air Force jet bombers striking an ammunition depot at Xom Bang, 10 miles inside North Vietnam.

WEDNESDAY

1931 ÷ President Hoover signs a congressional act making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official national anthem of the United States.

1945 ÷ Finland declares war on Germany.

1991 ÷ Rodney King becomes the victim of vicious police brutality at the hands of five Los Angeles police officers.

THURSDAY

1933 ÷ At the height of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated the 32nd president of the United States.

1941 ÷ Britain launches Operation Claymore.

1952 ÷ Ernest Hemingway finishes writing "The Old Man and the Sea." The book wins the Pulitzer Prize the following year.

FRIDAY

1770 ÷ The Boston Massacre.

1946 ÷ Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his "Iron Curtain" speech, condemning the Soviet Union's policies in Europe.

1953 ÷ Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union since 1924, dies in Moscow.