This week in history

Today

1789 ÷ The U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

1988 ÷ The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., marking America's return to manned space flight

following the Challenger disaster.

1995 ÷ The O.J. Simpson trial was sent to the jury.

Tuesday

1927 ÷ New York Yankee slugger Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run of the season to break his own major-league record; it stood until Roger Maris of the Yankees hit 61 homers in 1961.

1955 ÷ Actor James Dean was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif.

1993 ÷ A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern India, killing an estimated 10,000 people.

Wednesday

1800 ÷ Spain ceded Louisiana to France in a secret treaty.

1908 ÷ Henry Ford introduced the Model T automobile to the market; each car cost $825.

1971 ÷ Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Fla.

1996 ÷ A federal grand jury indicted Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski in the 1994 mail bomb slaying of an ad executive.

Thursday

1835 ÷ The first battle of the Texas Revolution took place as American settlers defeated a Mexican cavalry near the Guadalupe River.

1869 ÷ Political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was born in Porbandar, India.

1950 ÷ The comic strip "Peanuts," by Charles M. Schulz, was first published in nine

newspapers.

Friday

1863 ÷ President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

1990 ÷ West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of postwar division, declaring the creation of a new unified country.

1995 ÷ A jury found ex-football player O.J. Simpson innocent of murder in the 1994 slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was later found liable in a civil proceeding.