September 8th, 2008

Today in History

1941:
World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins. German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city, Leningrad. Stalin orders the Volga Deutsche deported to Siberia.

1935:
US Senator from Louisiana, Huey Long, nicknamed "Kingfish", is fatally shot in the Louisiana capitol building.

1863:
On the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.

1664:
The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam was surrendered to the British who renamed it New York in 1669.

1514:
In one of the biggest battles of the century, Belarussians and Poles defeat the Russian army.