On This Day
26th June 1284 – The legendary Pied Piper led 130 children out of Hamelin, Germany. 1483 – Richard III was crowned king of England. 1870 – The Christian holiday of Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States. 1917 – The first U.S. troops arrived in France to fight alongside Britain, France, Italy, and Russia against Germany, and Austria-Hungary in World War I. 1945 – The United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco. 1948 – The Western allies began an airlift to Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin. 1960 – The former British Protectorate of Somaliland British Somaliland gained its independence. 1963 – John F. Kennedy spoke the famous words "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a doughnut), on a visit to West Berlin. 1974 - The bar code, allowing for the electronic scanning of prices, was used for the first time on a pack of gum at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio. 1977 – The Yorkshire Ripper killed 16 year old shop assistant Jayne