1958: Cuban rebels led by Fidel Castro attacked Havana. To test your knowledge about Castro, take this short quiz on HistoryNet.com.
Also today in history, in the U.S. and elsewhere:
1941: While Winston Churchill warned an unreceptive Josef Stalin of an imminent German invasion, Colonel Ali Rashid al-Gailani formed an anti-British government in Iraq.
1944: British carrier planes attacked the German battleship Tirpitz in Tromsoefjord, Norway.
1865: While Union forces occupied the abandoned cities of Richmond and Petersburg, Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. George A. Custer had an inconclusive clash at the Battle of Namozine Church, during which Captain Thomas Custer spurred his horse over a Rebel barricade and took three officers and 11 troopers prisoner, as well as the battle flag of the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry, for which he received his first of two Medals of Honor within four days.
1969: U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced plans to "Vietnamize" the war in Vietnam. To read about the Vietnam War, visit HistoryNet.com.
