1865: The lights grew dimmer for Dixie at the Battle of Sayler's Creek, Virginia, in which Gen. Robert E. Lee lost about one third of his Army of Northern Virginia before disengaging. In a skirmish at High Bridge, the Confederates failed to destroy it or slow Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's pursuit of Lee's diminishing force.
Also today in history, in the U.S. and elsewhere:
1917: Achtung, Baby! The United States declared war on Imperial Germany and officially got involved in World War I. Interested in questions other readers have about WWI, visit HistoryNet.com to find out.
1945: While the U.S. Marines occupied Tsugen Shima near Okinawa, the Japanese launched Kikusui ("Floating Chrysanthemum") No.1, a mass wave of suicide planes meant to cripple the U.S. Fifth Fleet. It did considerable damage, but not enough -- and American carrier fighters took a heavy toll on the attackers. Meanwhile, a small Japanese naval task force built around the battleship Yamato set out for Okinawa, where Yamato was intended to run aground and hopefully fire all its ammunition at the Americans before being destroyed.
1998: Pakistan tested medium range missiles capable of reaching India.
