This Day in History: 02/06/1952 - Elizabeth becomes Queen - HISTORY

On this day in 1952, after a long illness, King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dies in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham.

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On this day in 1929 in Chicago, gunmen in the suspected employment of organized-crime boss Al Capone murder seven members of the George "Bugs" Moran North Siders gang in a garage on North Clark Street. The so-called St. Valentine's Day Massacre stirred a media storm centered on Capone and his illegal Prohibition-era activities and motivated federal authorities to redouble their efforts to find evidence incriminating enough to take him off the streets. Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn in 1899, the son of Italian immigrants from Naples. In 1921 his old friend Johnny Torrio lured him to Chicago, where Torrio had built up an impressive crime syndicate and was beginning to make a fortune on the illicit commerce of alcohol. In 1925, Torrio was shot four times by Bugs Moran and Hymie Weiss, who were associates of a gangster slain by Torrio's men. Capone was in Florida in February 1929 when he gave the go-ahead for the assassination of Bugs Moran. On February 13, a bootlegger called Moran and offered to sell him a truckload of high quality whiskey at a low price. Moran took the bait and the next morning pulled up to the delivery location where he was to meet several associates and purchase the whisky. He was running a little late, and just as he was pulling up to the garage he saw what looked like two policemen and two detectives get out of an unmarked car and head to the door. Thinking he had nearly avoided being caught in a police raid, Moran drove off. The four men, however, were Capone's assassins. Wearing their stolen police uniforms and heavily armed, Capone's henchmen surprised Moran's men, who agreed to line up against the wall. Thinking they had fallen prey to a routine police raid, they allowed themselves to be disarmed. A moment later, they were gunned down in a hail of shotgun and submachine-gun fire. Six were killed instantly, and the seventh survived for less than an hour.

Watch what happened throughout history on November 25 in this video of This Day in History. On November 25, 1963, John F. Kennedy's funeral took place in Washington D.C. He was later buried in Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. On November 25, 1999, Elian Gonzalez, a Cuban immigrant, led to an international custody battle between his family in the United States and his father in Cuba. On November 25, 2002, President George W. Bush signed a bill creating the Department of Homeland Security. Lastly, on November 25, 1959, Mousetrap, the Agatha Christie murder mystery, opened up at the Ambassador Theater in London. This went on to become the longest continuously running play in history.

The first Ground Hog day introducing Punxsutawney Phil, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Clemens known as Mark Twain is released and the first GI Joe hits the market in This Day in History video. The date is February 2nd. Willie Nelson is accused of tax evasion and hands over $9 million of the $17 million the IRS says he owes.

On this day in 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of Australia and have 87 indigenous languages, were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra (154195). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands, except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the Australians) to the British in 1900. The Japanese invaded the Solomons in 1942 during World War II and began building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal. On August 7 of that year, U.S. Marines landed on the island, signaling the Allies' first major offensive against Japanese-held positions in the Pacific. The Japanese responded quickly with sea and air attacks. A series of bloody battles ensued in the debilitating tropical heat as Marines sparred with Japanese troops on land, while in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy fought six major engagements with the Japanese between August 24 and November 30. In mid-November 1942, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, died together when the Japanese sunk their ship, the USS Juneau. Both sides suffered heavy losses of men, warships and planes in the battle for Guadalcanal. An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were killed, over 4,000 were wounded and several thousand more died from disease. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers. On December 31, 1942, Emperor Hirohito told Japanese troops they could withdraw from the area; the Americans secured Guadalcanal about five weeks later.

Russell Mitchell gives us a recap of some of the major historical events that occurred on March 2nd in this video clip from "This Day in History". Famous writer, Theodor Geisel, or more commonly known as Dr. Seuss was born. Also, the movie King Kong premiered in New York where it's most popular scene on top of the Empire State Building was shot. Texas declared it's independence from Mexico, even though the United States did not recognize the new Republic, and George W Bush announced the deal that was made with India concerning nuclear cooperation.

Alberto Gonzales became the first Hispanic U.S. Attorney General, the 15th Amendment giving black men the right to vote, and Yasser Arafat founds the PLO in This Day in History video. The date is February 3rd. Also, on this date, Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot a space shuttle. She piloted the Discovery space shuttle.

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