On this date...

In 1848, Congress authorized a declaration of war against Mexico.

In 1864, the first military interment occurred on the grounds of Arlington House.

In 1865, After Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered and as the Confederate army was about to be dismantled, the last battle of the Civil War took place in South Texas, near Brownsville. The outmanned Confederate forces beat the Union in the four-hour battle, despite having already lost the war.

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered the opening address, “Conservation as a National Duty,” at the outset of a three-day meeting billed as the Governors’ Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources.

In 1920, the Socialist Party nominates Eugene V. Debs as its candidate for President of the United States in the upcoming November election. There’s was a slight complication, though: Debs was serving a 10-year sentence at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta and wasn't due to get out until 1928.

In 1958, Vice President Nixon motorcade was attacked and nearly overturned while travelling through Venezuela on a goodwill tour.

In 1973, Tennis stars Bobby Riggs and Margaret Court face off in a $10,000 winner-take-all challenge match.

In 2003, The U.S. government unveiled a new version of the $20 bill - the first to be colorized in an effort to thwart counterfeiters.