On this day in 1945, during World War II, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was placed in command of all US Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima and Okinawa in Japan.
On this day in 1959, Alaska was admitted as the 49th US state.
On this day in 1977, Apple Computer was incorporated.
On this day in 1994, more than seven million people from the former apartheid Homelands received South African citizenship.
And on this day in 2003, the Civil Aviation Administration of China approved an application by Taiwan's Far Eastern Air Transport to operate direct charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, marking the first time a Taiwanese airline company has been allowed to fly into China's airspace.