After the Arab-Israeli war of 1973–74, Egyptian President Anwar el-S─d─t began to work toward peace, and on this day in 1977 he began his historic visit to Israel, during which he offered a peace plan to its parliament.
| 2002: | | As had the House of Representatives the previous week, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved the creation of a new cabinet department, the Department of Homeland Security, to have a workforce of 170,000. |
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| 1863: | | U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the brief but renowned Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. |
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| 1820: | | The Troppau protocol, a declaration of intention to take collective action against revolution, was signed by the Holy Alliance powers at the Congress of Troppau. |
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| 1794: | | During his tenure as the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay negotiated the Jay Treaty with Great Britain, helping mend ties between the Americans and British. |
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| 1703: | | The man in the iron mask, a political prisoner famous in French history and legend, died in the Bastille. |
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