1778 - Treaties of commerce and alliance are signed with France. This turns the American Revolutionary War into an international conflict.
1862 - A Union gunboat squadron captures Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.
1922 - World powers sign the Washington Naval Treaty, providing limitations for naval armament.
1973 - Operation End Sweep, a mine-clearing operation, begins off North Vietnam.
1979 - Six U.S. vessels evacuate 200 American citizens and 240 other persons from the ports of Bandar Abbas and Char Bahar in revolution-wracked Iran.
1991 - Within two hours of relieving her sister battleship during the Gulf War, USS Wisconsin (BB 64) conducts her first naval gunfire support mission since the Korean War, destroying an Iraqi artillery battery in Southern Kuwait.
For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.