The 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first African-American Army Air Corps unit, is activated at Chanute Field in Illinois. The unit, later known as the Tuskegee Airmen, flew combat missions over North Africa and occupied Europe during World War II despite being segregated from the white units.
Earl Warren born
Chief Justice and California Governor Earl Warren is born in Los Angeles, California. Warren, the son of Scandinavian immigrants, volunteered for service in World War I and later became District Attorney and Governor of California. In 1953 President Eisenhower nominated Warren to become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, where he oversaw the Brown v. Board of Education and many other groundbreaking cases on civil rights and liberties.
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