Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders his Army of Northern Virginia to adversary Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in central Virginia. Lee's surrender compelled other Confederate leaders to give up their arms and, with the fall of Richmond one week earlier, effectively ended the Civil War.
The U.S. Senate approves a treaty with Russia that purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire. The controversial purchase, dubbed "Seward's Folly," acquired the Alaska territory that would become the 49th state.
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