On this day in ...... 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grant, which "provided California with 39,000 acres of the Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Big Tree Grove 'upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation.'" The area (above) would become a national park 1890. (photo credit)
... 1969, Nigeria halted flights of food to Biafra, a southern, breakaway state at war with the federal government. The International Committee of the Red Cross was forbidden from
continuing to coordinate aid. International pressure would persuade Nigeria to let airlifts resume, albeit under the country's rules. A half-year later rebels were defeated. The BBC reports that "it is estimated at least 500,000 -- possibly millions -- of people died of starvation and disease as a result of the war in Biafra."(map credit)
