Today in History

Today in History

History

1775 – A postal system was established by the 2nd Continental Congress of the United States. The first Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin.

1788 – New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1881 – Thomas Edison and Patrick Kenny execute a patent application for a facsimile telegraph (U.S. Pat.

479,184).

1893 – Commercial production of the Addressograph started in Chicago, IL.

1907 – The Chester was launched. It was the first turbine- propelled ship.

1908 – U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte issued an order that created an investigative agency that was a forerunner of the FBI.

1945 – Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister.

1947 – U.S. President Truman signed The National Security Act. The act created the National Security Council, the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1948 – Babe Ruth was seen by the public for the last time, when he attended the New York City premiere of the motion picture, 'The Babe Ruth Story.'

1948 – U.S. President Truman signed executive orders that prohibited discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and federal employment.

1952 – King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

1953 – Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. Castro eventually ousted Batista six years later.

1956 – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

1971 – Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL.

1998 – AT& T and British Telecommunications PLC announced they were forming a joint venture to combine international operations and develop a new Internet system.

1999 – 1,500 pieces of Marilyn Monroe's personal items went on display at Christie's in New York, NY. The items went on sale later in 1999.

1796 George Catlin, American artist and author.

1856 George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright (Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, Major Barbara).

1875 Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist.

1893 George Grosz, German satiric artist.

1895 Gracie Allen, actress, wife and foil of George Burns.

1914 Erskine Hawkins, trumpeter.

1928 Stanley Kubrick, film director (Spartacus,

2001: A Space Odyssey).

1928 Bernice Rubens, Welsh novelist and filmmaker.

1943 Mick [Michael Phillip] Jagger, musician, member of the Rolling Stones.

1947 Alan Gordon [Big Al] Anderson, musician, songwriter, member of New Rhythm and Blues Quartet [NRBQ] and The Wildweeds.

Born