Today in History

Today in History

1860 – The first successful silver mill in America began operations. The mill was in Virginia City, NV.

1874 – A patent for the sprinkler head was given to Harry S. Parmelee.

1877 – The two moons of Mars were discovered by Asaph Hall, an American astronomer. He named them Phobos and Deimos.

1896 – Harvey Hubbell received a patent for the electric light bulb socket with a pull-chain.

1909 – The American ship Arapahoe became the first to ever use the SOS distress signal off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC.

1924 – Newsreel pictures were taken of U.S. presidential candidates for the first time.

1934 – Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay, received federal prisoners for the first time.

1941 – The Atlantic Charter was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

1942 – During World War II, Pierre Laval publicly announced 'the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war.'

1945 – The Allies informed Japan that they would determine Emperor Hirohito's future status after Japan's surrender.

1951 – The first major league baseball game to be televised in color was broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1.

1954 – Seven years of fighting came to an end in Indochina. A formal peace was in place for the French and the Communist Vietminh.

1962 – Andrian Nikolayev, of the Soviet Union, was launched on a 94-hour flight. He was the third Russian to go into space.

1965 – The U.S. conducted a second launch of 'Surveyor-SD 2' for a landing on the Moon surface test.

1971 – Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins got his 500th and 501st home runs of his major league baseball career.

1975 – The U.S. vetoed the proposed admission of North and South Vietnam to the United Nations. The Security Counsel had already refused to consider South Korea's application.

1984 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast when, during testing of the microphone, the President said of the Soviet Union, 'My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.'

1984 – The Cincinnati Reds honored major league All-Star and Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench by retiring his uniform (#5).

1988 – Dick Thornburgh was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the next attorney general. He succeeded Edwin Meese III.

1990 – Egyptian and Moroccan troops joined U.S. forces in Saudia Arabia to help protect from a possible Iraqi attack.

1991 – The space shuttle Atlantis ended its nine-day journey by landing safely.

1992 – In Bloomington, MN, the Mall of America opened. It was the largest shopping mall in the United States.

1994 – The Tenth International Conference on AIDS ended in Japan.

1995 – All U.S. nuclear tests were banned by President Clinton.

1997 – U.S. President Clinton made the first use of the line-item veto approved by Congress, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills.

1998 – British Petroleum became No. 3 among oil companies with the $49 billion purchase of Amoco. It was the largest foreign takeover of a U.S. company.

2002 – US Airways announced that it had filed for bankruptcy.

2002 – Jason Priestly crashed his car during practice for a race in the Infiniti Pro Series. He suffered a spinal fracture, a moderate concussion, a broken nose, facial lacerations and broken bones in both feet.

2003 – Charles Taylor, President of Liberia, flew into exile after ceding power to his vice president, Moses Blah.

Born

1833 Robert G. Ingersoll, advocate of scientific realism and humanistic philosophy.

1862 Carrie James Bond, songwriter who wrote “I Love You Truly” and “A Perfect Day.”

1861 James Bryan Herrick, physician who first described sickle-cell anemia.

1892 Hugh MacDiarmid, poet and founder of the Scottish Nationalist Party.

1921 Alex Haley, genealogist and author of Roots.

1933 Jerry Falwell, founder of the conservative political lobbying organization, the Moral Majority.

1943 Kenny Gamble, songwriter, record producer; a pioneer of the “Philadelphia Sound” (“Ain’t Gonna Love Nobody,” “Me and Mrs. Jones”).

History