Today in History

Today in History

1718 – Hundreds of colonists from France arrived in Louisiana. Some settled in present-day New Orleans.

1814 – The U.S. Library of Congress was destroyed by British forces.

1825 – Uruguay declared independence from Brazil.

1840 – Joseph Gibbons received a patent for the seeding machine.

1875 – Captain Matthew Webb swam from Dover, England, to Calais, France making him the first person to swim the English Channel. The feat took about 22 hours.

1902 – 'Al-Hoda' began publication in New York City making it the first Arabic daily newspaper in the U.S.

1916 – The National Park Service was established as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

1920 – Ethelda Bleibtrey won the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition in Antwerp, Belgium. She was the first woman to win an Olympic competition for the U.S.

1920 – The first airplane to fly from New York to Alaska arrived in Nome.

1921 – The U.S. signed a peace treaty with Germany.

1939 – The movie 'Wizard of Oz' opened around the United States.

1940 – Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward were married while suspended in parachutes at the World’s Fair in New York City.

1941 – Soviet and British troops invaded Iran. This was in reaction to the Shah's refusal to reduce the number of German residents.

1941 – Allied forces invaded Iran. Within four days the Soviet Union and England controlled Iran.

1941 – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the bill appropriating funds for construction of the Pentagon.

1944 – Paris, France, was liberated by Allied forces ending four years of German occupation.

1944 – Romania declared war on Germany.

1946 – Ben Hogan won the PGA in Portland, OR. It was his first major golf title.

1949 – NBC Radio debuted 'Father Knows Best.' The show went to TV in 1954.

1950 – U.S. President Truman ordered the seizure of U.S. railroads to avert a strike.

1972 – In Great Britain, computerized axial tomography (CAT scan) was introduced.

1978 – The Turin shroud believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ went on display for the first time in 45 years.

1981 – The U.S. Voyager 2 sent back pictures and data about Saturn. The craft came within 63,000 miles of the planet.

1983 – The U.S. and the Soviet Union signed a $10 billion grain pact.

1987 – Saudi Arabia denounced the 'group of terrorists' that ran the Iranian government.

1988 – Iran and Iraq began talks in Geneva after ending their eight years of war.

1990 – Military action was authorized by the United Nations to enforce the trade embargo that had been placed on Iraq after their invasion of Kuwait.

1991 – Byelorussia declared independence from the Soviet Union.

1992 – It was reported by researchers that cigarette smoking significantly increased the risk of developing cataracts.

1993 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at

3,652.09, an all-time high.

1995 – Harry Wu, human rights activist, returned to the United States. He said the spying case against him in China was 'all lies.'

1997 – The tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida.

1998 – Asurvey released said that 1/3 of Americans use the Internet.

History