Today in History

Today in History

1565 – A Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in North America at present- day St. Augustine, FL.

1664 – The Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who then renamed it New York.

1866 – The first recorded birth of sextuplets took place in Chicago, IL. The parents were James and Jennie Bushnell.

1892 – An early version of 'The Pledge of Allegiance' appeared in 'The Youth's Companion.'

1893 – In New Zealand, the Electoral Act 1893 was passed by the Legislative Council. It was consented by the governor on September 19 giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.

1935 – U.S. Senator Huey P. Long, 'The Kingfish' of Louisiana politics, was shot and mortally wounded. He died two days later.

1945 – In Washington, DC, a bus equipped with a twoway radio was put into service for the first time.

1945 – Bess Myerson of New York was crowned Miss America. She was the first Jewish contestant to win the title.

1951 – A peace treaty with Japan was signed by 48 other nations in San Francisco, CA.

1952 – The Ernest Hemingway novel 'The Old Man and the Sea' was published.

1960 – NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, was dedicated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The facility had been activated in July earlier that year.

1966 – NBC-TV aired the first episode of 'Star Trek' entitled 'The Man Trap'. The show was canceled on September 2, 1969.

1971 – In Washington, DC, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was inaugurated. The opening featured the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's 'Mass.'

1973 – Hank Aaron hit his 709th home run.

1974 – U.S. President Ford granted an unconditional pardon to former U.S. President Nixon.

1975 – In Boston, MA, public schools began their court-ordered citywide busing program amid scattered incidents of violence.

1986 – Herschel Walker made his start in the National Football League (NFL) after leaving the New Jersey Generals of the USFL.

1997 – America Online acquired CompuServe.

1998 – Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) hit his

62nd home run of the season. He had beaten a record that had stood for 37 years by Roger Maris. McGwire would eventually reach 70 home runs on September 27.

1999 – Russia's Mission Control switched off the Mir space station's central computer and other systems to save energy during a planned six months of unmanned flights.

2015 – British researchers announced that evidence of a larger version of Stonehenge had been located about 2 miles from the Stonehenge location. There were 90 buried stones that had been found by ground penetrating radar.

Born

1841 Antonin Dvorak, composer and violinist.

1886 Siegfried Sassoon, British author and poet famous for his anti-war writing about World War I.

1889 Robert A. Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio who unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination from the 1940s until 1952.

1900 Claude Pepper, Democratic senator and congressman from Florida, champion of senior citizens rights.

1922 Sid Caesar, comedian and television star, best known for “Your Show of Shows,” and “The Sid Caesar Show.”

1925 Peter Sellers, English comic actor, famous for his role as Inspector Clouseau.

1932 Patsy Cline, country singer (“Crazy”, “I Fall to Pieces”).

1933 Michael Frayn, playwright (A Very Private Life, Noises Off).

1947 Ann Beattie, writer (Chilly Scenes of Winter, Picturing Will).

1954 Anne Diamond, journalist, TV host (Good Morning Britain) social activist; led Back to Sleep campaign that drastically reduced the number of cot deaths (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) among UK infants.

1954 Michael Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society and editor of Skeptic magazine.

History