TODAY IN HISTORY

On This Day in:

1787 – New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1796 – The “Monitor,” of Baltimore, MD, was published as the _rst Sunday newspaper.

1862 – The _rst orthopedic hospital was organized in New York City. It was called the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled.

1865 – U.S. Secretary of State William Seward issued a statement verifying the rati_cation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment abolished slavery with the declaration: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

1898 – A new automobile speed record was set at 39 mph (63 kph).

1903 – The Panama Canal Zone was acquired ‘in perpetuity’ by the U.S. for an annual rent.

1912 – The discovery of the Piltdown Man in East Sussex was announced. It was proved to be a hoax in 1953.

1915 – U.S. President Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home.

1916 – During World War I, after 10 months of _ghting the French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun.

1917 – The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Senate and then of_cially proposed the states.

1935 – A $1 silver certi_-cate was issued for the _rst time in the U.S.

1936 – Su-Lin, the _rst giant panda to come to the U.S. from China, arrived in San Francisco, CA. The bear was sold to the Brook_eld Zoo for $8,750.

1940 – Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation “Barbarossa” was launched in June 1941.

1944 – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also stated that undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not be detained.

1950 – NATO foreign ministers approved plans to defend Western Europe, including the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary.

1953 – WPTZ, in Philadelphia, PA, presented a Felso commercial, it was the _rst color telecast seen on a local station.

1956 – “To Tell the Truth” debuted on CBS-TV.

1956 – Japan was admitted to the United Nations.

1957 – The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania went online. It was the _rst nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States. It was taken out of service in 1982.

1963 – Ron Clarke set a world record when he ran six miles in 28 minutes and 15.6 seconds.

1965 – Kenneth LeBel jumped 17 barrels on ice skates.

1969 – Britain’s Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.