On This Day

[Kestra]

On Oct. 31, 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by two Sikh security guards. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1031.html#article)

On October 31, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the controversial campaign of Clement Vallandignham, a leading Peace Democrat ("Copperhead"), for governor of Ohio. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1031.html)

1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

1795 Poet John Keats was born in London.

1864 Nevada became the 36th state.

1926 Magician Harry Houdini died of complications from a ruptured appendix.

1938 The day after his "War of the Worlds" broadcast had panicked radio listeners, Orson Welles expressed "deep regret" but also bewilderment that anyone had thought the simulated Martian invasion was real.

1956 Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.

1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations.

1991 Theatrical producer Joseph Papp died in New York at age 70.

1992 It was announced that five American nuns in Liberia had been shot to death near the capital Monrovia; the killings were blamed on rebels loyal to Charles Taylor.

1993 Movie director Federico Fellini died in Rome at age 73.

1999 EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the Massachusetts coast, killing all 217 people aboard.

2001 A 61-year-old New York hospital worker died from inhalation anthrax.

2001 Microsoft and the Justice Department reached a tentative agreement to settle the historic antitrust case against the software giant.

2005 President George W. Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

2006 P.W. Botha, South Africa's apartheid-era president, died at age 90.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 1, 1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1101.html#article)

On November 1, 1862, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Great Britain's neutrality during the American Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1101.html)

1512 Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public.

1604 William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was first performed, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1765 The Stamp Act went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.

1861 Gen. George B. McClellan was made general-in-chief of the Union armies.

1936 Benito Mussolini described the alliance between Italy and Nazi Germany as an "axis" running between Rome and Berlin.

1946 Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was ordained as a priest.

1950 Two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. One of the assailants was killed.

1954 The west African nation of Algeria began a rebellion against French rule.

1979 Former first lady Mamie Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C., at age 82.

1991 Clarence Thomas took his place as a justice on the Supreme Court.
boo ho ho, i only got to where i am toaday through affirmative action, not because i’m qualified. therefore, i'm going to make sure no other minority has access to affirmative action so they'll have no doubts about the postions they get.

1995 Bosnia peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio.

1999 Football Hall of Famer Walter Payton died of cancer at age 45.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 2, 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeated Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford, becoming the first U.S. president from the Deep South since the Civil War. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1102.html#article)

On November 2, 1878, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a Congressional investigation of vote fraud in the Electoral College Controversy of 1876-1877. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1102.html)

1783 Gen. George Washington issued his farewell address to the Army near Princeton, N.J.

1795 James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, was born in Mecklenburg County, N.C.

1865 Warren G. Harding, the 29th president of the United States, was born near Corsica, Ohio.

1889 North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.

1917 British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expressed support for a national home for the Jews of Palestine in what became known as the Balfour Declaration.

1947 Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose, on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.

1948 President Harry S. Truman narrowly won re-election over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey.

1959 Charles Van Doren admitted to a House subcommittee that he had the questions and answers in advance of his appearances on the TV game show "Twenty-One."

1963 South Vietnamese President Ngo Dihn Diem was assassinated in a military coup.

2004 President George W. Bush was elected to a second term as Republicans strengthened their grip on Congress.

2006 The Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after a man said they had had sexual trysts together.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 3, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected in a landslide over Republican Alfred M. ''Alf'' Landon. go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1103.html#article)

On November 3, 1866, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Andrew Johnson controversial "swing around the circle" campaign tour. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1103.html)

1839 The first Opium War between China and Britain broke out.

1868 Republican Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential election over Democrat Horatio Seymour.

1896 Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency.

1903 Panama proclaimed its independence from Colombia.

1908 Republican William Howard Taft was elected president, outpolling William Jennings Bryan.

1957 The Soviet Union launched into orbit Sputnik 2, the second manmade satellite; a dog on board named Laika was sacrificed in the experiment.

1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson soundly defeated Republican challenger Barry Goldwater to win a White House term in his own right.

1970 Salvador Allende was inaugurated as president of Chile.

1986 A Lebanese magazine broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran, a revelation that escalated into the Iran-Contra affair.

1992 Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

1992 Democrat Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President George H.W. Bush.

1994 Susan Smith of Union, S.C., was arrested for drowning her two young sons, nine days after claiming the children had been abducted by a black man. (Smith is serving life in prison.)

1997 Attorney General Janet Reno said there was no evidence that President Bill Clinton broke the law with White House coffees and overnight stays for big contributors.

1998 Former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota.

1999 Aaron McKinney was convicted of murder in the beating of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard. (McKinney and Russell Henderson are each serving life in prison for the 1998 slaying.)

2004 Hamid Karzai was declared the winner of Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election.

2005 Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, pleaded not guilty to a five-count felony indictment in the CIA leak case. (Libby was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison. President George W. Bush commuted his sentence.) yes, and he didn't even bother to wait for Scooter to serve even a nano second of his sentence.

2006 Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who had pleaded guilty in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation, resigned from Congress.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 4, 1979, the Iranian hostage crisis began as militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1104.html#article)

On November 4, 1871, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Chicago's Great Fire of 1871. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1104.html)

1842 Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill.

1879 Humorist Will Rogers was born in Oologah, Okla.

1880 The first cash register was patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.

1884 Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected president, defeating Republican James G. Blaine.

1922 The entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in Egypt.

1924 Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first woman governor.

1939 The United States modified its neutrality stance in World War II to allow "cash and carry" purchases of arms by belligerents, a policy favoring Britain and France.

1942 During World War II, Axis forces retreated from El Alamein in North Africa in a major victory for British forces commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

1952 Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson.

1955 Baseball Hall of Famer Cy Young died at age 88.

1956 Soviet troops moved in to crush a revolt in Hungary.

1980 Ronald Reagan won the White House, defeating President Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.

1991 Former President Ronald Reagan opened his library in Simi Valley, Calif.

1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist after speaking at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

1997 Hundreds of thousands of men attended a Promise Keepers rally at the Mall in Washington, D.C.

1999 Aaron McKinney, one of two men who beat gay college student Matthew Shepard and left him to die on the Wyoming prairie, avoided the death penalty by agreeing to serve life in prison without parole and promising never to appeal his conviction.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 5, 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate George C. Wallace. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1105.html#article)

On November 5, 1864, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the proposed arming and emancipation of black slaves by the Confederate government. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1105.html)

1605 The Gunpowder Plot failed when Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.

1872 Suffragist Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in a presidential election.

1895 George B. Selden of Rochester, N.Y., received the first U.S. patent for an automobile.

1912 Woodrow Wilson was elected president, defeating incumbent William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt.

1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term in office, beating Republican challenger Wendell L. Willkie.

1956 Britain and France landed troops in Egypt during fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces around the Suez Canal.

1974 Ella Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to win gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.

1989 Pianist Vladimir Horowitz died at age 86.

1994 Former President Ronald Reagan disclosed he had Alzheimer's disease. which explains a lot.

1994 George Foreman became boxing's oldest heavyweight champion at age 45 by knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their WBA fight in Las Vegas.

1996 Voters returned President Bill Clinton to the White House for a second term; he defeated former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole.

1998 A study showed strong genetic evidence that Thomas Jefferson fathered at least one child by his slave, Sally Hemings.

1999 U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson declared Microsoft Corp. a monopoly, saying the software giant's aggressive actions were "stifling innovation" and hurting consumers.

2002 Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt resigned under pressure after a series of political missteps that had embarrassed the White House.

2006 Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced by the Iraqi High Tribunal to hang for crimes against humanity. (He was hanged the following month.)

[Kestra]

On Nov. 7, 1917, Russia's Bolshevik Revolution took place as forces led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin overthrew the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1107.html#article)

On November 7, 1874, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about criticisms of President Grant, an image which includes the first important use of the Republican Elephant. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1107.html)

1874 The Republican Party was symbolized as an elephant for the first time, in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly magazine.

1893 Colorado became the first state to grant women the right to vote by popular referendum.

1916 Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress.

1929 The Museum of Modern Art in New York City opened.

1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented fourth term in office, defeating Thomas E. Dewey.

1956 Eugene O'Neill's play "Long Day's Journey Into Night" opened on Broadway.

1962 Richard M. Nixon, who failed in a bid to become governor of California, held what he called his last press conference, telling reporters, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." well, not for another 11 years any way.

1962 Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt died at age 78.

1967 Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first black mayor of a major American city.

1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

1972 President Richard M. Nixon was re-elected in a landslide over Democrat George McGovern.

1973 Congress over-rode President Richard M. Nixon's veto of the War Powers Act, which limits a chief executive's power to wage war without congressional approval. indeed. giggles seems to think he doesn't need Congressal approval in order for him to wage war.

1989 L. Douglas Wilder won the governor's race in Virginia, becoming the nation's first elected black governor.

1987 Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg asked President Ronald Reagan to withdraw his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing the clamor that arose over Ginsburg's admission that he had smoked marijuana. :eyeroll:

1989 David N. Dinkins was elected New York City's first black mayor.

1991 Basketball star Magic Johnson announced that he had tested positive for the AIDS virus and was retiring.

1998 House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigned following election results in which the Republican House majority shrunk from 22 to 12.

2000 Repblican George W. Bush was elected president over incumbent Democratic Vice President Al Gore, though Gore won the popular vote by a narrow margin. The winner was not known for more than a month because of a dispute over the rigged results in Florida.
elected my :jass: he was ‘appointed’ by Supreme Court Judge (Uncle) Thomas. which technically means giggles could run for pres again because he actually wasn't voted into office 2000.

2000 Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first first lady to win public office, defeating Republican Rick Lazio for a U.S. Senate seat from New York.

2006 Democrats won control of the House and Senate, riding a wave of anger over the Iraq war and congressional scandals.

2006 Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota, became the first Muslim elected to Congress.

2006 Dhiren Barot, an al-Qaida operative who had planned to blow up the New York Stock Exchange, the World Bank and landmark London hotels, was sentenced in Britain to life in prison.

[Kestra]

On November 8, 1960, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency. Go To Aticle (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1108.html#article)

On November 8, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the National Liberal League, an organization which defended civil liberties and promoted the complete separation of church and state. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1108.html)

1889 Montana became the 41st state.

1892 Former President Grover Cleveland beat incumbent Benjamin Harrison, becoming the only president to win non-consecutive terms in the White House.

1923 Adolf Hitler launched his first attempt to seize power with a failed coup in Munich, Germany, that came to be known as the Beer-Hall Putsch.

1932 New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover for the presidency.

1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt set up the Civil Works Administration, designed to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed.

1942 American and British forces landed in French North Africa during World War II.

1966 Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California.

1966 Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts became the first black to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote.

1971 The album "Led Zeppelin IV," which included the song "Stairway to Heaven," was released.

1987 A bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded as crowds gathered in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, for a ceremony honoring Britain's war dead, killing 11 people.

1988 Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidential election, defeating Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

1994 Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years and won a majority in the Senate in midterm elections.

1997 Chinese engineers diverted the Yangtze River to make way for the Three Gorges Dam.

2000 A statewide recount of presidential election ballots began in Florida. Vice President Al Gore telephoned Texas Gov. George W. Bush to concede the election, but called back about an hour later to retract his concession. Bush, "Won't do ya no good Goredo, my brother Jeb promised me the election in Florida."

2000 Waco special counsel John C. Danforth released his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.

2004 Thousands of U.S. troops attacked strongholds of Sunni insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq.

2005 French President Jacques Chirac declared a 12-day state of emergency to halt France's worst civil unrest in nearly four decades.

2005 Gunmen assassinated a second lawyer in the Saddam Hussein trial in Baghdad.

2006 After years of defending his secretary of defense, President Bush announced Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation following the Democrats' triumph in congressional elections; Bush chose former CIA Director Robert Gates to succeed him.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 9, 1965, the great Northeast blackout occurred as several states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours. Go To Ariticle (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1109.html#article)
On November 9, 1901, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the automobile. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1109.html)

1918 Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II announced that he would abdicate.

1935 United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization.

1938 Nazis looted and burned synagogues and Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria on Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass."

1953 The Supreme Court upheld a 1922 ruling that major league baseball did not come within the scope of federal antitrust laws.

1953 Author-poet Dylan Thomas died at age 39.

1965 Several northeastern states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours.

1970 Former French president Charles De Gaulle died at age 79.

1976 The United Nations General Assembly approved 10 resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, including one characterizing the white-ruled government as "illegitimate."

1989 Communist East Germany threw open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West. Joyous Germans danced atop the Berlin Wall.

2001 The northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif fell to the northern alliance in the first major territorial advance for the rebels against the ruling Taliban.

2003 Comic actor Art Carney died at age 85.

2004 Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens won his record seventh Cy Young award.

2005 Three suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 victims and wounding hundreds.

2006 CBS newsman Ed Bradley died in New York at age 65.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 10, 1982, the newly finished Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened to its first visitors in Washington, D.C. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1110.html#article)

On November 10, 1906, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a school segregation order that sparked a diplomatic crisis between Japan and the United States. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1110.html)

1483 Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, was born in Eisleben, Germany.

1775 The U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress.

1871 Journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley found missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone in central Africa and delivered his famous greeting: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

1919 The American Legion held its first national convention, in Minneapolis.

1928 Hirohito was enthroned as Emperor of Japan.

1938 Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on network radio.

1942 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, discussing the recent U.S. victory over Rommel at El Alamein, Egypt, said "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

1951 Direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service began as Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, N.J., called his counterpart in Alameda, Calif.

1954 The Iwo Jima Memorial was dedicated in Arlington, Va.

1969 "Sesame Street" made its debut on PBS.

1975 The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution equating Zionism with racism.

1975 The ore-hauling ship Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm in Lake Superior. All 29 crew members died.

1982 Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died at age 75.

1997 A judge in Cambridge, Mass., reduced Louise Woodward's murder conviction to manslaughter and sentenced the English au pair to the 279 days she'd already served in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.

1997 WorldCom Inc. and MCI Communications Corp. agreed to a $37 billion merger.

2001 The World Trade Organization approved China's membership.

2001 Author Ken Kesey ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest") died at age 66.

2004 President George W. Bush nominated White House counsel Alberto Gonzales partner in torture, illegal spying, politicizing US attorneys etc. for their own political agenda to be attorney general, succeeding John Ashcroft.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 11, 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1111.html#article)

On November 11, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about noted sociologist Herbert Spencer. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1111.html)

1620 Forty-one Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a "body politick."

1831 Former slave Nat Turner, who had led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Va.

1889 Washington became the 42nd state.

1921 President Warren G. Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

1965 Rhodesia proclaimed its independence from Britain.

1972 The U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese army, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.

1992 The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests.

1998 Israel's Cabinet narrowly ratified a land-for-peace agreement with the Palestinians.

2000 Republicans went to court, seeking an order to block manual recounts from continuing in Florida's presidential election. and then they got Supreme Court Judge (Uncle) Tom to ‘apoint’ giggles president. and it’s been downhill ever since.

2000 A cable car crammed with skiers and snowboarders caught fire while being pulled through an Alpine tunnel in Austria, killing 155 people.

2004 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in Paris at age 75.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 12, 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. The Americans eventually won a major victory over the Japanese. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1112.html#article)

On November 12, 1870, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Manton Marble, the publisher of the New York World. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1112.html)

1815 American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, N.Y.

1920 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected baseball's first commissioner.

1927 Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

1948 Former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

1954 Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.

1982 Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.

1985 Xavier Suarez was elected Miami's first Cuban-American mayor.

1987 The American Medical Association issued a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person has AIDS or is HIV-positive. too bad there can’t be a policy statement issued about pharmacist refusing to provide birth control because of their religious beliefs. after all, they get paid to dispense prescriptions, not force their religious beliefs on others.

1990 Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne.

1996 Jonathan Schmitz was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Scott Amedure, a gay man who'd revealed a crush on Schmitz during a taping of "The Jenny Jones Show."

1997 Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

1999 President Bill Clinton signed a sweeping measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products.

2001 An American Airlines flight crashed near New York's Kennedy airport, killing 265 people.

2004 A jury in Redwood City, Calif., convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. (Peterson was later sentenced to death.)

2006 Gerald R. Ford surpassed Ronald Reagan as the longest-lived U.S. president at 93 years and 121 days. (Ford died the following month.)

i felt this was noteworthy
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
11/12/1815 - 10/26/1902
American social reformer; fought for women's suffrage (Go to obit. (http://bbs.roddenberry.com/onthisday/bday/1112.html))

[Kestra]

On November 16, 1907, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Theodore Roosevelt and the elections of 1907. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1116.html)


1776 - British troops captured Fort Washington during the American Revolution.

1864 - Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops began their "March to the Sea" during the U.S. (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) Civil War.

1885 - Canadian rebel Louis Riel was executed for high treason.

1907 - Oklahoma (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) was admitted as the 46th state.

1915 - Coca-Cola had its prototype for a countoured bottle patented. The bottle made its commercial debut the next year.

1933 - The United States (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations for the first time.

1952 - In the Peanuts comic strip, Lucy first held a football for Charlie Brown.

1957 - Jim Brown (Cleveland Browns) set an NFL (http://www.on-this-day.com/sports) season rushing record of 1163 yards after only eight games.

1966 - Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial of charges he had murdered his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.

1969 - The U.S. (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) Army announced that several had been charged with massacre and the subsequent cover-up in the My Lai massacre in Vietnam on March 16, 1968.

1973 - Skylab 3 carrying a crew of three astronauts, was launched from Cape Canaveral, FL (http://www.on-this-day.com/us), on an 84-day mission.

1973 - U.S. (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) President Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law.

1981 - A vaccine for hepatitis B was approved. The vaccine had been developed at Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research.

1982 - An agreement was announced on the 57th day of a strike by National Football League (NFL) (http://www.on-this-day.com/sports) players.

1988 - Estonia's parliament declared that the Baltic republic "sovereign," but stopped short of complete independence.

1994 - Major League Soccer (http://www.on-this-day.com/sports) announced that it would start its inaugural season in 1996.

1997 - China released Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident from jail for medical reasons. He had been incarcerated for almost 18 years.

1998 - In Burlington, Wisconsin (http://www.on-this-day.com/us), five high school students, aged 15 to 16, were arrested in an alleged plot to kill a carefully selected group of teachers and students.

1998 - It was announced that Monica Lewinsky had signed a deal for the North American rights to a book about her affair with U.S. (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) President Clinton.

1998 - The U.S. (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) Supreme Court said that union members could file discrimination lawsuits against employers even when labor contracts require arbitration.

1999 - Johnny Depp received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1999 - Chrica Adams, the pregnant girlfriend of Rae Carruth, was shot four times in her car. She died a month later from her wounds. The baby survived. Carruth was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years and 11 months in prison for his role in the murder.

2000 - Bill Clinton became the first serving U.S. (http://www.on-this-day.com/us) president to visit Communist Vietnam.

2004 - A NASA unmanned "scramjet" (X-43A) reached a speed of nearly 10 times the speed of sound above the Pacific Ocean.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 17, 1973, President Nixon told an Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, Fla., that ``people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook.'' :liar3: Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1117.html#article)

On November 17, 1860, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about local militia on training day. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1117.html)

1558 Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.

1800 Congress held its first session in Washington, D.C., in the partially completed Capitol building.

1869 The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas.

1917 French sculptor Auguste Rodin died at age 77.

1934 Lyndon B. Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as "Lady Bird."

1962 Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy.

1968 NBC outraged football fans by cutting away from the final minutes of a game to air a TV special, "Heidi," on schedule. Viewers were deprived of seeing the Oakland Raiders come from behind to beat the New York Jets 43-32. now maybe if i had been braking news about some global catastrophe i could understand that, but a stupid telly special?

1970 The Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1.

1997 Six militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt, killing 62 people, most of them foreign tourists. The attackers were killed by police.

1998 Israel's parliament overwhelmingly approved the Wye River land-for-peace accord with the Palestinians.

2000 The Florida Supreme Court froze the state's presidential tally, forbidding Secretary of State Katherine Harris to certify results of the marathon vote count in the race between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. nothing illegal going on here, we'll let the Supreme Court decide who our next pres will be... "hey my brother Jeb promised me he'd give me the election." :HEHE:
Jeb Bush walks political tightrope over electors - December (http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/01/jeb.bush/)

Theft of the 2000 Presidential Election (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkiuORT9HQwoAHcBXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5ajRkYTF 1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA0RGUjVfMTE1B GwDV1Mx/SIG=13fm023lv/EXP=1195415310/**http%3a//www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%2520in%2520Government/theft_of_the_2000_presidency.htm)

Elections - 16/2/01 (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkiuORT9HQwoAGcBXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5bTBuZjV qBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA0RGUjVfMTE1B GwDV1Mx/SIG=12bocbk9g/EXP=1195415310/**http%3a//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/newsnight/1174115.stm)

2001 The Taliban confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden's military chief Mohammed Atef in an airstrike three days earlier.

2003 John Allen Muhammad was convicted of two counts of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings. (He was later sentenced to death.)

2003 Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.

2005 U.S. Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, considered one of Congress' most hawkish Democrats, called for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

2005 A jury in Sarasota, Fla., convicted mechanic Joseph Smith of kidnapping, raping and strangling 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, whose abduction had been captured by a car-wash security camera. (Smith was later sentenced to death.)

2006 Former "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards unleashed a barrage of racial epithets during a stand-up routine at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood.

2006 Hall of Fame college football coach Bo Schembechler died at age 77.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 18, 1976, Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1118.html#article)

On November 18, 1899, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Open Door policy towards China. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1118.html)

1883 The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones.

1886 Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, died in New York at age 56.

1899 Conductor Eugene Ormandy was born in Budapest, Hungary.

1923 Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was born in East Derry, N.H.

1928 The first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon, Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.

1936 Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.

1966 U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays.

1969 Financier and diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy died in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 81.

1969 Apollo 12 astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. and Alan L. Bean landed on the lunar sufrace during the second manned mission to the moon.

1978 More than 900 people died in Jonestown, Guyana, after Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones urged them to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced grape punch. Jones died of a bullet wound to the head; whether it was self-inflicted is unknown.

1987 The congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.

1988 President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a Cabinet-level drug czar and providing the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill.

1991 Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and educator Thomas Sutherland.

1999 A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted Shawn Allen Berry of murder for his role in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., but spared him the death penalty.

2001 Phillips Petroleum Co. and Conoco Inc. announced they were merging in a deal that created the third-largest U.S. oil and gas company.

2002 U.N. arms inspectors returned to Iraq after a four-year hiatus, calling on Saddam Hussein's government to cooperate with their search for weapons of mass destruction.

2003 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry.

2004 Bill Clinton's presidential library opened in Little Rock, Ark.

2004 Britain outlawed fox hunting in England and Wales.

2006 Actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes were married in Italy.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania. At right is a the only known photograph of Lincoln (circled) at Gettysburg. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1119.html#article)

On November 19, 1859, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about John Brown's raid at the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1119.html)

1794 The United States and Britain signed the Jay Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.

1831 James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was born in Orange, Ohio.

1917 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was born in Allahabad.

1919 The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles.

1942 Russian forces launched a winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front during World War II.

1959 Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.

1969 Apollo 12 astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean made man's second landing on the moon.

1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

1985 President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began a summit in Geneva.

1990 The pop duo Milli Vanilli was stripped of its Grammy Award after it was revealed that neither performer sang on the group's records.

1998 Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr laid out his evidence against President Bill Clinton during a daylong appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.

2001 President George W. Bush signed legislation to put airport baggage screeners on the federal payroll.

2001 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants became the first baseball player to win four Most Valuable Player awards.

2004 Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers charged into the stands and fought with fans during an NBA game in Detroit. (Artest was suspended for the rest of the season and Jackson for 30 games. A fan was sentenced to 30 days in jail for assaulting Artest.)

2006 British authorities said they were investigating the apparent poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent who had been critical of the Russian government. (Litvinenko died in London four days later of polonium poisoning.)

[Kestra]

On Nov. 20, 1945, 24 Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1120.html#article)

On November 20, 1909, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidency of William Howard Taft. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1120.html)

1620 Peregrine White was born aboard the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay - the first child born of English parents in present-day New England. :bgirl:

1789 New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

1889 Astronomer Edwin Hubble was born in Marshfield, Mo.

1910 Revolution broke out in Mexico.

1925 Robert F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass.

1947 Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in Westminster Abbey in London.

1966 The musical "Cabaret," with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, opened on Broadway.

1969 The Nixon administration announced a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as part of a total phase-out.

1975 Spain's Gen. Francisco Franco died after nearly four decades of absolute rule.

1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to address Israel's parliament.

1995 Princess Diana admitted during an interview broadcast on BBC TV that she had been unfaithful to Prince Charles. we all now know that pendulum swung both ways.

1996 House Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be speaker for a second term.

2000 Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori resigned, ending a 10-year reign.

2001 Federal health officials approved sale of the world's first contraceptive patch, Ortho-Evra.

2003 Singer Michael Jackson was booked on suspicion of child molestation in Santa Barbara, Calif. (He was later acquited.)

2006 Director Robert Altman died at age 81

[Kestra]

On Nov. 21, 1964, New York's Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened. Go To Articl (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1121.html#article)e

On November 21, 1903, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1121.html)

1789 North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1877 Inventor Thomas A. Edison unveiled the phonograph.

1922 Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

1969 The Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, the first such rejection since 1930.

1973 President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate. wonder how that measures up to the few million emails giggles admin have "lost" concerning attornygate.

1980 A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas killed 87 people.

1985 Former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel.

1989 The proceedings of Britain's House of Commons were televised live for the first time.

1991 The U.N. Security Council chose Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt to be secretary-general.

1995 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 5,000 for the first time.

2000 The Florida Supreme Court granted Democrat Al Gore's request to keep the presidential election recount going.

2001 Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-year-old resident of Oxford, Conn., died of inhalation anthrax. The source of the anthrax has never been determined.

2002 NATO sought to expand its membership into the borders of the former Soviet Union as it invited seven former communist countries to join the alliance: Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria.

2004 Donald Trump's casino empire filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2004 The NBA suspended Indiana's Ron Artest for the rest of the season following a brawl in the stands during a game against the Detroit Pistons.

2005 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon broke away from the hardline Likud with the intention of forming a new party.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1122.html#article)

On November 22, 1869, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Thanksgiving Day. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1122.html)

1718 English pirate Edward Teach - better known as "Blackbeard" - was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast.

1890 Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille, France.

1906 The SOS distress signal was adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.

1928 "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel debuted in Paris.

1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan.

1943 Lyricist Lorenz Hart died at age 48.

1967 The U.N. Security Council approved Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from territories it captured in 1967, and implicitly called on adversaries to recognize Israel's right to exist.

1968 The Beatles' "White Album" was released.

1975 Juan Carlos was proclaimed king of Spain.

1977 Regular passenger service between New York and Europe on the supersonic Concorde began on a trial basis.

1980 Actress Mae West died at age 87.

1990 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win re-election to the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced her resignation.

1998 The CBS News program "60 Minutes" aired videotape of Dr. Jack Kevorkian administering lethal drugs to a terminally ill patient.

2000 Amid the Florida recount battle, Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney was hospitalized with what doctors called a very slight heart attack.

2004 Tens of thousands of demonstrators jammed downtown Kiev, denouncing Ukraine's presidential runoff election as fraudulent and chanting the name of their reformist candidate, Viktor Yushchenko.

2005 Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen in Navy custody, was charged with supporting terrorism, but the indictment did not mention the alleged "dirty bomb" plot that had prompted his three-year detention. (Padilla was convicted in August 2007 and awaits sentencing.)

2005 Angela Merkel took power as Germany's first female chancellor. and then giggles gave her a back rub.

2005 Ted Koppel hosted his final edition of ABC News' "Nightline."

[Kestra]

On Nov. 23, 1943, during World War II, United States forces seized control of the Tarawa and Makin atolls from the Japanese. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1123.html#article)

On November 23, 1861, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Trent Affair, a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Britain during the American Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1123.html)

1765 Frederick County, Md., repudiated the British Stamp Act.

1804 Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, was born in Hillsboro, N.H.

1889 The jukebox made its debut, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.

1936 Life magazine, created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.

1945 Most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.

1971 The People's Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council.

1980 A series of earthquakes devastated southern Italy, killing some 2,600 people.

2000 In a setback for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, the Florida Supreme Court refused to order Miami-Dade County to resume counting ballots by hand. can you say ‘coup’? giggles couldn’t allow Gore to win. after all, if he had where would we be today? we wouldn’t be dependent on foreign oil. cars would be more fuel efficient. corporations wouldn’t be making all the calls. there would be no unemployment due to outsourcing. we’d have abundant alternative energy. we’d still have a surplus and not the national debt we now have. The rest of the world would still respect U.S. we wouldn’t be in the Iraq quagmire. Rendition\torture would be illegal. there would be no unwarranted wiretapping, reading of emails. U.S. attorneys wouldn’t have been fired for the goverments political agenda. ppl wouldn’t loose their jobs because they spoke ‘ill’ of the president. Osama would have been captured or dead, since the Clinton Admin passed that knowlege off to giggles empire. there would not have been all those lives lost due to Katrina. New Orleans would be re-built. our most covert undercover CIA agent would still be covert. we wouldn’t all be wondering ‘when’ the president would declare martial law. yes, wouldn’t that have been awful.

2001 An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a van in the West Bank, killing Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a leading member of the Islamic militant Hamas group.

2003 Eduard Shevardnadze resigned as president of Georgia in the face of protests.

2004 Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner of Ukraine's disputed presidential election and took a symbolic oath of office.

2006 Former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko died in London from radiation poisoning after making a deathbed statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 24, 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1124.html#article)

On November 24, 1883, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the new Brooklyn Bridge. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1124.html)

1784 Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, was born in Orange County, Va.

1859 ZBritish naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.

1871 The National Rifle Association was incorporated.

1947 A group of writers, producers and directors that became known as the "Hollywood 10" was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about alleged Communist influence in the movie industry.

1950 The musical "Guys and Dolls," based on the writings of Damon Runyon and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway.

1971 Hijacker D.B. Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom. His fate remains unknown.

1985 The hijacking of an Egyptair jetliner parked on the ground in Malta ended with 60 deaths when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane; two of the dead were shot by the hijackers.

1987 The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles in the first superpower treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons.

1989 Czechoslovakia's hard-line party leadership resigned after more than a week of protests against its policies.

1991 Rock singer Freddie Mercury of Queen died at age 45 of pneumonia brought on by AIDS.

1992 Former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger pleaded innocent to making a false statement in the Iran-Contra affair.

1998 America Online confirmed it was buying Netscape Communications in a deal ultimately worth $10 billion.

2000 The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider George W. Bush's appeal against the hand recounting of presidential ballots in Florida. "Ya gotta stop the hand counting cuz ya see, then everyone would clearly see that Gore won the presidency and not me."

2003 A jury in Virginia Beach, Va., sentenced John Allen Muhammad to death for the Washington-area sniper shootings.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 25, 1986, the Iran-Contra affair erupted as President Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1125.html#article)

On November 25, 1905, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Theodore Roosevelt's attempt to pass federal railroad regulation. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1125.html)

1783 The British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States, during the Revolutionary War.

1835 Industrialist Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland.

1881 Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Roncalli near Bergamo, Italy.

1914 Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, Calif.

1944 Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis died at age 78.

1947 Movie studio executives meeting in New York agreed to blacklist the "Hollywood 10," who were cited a day earlier and jailed for contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a slight stroke.

1963 The body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

1973 Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted in a bloodless military coup.

1974 Former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant died at age 65.

1987 Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, died after suffering a heart attack in his City Hall office.

1999 Six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida.

2001 CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed during a prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif, becoming America's first combat casualty of the conflict in Afghanistan.

2002 President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security taking away our civil rights, rights to privacy, rights against illegal search, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head.

2003 The Senate gave final congressional approval to historic Medicare legislation combining a new prescription drug benefit with measures to control costs before the baby boom generation reaches retirement age. and causing chaos and financial burdens for our elderly, disabled, and poor.

2003 Yemen arrested Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, a top al-Qaida member suspected of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker off Yemen's coast. (He was later convicted in the 2002 bombing and sentenced to 37 months in prison.)

[Kestra]

On Nov. 26, 1942, President Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing, beginning December 1. Go to Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1126.html#article)

On November 26, 1904, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Liberal Party politics in Great Britain. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1126.html)

1789 A day of thanksgiving was set aside by President George Washington to observe the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

1825 The first college social fraternity, Kappa Alpha, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.

1832 Public streetcar service began in New York City.

1940 The half million Jews of Warsaw, Poland, were forced by the Nazis to live within a walled ghetto.

1942 "Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, had its world premiere at the Hollywood Theater in New York.

1943 The HMT Rohna, a British transport ship carrying U.S. soldiers, was hit by a German missile off Algeria; 1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 American troops.

1949 India adopted a constitution as a republic within the British Commonwealth.

1950 China entered the Korean War, launching a counter-offensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the United States and South Korea.

1965 France launched its first satellite.

1968 Cream, rock's first supergroup, played their farewell concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. (The band reunited for seven shows in 2005.)

1973 President Richard Nixon's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she'd accidentally caused part of the 18 1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate tape.

1975 A federal jury in Sacramento, Calif., found Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, guilty of trying to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford.

1986 President Ronald Reagan appointed a commission headed by former Sen. John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair.

1992 The British government announced that Queen Elizabeth II had volunteered to start paying taxes on her personal income, and would take her children off the public payroll.

1998 Tony Blair gave the first speech ever by a British prime minister to an Irish parliament.

2000 Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified Republican George W. Bush the winner over Democrat Al Gore in the state's presidential balloting by 537 votes.
she also campaigned for presidential candidate George W. Bush, 2000 i'd say there was a conflict of interest at work here. Harris "won" :hmm: the 2002 election (http://bbs.roddenberry.com/wiki/U.S._House_election%2C_2002) to represent Florida's 13th congressional district (http://bbs.roddenberry.com/wiki/Florida%27s_13th_congressional_district) in the United States House of Representatives (http://bbs.roddenberry.com/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives).


2002 WorldCom and the government settled a civil lawsuit over the company's $9 billion accounting scandal.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 27, 1973, the Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who'd resigned. Go to Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1127.html#article)

On November 27, 1869, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the doctrine of papal infallibility. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1127.html)

1901 The Army War College was established in Washington, D.C.

1910 New York's Pennsylvania Station opened.

1942 The French navy at Toulon scuttled its ships and submarines to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.

1953 Playwright Eugene O'Neill died at age 65.

1970 Pope Paul VI, visiting the Philippines, was slightly wounded at the Manila airport by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.

1978 San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot to death inside City Hall by Dan White, a former supervisor.

1985 The British House of Commons approved the Anglo-Irish accord, giving Dublin a consultative role in the governing of British-ruled Northern Ireland.

2002 U.N. specialists began a new round of weapons inspections in Iraq.

2003 President George W. Bush flew to Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops. there was more than one turkey in Iraq that day.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 28, 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II. Go To Articl ( http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1128.html#article)

On November 28, 1857, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a dispute between the federal government and Utah Mormons called the "Mormon War" or "Utah War." Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1128.html)

1520 Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.

1895 The first automobile race took place, between Chicago and Waukegan, Ill.

1925 The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville made its radio debut on station WSM.

1939 James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, died at age 78.

1942 Fire destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, killing nearly 500 people.

1958 The African nation of Chad became an autonomous republic within the French community.

1975 President Gerald R. Ford nominated federal Judge John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court seat vacated by William O. Douglas.

1990 Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister of Britain during an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, who conferred the premiership on John Major.

1994 Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was murdered in a Wisconsin prison by a fellow inmate.

1995 President Bill Clinton signed a bill that ended the federal 55 mph speed limit.

1999 Hsing-Hsing, a giant panda who arrived at the National Zoo in 1972 as a symbol of U.S.-China detente, was euthanized at age 28 because of his deteriorating health.

2000 George W. Bush's lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to bring "legal finality" to the presidential election by ending any further ballot recounts; Al Gore's team countered that the nation's highest court should not interfere in Florida's recount dispute. my brother Jeb promised me the election. :cry2:

2001 Enron Corp., once the world's largest energy trader, collapsed after would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4 billion deal to take it over.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1129.html#article)

On November 29, 1862, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about former president James Buchanan's defense of his presidential policies on the eve of the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1129.html)

1890 The first Army-Navy football game was played, with Navy winning 24-0 at West Point, N.Y.

1924 Italian composer Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels.

1929 Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd radioed that he'd made the first airplane flight over the South Pole.

1952 President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower kept his campaign promise to visit Korea to assess the ongoing conflict.

1961 Enos the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited Earth twice before returning.

1963 President Lyndon B. Johnson named a commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

1967 Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced he was leaving the Johnson administration to become president of the World Bank.

1981 Actress Natalie Wood drowned in a boating accident at age 43.

1986 Actor Cary Grant died at age 82.

1989 In response to a growing pro-democracy movement in Czechoslovakia, the Communist-run parliament ended the party's 40-year monopoly on power.

1990 The U.N. Security Council voted 12-2 to authorize military action if Iraq did not withdraw its troops from Kuwait and release all foreign hostages by Jan. 15, 1991.

1996 A U.N. court sentenced Bosnian Serb army soldier Drazen Erdemovic to 10 years in prison for his role in the massacre of 1,200 Muslims - the first international war crimes sentence since World War II.

1999 Protestant and Catholic adversaries formed a Northern Ireland government.

2001 Rock musician George Harrison of the Beatles died at age 58 following a battle with cancer.

[Kestra]

On Nov. 30, 1995, President Clinton became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Northern Ireland. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1130.html#article)

On November 30, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1130.html)

1782 The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.

1804 Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase went on trial, accused of political bias. He was acquitted by the Senate.

1835 Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Mo.

1900 Author Oscar Wilde died at age 46.

1962 U Thant of Burma was elected secretary-general of the United Nations, succeeding the late Dag Hammarskjold.

1966 The former British colony of Barbados became independent.

1979 The album "The Wall" by Pink Floyd was released.

1981 The United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe. then came giggles.

1993 President Bill Clinton signed into law the Brady bill, which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

1993 Authorities in California arrested Richard Allen Davis, who confessed to abducting and killing 12 year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma.

1999 The opening of a 135-nation trade gathering in Seattle was disrupted by at least 40,000 demonstrators, some of whom clashed with police.

2001 Robert Tools, the first person to receive a fully self-contained artificial heart, died in Louisville, Ky., after living with the device for 151 days.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 1, 1959, representatives of 12 countries, including the United States, signed a treaty in Washington setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, free from military activity. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1201.html#article)

On December 1, 1883, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about New York City Mayor Franklin Edson and Tammany Hall. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1201.html)

1824 The House of Representatives convened to decide the presidential election because no candidate had received a majority in the Electoral College. John Quincy Adams was eventually chosen the winner over Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay.

1913 The first drive-in automobile service station opened, in Pittsburgh.

1919 Lady Astor was sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament.

1934 Sergei M. Kirov, the head of the Communist Party in Leningrad, was assassinated as Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a massive purge that would claim tens of millions of lives.

1942 Nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect in the United States.

1955 Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, defied the law by refusing to give up her seat to a white man aboard a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Parks was arrested, sparking a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.

1963 The Beatles' first single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," was released in the United States.

1965 An airlift of refugees from Cuba to the United States began in which thousands of Cubans were allowed to leave their homeland.

1969 The U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II.

1973 David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, died at age 87.

1991 Ukrainians voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union.

1992 Amy Fisher was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for shooting and seriously wounding Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of the teenager's lover, Joey Buttafuoco, on New York's Long Island.

1997 A 14-year-old student opened fire on a morning prayer group at a high school in West Paducah, Ky., killing three students and wounding five.

2000 Vicente Fox was sworn in as president of Mexico, ending 71 years of ruling-party domination.

2001 Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in back-to-back explosions at a downtown Jerusalem pedestrian mall, killing 11 bystanders.

2004 Tom Brokaw signed off for the last time as anchor of the "NBC Nightly News." yes, he was fired for telling the truth about giggles awol record. "thou shalt not speak ill of our" :king: :fwag:

2004 South Africa's highest court ruled in favor of gay marriage.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 2, 1954, the Senate voted to condemn Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R Wis., for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." Go To Article (http://Go To Article)

On December 2, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Electoral College Controversy of 1876-1877. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1202.html)

1804 Napoleon was crowned emperor of France.

1816 The first savings bank in the United States, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, opened for business.

1823 President James Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.

1859 Militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his Oct. 16 raid on a federal armory at Harpers Ferry in present-day West Virginia. (Brown had hoped to start an anti-slavery rebellion.)

1939 New York's La Guardia Airport began operations.

1942 A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago.

1961 Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist who would lead Cuba to Communism.

1967 Cardinal Francis Spellman died in New York City at age 78.

1969 The Boeing 747 jumbo jet debuted.

1970 The Environmental Protection Agency began operations.

1980 Four American churchwomen were raped, murdered and buried outside San Salvador. (Five national guardsmen were later convicted of murder.)

1982 Doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center performed the first implant of a permanent artificial heart in a human. Barney Clark lived 112 days with the device.

1990 Chancellor Helmut Kohl's center-right coalition easily won the first free all-German elections since 1932.

1990 Composer Aaron Copland died at age 90.

1993 Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot to death by security forces in Medellin.

1999 In Northern Ireland, a power-sharing cabinet of Protestants and Catholics sat down together for the first time.

2001 Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection in one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history.

2001 A bomb went off aboard a bus in Haifa, killing 15 Israelis.

2005 North Carolina inmate Kenneth Lee Boyd became the 1,000th person executed since the United States resumed capital punishment in 1977.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 3, 1984, more than 4,000 people died after a cloud of gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1203.html#article)

On December 3, 1887, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Speaker of the House John Carlisle. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1203.html)

1818 Illinois was admitted to the union as the 21st state.

1828 Andrew Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States.

1857 Novelist Joseph Conrad was born in Berdychiv, Ukraine.

1947 "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

1948 The House Un-American Activities Committee announced that former Communist spy Whittaker Chambers had produced microfilm of secret documents hidden inside a pumpkin on his Maryland farm.

1964 Police arrested some 800 students at the University of California at Berkeley, one day after the students stormed the administration building and staged a massive sit-in.

1965 The album "Rubber Soul" by the Beatles was released.

1967 Surgeons in Cape Town, South Africa, led by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, performed the first human heart transplant. Louis Washkansky lived 18 days with the new heart.

1967 The 20th Century Limited, the famed luxury train, completed its final run from New York City to Chicago.

1979 Eleven people were killed in a crush of fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum before a concert by The Who.

1989 East German Communist leader Egon Krenz, the ruling Politburo and the party's Central Committee resigned.

1994 Elizabeth Glaser, who became an AIDS activist after she and her two children were infected with HIV via a blood transfusion, died at age 47.

1997 South Korea struck a deal with the International Monetary Fund for a record $55 billion bailout of its foundering economy.

1999 Scientists failed to make contact with the Mars Polar Lander after it began its fiery descent toward the red planet; the spacecraft was presumed destroyed. :abduct:

2006 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez won re-election.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 5, 1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1205.html#article)

On December 5, 1903, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Senator Mark Hanna, the influential leader of pro-business Republicans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1205.html)

1776 The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

1782 Martin Van Buren, the eighth U.S. president and the first to be born after the country was formed, was born in Kinderhook, N.Y.

1791 Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35.

1792 George Washington was re-elected president and John Adams was re-elected vice president.

1831 Former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

1848 President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.

1901 Movie producer Walt Disney was born in Chicago.

1955 The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.

1994 Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.

1996 Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan questioned whether the stock market was overvalued, saying in a speech in Washington, "How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly inflated asset values?"

2001 Afghan leaders signed a pact in Germany to create an interim government.

2002 At a 100th birthday celebration for Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-N.C., Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Thurmond's pro-segregation 1948 presidential campaign. The ensuing uproar led to Lott's resignation from the Senate leadership.

2006 New York became the first city in the nation to ban artery-clogging trans fats at restaurants.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 6, 1923, a presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1206.html#article)

On December 6, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the White River massacre in Colorado. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1206.html)

1790 Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia.

1884 Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument.

1889 Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans at age 81.

1907 The worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, W.Va.

1947 Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman.

1957 AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

1957 America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

1969 A free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., was marred by the deaths of four people, including a man who was stabbed by a Hell's Angel.

1973 House minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.

1982 A bomb planted by the Irish National Liberation Army exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing 11 soldiers and six civilians.

1989 Fourteen women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.

1992 Thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque in India, setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives.

1994 Orange County, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion.

1998 Hugo Chavez, who had staged a bloody coup attempt against the Venezuelan government six years earlier, was elected president.

1999 SabreTech, an aircraft maintenance company, was convicted of mishandling oxygen canisters blamed for a cargo hold fire that caused the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Everglades that killed 110 people.

2002 President George W. Bush pushed Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and economic adviser Larry Lindsey from their jobs in a Cabinet shake-up.

2003 Army became the first team to finish 0-13 in major college football history after a 34-6 loss to Navy.

2004 Al-Qaida struck the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, with explosives and machine guns, killing nine people.

2006 The bipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded that President George W. Bush's war policies had failed in almost every regard, and said the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating." :hmm:

[Kestra]

On Dec. 9, 1992, Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1209.html#article)

On December 9, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the possibility of violence following the contested presidential election of 1876. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1209.html)

1608 Poet John Milton was born in London.

1854 The poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England.

1907 Christmas seals went on sale for the first time, at the Wilmington, Del., post office. The proceeds went to fight tuberculosis.

1940 British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II.

1941 China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.

1958 The anti-Communist John Birch Society was formed in Indianapolis.

1975 President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default.

1990 Solidarity founder Lech Walesa won Poland's presidential runoff by a landslide.

1993 The Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.

1994 President Bill Clinton fired Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders after she told a conference that masturbation should be discussed in school as a part of human sexuality.

1995 Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., was chosen to head the NAACP.

2000 The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt in the Florida presidential vote count. oops, Gore's ahead, we better halt the recount long enough to effect the outcome.

2002 United Airlines filed the biggest bankruptcy in aviation history after losing $4 billion in the previous two years.

2003 Former Sen. Paul Simon died in Springfield, Ill., at age 75.

2004 Canada's Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 10, 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1210.html#article)

On December 10, 1881, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the trial of the assassin of President James Garfield, Charles Guiteau, who pled not guilty due to temporary insanity. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1210.html)

1520 Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication.

1817 Mississippi was admitted to the union as the 20th state.

1869 Women were granted the right to vote in the Wyoming Territory.

1898 A treaty was signed in Paris officially ending the Spanish-American War.

1906 President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

1931 Jane Addams became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American woman so honored.

1946 Baseball Hall of Famer Walter Johnson died at age 59.

1950 Ralph J. Bunche was presented the Nobel Peace Prize, the first black American to receive the award.

1958 The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the United States as a National Airlines Boeing 707 flew 111 passengers from New York City to Miami.

1964 The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize during ceremonies in Oslo, Norway.

1965 The Grateful Dead played their first concert, at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco.

1967 Singer Otis Redding died at age 26 in the crash of his private plane in Wisconsin.

1980 Rep. John W. Jenrette, D-S.C., resigned to avoid being expelled from the House following his conviction on charges related to the FBI's Abscam investigation.

1984 South African Bishop Desmond Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize.

1994 Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin received the Nobel Peace Prize.

1998 Six astronauts swung open the doors to the new international space station, becoming the first guests aboard the 250-mile-high outpost.

1998 The Palestinian leadership scrapped constitutional clauses rejecting Israel's right to exist.

1999 Computer scientist Wen Ho Lee was arrested and charged with removing secrets from secure computers at the Los Alamos weapons lab.

2002 Former President Jimmy Carter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomacy in the Middle East in the 1970s.

2003 Iranian democracy activist Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the award in Oslo, Norway.

2005 Actor-comedian Richard Pryor died at age 65.

2005 Former Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn., died at age 89.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States; the U.S. responded in kind. Go to Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1211.html#article)

On December 11, 1909, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Settlement Houses, establishments with programs designed to assist the urban poor. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1211.html)

1792 France's King Louis XVI went before the Convention to face charges of treason. (He was convicted and executed the following month.)

1816 Indiana became the 19th state.

1872 America's first black governor took office as Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became acting governor of Louisiana.

1936 Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson.

1937 Italy withdrew from the League of Nations.

1946 UNICEF (the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) was established.

1961 A U.S. aircraft carrier carrying Army helicopters arrived in Saigon - the first direct American military support for South Vietnam's battle against Communist guerrillas.

1972 Man landed on the moon for the last time during the Apollo 17 mission.

1981 The U.N. Security Council chose Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru to be the fifth secretary-general of the world body.

1990 Ivana Trump filed for divorce from real estate mogul Donald Trump.

1994 Thousands of Russian troops rolled into breakaway republic of Chechnya in a failed bid to restore Moscow's control over the region.

1997 Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams became the first political ally of the Irish Republican Army to meet a British leader in 76 years as he conferred with Prime Minister Tony Blair in London.

1997 More than 150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan, to take steps to control the greenhouse gas emissions.

1998 The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.

2000 Shortstop Alex Rodriguez agreed to a $252 million 10-year deal with the Texas Rangers, the most lucrative sports contract in history.

2002 A congressional report found that intelligence agencies before Sept. 11, 2001, were poorly organized, poorly equipped and slow to pursue clues that might have prevented that day's terrorist attacks.

2004 Doctors in Austria determined that Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko had been poisoned with dioxin, which caused severe disfigurement and partial paralysis of his face.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 12, 1963, Kenya gained its independence from Britain. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1212.html#article)

On December 12, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Chattanooga campaign during the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1212.html)

1745 John Jay, American statesman and the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, was born in New York City.

1787 Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1870 Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first black congressman.

1897 "The Katzenjammer Kids," the pioneering comic strip by Rudolph Dirks, made its debut in the New York Journal.

1914 The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst percentage drop in history - 24.39 percent - on the first day of trading in more than four months. (The New York Stock Exchange had shut down when World War I began in July.)

1915 Singer-actor Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, N.J.

1917 Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town outside Omaha, Neb.

1925 The first motel - the "Motel Inn" - opened, in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

1946 A United Nations committee voted to accept a six-block tract of Manhattan real estate offered as a gift by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to be the site of U.N. headquarters.

1947 The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor.

1975 Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to trying to kill President Gerald R. Ford.

1998 Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles died in Tallahassee at age 68.

1998 The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton and submitted the case to the full House.

1999 "Catch-22" author Joseph Heller died at age 76.

2000 The Marine Corps grounded all eight of its high-tech V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft following a fiery crash in North Carolina that killed four Marines.

2000 A divided U.S. Supreme Court halted the presidential recount in Florida, effectively making Republican George W. Bush the winner.

2003 Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the "Free Willy" movies, died in the Norwegian fjord that he'd made his home.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 13, 1981, authorities in Poland imposed martial law in a crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement. Martial law formally ended in 1983. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1213.html#article)

On December 13, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about John Sherman, the treasury secretary and former (and future) U.S. senator. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1213.html)

1577 Sir Francis Drake of England set out with five ships on a nearly three-year journey that would take him around the world.

1642 Dutch navigator Abel Tasman arrived in present-day New Zealand.

1769 Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter.

1862 Confederate forces dealt Union troops a major defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

1918 President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France to attend the post-World War I peace conference at Versailles, becoming the first chief executive to visit Europe while in office.

1988 PLO chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the U.N. General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the United States refused to grant Arafat a visa to visit New York.

1989 South African President F.W. de Klerk met for the first time with imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, at de Klerk's office in Cape Town.

1996 The U.N. Security Council chose Kofi Annan of Ghana to be the world body's seventh secretary-general.

2000 Republican George W. Bush claimed\stole the presidency 36 days after Election Day; Democrat Al Gore conceded defeat. after Supreme Court judge Uncle Tom appointed him president.

2001 The Pentagon released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his "most optimistic" expectations.

2001 Five suspected Islamic militants killed nine people in an attack on India's parliament before being killed themselves.

2001 President George W. Bush served formal notice that the United States was pulling out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. didn’t waste much time did he.

2002 Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as Boston archbishop because of the priest sex abuse scandal.

2003 ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces while hiding in a hole under a farmhouse in Adwar, near his hometown of Tikrit.

2004 A jury in Redwood City, Calif., recommended the death penalty for Scott Peterson for the murders of his wife and unborn child.

2005 Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams, whose supporters argued he had redeemed himself inside prison, was executed in California for killing four people in robberies.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 14, 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1214.html#article)

On December 14, 1901, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the children of President Theodore Roosevelt. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1214.html)

1799 George Washington, the first president of the United States, died in Mount Vernon, Va., at age 67.

1819 Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.

1861 Prince Albert, husband of Britain's Queen Victoria, died in London.

1911 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole, beating an expedition led by Robert F. Scott.

1946 The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish the U.N. headquarters in New York City.

1979 The album "London Calling" by the Clash was released.

1985 Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to lead a major American Indian tribe as she took office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

1989 Nobel Peace laureate Andrei D. Sakharov died in Moscow at age 68.

1993 A Colorado judge struck down as unconstitutional the state's voter-approved ban on gay rights laws.

1997 Cuban President Fidel Castro declared Christmas 1997 an official holiday to ensure the success of Pope John Paul II's upcoming visit to the communist country. :hmm: i wonder if O'Liely knows about this.

1998 President Bill Clinton stood witness as hundreds of Palestinian leaders renounced a call for the destruction of Israel.

1999 U.S. and German negotiators agreed to establish a $5.2 billion fund for Nazi-era slaves and forced laborers.

1999 Charles M. Schulz announced he was retiring the "Peanuts" comic strip.

2000 The Federal Trade Commission unanimously approved the $111 billion merger of America Online and Time Warner.

2006 South Korea's Ban Ki-moon was sworn in as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 15, 1916, the French defeated the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1215.html#article)

On December 15, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about speculation concerning the cabinet appointments of President-elect Benjamin Harrison. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1215.html)

1791 The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, took effect following ratification by Virginia.

1890 Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, S.D., during a clash with Indian police.

1938 Ground was broken for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

1939 The movie "Gone With the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta.

1944 Bandleader Glenn Miller was killed when his U.S. Army plane disappeared over the English Channel.

1961 Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court.

1965 Two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6 and Gemini 7, maneuvered to within 10 feet of each other while in orbit.

1966 Movie producer Walt Disney died at age 65.

1978 President Jimmy Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China on New Year's Day and sever official relations with Taiwan.

1989 A popular uprising began in Romania; it led to the downfall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

2003 The late Sen. Strom Thurmond's family acknowledged Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim that she was Thurmond's illegitimate mixed-race daughter.

2004 American telecommunications giants Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. announced they would merge in a $35 billion deal.

2005 Millions of Iraqis turned out to choose a parliament in a mostly peaceful election. prior to which giggles said "as soon as Iraq has a legitimately elected government U.S. would leave Iraq.

2005 Former Sen. William Proxmire, the Wisconsin Democrat who'd fought government waste with his "Golden Fleece" awards, died at age 90.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 16, 1950, President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight "Communist imperialism." Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1216.html#article)

On December 16, 1871, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Academy of Music in New York City. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1216.html)

1653 Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1770 Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany.

1773 The Boston Tea Party took place as American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest tea taxes.

1809 Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate.

1899 Playwright Noel Coward was born in London.

1916 Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.

1944 The Battle of the Bulge during World War II began as German forces launched a surprise counterattack against Allied forces in Belgium.

1960 A United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over New York City, killing 134 people.

1985 Reputed organized-crime chief Paul Castellano was shot to death outside a New York City restaurant.

1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in the country's first democratic elections.

1991 The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism by a 111-25 vote.

1998 President Bill Clinton ordered a sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq by American and British forces in response to Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of UN weapons inspectors. it's amazing giggles and his lock-step followers don't throw that one out whilst defending the liar and thief's decision to bomb Iraq. "Clinton did it!"

2000 President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to become the first African-American secretary of state. President-elect my :jass:

2004 Britain's highest court dealt a huge blow to the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policy by ruling that it could not detain foreign suspects indefinitely without trial. like that stopped him.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight, near Kitty Hawk, N.C. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1217.html#article)

On December 17, 1898, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the annexation of Hawaii by the United States. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1217.html)

1777 France recognized America's independence.

1830 South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar died in Colombia.

1944 The U.S. Army announced the end of its policy of excluding Japanese-Americans from the West Coast.

1957 The United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

1969 The U.S. Air Force closed its Project "Blue Book" by concluding there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings. :aship:

1969 An estimated 50 million viewers watched singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky on NBC's "Tonight Show." i saw that.

1975 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme was sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford.

1986 Eugene Hasenfus, an American convicted by Nicaragua for his part in running guns to the Contras, was pardoned and released.

1992 President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in separate ceremonies.

1996 Peruvian guerrillas took hundreds of people hostage at the Japanese embassy in Lima.

1996 Kofi Annan of Ghana became United Nations secretary-general.

2002 Congo's government, rebels and opposition parties signed a peace agreement to end four years of civil war.

2004 President George W. Bush signed into law the largest overhaul of U.S. intelligence-gathering in 50 years. :hmm:

2005 President George W. Bush acknowledged he'd personally authorized a secret eavesdropping program in the U.S. following Sept. 11, calling it "crucial to our national security." he actually started spying on citizens pre-9\11.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 18, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went online. Go to Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1218.html#article)

On December 18, 1909, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about airplane travel. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1218.html)

1737 Violin maker Antonio Stradivari died in Cremona, Italy.

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

1865 Slavery ended in the United States as the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect.

1886 Baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb was born in Narrows, Ga.

1892 Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1915 President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt.

1944 The Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans.

1956 Japan was admitted to the United Nations.

1969 Britain's Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.

1972 The United States began the heaviest bombing of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

1987 Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street's biggest insider-trading scandal.

1997 Comedian and "Saturday Night Live" alum Chris Farley was found dead at age 33 of an accidental overdose of morphine and cocaine.

1998 The House of Representatives began debate on four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.

1999 Environmental activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill came down after spending two years living atop an ancient redwood in Humboldt County, Calif., to protest logging.

2003 A judge in Seattle sentenced confessed Green River killer Gary Ridgeway to 48 consecutive life terms.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 19, 1984, Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1219.html#article)

On December 19, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a Union drummer boy during the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1219.html)

1732 Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."

1776 Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay, writing: "These are the times that try men's souls."

1777 Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.

1843 Charles Dickens' classic Yuletide tale, "A Christmas Carol," was first published in England.

1907 A coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa., killed 239 workers.

1972 Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

1974 Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States, replacing Gerald R. Ford, who became president when Richard M. Nixon resigned.

1986 The Soviet Union announced it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner.

1996 The school board of Oakland, Calif., voted to recognize Black English, also known as "ebonics."

1997 "Titanic," the highest-grossing movie of all-time, opened in American theaters.

1998 President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice.

1998 Two days after his confession of marital infidelity, Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., told the House he wouldn't serve as its next speaker.

2000 The U.N. Security Council voted to impose broad sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed terrorist training camps and surrendered U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden. in fact Taliban rulers knew where Osama was at the end of Clinton, beginning of giggle. they even offered to kill him for U.S. but giggles turned them down because he had a different agenda. bomb.

2002 After a prosecutor cited new DNA evidence, a judge in New York threw out the convictions of five young men in a 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who had been raped and left for dead.

2003 Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi agreed to halt his nation's drive to develop nuclear and chemical weapons.

2005 Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament in more than three decades convened.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 20, 1989, the United States launched Operation Just Cause, sending troops into Panama to topple the government of General Manuel Noriega. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1220.html#article)

On December 20, 1902, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about cartoonist Thomas Nast, who had recently died. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1220.html)

1790 The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, R.I.

1803 The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans.

1860 South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.

1864 Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Ga., as Union Gen. William T. Sherman continued his "March to the Sea."

1879 Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, N.J.

1946 The Frank Capra film "It's A Wonderful Life" had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre, a day before its official premiere.

1963 The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.

1968 Author John Steinbeck died at age 66.

1976 Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley died at age 74.

1994 Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk died at age 85.

1996 Astronomer Carl Sagan died at age 62.

1999 The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples of the opposite sex.

2002 Trent Lott resigned as Senate Republican leader two weeks after igniting a political firestorm with racially charged remarks.

2005 New York City transit workers began a strike that shut down subways and buses for three days.

2005 A federal judge ruled that "intelligent design" could not be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district.

2006 Acknowledging deepening frustration over Iraq, President George W. Bush told a news conference he was considering an increase in American forces and warned that the next year would bring more painful U.S. losses.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 22, 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to President Lincoln from Georgia, saying, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah." Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1222.html#article)

On December 22, 1906, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Secretary of State Elihu Root. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1222.html)

1775 A Continental naval fleet was organized in the rebellious American colonies.

1807 Congress passed the Embargo Act, designed to force peace between Britain and France by cutting off all trade with Europe.

1894 French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. He was eventually vindicated.

1941 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington for a wartime conference with President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1944 During the Battle of the Bulge, Germany demanded the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium; Brigadier Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replied: "Nuts!"

1984 New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot four black youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him.

1989 Playwright Samuel Beckett died in Paris at age 83.

1989 Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, the last of Eastern Europe's hard-line Communist rulers, was toppled from power in a popular uprising.

1990 Lech Walesa took the oath of office as Poland's first popularly elected president.

1991 The body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, was found dumped along a highway in Lebanon.

2000 Pop singer Madonna married film director Guy Ritchie in Scotland.

2001 Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers.

2002 Rock musician Joe Strummer of The Clash died at age 50.

2005 New York transit workers ended their three-day strike without a new contract.

2005 Astronomers announced the discovery of two more rings encircling the planet Uranus.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 25, 1991, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev went on TV to announce his resignation as the eighth and final leader of a Communist superpower that had already gone out of existence. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1225.html#article)

On December 25, 1866, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Santa Claus and Christmas. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1225.html)

1066
William the Conqueror was crowned king of England.

1223
St. Francis of Assisi assembled one of the first Nativity scenes, in Greccio, Italy.

1776
Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J.

1818
"Silent Night" was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria.

1821
Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, was born in Oxford, Mass.

1868
President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to everyone involved in the Southern rebellion that resulted in the Civil War.

1926
Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

1946
Comedian W.C. Fields died at age 66.

1977
Comedian Charlie Chaplin died at age 88.

1989
Ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed.

1989
Former New York Yankees player and manager Billy Martin died at age 61 when the pickup truck he was riding in crashed.

1995
Singer Dean Martin died at age 78.

2002
Katie Hnida became the first woman to play in a Division I football game when she attempted an extra point for New Mexico against UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.

2006
Soul singer James Brown died at age 73.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 26, 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1226.html#article)

On December 26, 1868, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Reverdy Johnson, the U.S. minister to Great Britain. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1226.html)



1776
The British suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.
1799
George Washington was eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
1865
James H. Nason of Franklin, Mass., received a patent for a coffee percolator.
1893
Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong was born in Hunan province.
1908
Jack Johhnson became the first black heavyweight boxing champion when he knocked out Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.
1917
The U.S. government took over operation of the nation's railroads.
1944
Tennessee Williams' play "The Glass Menagerie" premiered at the Civic Theatre in Chicago.
1947
Heavy snow blanketed the Northeast, burying New York City under 25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours; the severe weather was blamed for some 80 deaths.
1972
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, died in Kansas City, Mo., at age 88.
1974
Comedian Jack Benny died at age 80.
1996
Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo. The slaying remains unsolved.
1999
Alfonso Portillo, a populist lawyer, scored a resounding victory in Guatemala's first peacetime presidential elections in nearly 40 years.
1999
Soul singer and songwriter Curtis Mayfield died at age 57.
2000
Actor Jason Robards died at age 78.
2004
Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts broke Dan Marino's single-season touchdown pass record when he threw his 48th and 49th of the season in a victory over San Diego.
2004
A tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean left more than 216,000 people dead or missing, mostly in southern Asia.
2006
Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States, died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 27, 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal. Go To Aticle (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1227.html#article)

On December 27, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Senator Thomas Bayard of Delaware, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1880. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1227.html)

1822
Scientist Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France.

1831
British naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin's discoveries during the nearly five-year journey helped form the basis of his theories on evolution.

1900
Prohibitionist Carry Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the CareyHotel in Wichita, Kan.

1927
"Show Boat," with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City.

1932
RadioCityMusic Hall opened in New York City.

1945
The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.

1947
The children's TV program "Howdy Doody" debuted on NBC.

1949
Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.

1968
Apollo 8, the first spaceflight to orbit the moon, returned to Earth.

1970
"Hello, Dolly!" closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.

1979
Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. Babrak Karmal succeeded President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed.

1985
Naturalist Dian Fossey, who had studied gorillas in the wild, was found hacked to death at a research station in Rwanda.

2001
U.S. officials announced that Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners would be held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

2002
North Korea ordered U.N. nuclear inspectors to leave the country and said it would restart a laboratory capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.

2002
A suicide truck-bomb attack destroyed the headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, killing 72 people.

2004
In an audiotape, a man purported to be Osama bin Laden endorsed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as his deputy in Iraq.

2005
Indonesia's Aceh rebels formally abolished their 30-year armed struggle for independence under a peace deal born out of the 2004 tsunami.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 28, 1981, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American test-tube baby, was born in Norfolk, Va. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1228.html#article)

On December 28, 1901, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of the New York World newspaper. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1228.html)

1694
Queen Mary II of England died after five years of joint rule with her husband, King William III.

1832
John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Andrew Jackson.

1846
Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union.

1856
Thomas Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, was born in Staunton, Va.

1897
"Cyrano de Bergerac," a play by Edmond Rostand, premiered in Paris.

1905
The forerunner of the NCAA, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, was founded in New York City.

1937
Composer Maurice Ravel died in Paris.

1945
Congress officially recognized the "Pledge of Allegiance."

1973
Alexander Solzhenitsyn published "Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison system.

1982
Nevell Johnson Jr., a black man, was mortally wounded by a police officer in a Miami video arcade, setting off three days of race-related disturbances that left another man dead.

2004
Activist, author and intellectual Susan Sontag died at age 71.

2004
Actor Jerry Orbach ("Law and Order") died at age 69.

2005
Former top Enron Corp. accountant Richard Causey pleaded guilty to securities fraud and agreed to help pursue convictions against Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling.

2005
A U.S. immigration judge ordered retired auto worker John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi concentration camp guard, deported to his native Ukraine.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 29, 1940, during World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1229.html#article)

On December 29, 1906, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Theodore Roosevelt's appointment of Attorney General William Moody to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1229.html)

1170
Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in England.

1808
Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, was born in Raleigh, N.C.

1809
British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone was born in Liverpool.

1813
The British burned Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812.

1845
Texas was admitted to the union as the 28th state.

1851
The first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston.

1934
Japan renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

1975
A bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardiaAirport, killing 11 people.

1986
Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan died at age 92.

1989
Playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia by the country's Federal Assembly, becoming the first non-Communist to attain the post in more than four decades.

1996
War-weary guerrilla and government leaders in Guatemala signed an accord ending 36 years of civil conflict.

1998
Khmer Rouge leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives.

1999
The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.

[Kestra]

On Dec. 30, 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1230.html#article)

On December 30, 1899, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Manila during the Philippine-American War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/1230.html)

1865
Author Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India.

1903
About 600 people died when fire broke out at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

1911
Sun Yat-sen was elected the first president of the Republic of China.

1922
Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

1940
California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened.

1947
King Michael of Romania agreed to abdicate, but charged he was being forced off the throne by Communists.

1978
OhioStateUniversity fired Woody Hayes as its football coach, one day after Hayes punched a ClemsonUniversity player during a game.

1988
President Ronald Reagan and President-elect George H.W. Bush were subpoenaed to testify as defense witnesses in the pending Iran-Contra trial of Oliver North. (The subpoenas were subsequently quashed.)

1993
Israel and the Vatican agreed to recognize one another.

1997
Armed men massacred 412 men, women and children in four mountain villages in Algeria.

1999
Former Beatle George Harrison fought off a knife-wielding intruder who broke into his mansion west of London and stabbed him in the chest.

2003
The federal government announced it would ban the sale of ephedra, an herbal stimulant linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro led Cuban revolutionaries to victory over Fulgencio Batista. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0101.html#article)

On January 1, 1859, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about New Year's Day. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0101.html)

1797
Albany became the capital of New York state, replacing New York City.

1863
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in rebel states were free.

1892
The Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York opened.

1898
Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island were consolidated into New York City.

1901
The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed.

1945
France was admitted to the United Nations.

1953
Country singer Hank Williams Sr., 29, died of a drug and alcohol overdose while en route to a concert in Canton, Ohio.

1958
Treaties establishing the European Economic Community went into effect.

1979
The United States and China held celebrations in Washington and Beijing to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

1984
AT&T was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.

1990
David Dinkins was sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.

1993
Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two new countries, the CzechRepublic and Slovakia.

1994
The North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.

1998
An anti-smoking law went into effect in California, prohibiting people from lighting up in bars.

1999
The euro became the official currency of 11 European countries.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 2, 1905, Japanese Gen. Nogi received from Russian Gen. Stoessel at 9 o'clock P.M. a letter formally offering to surrender, ending the Russo-Japanese War. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0102.html#article)

On January 2, 1864, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0102.html)

1492
The leader of the last Arab stronghold in Spain surrendered to Spanish forces loyal to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I.

1788
Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1900
Secretary of State John Hay announced the Open Door Policy to prompt trade with China.

1935
Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., on charges of kidnapping and murdering the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (He was found guilty and executed.)

1942
The Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II.

1960
Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1965
The New York Jets signed University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000.

1974
President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph.

1983
The musical play "Annie," based on the "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip, closed on Broadway after 2,377 performances.

1991
Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first black woman to head a city of Washington's size and prominence.

2006
A methane gas explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia killed one miner and trapped 12 others underground for more than 40 hours. Randal McCloy Jr. was the only survivor; the others succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 3, 1959, President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0103.html#article)

On January 3, 1874, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about women's rights. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0103.html)

1521
Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

1777
Gen. George Washington's army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.
1833
Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

1868
The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan's emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns.

1892
J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

1938
The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.

1947
Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia and New York City saw some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress.


1961
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.

1967
Jack Ruby, the man who shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.

1980
Conservationist Joy Adamson, author of "Born Free," was killed in Kenya by a servant.

1990
Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Panama City.

1997
Bryant Gumbel signed off for the last time as host of NBC's "Today" show.

2000
The last new daily "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.

2003
David Westerfield, the man who had kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old neighbor Danielle van Dam, was sentenced to death by a judge in San Diego.

2004
NASA's Mars rover, Spirit, touched down on the red planet. red rover, red rover, send Mars right over. :D

2005
President George W. Bush tapped his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and former President Bill Clinton to help raise tsunami relief funds.

2006
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and agreed to cooperate in investigations of corruption in Congress. In a plea agreement, he admitted he had provided gifts to officials in exchange for favorable treatment.

2007
Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States, was laid to rest on the grounds of his presidential museum in Grand Rapids, Mich.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 4, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined the goals of his ''Great Society'' in his State of the Union address. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0104.html#article)

On January 4, 1873, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Tweed Ring. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0104.html)

1896
Utah was admitted to the Union as the 45th state.

1948
Britain granted independence to Burma.

1951
North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul during the Korean War.

1960
French author Albert Camus died in an automobile accident at age 46.

1965
Poet T.S. Eliot died at age 76.

1974
President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

1990
Charles Stuart, who had claimed a gunman had killed his pregnant wife and wounded him, leaped to his death from a BostonHarbor bridge after he became a suspect.

1990
Deposed Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was arraigned in federal district court in Miami on drug-trafficking charges.

1994
The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected speaker of the House.

1999
Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.

2004
Afghans approved a new constitution.

2004
Georgians overwhelmingly elected Mikhail Saakashvili president, two months after he'd led protests that forced Eduard Shevardnadze to step down.

2006
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and his powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert.

2007
Nancy Pelosi was elected the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Keith Ellison of Minnesota's 5th District became the first Muslim member of Congress.

[Dot]

On January 4 2008, the trolls staged a return...
quick hide the goats...

[Kestra]

baaaAAAaaa... merde happens.

On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day. Go to Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0105.html#article)

On January 5, 1878, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Balkans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0105.html)

1589
Catherine de Medici of France died at age 69.

1781
A British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burned Richmond, Va.

1896
The Austrian newspaper Wiener Presse reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen of a type of radiation that came to be known as an X-ray.

1925
Nellie T. Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in U.S. history.

1933
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, died in Northampton, Mass., at age 60.

1943
Educator and scientist George Washington Carver died in Tuskegee, Ala., at age 81.

1949
In his State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman labeled his domestic program the "Fair Deal."

1972
President Richard Nixon ordered development of the space shuttle.
1973
Bruce Springsteen's debut album, "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.," was released.

1981
Police in England arrested Peter Sutcliffe, a truck driver later convicted of the "Yorkshire Ripper" murders of 13 women.

1987
President Ronald Reagan underwent prostate surgery at BethesdaNavalHospital. Doctors reported no signs of cancer.

1993
The state of Washington executed Westley Allan Dodd, an admitted child sex killer, in America's first legal hanging since 1965.

1994
Former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill died in Boston at age 81.

1998
Sonny Bono, the pop singer-turned-politician, was killed when he struck a tree while skiing in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

2000
INS Commissioner Doris Meissner ruled that 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez "belongs with his father" and must be returned to Cuba.

2004
After 14 years of denials, Pete Rose publicly admitted that he'd bet on baseball while manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 6, 1919, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, died in Oyster Bay, N.Y., at age 60. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0106.html#article)

On January 6, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Tweed Ring. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0106.html)

1412
According to tradition, Joan of Arc was born in Domremy, France.

1540
England's King Henry VIII married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The marriage lasted about six months.

1759
George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married.

1838
Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph, in Morristown, N.J.

1912
New Mexico became the 47th state.

1941
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, outlined a goal of "Four Freedoms" for the world: freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of people to worship God in their own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear. and today, :king: giggles has outlined his goal of “four freedoms�. you are free not to speak out against this current government. you are free to worship god as the far reich dictates. you are free to live in want. you are free to live in fear.

1942
The Pan American Airways Pacific Clipper arrived in New York after making the first round-the-world trip by a commercial airplane.

1945
Future president George H.W. Bush married Barbara Pierce in Rye, N.Y.

1950
Britain recognized the Communist government of China.

1982
Truck driver William G. Bonin was convicted in Los Angeles of being the "freeway killer" who had murdered 14 young men and boys.

1993
Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev died at age 54.

1993
Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie died at age 75.

1994
Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg by an assailant in Detroit. Four men, including the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, were later sentenced to prison.
H’WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEE! :scream:

2001
With the vanquished Vice President Al Gore presiding, Congress certified Republican George W. Bush after Supreme court judge uncle Tom crowned him the winner of the close and bitterly contested 2000 presidential election.

2004
Mijailo Mijailovic confessed to the fatal stabbing of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in September 2003.

2005
Former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was arrested 41 years after three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi. (Killen was later convicted of manslaughter.)

[Kestra]

On Jan. 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0107.html#article)

On January 7, 1871, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the German empire. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0107.html)

1610
The astronomer Galileo Galilei sighted four of Jupiter's moons.

1789
The first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans voted for electors who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation's first president.

1800
Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States, was born in Summerhill, N.Y.

1927
Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.

1942
The World War II siege of Bataan began.

1953
President Harry S. Truman announced in his State of the Union address that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.

1955
Singer Marian Anderson made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera," becoming the first black person to perform there as a member.

1959
The United States recognized Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba.

1972
Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the Supreme Court.

1989
Japanese Emperor Hirohito died at age 87.

1996
A major blizzard paralyzed the eastern United States, claiming more than 100 lives.

1997
Newt Gingrich became the first Republican re-elected House speaker in 68 years.

1999
President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial began in the Senate. (He was later acquited on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.)

2003
Police announced they had found traces of the deadly poison ricin in a north London apartment and arrested six men.

2005
Conservative columnist Armstrong Williams was dropped by a major syndication service because he'd accepted a payment from the Bush administration to promote the No Child Left Behind law.

2005
Actor Brad Pitt and actress Jennifer Aniston announced they were separating after four years of marriage.

2006
American journalist Jill Carroll was abducted in Iraq and a translator was killed. (She was released unharmed after 82 days.)

2006
Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, facing corruption charges, stepped down as House majority leader. (He resigned from Congress in June 2006.)

[Kestra]

On Jan. 9, 1968, the Surveyor 7 space probe made a soft landing on the moon, marking the end of the American series of unmanned explorations of the lunar surface. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0109.html#article)

On January 9, 1875, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about monetary policy. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0109.html)

1788
Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1861
Mississippi seceded from the Union.

1913
Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, was born in Yorba Linda, Calif.

1957
British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigned, citing health reasons.

1964
Anti-U.S. rioting broke out in the Panama Canal Zone, resulting in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and three U.S. soldiers.

1972
Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes said a purported authorized biography of him by Clifford Irving was a fake.

1987
The White House released a memorandum prepared for President Ronald Reagan in January 1986 that showed a definite link between U.S. arms sales to Iran and the release of American hostages in Lebanon.
2005

Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian Authority president by a landslide.

2006
"The Phantom of the Opera" became the longest-running show in Broadway history, surpassing "Cats," which ran for 7,485 performances.

2007
Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, which went on sale the following June.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 10, 1946, the first General Assembly of the United Nations convened in London. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0110.html#article)

On January 10, 1874, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about foreign policy. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0110.html)

1776
Thomas Paine published the pamphlet "Common Sense."

1861
Florida seceded from the Union.

1863
London's Metropolitan, the world's first underground passenger railway, opened to the public.

1870
John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil.

1920
The League of Nations was established as the Treaty of Versailles went into effect.

1957
Harold Macmillan became prime minister of Great Britain following the resignation of Anthony Eden.

1964
The Beatles' first album in the United States, "Introducing the Beatles," was released.

1967
Republican Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, the first black elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.

1971
"Masterpiece Theatre" premiered on PBS.

1978
The Soviet Union launched two cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz capsule for a rendezvous with the Salyut VI space laboratory.

1984
The United States and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than a century.

2000
America Online agreed to buy Time-Warner for $162 billion.

2003
North Korea withdrew from a global treaty barring it from making nuclear weapons.

2005
CBS issued a damning independent review of mistakes related to a "60 Minutes Wednesday" report on President George W. Bush's National Guard service and fired three news executives and a producer for their "myopic zeal" in rushing it to air.

2007
President George W. Bush announced he would send 21,500 additional U.S. forces to Iraq to quell violence there.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 11, 1935, aviator Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0111.html#article)

On January 11, 1868, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about tobacco use. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0111.html)

1757
American founding father Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies.

1805
The MichiganTerritory was created.

1861
Alabama seceded from the Union.

1943
The United States and Britain signed treaties relinquishing extraterritorial rights in China.

1964
U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the first government report saying smoking may be hazardous to one's health.

1973
Owners of American League baseball teams voted to adopt the designated-hitter rule on a trial basis. (It has remained in effect ever since.)

1977
France set off an international uproar by releasing Abu Daoud, a Palestinian suspected of involvement in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

1988
Vice President George H.W. Bush met with representatives of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh to answer questions about the Iran-Contra affair.

2001
The Army acknowledged that U.S. soldiers killed an "unknown number" of South Korean refugees early in the Korean War at No Gun Ri.

2001
The Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of America Online and Time Warner.

2003
Calling the death penalty process "arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral," Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 condemned inmates, clearing his state's death row two days before leaving office.

2006
A Georgian court convicted a man of trying to assassinate President Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in 2005 with a grenade in Tbilisi and sentenced him to life in prison.

2007
English soccer star David Beckham announced a five-year deal to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

[Dot]

On this day an arrest warrant was issued for OJ Simpson,to retrun to vegas for violating the terms of his bond.

idiot just can't keep his mouth shut ;)

[Kestra]

he is an idiot, he had it all and threw it away.

On Jan. 12, 1915, the United States House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0112.html#article)

On January 12, 1861, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about secession. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0112.html)


1519
Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I died.

1773
The first public museum in America was established, in Charleston, S.C.

1932
Hattie W. Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. (She had been appointed two months earlier to fill the vacancy caused by her husband's death.)

1945
Soviet forces began a huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe during World War II.

1948
The Supreme Court ruled that states could not discriminate against law-school applicants because of race.

1969
Led Zeppelin's self-titled first album was released.

1969
The New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

1971
The sitcom "All in the Family" premiered on CBS.

1976
Mystery writer Agatha Christie died at age 85.

1986
Space shuttle Columbia blasted off with a crew that included the first Hispanic-American in space, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz.

1991
A deeply divided Congress gave President George H.W. Bush the authority to use force to expel Iraq from Kuwait. (The Senate vote was 52-47; the House followed suit 250-183.)

1998
Nineteen European nations signed a treaty in Paris opposing human cloning.

1998
Linda Tripp provided Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's office with taped conversations between herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

1999
The baseball that Mark McGwire hit for his record-setting 70th home run of the 1998 season was sold at auction in New York for $3 million to an anonymous bidder.

2000
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.

2003
Singer Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees died at age 53.

2005
Britain's Prince Harry apologized after a newspaper published a photograph of the young royal wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party.
2006

Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who'd shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, was released from an Istanbul prison after serving more than 25 years in Italy and Turkey for the plot against the pontiff and the slaying of a Turkish journalist.

2006
A stampede broke out during the Islamic hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, killing 363 people.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 13, 1990, Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation's first elected black governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0113.html#article)

On January 13, 1877, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Electoral College controversy. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0113.html)

1794
President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union.

1808
Salmon P. Chase, U.S. senator, secretary of the treasury and chief justice of the Supreme Court, was born in Cornish, N.H.

1893
Britain's Independent Labor Party, a precursor to the Labor Party, first met.

1898
Novelist Emile Zola's "J'accuse" - a defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a French Jew falsely convicted of treason, was published in a Paris newspaper.

1941
Irish novelist James Joyce died at age 58.

1964
Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was appointed archbishop of Krakow, Poland, by Pope Paul VI.

1966
Robert C. Weaver became the first black Cabinet member as he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

1968
Country musician Johnny Cash recorded a live concert at Folsom Prison in California.
1978
Former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey died in Waverly, Minn., at age 66.

1982
An Air Florida 737 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., after takeoff and fell into the Potomac River, killing 78 people.

1989
New York City subway gunman Bernhard H. Goetz was sentenced to one year in prison for possessing an unlicensed gun that he used to shoot four youths he said were about to rob him.

1992
Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

1999
Basketball player Michael Jordan announced his retirement. (He returned to the NBA in 2001.)

2000
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive and promoted company president Steve Ballmer to the position.

2002
The off-Broadway musical "The Fantasticks" ended a run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 shows

[Kestra]

On Jan. 14, 1943, President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill opened a wartime conference in Casablanca. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0114.html#article)

On January 14, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Apocalypse. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0114.html)

1639
Connecticut's first constitution, the Fundamental Orders, was adopted.

1742
English astronomer Edmond Halley, who observed the comet that now bears his name, died at age 85.

1784
The United States ratified a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War.

1898
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson - who wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" under the pen name Lewis Carroll - died in Guildford, England, at age 65.

1952
NBC's "Today" show premiered.

1953
Josip Broz Tito was elected president of Yugoslavia by the country's Parliament.

1954
Baseball player Joe Dimaggio and actress Marilyn Monroe were married at San FranciscoCity
Hall.

1963
George C. Wallace was sworn in as governor of Alabama with a pledge of "segregation forever."

1969
An explosion ripped through the U.S. aircraft carrier Enterprise off Hawaii, killing 25 crew members.

1970
Diana Ross and the Supremes performed their last concert together, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.

1993
Late-night TV talk show host David Letterman announced he was moving from NBC to CBS.

1994
President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed accords in Moscow to stop aiming missiles at any nation and to dismantle the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine.

1998
Whitewater prosecutors questioned first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House about the gathering of FBI background files on past Republican political appointees.

1998
NBC agreed to pay Warner Bros. a record $13 million per episode to retain the top-rated TV show, "ER."

2000
A U.N. tribunal sentenced five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years for the 1993 massacre of at least 103 Muslims in a Bosnian village.

2004
Former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty to conspiracy as he accepted a 10-year prison sentence.

2004
J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. struck a deal to buy Bank One Corp. for $58 billion.

2004
President George W. Bush unveiled a plan to send astronauts to the moon, Mars and beyond.

2005
Army Specialist Charles Graner Jr., the reputed ringleader of a band of rogue guards at the Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted at Fort Hood, Texas, of abusing Iraqi detainees. (He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison.).

2005
A European space probe sent back the first detailed pictures of the frozen surface of Saturn's moon, Titan.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football.

League, 35-10. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0115.html#article)On January 15, 1881, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Balkans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0115.html)

1559
England's Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1777
New Connecticut, which later became the state of Vermont, declared its independence from Great Britain.

1844
The University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.

1870
The Democratic Party was represented as a donkey in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.

1892
The rules of basketball were published for the first time, in Springfield, Mass.

1919
Pianist and statesman Ignace Jan Paderewski became the first premier of the newly created republic of Poland.

1942
Jawaharlal Nehru succeeded Mohandas K. Gandhi as head of India's National Congress Party.

1973
President Richard Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.

1976
Sara Jane Moore was sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald Ford in San Francisco.

1978
Two students at FloridaStateUniversity in Tallahassee were murdered in their sorority house. Serial killer Ted Bundy was later convicted of the crime and executed.

1992
The Yugoslav federation effectively collapsed as the European Community recognized the republics of Croatia and Slovenia.

2004
The NASA Spirit rover rolled onto the surface of Mars.

2005
A military court at Fort Hood, Texas, sentenced Army Specialist Charles Graner Jr. to 10 years behind bars for physically and sexually mistreating Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison.

2005
Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in as Palestinian president.

2006
After a seven-year journey, a NASA space capsule, Stardust, returned safely to Earth with the first dust ever fetched from a comet.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 17, 1893, Hawaii's monarchy was overthrown as a group of businessmen and sugar planters forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0117.html#article)

On January 17, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0117.html)

1562
French Protestants were recognized under the Edict of St. Germain.

1706
Statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston.

1806
Thomas Jefferson's daughter, Martha, gave birth to James Madison Randolph, the first child born in the White House.

1893
Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, died in Fremont, Ohio, at age 70.

1899
Gangster Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

1945
Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during World War II.

1945
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews, disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody.

1946
The United Nations Security Council held its first meeting.

1961
In his farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against the rise of "the military-industrial complex."

1977
Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, 36, was shot by a firing squad at Utah State Prison in the first U.S. execution in a decade.

1984
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the private use of home video cassette recorders to tape TV programs did not violate federal copyright laws.

1994
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Southern California, killing at least 61 people and causing $20 billion worth of damage.

1995
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake devastated the city of Kobe, Japan; more than 6,000 people were killed.

1997
A court in Ireland granted the first divorce in the Roman Catholic country's history.

1997
Israel handed over Hebron to the Palestinians, ending 30 years of occupation of the West Bank city.

1998
President Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to testify as a defendant in a criminal or civil suit when he answered questions from lawyers for Paula Jones, who had accused Clinton of sexual harassment.

2001
Faced with an electricity crisis, California used rolling blackouts to cut off power to hundreds of thousands of people.

2006
The Supreme Court protected Oregon's assisted-suicide law, ruling that doctors there who helped terminally ill patients die could not be arrested under federal drug laws.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 18, 1912, English explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had gotten there first. :hbang: Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0118.html#article)

On January 18, 1862, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about New York City's government. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0118.html)

1778
English navigator Captain James Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands, which he dubbed the Sandwich Islands.

1782
Lawyer and statesman Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, N.H.
1788
The first English settlers arrived in Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal colony.

1862
John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, died in Richmond, Va., at age 71.

1871
William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor in Versailles, France.

1911
The first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor.

1919
The World War I peace conference opened in Versailles, France.

1936
Author Rudyard Kipling died in Burwash, England, at age 70.

1943
The Soviets announced that they had broken the long Nazi siege of Leningrad.

1967
Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," was convicted in Cambridge, Mass., of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses.

1990
A jury in Los Angeles acquitted former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, of 52 child molestation charges.

1990
Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting. He was later convicted of a misdemeanor.

1991
Financially strapped Eastern Airlines shut down after 62 years in business.

1993
The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.

2004
A suicide truck bombing outside the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad killed at least 31 people.

2005
The world's largest commercial jet, an Airbus A380 that can carry 800 passengers, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 19, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0119.html#article)

On January 19, 1884, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about trade policy. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0119.html)

1736
James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, was born in Scotland.

1807
Robert E. Lee, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies, was born in Stratford, Va.

1809
Author Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston.

1853
Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" premiered in Rome.

1861
Georgia seceded from the Union.

1943
Rock singer Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas.

1944
The federal government relinquished control of the nation's railroads after settling a wage dispute.
1955
A presidential news conference was filmed for TV for the first time, with the permission of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1966
Indira Gandhi was elected prime minister of India.

1970
President Richard Nixon nominated G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court. The nomination was later defeated because of controversy over Carswell's past racial views.

1979
Former Attorney General John Mitchell was released on parole after serving 19 months in federal prison for Watergate-related crimes.

1981
The United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months.

1997
Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron for the first time in more than 30 years, joining 60,000 Palestinians in celebrating the handover of the last West Bank city in Israeli control.

1998
Rockabilly pioneer Carl Perkins died at age 65.

2001
In a deal sparing himself possible indictment, President Bill Clinton acknowledged for the first time making false statements under oath about Monica Lewinsky; he also surrendered his law license for five years.

2004
John Kerry won Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses; Howard Dean, who finished third, delivered a fist-pumping, bellowing concession speech that was viewed as politically damaging.

2006
Osama bin Laden, in an audiotape that was his first in more than a year, said al-Qaida was preparing for attacks in the United States; at the same time, he offered a "long-term truce" without specifying the conditions.
a truce offering which giggles ignored.

2006
An unmanned NASA spacecraft blasted off on a 3 billion-mile journey to Pluto.

2007
Former Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for his role in a lobbying scandal.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 20, 1981, Iran released 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0120.html#article)

On January 20, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Horace Greeley. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0120.html)

1801
John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States
.
1841
Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain.

1887
The U.S. Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base.

1896
Comedian George Burns was born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City.

1920
Movie director Federico Fellini was born in Rimini, Italy.

1936
Britain's King George V died.

1942
Nazi officials arrived at a "final solution" that called for exterminating Europe's Jews, during a conference at LakeWannsee in Berlin.

1961
John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States.

1981
Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States.

1986
The United States observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

1986
Britain and France announced plans to build the Channel Tunnel.

1987
Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite disappeared in Beirut, Lebanon, while attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages.

1989
George H.W. Bush took the oath of office as the 41st U.S. president.

1993
Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd president of the United States.

1993
Actress Audrey Hepburn died at age 63.

2001
George W. Bush took the oath of office as the 43rd president of the United States. after he stole the election.
.
2001
Hundreds of thousands of protesting Filipinos forced President Joseph Estrada to step down; Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was sworn in as the new president.

2004
The Salvation Army announced it had received a $1.5 billion donation from the estate of Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 21, 1924, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died at age 54. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0121.html#article)

On January 21, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about public safety. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0121.html)

1793
France's King Louis XVI, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine.

1861
Five Southerners resigned from the U.S. Senate, including Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, the future president of the Confederacy.

1915
The first Kiwanis Club was founded, in Detroit.

1924
Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died of a stroke at age 54.

1942
Count Basie and His Orchestra recorded "One O'Clock Jump" in New York City for Okeh Records.

1950
A federal jury in New York City found former State Department official Alger Hiss guilty of perjury.

1950
Author George Orwell died in London.

1954
The first atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Conn.

1976
The supersonic Concorde jet was put into service by Britain and France.

1977
President Jimmy Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders.

1994
A jury in Manassas, Va., acquitted Lorena Bobbitt by reason of temporary insanity of maliciously wounding her husband, John, whom she'd accused of sexually assaulting her.

1997
Speaker Newt Gingrich was fined as the House voted for first time in history to discipline its leader for ethical misconduct.

1998
Pope John Paul II began his first visit to Cuba.

2003
The Census Bureau announced that Hispanics had surpassed blacks as America's largest minority group.

2004
The recording industry sued 532 computer users it said were illegally distributing songs over the Internet.

2005
A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad killed at least 14 people; a suicide bombing at a Shiite wedding south of the capital killed at least seven people, including the bride and the groom.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court handed down its Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0122.html#article)

On January 22, 1887, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about New York City's government. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0122.html)

1901
Queen Victoria died at age 81 after 63 years on the British throne.

1905
Russian troops opened fired on marching workers in St. Petersburg, killing more than 100 in what became known as "Bloody Sunday."

1917
President Woodrow Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for "peace without victory."

1922
Pope Benedict XV died.

1938
Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" premiered in Princeton, N.J.

1944
Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy, during World War II.

1953
The Arthur Miller drama "The Crucible" opened on Broadway.
1968
The sketch comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" premiered on NBC.

1970
The Boeing 747 went on its first regularly scheduled commercial flight, from New York to London.

1973
Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, died at his ranch in Johnson City, Texas, at age 64.

1995
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the mother of President John F. Kennedy, died in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 104.

1997
The Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the nation's first female secretary of state.

1998
Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Sacramento, Calif., to being the Unabomber in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole.

2001
President George W. Bush signed a memorandum reinstating full abortion restrictions on U.S. overseas aid.

2004
Bill Janklow, a South Dakota congressman who had resigned after being convicted of manslaugther for a collision that killed a motorcyclist, was sentenced to 100 days in jail.

2006
Evo Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president, took office.

2006
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second-highest total in a single game in NBA history, in a 122-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 23, 1973, President Richard Nixon announced an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0123.html#article)

On January 23, 1864, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0123.html)

1789
GeorgetownUniversity was established in present-day Washington, D.C.

1845
Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

1849
English-born Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive a medical degree, from the Medical Institution of Geneva, N.Y.

1920
The Dutch government refused demands from the victorious Allies to hand over the former German kaiser. (Wilhelm II lived in The Netherlands until his death in 1941.)

1932
New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1937
Seventeen people went on trial in Moscow during Soviet leader Josef Stalin's Great Purge.

1950
The Israeli Knesset approved a resolution proclaiming Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

1964
The 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified. and then came the rise of the far Reich.

1968
North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship the USS Pueblo, charging it had intruded into the communist nation's territorial waters on a spying mission. The crew was held for 11 months.

1977
The TV mini-series "Roots," based on the Alex Haley novel, began airing on ABC.

1985
Debate in Britain's House of Lords was carried live on TV for the first time.

1989
Surrealist painter Salvador Dali died in his native Spain at age 84.

1991
Allied forces in the Persian Gulf War announced that they had achieved air superiority after some 12,000 sorties.

1997
A judge in Fairfax, Va., sentenced Mir Aimal Kasi to death for an assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters in 1993 that killed two people and wounded three.

2002
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, by a group demanding the return of prisoners from the Afghan campaign. (He was later murdered.)

2004
Bob Keeshan, TV's "Captain Kangaroo," died at age 76.

2005
Former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson died at age 79.

2005
Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in as president of Ukraine.

2007
A new rule requiring U.S. airline passengers to show a passport upon their return from Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean took effect.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 24, 1965, Winston Churchill died in London at age 90. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0124.html#article)

On January 24, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Emancipation Proclamation. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0124.html)

1848
James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California, sparking the gold rush of '49.

1908
The first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.

1924
The Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in honor of the late revolutionary leader.

1943
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill concluded a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco.

1972
The Supreme Court struck down laws that denied welfare benefits to people who had resided in a state for less than a year.

1986
The Voyager 2 space probe swept past Uranus, coming within 50,679 miles of the seventh planet from the sun.

1987
Gunmen in Lebanon kidnapped educators Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh. All were later released.

1989
Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was put to death in Florida's electric chair for the 1978 kidnap-murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.

1993
Retired Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died at age 84.

1995
The prosecution gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. and what a joke that was.

2003
The new federal Department of Homeland Security officially opened as TomRidge was sworn in as secretary.

2004
NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars three weeks after its identical twin, Spirit.

2006
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito won a 10-8 party-line approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 25, 1915, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0125.html#article)

On January 25, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about military spending by Congress. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0125.html)

1533
England's King Henry VIII secretly married Anne Boleyn, his second wife.

1787
Shays' Rebellion suffered a setback when debt-ridden farmers led by Capt. Daniel Shays failed to capture an arsenal at Springfield, Mass.

1890
The United Mine Workers of America was founded.

1947
Gangster Al Capone died at age 48.

1959
American Airlines opened the jet age in the United States with the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707.
1961
President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and TV.

1971
Charles Manson and three female followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.

1981
The 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived in the United States.

1988
Vice President George Bush and Dan Rather clashed on "The CBS Evening News" as the anchorman attempted to question the Republican presidential candidate about his role in the Iran-Contra affair.

1993
A gunman shot and killed two CIA employees outside agency headquarters in Virginia. (Aimal Khan Kasi, a Pakistani man, was later convicted and was executed in 2002.)

1994
Singer Michael Jackson settled a child molestation lawsuit against him; terms were confidential, although one source put the monetary figure at at least $10 million.

1995
The defense gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles, saying Simpson was the victim of a "rush to judgment" by authorities who had mishandled evidence and ignored witnesses. :eyeroll:

2006
The Islamic militant group Hamas won a large majority of seats in Palestinian parliamentary elections., and :king: giggles didn’t like the outcome, thus declaring would not support the newly elected government.

2007
Ford Motor Co. said it had lost a staggering $12.7 billion in 2006, the worst loss in the company's 103-year history.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 26, 1950, India proclaimed itself a republic. Go To Artcile (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0126.html#article)

On January 26, 1884, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about civil service reform. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0126.html)

1788
The first European settlers in Australia landed in present-day Sydney.

1802
Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol.

1837
Michigan became the 26th state.

1861
Louisiana seceded from the Union.

1870
Virginia rejoined the Union.

1962
The United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon, but the probe missed its target by some 22,000 miles.

1979
Former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller died at age 70.

1988
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Phantom of the Opera" opened at Broadway's Majestic Theater. (It has since become the longest-running show in Broadway history.)

1993
Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new CzechRepublic.

1996
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury connected to the Whitewater probe.

1998
President Bill Clinton denied having an affair with a former White House intern, telling reporters, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

2001
A earthquake hit the Indian subcontinent, killing more than 13,000 people.

2005
A U.S. Marine helicopter crashed in western Iraq, killing 30 Marines and a Navy medic aboard.

2005
Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as secretary of state.

2006
Confronted by Oprah Winfrey on her syndicated talk show, author James Frey acknowledged lies in his addiction memoir "A Million Little Pieces."

[Kestra]

On Jan. 27, 1967, Astronauts Virgil I. ''Gus'' Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo I spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Fla. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0127.html#article)

On January 27, 1877, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Electoral College controversy. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0127.html)

1756
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

1832
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" under the pen name Lewis Carroll, was born in Cheshire, England.

1880
Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

1885
Broadway composer Jerome Kern was born in New York City.

1901
Opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan, Italy, at age 87.

1944
The Soviet Union announced the end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years. same as below.

1945
Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland. gee, to hear some far right wingers version, it was all done by America.

1951
An era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flats.

1967
More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons. and then came Reagan and his “Star Wars� dream.
1973
The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.

1977
The Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests.

1981
President Ronald Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House.

1998
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing on NBC's "Today" show, said that allegations against her husband were the work of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

2006
Western Union delivered its last telegram.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members.. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0128.html#article) my mum and I were watching that on the telly.

On January 28, 1871, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about African-Americans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0128.html)

1547
England's King Henry VIII died.

1596
English navigator Sir Francis Drake died off the coast of Panama.

1853
Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti was born in Havana.
1871
France surrendered in the Franco-Prussian War.

1902
The Carnegie Institute was established in Washington, D.C.

1909
The United States ended direct control over Cuba.

1915
The Coast Guard was created by an act of Congress.

1916
Louis D. Brandeis was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court, becoming its first Jewish member.

1945
During World War II, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.

1959
Vince Lombardi was named head coach of the NFL's Green Bay Packers.

1973
A cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War.

1982
Italian anti-terrorism forces rescued U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier 42 days after he had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades.

1999
Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan honored a personal request for mercy from Pope John Paul II, sparing triple murderer Darrell Mease from execution

[Kestra]

On Jan. 29, 1963, poet Robert Frost died in Boston.. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0129.html#article)

On January 29, 1859, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about drug use. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0129.html)

1820
Britain's King George III died insane at WindsorCastle.

1845
Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.

1850
Henry Clay introduced in the Senate a compromise bill on slavery that included the admission of California into the Union as a free state.

1861
Kansas became the 34th state of the Union.
1900
The American League, consisting of eight baseball teams, was organized in Philadelphia.

1936
The first five members of baseball's Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y.

1958
Actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married.

1963
Poet Robert Frost died at age 88.

1979
President Jimmy Carter welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House following the establishment of diplomatic relations.

1990
Former Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood went on trial in Anchorage, Alaska, on charges stemming from the nation's worst oil spill.

1995
The San Francisco 49ers became the first team in NFL history to win five Super Bowl titles when they beat the San Diego Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.

1998
A bomb exploded at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., killing an off-duty policeman and severely wounding a nurse. (The bomber, Eric Rudolph, was captured in May 2003 and is serving a life sentence.)

1999
The Senate delivered subpoenas for Monica Lewinsky and two presidential advisers for private, videotaped testimony in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Interesting how they were so gusto with impeaching Clinton for getting a little action under the Oval Office desk. and yet with all the crimes giggles Admin has perpetrated what do they do? “oh, we don’t have time for that.� :innocent: "we don't want to look 'vindictive'."

2002
In his first State of the Union address, President George W. Bush warned of "an axis of evil" consisting of North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

2004
A suicide bomber struck a bus in Jerusalem, killing 10 Israelis.

2006
ABC "World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman were seriously injured in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 30, 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0130.html#article)

On January 30, 1858, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about law and order. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0130.html)

1649
England's King Charles I was beheaded.

1798
A brawl broke out in the House of Representatives in Philadelphia, as Matthew Lyon of Vermont spat in the face of Roger Griswold of Connecticut.

1882
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.

1883
James Ritty and John Birch received a U.S. patent for the first cash register..

1933
Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.

1933
The first episode of the "Lone Ranger" radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.


1962
Two members of the Flying Wallendas high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit.

1964
The United States launched Ranger 6, an unmanned spacecraft carrying TV cameras that was to crash-land on the moon.

1968
The Tet offensive began as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals.

1969
The Beatles performed as a group for the last time in public in a 45-minute gig on the roof of their Apple Records headquarters in London during the filming of "Let it Be."

1972
Thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday."

1979
The civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to return from exile in France.

2003
Richard Reid, a British citizen and al-Qaida follower, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston for trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes.

2005
Iraqis voted in their country's first free election in a half-century.

2006
Exxon Mobil posted record profits for any U.S. company: $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005 and $36.13 billion for the year.

[Kestra]

On Jan. 31, 1865, the House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0131.html#article)

On January 31, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0131.html)

1606
Guy Fawkes, convicted for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.

1797
Composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria.

1865
Gen. Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate armies.
1917
Germany announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

1944
U.S. forces invaded the Japanese-held Marshall Islands during World War II.

1945
Private Eddie Slovik became the only U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.

1949
The first TV daytime soap opera, "These Are My Children," was broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.

1950
President Harry S. Truman announced that he had ordered development of the hydrogen bomb.

1958
The United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer I.

1971
Astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on the third successful manned mission to the Moon.

1990
McDonald's Corp. opened its first fast-food restaurant in Moscow.

2000
Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker was suspended by baseball commissioner Bud Selig for disparaging foreigners, homosexuals and minorities in a Sports Illustrated interview.

2000
An Alaska Airlines jet plunged into the ocean off Southern California on a flight from Mexico to San Francisco, killing all 88 people on board.

2001
A Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

2004
Six U.S.-bound flights from England, Scotland and France were canceled because of security concerns.

2005
SBC Communications Inc. announced it was acquiring AT&T Corp. for $16 billion.

2006
Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died at age 78.

2006
Samuel Alito was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as a Supreme Court justice.

2006
The Senate approved Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

2007
TNine blinking electronic devices planted around Boston threw a scare into the city in what turned out to be a marketing campaign for a late-night cable cartoon.

2007
Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins died at age 62.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 1, 1960, four black college students began a sit-in protest at a lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., where they'd been refused service. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080201.html?th&emc=th)

On February 1, 1868, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Reconstruction. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0201.html)

1861
Texas voted to secede from the Union.

1893
Inventor Thomas A. Edison completed work on the world's first motion picture studio in West Orange, N.J.

1896
Puccini's opera "La Boheme" premiered in Turin, Italy.

1920
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was established.

1946
Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations.

1968
During the Vietnam War, Saigon's police chief, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head.

1979
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.

1979
Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, whose prison sentence for bank robbery had been commuted by President Jimmy Carter, left a federal prison near San Francisco.

1982
"Late Night with David Letterman" premiered on NBC.

1991
A USAir jetliner crashed atop a commuter plane at Los AngelesInternationalAirport, killing 35 people.

1999
Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky gave a deposition that was videotaped for senators weighing impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton.

2003
The space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven crew members.

2004
Singer Janet Jackson's breast was briefly exposed during a duet with Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl halftime show. Timberlake later referred to the incident as a "wardrobe malfunction."

2005
Pope John Paul II was hospitalized for breathing problems and the flu.

2006
French and German newspapers republished caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in what they called a defense of freedom of expression, sparking fresh anger from Muslims.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 2, 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0202.html#article)

On February 2, 1878, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the death of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0202.html)

1536
The Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.

1653
New Amsterdam - now New York City - was incorporated.

1848
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican War.

1870
The Cardiff Giant - supposedly the petrified remains of a human discovered in Cardiff, N.Y. - was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum.

1876
The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York.

1882
Novelist James Joyce was born near Dublin.

1971
Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda following a coup that ousted President Milton Obote.

1979
Punk rock musician Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols died of a drug overdose at age 21.

1980
Reports surfaced that the FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen in what became known as "Abscam," a codename protested by Arab-Americans.

1990
South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.

1996
Dancer, actor and choreographer Gene Kelly died at age 83.

1997
The government released statistics showing deaths from AIDS fell by almost half during the first half of 1997, a decrease attributed to increased use of powerful combinations of medicines.

2004
Deadly ricin was discovered in offices used by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

2004
Israel killed a leader of Islamic Jihad and three other militants in a Gaza raid.

2006
House Republicans elected John Boehner of Ohio as their new majority leader to replace the indicted Tom DeLay. replacing one crony with another.

2007
A grim report from the world's leading climate scientists and government officials said that global warming was so severe, it would "continue for centuries" and that humans were to blame.

2007
Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an order making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 3, 1917, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, which had announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0203.html#article)

On February 3, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Civil Service reform. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0203.html)

1690
The first paper money in America was issued by the colony of Massachusetts.

1809
The territory of Illinois was created.

1865
President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a peace conference aboard a ship off the Virginia coast.

1913
The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.

1924
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, died in Washington, D.C., at age 67.

1930
The chief justice of the United States, former President William Howard Taft, resigned for health reasons.

1959
Rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

1971
Apollo 14 astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Edgar D. Mitchell landed on the lunar sufrace during the third successful manned mission to the moon.

1988
The U.S. House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan's request for more than $36 million in aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. :hmm: guess that was before the US didn't support terrorists.

1994
The space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, in the pilot's seat for the first time.

1998
Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker for the pickax killings of two people in 1983.

1998
A U.S. Marine jet sliced through a ski gondola cable in Italy, sending the car's 20 occupants plunging 370 feet to their deaths

2000
The Senate confirmed Alan Greenspan for a fourth term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

2003
Record producer Phil Spector was arrested in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion in Alhambra, Calif. (A murder trial ended in a jury deadlock; a second trial is expected to begin in the fall.)

2005
Alberto Gonzales won Senate confirmation as attorney general.

2006
An Egyptian passenger ferry sank in the Red Sea during bad weather, killing more than 1,000 passengers.

2007
A suicide truck bomber struck a Baghdad market in a predominantly Shiite area, killing more than 130 people.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 4, 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, Calif., by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0204.html#article)

On February 4, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about public safety. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0204.html)

1783
Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.

1789
Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.

1801
John Marshall was sworn in as chief justice of the United States.

1861
Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.

1913
Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Ala.

1938
The Thornton Wilder play "Our Town" opened on Broadway.

1941
The United Service Organizations (USO) came into existence.

1945
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.

1948
The island nation of Ceylon - now Sri Lanka - became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.

1976
An earthquake struck Guatemala and Honduras, killing more than 22,000 people.

1977
The album "Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac was released.

1983
Singer Karen Carpenter died at age 32.

1987
Pianist Liberace died at age 67.

1997
A civil jury found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

1998
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit northeast Afghanistan, killing an estimated 5,000 people.

1999
Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo was shot and killed in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers who said they mistook his wallet for a gun. The police fired 41 shots at Diallo. at bit of overkill, one might say. npi i beleive he was attempting to show his ID.

2000
A coalition government that included Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party came to power in Austria, triggering European Union sanctions.

2003
Lawmakers formally dissolved Yugoslavia and replaced it with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.

2004
The Massachusetts high court declared that gays were entitled to marry.

2006
Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of Islam's revered prophet torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. In Gaza, Palestinians marched through the streets, storming European buildings and burning German and Danish flags.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 5, 1937, President Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices; critics charged Roosevelt was attempting to "pack" the court. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0205.html#article)

On February 5, 1887, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about technology. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0205.html)

1881
Phoenix, Ariz., was incorporated.

1887
Verdi's opera "Otello" premiered at La Scala in Milan, Italy.

1897
The Indiana House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure redefining the area of a circle and the value of pi. (The bill died in the state Senate.)

1917
Congress passed, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, a law severely curtailing the immigration of Asians.

1917
Mexico's constitution was adopted.

1958
Gamel Abdel Nasser was nominated to become the first president of the new United Arab Republic.

1988
The Arizona House of Representatives impeached Gov. Evan Mecham, setting the stage for his conviction in the state Senate.

1988
Panamanian military leader Gen. Manuel Noriega was indicted on bribery and drug trafficking charges in Florida.

1993
Federal judge Kimba Wood, President Bill Clinton's expected choice for attorney general, withdrew from consideration, saying her baby sitter had been an illegal alien for seven years.

1994
White separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, Miss., of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963. He was sentenced to life in prison.

1997
U.S. Ambassador Pamela Harriman died in Paris at age 76.

1997
Investment bank Morgan Stanley announced a $10 billion merger with Dean Witter.

2001
Four disciples of Osama bin Laden went on trial in New York in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

2002
A federal grand jury indicted John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," on 10 charges, alleging that he was trained by Osama bin Laden's network and that he conspired with the Taliban to kill Americans. how many terrorists have been convicted under giggles admin… zero.

2003
Secretary of State Colin Powell urged the U.N. Security Council to move against Iraq, saying that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was harboring terrorists - claims that later turned out to be false. nothing like being lied to by our gov officials so they can take us into a ‘war of choice.’

2006
Iran ended all voluntary cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

2006
The Pittsburgh Steelers won a record-tying fifth Super Bowl with a 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

2007
NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak was arrested in Orlando, Fla., accused of trying to kidnap a perceived rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 6, 1952, Britain's King George VI died; he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0206.html#article)

On February 6, 1875, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Reconstruction. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0206.html)

1756
Aaron Burr, America's third vice president, was born in Newark, N.J.

1788
Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1895
Baseball Hall of Famer George Herman "Babe" Ruth was born in Baltimore.

1899
A peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

1911
Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Ill.

1933
The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was declared in effect. It moved the start of presidential, vice-presidential and congressional terms from March to January.

1945
Reggae musician Bob Marley was born in St. Ann parish in Jamaica
.
1959
The United States successfully test-fired for the first time a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile from Cape Canaveral.

1989
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Barbara W. Tuchman died at age 77.

1993
Tennis Hall of Famer Arthur Ashe died at age 49.

1998
President Bill Clinton signed a bill changing the name of WashingtonNationalAirport to RonaldReaganWashingtonNationalAirport.

1999
Excerpts of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky's videotaped testimony were shown at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.

2000
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton launched her successful candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

2001
Ariel Sharon was elected Israeli prime minister in a landslide over Ehud Barak.

2003
ABC's "20/20" aired a British documentary on Michael Jackson in which the singer revealed he sometimes let children sleep in his bed.

2004
An explosion ripped through a Moscow subway car during rush hour, killing 41 people in a terrorist attack blamed on Chechen separatists.

2006
Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada's 22nd prime minister.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 7, 1984, space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0207.html#article)

On February 7, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0207.html)

1812
Author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.

1944
Germany launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy, during World War II.

1948
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff and was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.

1964
The Beatles arrived in New York for their first American tour, touching off rock 'n' roll's "British invasion."

1974
The island nation of Grenada won independence from Britain.

1986
Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled his country, ending 28 years of family rule.

1990
The Soviet Union's Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power by agreeing to let other political parties compete for control of the country.

1991
The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president.

1995
Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 WorldTradeCenter bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.

1999
Jordan's King Hussein died of cancer at age 63.

2005
Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, the most notorious figure in the sex scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese, was convicted of repeatedly raping and fondling a boy at his church during the 1980s. (Shanley was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison.)

[Kestra]

On Feb. 8, 1996, in a ceremony at the Library of Congress, President Clinton signed legislation revamping the telecommunications industry, saying it would "bring the future to our doorstep." Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0208.html#article)

On February 8, 1890, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the New York World's Fair. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0208.html)

1587
Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded at FotheringhayCastle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

1693
A charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

1837
The Senate selected Richard Mentor Johnson as vice president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

1904
The Russo-Japanese War began.

1910
The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.

1915
D.W. Griffith's silent movie epic about the Civil War, "The Birth of a Nation," premiered in Los Angeles.

1922
President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.

1924
The first execution by gas in the UnitedState took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.

1968
Three college students died in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley.

1978
Senate deliberations were broadcast on radio for the first time as members opened debate on the Panama Canal treaties.

1980
President Jimmy Carter unveiled a plan to re-introduce draft registration.

1993
General Motors sued NBC, alleging that the program "Dateline NBC" had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires. NBC settled the lawsuit the following day.

1999
The Senate heard closing arguments in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.

2004
Beyonce won five Grammy Awards, tying the record for female performers held by Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keyes and Norah Jones.

2005
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced a cease-fire at a summit in Egypt.

2007
Model and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 9, 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an American victory over Japanese forces. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0209.html#article)

On February 9, 1878, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the federal income tax. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0209.html)

1773
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, was born in Charles City County, Va.

1825
The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

1861
The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America elected Jefferson Davis president and Alexander H. Stephens vice president.

1870
The U.S. Weather Bureau was established.

1942
Daylight-saving "war time" went into effect in the United States, with clocks turned one hour forward.

1950
Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R Wis., during a speech in Wheeling, W.Va., charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists
.
1964
The Beatles made their first live American TV appearance, on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

1971
Apollo 14 returned to Earth after man's third landing on the moon.

1984
Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov died at age 69, less than 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev.

1993
NBC News announced it had settled a defamation lawsuit brought by General Motors over the network's "inappropriate demonstration" of a fiery pickup truck crash on "Dateline NBC."

1999
The Senate began closed-door deliberations in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.

2001
A U.S. Navy submarine collided with a Japanese fishing boat off the Hawaiian coast, killing nine people aboard the boat.

2002
Britain's Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died at age 71.

2006
Kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a video aired on a private Kuwaiti TV station, appealing for her supporters to do whatever it took to win her release "as quickly as possible." (She was freed the following month.)

2007
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Munich, Germany, that serial numbers and other markings on bombs suggested that Iranians were linked to deadly explosives used by Iraqi militants.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 10, 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolph Ivanovich Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0210.html#article)

On February 10, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1872. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0210.html)

1763
France ceded Canada to England under the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War.

1840
Britain's Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg-Gotha.

1846
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormons, began an exodus west from Illinois.

1933
The first singing telegram was introduced by the Postal Telegram Co. in New York.

1942
The former French liner Normandie capsized in New YorkHarbor a day after it caught fire while being refitted for the U.S. Navy.

1949
Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman" opened on Broadway. (Miller died on the same date in 2005.)

1964
Bob Dylan's album "The Times They Are A-Changin"' was released.

1967
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, went into effect.

1968
Peggy Fleming of the United States won the gold medal in women's figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France.

1981
Fire broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino, killing eight people and injuring 198.

1989
Ron Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first black to head a major U.S. political party.

1992
Boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant.

2003
Iraq agreed to allow U-2 surveillance flights over its territory, meeting a key demand by U.N. inspectors searching for banned weapons; President George W. Bush brushed aside Iraqi concessions as too little, too late. well of course it was, giggles agenda from the beginning was a regime change in Iraq. he could'nt allow them to interfere with his agenda. besides, he had all his pieces in place for a March 17, bombing, invasion, occupation.

2005
North Korea boasted publicly for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons
2005
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., announced his bid for president.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 11, 1945, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0211.html#article)

On February 11, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about oil speculation. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0211.html)

1812
Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law that favored his party - giving rise to the term "gerrymandering."

1847
Inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio.

1858
A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.

1929
The Lateran Treaty was signed, with Italy recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.

1937
A sit-down strike against General Motors ended with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.

1972
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish what turned out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

1979
Followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country following 15 years of exile.

1989
Rev. Barbara C. Harris became the first woman consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church in a ceremony held in Boston.

1990
South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.

1993
President Bill Clinton announced his choice of Miami prosecutor Janet Reno to be the nation's first female attorney general.

2002
Israel attacked Palestinian security headquarters in GazaCity in response to unprecedented Palestinian rocket fire and a shooting attack on Israeli civilians.
2003
The al-Jazeera Arab satellite station broadcast what was believed to be a new audio statement from Osama bin Laden urging Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks on Americans.

2004
A car bomb at an army recruiting center in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 47 people.

2006
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail-hunting trip in Texas. and then he hid that fact. and later his ‘companion’ “apologized� for getting in the way.

2006
Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates, won approval from a secretive U.S. panel for a $6.8 billion deal to take over operations at six American ports. (The deal was later blocked.)

[Kestra]

On Feb. 12, 1973, the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0212.html#article)

On February 12, 1870, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about American Indian policy. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0212.html)

1554
Lady Jane Grey, who had claimed the throne of England for nine days, was beheaded after being charged with treason.

1733
English colonists led by James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, Ga.

1809
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in present-day Larue County, Ky.

1870
Women in the UtahTerritory gained the right to vote.

1908
The longest automobile race in history, from New York to Paris, began in Times Square.

1909
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded.

1912
Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, abdicated, marking the end of the Qing Dynasty.

1915
The cornerstone for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C.

1924
George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" premiered in New York City.

1993
Two 10-year-old boys lured 2-year-old James Bulger from his mother at a shopping mall in Liverpool, England, then beat him to death.

1998
A federal judge threw out President Bill Clinton's new line-item veto authority.

1999
The Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

2000
Charles M. Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, died at age 77.

2000
Hall of Fame football coach Tom Landry died at age 75.

2001
The NEAR spacecraft touched down on Eros, completing the first landing on an asteroid.

2002
The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic began in The Hague.

2002
Pakistan charged three men in connection with the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi.

2004
Defying a California law, San Francisco officials began performing weddings for same-sex couples.

2006
A record 26.9 inches of snow fell in New York's Central Park.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 13, 1935, a jury in Flemington, N.J., found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-death of the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0213.html#article)

On February 13, 1886, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a federal government scandal. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0213.html)

1542
The fifth wife of England's King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.

1635
The BostonPublicLatinSchool was founded. (It is now the oldest public school in the United States.)

1914
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers was founded in New York City.

1920
The League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland.

1945
The Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans during World War II.

1945
Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden.

1960
France exploded its first atomic bomb.

1984
Konstantin Chernenko was chosen to be general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Yuri Andropov.

1991
Hundreds of Iraqi civilians were killed when a pair of laser-guided U.S. bombs destroyed an underground facility in Baghdad identified by U.S. officials as a military installation, but which Iraqi officials said was a bomb shelter.

1997
The Dow Jones industrial average broke through the 7,000 barrier for the first time, closing at 7,022.44.

2000
Charles Schulz's final "Peanuts" comic strip ran in Sunday newspapers, the day after the cartoonist died at age 77.

2001
A 6.6 magnitude earthquake shook El Salvador, killing at least 402 people one month to the day after another quake killed more than 800 people.

2002
John Walker Lindh pleaded innocent in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to conspiring to kill Americans and supporting the Taliban and terrorist organizations. (Lindh later pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.)

2005
Final results showed clergy-backed Shiites and independence-minded Kurds had swept to victory in Iraq's landmark elections.

2005
Ray Charles won eight posthumous Grammy awards for his final album, "Genius Loves Company."

[Kestra]

On Feb. 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, killing 260 crew members and escalating tensions with Spain. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0215.html#article)

On February 15, 1868 Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1868. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0215.html)

1564
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa.

1764
The city of St. Louis was established.

1820
American suffragist Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Mass.

1879
President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court.

1933
President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that claimed the life of Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak.

1942
The British colony of Singapore surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.

1965
Canada's new maple leaf flag was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa.

1989
The Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan after more than nine years of military intervention.

2002
President George W. Bush approved Nevada's YuccaMountain as the site for long-term disposal of highly radioactive nuclear waste.

2002
Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were awarded a gold medal to resolve a judging controversy at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

2005
Defrocked priest Paul Shanley was sentenced in Boston to 12 to 15 years in prison on child rape charges.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 16, 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen's recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0216.html#article)

On February 16, 1884, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about women's rights. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0216.html)

1804
Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates.

1862
Some 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered at Fort Donelson, Tenn., to Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

1868
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was organized in New York City.

1918
Lithuania proclaimed its independence.

1937
Wallace H. Carothers, a research chemist for Du Pont, received a patent for nylon.

1945
American troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.

1948
NBC-TV aired its first nightly newscast, "The Camel Newsreel Theatre," which consisted of Fox Movietone newsreels.

1959
Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

1968
The nation's first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated in Haleyville, Ala.

1989
Investigators in Lockerbie, Scotland, said a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player was what brought down Pan Am Flight 103 the previous December, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground.

1999
Enraged Kurds seized embassies and held hostages across Europe following Turkey's arrest of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

2002
The operator of a crematory in Noble, Ga., was arrested after dozens of decomposing corpses were found stacked in storage sheds and scattered around the building and surrounding woods.

2005
The NHL canceled what was left of its season after a round of last-gasp negotiations failed to resolve differences over a salary cap - the issue that led to a lockout.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 17, 1972, President Nixon departed on his historic trip to China. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0217.html#article)

On February 17, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Free Love movement. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0217.html)

1801
The House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, choosing Jefferson to be president.

1817
A street in Baltimore became the first to be lighted with gas from America's first gas company.

1865
Columbia, S.C., burned as the Confederates evacuated and Union forces moved in.

1904
Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly" had its world premiere at La Scala in Milan, Italy.

1908
Sportscaster Walter Lanier "Red" Barber was born in Columbus, Miss.

1933
Newsweek magazine was first published.

1947
The Voice of America began broadcasting to the Soviet Union.

1964
The Supreme Court ruled in Westberry v. Sanders that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population.

1976
The Eagles' album "Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)" was released.

1992
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison.

1995
Colin Ferguson was convicted of six counts of murder in the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings that also wounded 19 people.

1996
World chess champion Garry Kasparov beat IBM supercomputer "Deep Blue," winning a six-game match in Philadelphia.

2002
The new Transportation Security Administration took over supervision of aviation security from the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration.

2003
Twenty-one people were killed in a stampede at a crowded nightclub in Chicago.

2004
Cingular Wireless agreed to pay nearly $41 billion in cash to buy AT&T Wireless Services.

2005
President George W. Bush named John Negroponte as the government's first national intelligence director.

2005
Iraq's electoral commission certified the results of the Jan. 30 elections and allocated 140 of 275 National Assembly seats to the United Iraqi Alliance, giving the Shiite-dominated party a majority in the new parliament.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Ala. Go To Aticle (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0218.html#article)

On February 18, 1871, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Chinese immigration. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0218.html) interesting read, and somewhat applicable to todays issues on immigration.

1516
Mary Tudor, the queen of England popularly known as "Bloody Mary," was born in GreenwichPalace.

1546
Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany, died.

1564
The artist Michelangelo died in Rome.

1885
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain was published.

1930
Photographic evidence of Pluto was discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. Originally classified as a planet, the icy rock was downgraded to "dwarf planet" in 2006.

1953
"Bwana Devil," the movie that heralded the 3-D fad of the 1950s, opened in New York City.

1960
The eighth Winter Olympic Games opened in Squaw Valley, Calif.

1970
Five of the Chicago Seven defendants were found guilty of intent to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic national convention. The convictions were later overturned.

1972
The California Supreme Court struck down the state's death penalty.

1977
The space shuttle Enterprise, sitting atop a Boeing 747, went on its maiden flight above the Mojave Desert.

1988
Anthony M. Kennedy was sworn in as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1998
Sportscaster Harry Caray died at age 83.

2001
Auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr., 49, died from injuries suffered in a crash at the Daytona 500.

2001
Veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years.

2006
American Shani Davis won the men's 1,000-meter speedskating in Turin, becoming the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history.

2006
A Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament was sworn in.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 19, 1945, during World War II, some 30,000 United States Marines landed on the Western Pacific island of Iwo Jima, where they encountered ferocious resistance from Japanese forces. The Americans took control of the strategically important island after a month-long battle. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0219.html#article)

On February 19, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the New York state government. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0219.html)

1473
The astronomer Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.

1878
Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph.

1881
Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.

1942
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order giving the military the authority to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans.

1959
An agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its independence.

1986
The U.S. Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide, 37 years after the pact had first been submitted for ratification.

1997
Deng Xiaoping, the last of China's major Communist revolutionaries, died in Beijing at age 92.

2002
Vonetta Flowers became the first black athlete ever to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics when she and Jill Bakken took top honors in bobsledding in Salt Lake City.

2004
Former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was charged with fraud, insider trading and other crimes in connection with the energy trader's collapse. (He was later convicted and sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.)

2004
After sanctioning more than 2,800 gay marriages, the city of San Francisco sued the state of California, challenging its ban on same-sex marriages.

2005
Eight suicide bombers struck in quick succession in Iraq in a wave of attacks that killed dozens.

2005
The USS Jimmy Carter, the last of the Seawolf class of attack subs, was commissioned at Groton, Conn.

2007
New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions to gay couples.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth as he flew aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080220.html?th&emc=th)

On February 20, 1858, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Congress. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0220.html)

1790
Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II died.

1792
President George Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office.

1809
The Supreme Court ruled that the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state.

1839
Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.

1895
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass died.

1938
British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigned in protest over Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

1944
During World War II, U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week."

1965
The Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.

1998
American Tara Lipinski became at age 15 the youngest gold medalist in Winter Olympics history when she won the ladies' figure skating title at Nagano, Japan.

1999
Film critic Gene Siskel died at age 53.

2003
Fire broke out during a rock concert at a nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others.

2005
Journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson shot himself to death at age 67.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 21, 1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to address a rally in New York City; he was 39. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0221.html#article)

On February 21, 1885, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Washington Memorial. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0221.html)

1848
Former President John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. He died two days later.

1878
The first telephone directory was issued, by the District Telephone Co. of New Haven, Conn.

1885
The WashingtonMonument was dedicated.

1907
Poet W.H. Auden was born in York, England.

1916
The World War I Battle of Verdun began in France.

1925
The New Yorker magazine made its debut.

1947
Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his PolaroidLand camera, which could produce a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds.

1972
President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China.

1973
Israeli fighter planes shot down a Libyan Airlines jet over the SinaiDesert, killing more than 100 people.

1975
Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up.

1988
TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart tearfully confessed to his congregation in Baton Rouge, La., that he was guilty of an unspecified sin, and said he was leaving the pulpit temporarily. Reports linked Swaggart to a prostitute.

1989
President George H.W. Bush called Ayatollah Khomeini's death warrant against "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie "deeply offensive to the norms of civilized behavior."

1995
Chicago stockbroker Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon, landing in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada.

2002
The State Department declared that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was dead, a month after he'd been abducted by Islamic extremists in Pakistan.

2006
President George W. Bush endorsed the takeover of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates, and pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.
so a terrorist supporting group is watching our ports.

2007
British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced his country would withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq in the coming months; Denmark said it would withdraw its 460 troops.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 22, 1980, in a stunning upset, the United States Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets at Lake Placid, N.Y., 4-to-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.) Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0222.html#article)

On February 22, 1890, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about voting reform. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0222.html)

1732
George Washington, the first president of the United States, was born in the Virginia Colony.

1819
Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

1865
Tennessee adopted a new constitution abolishing slavery.

1879
Frank Winfield Woolworth opened a five-cent store in Utica, N.Y.

1924
Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.

1935
It became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.

1987
Pop artist Andy Warhol died at age 58.

1993
The U.N. Security Council approved creation of an international war crimes tribunal to punish those responsible for atrocities in the former Yugoslavia
.
1994
The Justice Department charged 31-year CIA veteran Aldrich Ames and his wife, Rosario, with selling national security secrets to the Soviet Union.

2001
A U.N. war crimes tribunal convicted three Bosnian Serbs on charges of rape and torture in the first case of wartime sexual enslavement to go before an international court.

2002
San Diego police arrested David Westerfield in connection with the disappearance of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. (Westerfield was later convicted of kidnapping and murder and sentenced to death.)

2002
The Angolan army and government announced the killing of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.

2005
A Virginia man was charged with plotting with al-Qaida to kill President George W. Bush. (Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was later convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.)
then Darth would have no longer been a closet president.
2006
Insurgents destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines, the Askariya mosque in Samarra, setting off a spasm of sectarian violence.

2006
Thieves stole $96 million from a Bank of England cash depot 30 miles southeast of London in Britain's largest cash robbery.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 23, 1954, the first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine 1994egan in Pittsburgh. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0223.html#article)

On February 23, 1884, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Tammany Hall. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0223.html)

1685
Composer George Frideric Handel was born in Germany.

1822
Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.

1836
The siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.

1847
U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican general Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico.

1848
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, died at age 80 in Washington, D.C., two days after suffering a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives.

1861
President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office after an assassination plot was foiled in Baltimore.

1870
Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.

1927
President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission.

1942
The first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery in Ellwood, Calif. what was that giggles said again after 9\11 about the ocean separating and protectin US from attack.

1965
Stan Laurel of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy died at age 74.

1981
An attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded the Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage.

1991
President George H.W. Bush announced that the allied ground offensive against Iraqi forces had begun.

1997
Scientists in Scotland announced they had cloned an adult mammal, producing a lamb named Dolly.

1997
A Palestinian man opened fire on the observation deck of New York City's EmpireStateBuilding, killing one person and wounding six before shooting himself to death.

1999
A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted white supremacist John William King of murder in the dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr.

2000
Carlos Santana won eight Grammy Awards for his album "Supernatural," tying the record set by Michael Jackson in 1983 for "Thriller."

2003
Norah Jones won five Grammy Awards for the album "Come Away With Me," tying the record for a female artist held by Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys, and since tied by Beyonce.

2004
The Army canceled its Comanche helicopter program after sinking $6.9 billion into it over 21 years.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 24, 1868, the United States House of Representatives impeached President Johnson following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0224.html#article)

On February 24, 1866, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about voting rights for African Americans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0224.html)

1582
Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, or edict, outlining his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar in general use today.)

1803
The Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison ruled itself the final interpreter of constitutional issues.

1821
Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

1863
Arizona was organized as a territory.

1903
The United States signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at GuantanamoBay in Cuba.

1920
The Nazi party held its first meeting of importance in Munich.

1942
The Voice of America went on the air for the first time.

1945
American soldiers liberated the Philippine capital of Manila from Japanese control during World War II.

1980
The U.S. hockey team defeated Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

1981
BuckinghamPalace announced the engagement of Britain's Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.

1983
A congressional commission released a report condemning the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a "grave injustice."

1997
The Food and Drug Administration named six brands of birth control as safe and effective "morning-after" pills for preventing pregnancy.

1998
Comedian Henny Youngman died at age 91.

1999
Lauryn Hill won five Grammys for her debut solo album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," setting a record for a female artist that has since been tied by Alicia Keys, Norah Jones and Beyonce.

2004
President George W. Bush urged approval of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. yes, let’s use the constitution to take away freedoms and civil rights of US citizens.

2006
South Dakota lawmakers approved a ban on nearly all abortions.

2007
The Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution expressing "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 25, 1870, Hiram R. Revels, R-Miss., became the first black member of the United States Senate as he was sworn in to serve out the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0225.html#article)

On February 25, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about business monopoly. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0225.html)

1570
Pope Pius V excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I.

1793
George Washington convened the first Cabinet meeting on record - at his home.

1836
Inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.

1901
United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.

1913
The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect.

1919
Oregon became the first state to tax gasoline.

1940
A hockey game was televised for the first time, by New York City station W2XBS. (The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 at MadisonSquareGarden.)

1943
Beatles guitarist George Harrison was born in Liverpool, England.

1948
Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia.

1950
"Your Show of Shows" debuted on NBC.

1956
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.

1964
Cassius Clay (who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali) became the world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.

1983
Playwright Tennessee Williams was found dead in his New York hotel suite at age 71.

1986
President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election. Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.

1990
Nicaraguans voted in an election that led to an upset victory for opponents of the ruling Sandinistas.

1991
an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 Americans during the Persian Gulf War.

1994
American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers.

1999
A jury in Jasper, Texas, sentenced white supremacist John William King to death for the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., a black man.

2000
A jury in Albany, N.Y., acquitted four white New York City police officers of all charges in the shooting death of unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo.

2002
Former NBA star Jayson Williams was charged in the shooting death of a limousine driver. (Williams was later acquitted of manslaughter, but the jury deadlocked on another; prosecutors are seeking a retrial.)

2005
Dennis Rader was arrested for the BTK serial killings that terrorized Wichita, Kan. (He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 life prison terms.)

[Kestra]

On Feb. 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in the garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0226.html#article)

On February 26, 1859, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about New York Almshouse orphans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0226.html)

1802
Author Victor Hugo was born in Besancon, France.

1815
Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the island of Elba to begin his second conquest of France.

1846
Frontiersman-turned-showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa.

1848
The SecondFrenchRepublic was proclaimed.

1870
New York City's first pneumatic-powered subway line was opened to the public. (The tunnel was only a block long, and the line had only one car.)

1919
Congress established Grand CanyonNational Park in Arizona.

1932
Country musician Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Ark.

1951
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.

1952
Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.

1987
The Tower Commission issued its report on the Iran-Contra affair, rebuking President Ronald Reagan for failing to control his national security staff.

1991
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that he had ordered his forces to withdraw from Kuwait.

1995
Barings PLC, Britain's oldest investment banking firm, collapsed after a securities dealer lost more than $1.4 billion by gambling on Tokyo stock prices.

1998
A jury in Amarillo, Texas, rejected an $11 million lawsuit brought by Texas cattlemen who blamed Oprah Winfrey's talk show for a price fall after a segment on mad-cow disease.
yeah, had nothing to do with them feeding dead animals to their beef.

2000
Pope John Paul II visited Mount Sinai in Egypt, revered as the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments.

2001
A U.N. tribunal convicted Bosnian Croat political leader Dario Kordic and military commander Mario Cerkez of war crimes for ordering the systematic murder and persecution of Muslim civilians during the Bosnian war.

2007
The Iraqi Cabinet approved draft legislation to manage the country's vast oil industry and divide its wealth among the population.

[Kestra]

On Feb. 27, 1991, President George H.W. Bush declared that "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated," and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0227.html#article)

On February 27, 1875, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Congress. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0227.html)

1801
The District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.

1807
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine.

1861
Russian troops fired on a crowd in Warsaw that was protesting Russian rule over Poland. Five marchers were killed.

1902
Author John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, Calif.
1922
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed the right of women to vote.

1933
Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, caught fire. The Nazis, blaming the Communists, used the fire as a pretext for suspending civil liberties. :hmm: and then 68 years later, 9\11 happened and BA used it as a pretext for suspending US civil liberties. And bomb, invade, occupy a country that had nothing to do with terrorists or 9\11.

1939
The Supreme Court outlawed sit-down strikes.

1972
President Richard M. Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai issued the Shanghai Communique at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China, a step toward the eventual normalization of relations between the two countries.

1973
Members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee, S.D., the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children. The occupation lasted until May.

1982
Wayne B. Williams was found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period.

1986
The U.S. Senate approved telecasts of its debates on a trial basis.

1997
Divorce became legal in Ireland.

1997
Legislation banning most handguns in Britain went into effect.

1998
With the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's House of Lords agreed to end 1,000 years of male preference by giving a monarch's first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as a first-born son.

2002
Alicia Keys won five Grammy Awards for her debut album, "Songs in A Minor," tying the record for a female artist held by Lauryn Hill and since tied by Norah Jones and Beyonce.

2002
A mob of Muslims set fire to a train carrying hundreds of Hindu nationalists in Godhra, India; some 60 people died.

2003
Former Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic was sentenced by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, to 11 years in prison.

2003
Fred Rogers, the host of TV's "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" died at age 74.

2007
A suicide bomber struck Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, who was rushed to a bomb shelter. (Twenty-three people were killed; Cheney was unhurt.)

[Kestra]

On Feb. 28, 1993, a gun battle erupted near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve warrants on the Branch Davidians; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0228.html#article)

On February 28, 1880, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about famine relief for Ireland. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0228.html)

1827
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. was incorporated.

1849
The ship California arrived at San Francisco, carrying the first of the gold-seekers.

1854
About 50 slavery opponents met in Ripon, Wis., to call for creation of a new political group, which became the Republican Party.

1861
The Territory of Colorado was organized.

1951
A Senate committee headed by Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn., issued a preliminary report saying at least two major crime syndicates were operating in the United States.

1953
scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes, in a CambridgeUniversity laboratory.

1974
The United States and Egypt re-established diplomatic relations after a seven-year break.

1975
A subway train smashed into the end of a tunnel in London's Underground, killing more than 40 people.

1983
The album "War" by U2 was released.

1986
Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death in central Stockholm.

1991
Allied and Iraqi forces suspended their attacks as Iraq pledged to accept all United Nations resolutions concerning Kuwait.

2002
A body found outside San Diego was identified as that of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, who'd disappeared from her bedroom about a month earlier; a neighbor was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.

2005
Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigned amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut.

2007
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. died at age 89.

[Kestra]

On March 1, 1932, the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J. : Go To Aritcle (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0301.html#article)


On March 1, 1873, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about St. Patrick's Cathedral. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0301.html)

1781
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.

1790
Congress authorized the first U.S. census.

1845
President John Tyler signed a congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.

1867
Nebraska became the 37th state.

1872
Congress authorized creation of YellowstoneNational Park.

1922
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem.

1940
"Native Son" by Richard Wright was published.

1954
Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.

1961
President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps.

1967
Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, D-N.Y., cited for contempt of court for refusing to pay damages in a lawsuit, was denied his seat in Congress.

1968
Country musicians Johnny Cash and June Carter were married.
We got married in a fever…. Hotter than a pepper sprout…

1974
Former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman and former Attorney General John Mitchell were indicted on obstruction of justice charges related to the Watergate break-in.

1981
Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. (He died 65 days later.)

1990
The Seabrook, N.H., nuclear power plant won federal permission to go on line after two decades of protests and legal struggles.

1992
Sen. Brock Adams, D-Wash., abandoned his re-election campaign after eight women accused him in a Seattle Times report of sexual abuse and harassment.

2003
Suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents near Islamabad.

2005
Dennis Rader, the churchgoing family man accused of leading a double life as the BTK serial killer, was charged in Wichita, Kan., with 10 counts of first-degree murder. (Rader later pleaded guilty and received multiple life sentences.)

2005
A closely divided Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juvenile criminals.

2007
The Army general in charge of WalterReedArmyMedicalCenter was relieved of command after disclosures about dilapidated buildings and inadequate treatment of wounded soldiers.

[Kestra]

On March 2, 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0302.html#article)

On March 2, 1861, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Abraham Lincoln. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0302.html)


1793
Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas, was born near Lexington, Va.

1807
Congress outlawed the importing of slaves to the United States, effective the following year.

1836
Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

1899
Congress established Mount RainierNational Park in Washington state.

1917
Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship.

1923
Time magazine debuted.

1933
The movie "King Kong" had its world premiere in New York.

1939
Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected pope and took the name Pius XII.

1939
The Massachusetts legislature voted to ratify the Bill of Rights, 147 years after the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution had gone into effect.

1949
An American B-50 Superfortress, the Lucky Lady II, landed at Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop, around-the-world flight.

1962
Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored an NBA record 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks.

1965
The movie version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" had its world premiere in New York.

1985
The federal government approved a screening test for AIDS that detected antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply.

1997
It was revealed that Vice President Al Gore had made fund-raising calls for the 1996 election on phones installed in government buildings for that purpose.

2002
Eleven Israelis were killed in a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhood.

2004
A series of coordinated blasts in Iraq killed 181 people at shrines in Karbala and Baghdad as thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims gathered for a religious festival.

2005
The number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq reached 1,500.

2006
President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal in New Delhi.

[Kestra]

On March 3, 1991, in a case that sparked a national outcry, motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0303.html#article)

On March 3, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about electrical power in New York City. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0303.html)

1845
Florida became the 27th state.

1847
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1849
Congress created the MinnesotaTerritory.

1849
The Home Department, forerunner of the Interior Department, was established.

1879
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood became the first woman to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

1887
Anne Mansfield Sullivan arrived at the Alabama home of Capt. and Mrs. Arthur H. Keller to become the teacher of Helen, their blind and deaf 6-year-old daughter.

1918
Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers, ending Russian participation in World War I.

1931
President Herbert Hoover signed into law a bill making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem.

1969
Apollo 9 was launched on a mission to test the lunar module that was used in the moon landings.

1974
A Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff from OrlyAirport in Paris, killing nearly 350 people.

2002
Voters in Switzerland approved joining the United Nations, abandoning almost 200 years of formal neutrality.

2005
Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone without stopping or refueling, touching down in central Kansas after a 67-hour, 23,000-mile journey.

2006
Former Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California was sentenced by a federal judge to more than eight years in prison for corruption.

[Kestra]

On March 8, 1917, Russia's February Revolution (so called because of the Old Style calendar used by Russians at the time) began with rioting and strikes in St. Petersburg. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0308.html#article)

On March 8, 1884, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about international trade. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0308.html)

1702
England's Queen Anne ascended the throne upon the death of King William III.

1782
The Gnadenhutten massacre took place as some 90 Indians were slain by militiamen in Ohio in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.

1841
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. was born in Boston.
1874
Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States, died in Buffalo, N.Y., at age 74.

1917
The U.S. Senate voted to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.

1930
William Howard Taft, the 27th president and a former chief justice of the United States, died in Washington, D.C., at age 72.

1965
The United States landed about 3,500 Marines in South Vietnam.

1999
Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio died at age 84.

1999
The Clinton administration directed the firing of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee from his job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory because of alleged security violations.

2001
The Republican-controlled House voted for an across-the-board tax cut of nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.

2004
Abul Abbas, the Palestinian guerrilla leader who planned the hijacking of the Achille Lauro passenger ship, died while in U.S. custody in Baghdad, Iraq.
guess he didn’t survive the Waterboarding.

2005
Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed in northern Chechnya during a raid by Russian forces.

[Kestra]

On March 9, 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclads Monitor and Virginia (formerly Merrimac) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Va. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0309.html#article)

On March 9, 1867, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about black Americans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0309.html)

1796
Napoleon Bonaparte, the future emperor of France, married Josephine de Beauharnais.

1916
Mexican raiders led by Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, N.M., killing more than a dozen people.

1933
Congress, called into special session by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, began its 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation.

1945
U.S. B-29 bombers launched incendiary bomb attacks against Japan during World War II, causing widespread devastation.

1954
CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow critically reviewed Wisconsin Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy's anti-Communism campaign on "See It Now."

1975
Work began on the Alaskan oil pipeline.

1977
About a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invaded three buildings in WashingtonD.C., killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The siege ended two days later.

1981
Dan Rather made his debut as principal anchorman of "The CBS Evening News;" he signed off for the last time on the same date in 2005.
yes, he was forced to leave his job for showing us the truth about giggles being AWOL. yuppers kiddies, in today’s world if you speak out against this admin, you loose your job.
1989
The Senate rejected President George H.W. Bush's nomination of JohnTower to be defense secretary on a 53-47 vote.

1990
Dr. Antonia Novello was sworn in as surgeon general, becoming the first woman and the first Hispanic to hold the job.

1992
Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin died at age 78.

1995
Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman took the stand at the O.J. Simpson murder trial, denying ever meeting a woman who had accused him of making racist remarks.
what a joke that trial was.
1996
Comedian George Burns died at age 100.

1997
Gangsta rapper The Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at age 24.

2004
Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death in Virginia.

2006
Bowing to ferocious opposition in Congress, a Dubai-owned company relinquished its quest to take over operations at U.S. ports.
And then giggles secretly gave them ‘permission’ to take over U.S. ports.

2007
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller acknowledged the FBI improperly used the Patriot Act to secretly pry out personal information about Americans; they apologized and vowed to prevent further illegal intrusions.

oh no, we’re not using it to spy on innocent, law abiding American citizens.

[Kestra]

On March 10, 1985, Konstantin U. Chernenko, Soviet leader for just 13 months, died at age 73. His death was announced on March 11th. Politburo member Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed him. Go To Articl (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0310.html#article)

On March 10, 1877, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about visiting Russian royalty. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0310.html)

1496
Christopher Columbus concluded his second visit to the Western Hemisphere as he left Hispaniola for Spain.

1629
England's King Charles I dissolved Parliament.

1785
Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin.

1848
The Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war with Mexico.

1864
Ulysses S. Grant became commander of the Union armies during the Civil War.

1876
The first successful voice transmission over Alexander Graham Bell's telephone took place in Boston as his assistant heard Bell say, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you."

1948
The body of the anti-Communist foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, Jan Masaryk, was found in the garden of Czernin Palace in Prague.

1949
Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred E. Gillars, also known as "Axis Sally," was convicted in Washington, D.C., of treason.

1965
Neil Simon's play "The Odd Couple" opened on Broadway.

1969
James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tenn., to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

1980
"Scarsdale Diet" author Dr. Herman Tarnower was shot to death in Purchase, N.Y. (His lover, Jean Harris, was convicted of murder and served nearly 12 years in prison.)

1988
Pop singer Andy Gibb died at age 30 of heart inflammation.

1993
Authorities announced the arrest of Nidal Ayyad, a second suspect in the 1993 bombing of the WorldTradeCenter in New York.

1993
Dr. David Gunn was shot to death outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic.

1997
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" debuted on the WB network.

2002
Israeli helicopters destroyed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office in GazaCity, hours after 11 Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing in a cafe across the street from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's residence in Jerusalem.

2004
Teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was sentenced in Chesapeake, Va., to life in prison.

2005
A suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral in Mosul, Iraq, killing at least 47 people.

[Kestra]

On March 11, 1941, President Roosevelt signed into law the Lend-Lease Bill, providing war supplies to countries fighting the Axis. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0311.html#article)

On March 11, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Chinese Americans and dime novels. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0311.html)

1810
Emperor Napoleon of France was married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.

1888
A blizzard struck the northeastern United States, resulting in some 400 deaths.

1942
As Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia, vowing: "I shall return."

1970
The album "Deja Vu" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was released.

1977
More than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined negotiations.

1978
Palestinian guerrillas went on a rampage on the Tel Aviv-Haifa highway, killing 34 Israelis.

1985
Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Soviet President Konstantin Chernenko.

1990
The Lithuanian parliament voted to break away from the Soviet Union and restore its independence.

1993
Janet Reno was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to be the nation's first female attorney general.

1993
North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

1997
Rock musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Sir Paul

2002
Two columns of light soared skyward from ground zero in New York as a temporary memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

2004
10 bombs exploded in quick succession across the commuter rail network in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 people and wounding more than 2,000 in an attack linked to al-Qaida.
hey, wait, doesn’t giggles claim his torture techniques are what have kept the world safe from terrorist attacks for the past 7 years?

2005
A man being escorted to court for trial in Atlanta took a gun from a sheriff's deputy and went on a deadly rampage, killing four people, including a judge. A suspect, Brian Nichols, surrendered the next day.

2006
Former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic was found dead of a heart attack in his prison cell in the Netherlands, abruptly ending his four-year U.N. war crimes trial for orchestrating a decade of conflict that killed a quarter of a million people.

[Kestra]

On March 12, 1947, President Truman established what became known as the Truman Doctrine to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0312.html#article)

On March 12, 1870, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about black Americans and voting rights. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0312.html)

1664
New Jersey became a British colony as King Charles II granted land in North America to his brother James, the Duke of York.

1912
Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Guides, which later became the Girl Scouts of America.

1925
Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen died at age 68.

1930
Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi began a 200-mile march to protest a British tax on salt.

1933
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the first of his radio "fireside chats," telling Americans what was being done to deal with the nation's economic crisis.

1938
The "Anschluss" took place as German troops entered Austria. Adolf Hitler annexed his homeland the following day
.
1939
Pope Pius XII was crowned in ceremonies at the Vatican.

1943
Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" was performed for the first time, by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with Eugene Goossens conducting.

1969
Rock musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles married Linda Eastman in London.

1980
A Chicago jury found John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys.

1987
The musical "Les Miserables" opened on Broadway.

1993
Janet Reno was sworn in as the nation's first female attorney general.

1994
The Church of England ordained its first female priests.

1999
The CzechRepublic, Hungary, and Poland joined NATO.

2000
Pope John Paul II asked God's forgiveness for the sins of Roman Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women and minorities.

2002
Andrea Yates of Houston was convicted of murder in the drowning deaths of her children in the family bathtub. (Her conviction was later overturned and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a second trial.)

2002
Homeland security chief TomRidge unveiled a color-coded system for terror warnings.

2002
The U.N. Security Council approved a U.S.-sponsored resolution endorsing a Palestinian state for the first time.

2003
Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year-old girl who'd vanished from her bedroom nine months earlier, was found alive in a Salt Lake City suburb with two drifters.

[Kestra]

On March 13, 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the United States Senate. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0313.html#article)

On March 13, 1869, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Andrew Johnson. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0313.html)

1781
The planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel.

1852
"Uncle Sam" made his debut as a cartoon character in the New York Lantern.
1884
Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States.

1901
Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, died in Indianaoplis at age 67.

1906
Suffragist Susan B. Anthony died at age 86.

1925
A law went into effect in Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of evolution.

1933
Banks began to re-open after a holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1938
Defense attorney Clarence S. Darrow died at age 80.

1947
The Lerner and Loewe musical "Brigadoon" opened on Broadway.

1964
Thirty-eight neighbors ignored the screams of Kitty Genovese, 28, as she was stabbed to death in Queens, New York. The case came to be a symbol of urban apathy and fear.

1969
Apollo 9 returned to Earth after a mission to test the lunar module that was used in the moon landings.

1980
A jury in Winamac, Ind., found Ford Motor Co. innocent of reckless homicide in the fiery deaths of three young women riding in a Ford Pinto.

1988
GallaudetUniversity, a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired, chose I. King Jordan to become the school's first deaf president.

1996
A gunman opened fire on a class of kindergarteners at an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, killing 16 children and one teacher before killing himself.

2005
Robert Iger was named to succeed Michael Eisner as chief executive of Walt Disney Co.

[Kestra]

On March 14, 1900, Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0314.html#article)

On March 14, 1885, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Britain and Russia. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0314.html)

1743
The first recorded town meeting in America was held, at Faneuil Hall in Boston.

1794
Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin.

1879
Physicist Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany.

1883
Political philosopher Karl Marx died at age 64.

1923
President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax report.

1939
The Republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation.

1951
United Nations forces recaptured Seoul during the Korean War.

1964
A jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy.

1967
The body of President John F. Kennedy was moved from a temporary grave to a permanent memorial site at ArlingtonNationalCemetery.

1993
An independent U.N.-sponsored commission released a report blaming the bulk of atrocities committed during El Salvador's civil war on the country's military.

1994
Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell resigned because of controversy over billings he'd charged while in private law practice.

1995
Astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to enter space aboard a Russian rocket as he and two cosmonauts blasted off aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, headed for the Mir space station.

2002
The government charged the Arthur Andersen accounting firm with obstruction of justice, securing its first indictment in the collapse of Enron.

2004
Opposition Socialists scored a dramatic upset win in Spain's general election, unseating conservatives stung by charges they'd provoked the Madrid terror bombings by supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

2004
Russian President Vladimir Putin captured more than 70 percent of the vote to win a second term in an election that European observers said fell short of democratic standards.

2005
A judge in San Francisco ruled that California's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.

2005
About one million people rallied in Beirut, Lebanon, demanding Syrian withdrawal and the arrest of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's killers.

[Kestra]

On March 15, 1965, addressing a joint session of Congress, President Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to vote. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0315.html#article)

On March 15, 1873, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a federal government scandal. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0315.html)

44 B.C.
Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included Brutus and Cassius.

1493
Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, concluding his first voyage to the Western Hemisphere.

1767
Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was born in Waxhaw, S.C.

1820
Maine became the 23rd state.

1875
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York City, John McCloskey, was named the first American cardinal by Pope Pius IX.

1913
President Woodrow Wilson held the first open presidential news conference.

1919
The American Legion was founded in Paris.

1956
The Lerner and Loewe musical "My Fair Lady" opened on Broadway.

1964
Actress Elizabeth Taylor and actor Richard Burton were married.

1975
Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, the husband of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, died at age 69.

1977
The U.S. House of Representatives began a 90-day test to determine the feasibility of showing its sessions on TV.

2002
Andrea Yates of Houston was sentenced to life in prison for drowning her children in a bathtub. (Her conviction was later overturned and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a second trial.)

2003
Hu Jintao was chosen to replace Jiang Zemin as the president of China.

2004
Martha Stewart resigned from the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia 10 days after she was convicted in a stock scandal.

2005
Former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers was convicted in New York of engineering the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history. (He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.)

[Kestra]

On March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai Massacre was carried out by United States troops under the command of Lt. William L. Calley Jr. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0316.html#article)

On March 16, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a bank scandal in New York City. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0316.html)

1521
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines, where he was killed by natives the following month.

1751
James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, was born in Port Conway, Va.

1802
Congress authorized the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

1836
The Republic of Texas approved a constitution.

1850
"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne was published.

1915
The Federal Trade Commission was organized.

1935
Adolf Hitler scrapped the Treaty of Versailles.

1984
William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by gunmen.

1985
Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, was abducted in Beirut.

1988
Former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter, former White House aide Oliver L. North and two others were indicted on charges relating to the Iran-Contra affair. (The convictions of Poindexter and North were later thrown out.)

1994
Figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Ore., to conspiracy for covering up the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.

1995
Astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to visit the Russian space station Mir.

1998
The Vatican expressed remorse for the cowardice of some Christians during the Holocaust, but defended the actions of Pope Pius XII.

2000
Independent counsel Robert Ray said he had found no credible evidence that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton or senior White House officials were involved in seeking the FBI background files of Republicans.

2002
Brittanie Cecil, 13, was struck by a flying hockey puck during an NHL game between the hometown Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames; she died two days later.

2003
Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American college student, was killed when she was run over by a bulldozer while trying to block Israeli troops from demolishing a Palestinian home in Gaza.

2005
A judge in Redwood City, Calif., sent Scott Peterson to death row for the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci.

2005
A jury in Los Angeles acquitted actor Robert Blake of murder in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. (A civil court jury later ordered Blake to pay $30 million to Bakley's four children.)

2006
Iraq's new parliament met briefly for the first time; lawmakers took the oath but did no business and adjourned after just 40 minutes.

[Kestra]

On March 17, 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater during World War II. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0317.html#article)

On March 17, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about St. Patrick's Day. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0317.html)

493
According to tradition, St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died in Saul. Some sources list the year as 493, others say 461.

1776
British forces evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War.

1777
Roger Taney, the fifth chief justice of the United States and author of the Supreme Court's infamous Dred Scott decision on slavery, was born in Calvert County, Md
.
1870
The Massachusetts Legislature authorized the incorporation of Wellesley Female Seminary (later WellesleyCollege).

1905
Franklin D. Roosevelt married his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt, in New York City. The wedding was attended by President Theodore Roosevelt, FDR's fifth cousin, who gave his niece away.

1906
President Theodore Roosevelt first used the term "muck-rake" as he criticized what he saw as the excesses of investigative journalism in a speech to the Gridiron Club in Washington.

1910
The Camp Fire Girls organization was formed.

1941
The National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C.

1950
Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced they had created a new radioactive element, which they named "californium."

1966
A hydrogen bomb that had fallen from an American bomber over the Mediterranean Sea was located by a U.S. midget submarine.

1969
Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel.

1993
Actress Helen Hayes died at age 92.

1999
The International Olympic Committee expelled six of its members in the wake of a bribery scandal.

2003
Edging to the brink of war, President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his country. Iraq rejected the ultimatum. more like racing toward war.

2005
Baseball players Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa testified before Congress that they hadn't used steroids while Mark McGwire refused to say whether he had.

[Kestra]

On March 18, 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0318.html#article)

On March 18, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a federal government scandal. Read Cartoo (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0318.html)

1766
Britain repealed the Stamp Act.

1837
Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, was born in Caldwell, N.J.

1909
Einar Dessau of Denmark used a shortwave transmitter to converse with a government radio post about six miles away in what's believed to have been the first broadcast by a "ham" operator.

1922
Mohandas K. Gandhi was sentenced to prison in India for civil disobedience.

1931
Schick Inc. marketed the first electric razor.

1937
A gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas, killed more than 400 people, most of them children.

1940
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini held a meeting at the Brenner Pass during which the Italian dictator agreed to join in Germany's war against France and Britain.

1959
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii statehood bill.

1962
France and Algerian rebels agreed to a truce.

1974
Most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their embargo against the United States.

2000
Taiwan ended more than a half century of Nationalist Party rule by electing opposition leader Chen Shui-bian president.

2002
Brittanie Cecil, 13, died two days after being hit in the head by a hockey puck during an NHL game between the hometown Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames.

2005
Doctors in Florida, acting on orders of a state judge, removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. (The brain-damaged woman died 13 days later.)
yes, and giggles interrupted his vacation to sneak back to DC in the middle of the night to support not pulling the plug. after her death autopsy showed what many of us already knew, she was brain dead. then came Katrina, for which he couldn’t be bothered to interrupt his vacation and was not heard from for a good 4 days while the rest of the world watched on in horror and disbelief.

2005
Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland was sentenced to a year in prison and four months under house arrest for corruption.

[Kestra]

On March 20, 1995, in Tokyo, 12 people were killed, more than 5,500 others sickened when packages containing the poisonous gas sarin leaked on five separate subway trains. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0320.html#article)

On March 20, 1869, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about women and the Roman Catholic Church. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0320.html)

1413
England's King Henry IV died.

1727
Sir Isaac Newton - physicist, mathematician and astronomer - died in London. (3/31/1727 N.S.)

1815
Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris, beginning his Hundred Days rule.

1816
The Supreme Court affirmed its right to review state court decisions.

1828
Playwright Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien, Norway.

1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel about slavery, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was published.

1896
Marines landed in Nicaragua to protect U.S. citizens in the wake of a revolution.

1899
Martha M. Place of Brooklyn, N.Y., became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair.

1969
Rock musician John Lennon of the Beatles married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

1976
Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was convicted of armed robbery for her part in a San Francisco bank holdup.

1987
The Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of AZT, a drug shown to prolong the lives of some AIDS patients.

1990
Namibia became an independent nation, marking the end of 75 years of South African rule.

1993
An Irish Republican Army bomb exploded in Warrington, England, killing 3-year-old Johnathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry.

1996
A jury in Los Angeles convicted Erik and Lyle Menendez of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their millionaire parents.

1997
Liggett Group, the maker of Chesterfield cigarettes, settled 22 state lawsuits by admitting the industry markets cigarettes to teenagers and agreeing to warn on every pack that smoking is addictive.

1999
Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of Britain became the first aviators to fly a hot-air balloon around the world nonstop.

2002
Arthur Andersen pleaded innocent to charges it had shredded documents and deleted computer files related to Enron.

2003
U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq from Kuwait.

2004
The U.S. military charged six soldiers with abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

[Kestra]

On March 21, 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0321.html#article)

On March 21, 1874, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the women's temperance crusade. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0321.html)

1685
Composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.

1790
Thomas Jefferson took office as America's first secretary of state.

1804
The French civil code, the Code Napoleon, was adopted.

1867
Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld was born in Chicago.

1871
Journalist Henry M. Stanley began an expedition to Africa to locate the missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone.

1918
Germany launched the Somme offensive during World War I, hoping to break through the Allied line before American reinforcements could arrive.

1945
Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany during World War II.

1946
The United Nations set up temporary headquarters at HunterCollege in New York City.

1960
Police fired on demonstrators in Sharpeville, South Africa, killing some 70 people.

1963
Alcatraz prison in San FranciscoBay was emptied of its last inmates.

1985
Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings, killing at least 21 demonstrators.

1989
Randall Dale Adams, whose conviction for killing a police officer was overturned after the documentary "The Thin Blue Line" challenged evidence, was released from a Texas prison.

2000
A divided Supreme Court ruled the government lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug.

2005
Armed with a new law rushed through Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube re-inserted. (The judge later refused.)
for this, giggles interrupted his vacation, snuck out in the middle of the night to sign this bogus law. when Katrina left New Orleans devastated, not even giggles aides would tell him. for fear of ‘angering’ him, because he didn’t like being bothered whilst on vacation.

[Kestra]

On March 23, 1965, America's first two-person space flight began as Gemini 3 blasted off from Cape Kennedy with astronauts Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young aboard. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0323.html#article)

On March 23, 1867, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about overcrowding on public transportation. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0323.html)

1743
George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" had its London premiere.

1775
Patrick Henry called for America's independence from Britain, telling the Virginia Provincial Convention, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"

1806
Explorers Lewis and Clark, having reached the Pacific coast, began their journey back east.

1919
Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement in Milan, Italy.

1933
The German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial legislative powers.
:hmm: sound familiar?

1942
During World War II, the U.S. government began moving Japanese-Americans from their West Coast homes to detention centers.

1981
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions.

1983
President Ronald Reagan proposed the development of technology to intercept enemy nuclear missiles; the plan was dubbed "Star Wars" by its critics.

1983
Dr. Barney Clark died after living 112 days with a permanent artificial heart.

1990
Former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood was sentenced by a judge in Anchorage, Alaska, to help clean up Prince William Sound and pay $50,000 in restitution for his role in the nation's worst oil spill.
which was never cleaned up properly.

1994
Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings broke Gordie Howe's National Hockey League career record with his 802nd goal.

1998
The movie "Titanic" won 11 Academy Awards, including best picture, best director and best song, to tie the record set by 1959's "Ben-Hur." (The record was tied again by "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" in 2003.)

2001
Russia's orbiting Mir space station ended its 15-year odyssey with a fiery plunge into the South Pacific.

2003
A U.S. Army maintenance convoy was ambushed in Iraq; 11 soldiers were killed and seven were captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
and then the lies flew freely about what really happened.

2005
A federal appeals court refused to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube and the Florida Legislature decided not to intervene in the epic struggle over the brain-damaged woman; Schiavo's parents filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court.

well, at least someone showed some common sense.

[Kestra]

On March 24, 1989, the nation's worst oil spill occurred as the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and began leaking 11 million gallons of crude. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0324.html#article)

On March 24, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Great Blizzard of '88. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0324.html)

1765
Britain enacted the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers.

1882
German scientist Robert Koch announced in Berlin that he had discovered the bacillus responsible for tuberculosis.

1883
Long-distance telephone service was inaugurated between Chicago and New York City.

1944
In occupied Rome, the Nazis executed more than 300 civilians in reprisal for an attack by Italian partisans the day before that killed 32 German soldiers.

1955
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

1958
Elvis Presley was inducted into the Army in Memphis, Tenn.

1973
The album "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd was released.

1977
Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, was named archbishop of Munich and Freising in Germany.

1980
Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero was shot to death by gunmen as he celebrated Mass in San Salvador, El Salvador.

1988
Former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter pleaded innocent to Iran-Contra charges.

1995
The House of Representatives passed a welfare reform package calling for the most profound changes in social programs since the New Deal.

1998
A 13-year-old boy and his 11-year-old cousin opened fire outside their school in Jonesboro, Ark., killing four students and a teacher and injuring 10.

1999
NATO launched airstrikes against Yugoslavia - the first time the alliance had attacked a sovereign country.

2002
HalleBerry became the first black performer to win a best actress Oscar, for her work in "Monster's Ball."

2005
The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal from the parents of Terri Schiavo to have a feeding tube reinserted into the severely brain-damaged woman.

[Kestra]

On March 25, 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0325.html#article)

On March 25, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a federal government scandal. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0325.html)

1634
Maryland was founded by English colonists sent by the second Lord Baltimore.

1807
Britain abolished its slave trade.

1894
Jacob S. Coxey began leading an "army" of the unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., to demand help from the federal government.

1911
A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in New York City killed 146 workers, most of them young immigrant women. The tragedy galvanized America's labor movement.

1913
The home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened in New York City.

1947
A coal mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., killed 111 people.

1957
The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community.

1975
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness.

1988
Robert E. Chambers Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City's so-called "preppie murder case."

1990
Fire raced through an illegal social club in New York City, killing 87 people, most of them Honduran and Dominican immigrants.

1992
Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth from the Mir space station after a 10-month stay, during which his native country, the Soviet Union, ceased to exist.

1994
American troops completed their withdrawal from Somalia.

1996
An 81-day standoff by the antigovernment Freemen began at a ranch near Jordan, Mont.

1996
The redesigned $100 bill went into circulation.

1998
President Bill Clinton acknowledged during his Africa tour that "we did not act quickly enough" to stop the slaughter of 1 million Rwandans four years earlier.

2002
A powerful earthquake rocked Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, killing as many as 1,000 people.

2004
Congress passed a law making it a separate offense to harm a fetus during a violent federal crime.

[Kestra]

On March 26, 1979, the Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0326.html#article)

On March 26, 1881, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about industrial pollution. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0326.html)

1827
Composer Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna, Austria, at age 56.

1874
Poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco.

1885
The Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. of Rochester, N.Y., manufactured the first commercial motion picture film.

1892
Poet Walt Whitman died at age 72.

1911
Playwright Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, Miss.

1917
The Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.

1964
The musical "Funny Girl," starring Barbra Streisand, opened on Broadway.

1971
East Pakistan proclaimed its independence, taking the name Bangladesh.

1982
Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Washington, D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1992
A judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant.

1997
The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult who had committed suicide were found inside a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

1999
Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a lethal injection to an ailing man whose death was shown on "60 Minutes."
kind of funny (not ha ha) that assisted “Death with Dignity” was legal until some actually did it.

2000
Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia.

2002
Arthur Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino resigned, bowing to mounting pressure as a result of the accounting firm's role in the Enron scandal.

2003
Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., died at age 76.

[Kestra]

On March 27, 1958, Nikita Khrushchev became Soviet premier in addition to First Secretary of the Communist Party. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0327.html#article)

On March 27, 1886, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about anti-Chinese violence. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0327.html)

1513
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida.

1625
Charles I ascended the English throne upon the death of James I.

1794
President George Washington and Congress authorized creation of the U.S. Navy.

1836
The first Mormon temple was dedicated, in Kirtland, Ohio.

1939
Oregon won the first NCAA men's basketball tournament with a 46-33 victory over OhioState in Evanston, Ill.

1945
During World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had been broken.

1964
Alaska was rocked by a powerful earthquake that killed 114 people.

1977
A KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on the Canary Island of Tenerife, killing 582 people.

1996
An Israeli court convicted Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's confessed assassin of murder, then sentenced former law student Yigal Amir to life in prison.

1997
Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King Jr., met with James Earl Ray, the man in prison for the assassination of the civil rights leader. Ray denied having anything to do with the shooting, to which King replied, "I believe you."

1998
The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Viagra, made by Pfizer, to fight male impotence.

2001
California regulators approved electricity rate hikes of up to 46 percent.

2002
A suicide bomber killed 29 Israelis during a Passover Seder in Netanya, Israel.

2002
Comedian Milton Berle died at age 93.

2003
Serbian police killed two major suspects in the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

2006
Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified at his federal trial that he was supposed to hijack a fifth airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, and fly it into the White House.

2007
NFL owners voted 30-2 to make the video replay system a permanent officiating tool.

[Kestra]

On March 29, 1973, the last United States troops left South Vietnam, ending America's direct military involvement in the Vietnam War. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0329.html#article)

On March 29, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about black Americans and a bank scandal. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0329.html)

1790
John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, was born in Charles City County, Va.

1847
U.S. forces led by Gen. Winfield Scott occupied the city of Veracruz after its Mexican defenders capitulated.

1867
The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.

1867
Baseball Hall of Famer Cy Young was born in Gilmore, Ohio.

1882
The Knights of Columbus was chartered in Connecticut.

1943
Rationing of meat, butter and cheese began during World War II.

1951
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.

1962
Jack Paar hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the final time.

1971
Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was convicted of murdering at least 22 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre. (He spent three years under house arrest.)
amazing, he kill 22 + ppl, and all he served was 3 years at home.

1971
A jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders. The sentences were later commuted.

1974
Eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted on charges stemming from the shooting deaths of four students at KentStateUniversity. The guardsmen were later acquitted.

1992
Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton acknowledged experimenting with marijuana "a time or two" while attending OxfordUniversity, adding, "I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again."

1999
Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers scored the last of his National Hockey League record 894 goals in a home game against the New York Islanders.

1999
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time, at 10,006.78.

2002
Israel declared Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat an enemy and sent tanks and armored personnel carriers to fully isolate him in his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

2005
Attorney Johnnie Cochran died at age 67.

2006
Hamas formally took over the Palestinian government.
who were democratically elected, course giggles didn’t like that kind of democratic outcome, (because it's not 'his' form democracy) hence, he rejected the will of the ppl. no surprises there.

2006
The U.N. Security Council demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment.

[Kestra]

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a District of Columbia police officer. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0330.html#article)

On March 30, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a New York railroad scandal. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0330.html)

1822
Florida became a U.S. territory.

1867
Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal roundly ridiculed as "Seward's Folly."

1870
The 15th amendment to the Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, was declared in effect.

1870
Texas was readmitted to the Union.

1909
The QueensboroBridge, linking the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened.

1945
The Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II.

1964
The TV game show "Jeopardy!" premiered on NBC.

1986
Actor James Cagney died at age 86.

1995
Pope John Paul II issued an encyclical condemning abortion and euthanasia as crimes that no human laws could legitimize.

1998
Vickers PLC announced that it had agreed to sell Rolls-Royce to German automaker BMW for $570 million. (However, BMW was later successfully outbid by Volkswagen AG).

1999
A jury in Portland, Ore., ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades.

2002
The Queen Mother Elizabeth of England died at age 101.

2006
American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was released after 82 days as a hostage in Iraq.

[Kestra]

On March 31, 1968, President Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not run for another term of office. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0331.html#article)

On March 31, 1883, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a strike by New York dairy farmers. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0331.html)

1492
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling those Jews unwilling to convert to Christianity.

1889
French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the EiffelTower to mark its completion.

1917
The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.

1943
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" opened on Broadway.

1945
"The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

1949
Newfoundland entered the confederation as Canada's 10th province.

1976
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan remained comatose and died in 1985.)

1992
The U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six men accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and a French airliner.

1995
Singer Selena, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club.

1995
Baseball players agreed to end a 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against club owners.

1999
Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. (The officers were acquited in 2000.)

2004
Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged their burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
and then Blackwater went postal in Fallujah.

2004
Air America, a liberal alternative to conservative talk radio, debuted on five stations.
:boogie: and the cons all said it wouldn't last six months.

2005
Terri Schiavo died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a right-to-die dispute that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House.

well, her body died, she died long before that.

[Kestra]

On March 31, 1968, President Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not run for another term of office. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0331.html#article)

On March 31, 1883, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a strike by New York dairy farmers. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0331.html)

1492
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling those Jews unwilling to convert to Christianity.

1889
French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the EiffelTower to mark its completion.

1917
The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.

1943
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" opened on Broadway.

1945
"The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

1949
Newfoundland entered the confederation as Canada's 10th province.

1976
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan remained comatose and died in 1985.)

1992
The U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six men accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and a French airliner.

1995
Singer Selena, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club.

1995
Baseball players agreed to end a 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against club owners.

1999
Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. (The officers were acquited in 2000.)

2004
Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged their burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
and then Blackwater went postal in Fallujah.

2004
Air America, a liberal alternative to conservative talk radio, debuted on five stations.
:boogie: and the cons all said it wouldn't last six months.

2005
Terri Schiavo died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a right-to-die dispute that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House.

well, her body died, she died long before that.

[Kestra]

On April 1, 1945, American forces invaded Okinawa during World War II. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0401.html#article)

On April 1, 1864, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about April Fool's Day. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0401.html)

1789
The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City; Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first speaker.

1853
Cincinnati, Ohio, became the first U.S. city to pay its firefighters a regular salary.

1873
Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Russia.

1918
The Royal Air Force was established in Britain.

1933
Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
And today, ppl and businesses are boycotted for speaking out against our ‘decider’, dictator and thief.

1939
The United States recognized the Franco government in Spain following the end of the Spanish Civil War.

1946
Tidal waves struck the Hawaiian Islands, killing more than 170 people.

1960
The first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral.

1970
President Richard Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and TV.

1984
Singer Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father at age 44.

1987
In his first major speech on the epidemic, President Ronald Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1."

1996
Baseball umpire John McSherry died after collapsing during a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.

1999
A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with originating the "Melissa" e-mail virus, which infected more than 1 million computers worldwide and caused more than $80 million in damage. (David Smith served just 20 months in federal prison in exchange for helping the FBI track down the authors of other computer viruses.)

2001
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour armed standoff with police at his Belgrade villa.

2003
American troops rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, where she had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed nine days earlier.

[Kestra]

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy." Go To Aricle (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0402.html#article)

On April 2, 1881, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the evenly-divided U. S. Senate. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0402.html)

1513
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida.

1792
Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.

1805
Author Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark.

1860
The first Italian Parliament met at Turin.

1865
Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.

1872
Samuel F.B. Morse, developer of the electric telegraph, died at age 80.

1932
Aviator Charles Lindbergh, through an intermediary, paid $50,000 ransom in a New York cemetery to a man who promised to return his kidnapped son. (The child was found dead the following month. The ransom money was eventually traced to Bruno Hauptmann, who was executed for the crime.)

1968
The science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey" had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.
“Open the pod bay door, Hall.”

1974
French President Georges Pompidou died in Paris.

1982
Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands from Britain.

1992
Mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering.

2002
Israel seized control of Bethlehem; Palestinian gunmen forced their way into the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, beginning a 39-day standoff.

2005
Pope John Paul II, who helped topple communism in Europe and left a deeply conservative stamp on the Roman Catholic Church that he led for 26 years, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84. he also called giggles the Anti-Christ.

2007
In its first case on climate change, the Supreme Court declared in a 5-4 ruling that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

[Kestra]

On April 3, 1948, President Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0403.html#article)

On April 3, 1886, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Senate and the presidential appointment power. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0403.html)

1783
Author Washington Irving was born in New York City.

1860
The Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif. :hback:

1865
Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.

1882
Outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a member of his gang.

1924
Actor Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Neb.

1936
Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J., for the kidnap-murder of the Lindbergh baby.

1946
Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed in the Philippines.

1968
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., less than 24 hours before he was assassinated.

1968
North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.

1996
An Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.

1996
Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.

1998
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time.

2000
A federal judge in Washington ruled that Microsoft Corp. had violated U.S. antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on competitors during the race to link Americans to the Internet.

2004
Surrounded by police, five suspects in the Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up in a building outside the Spanish capital, also killing a special forces agent.

2006
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty before an international war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, denying he'd helped destabilize West Africa through killings, sexual slavery and sending children into combat.

[Kestra]

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tenn. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0404.html#article)

On April 4, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a female spy in the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0404.html)

1818
Congress decided the U.S. flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state.

1841
President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia one month after his inauguration, becoming the first U.S. president to die in office.

1850
The city of Los Angeles was incorporated
.
1887
Susanna Medora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community - Argonia, Kan.

1888
Baseball Hall of Famer Tris Speaker was born in Hubbard, Texas.

1902
British financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships at OxfordUniversity in England.

1945
U.S. forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany.
1949
Twelve nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty.

1974
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves tied Babe Ruth's career home run record by hitting his 714th round-tripper in Cincinnati.

1975
A U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon, killing more than 130 people, most of them children.

1981
Henry Cisneros became the first Mexican-American elected mayor of a major U.S. city - San Antonio, Texas.

1988
The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct, and removed him from office.

1991
Sen. John Heinz, R-Penn., and six other people were killed when a helicopter collided with Heinz's plane over a schoolyard in Merion, Pa.

1999
The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 8-2 in baseball's first season opener held in Mexico.

2003
U.S. forces seized SaddamInternationalAirport outside Baghdad.

2003
Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs became the 18th major league baseball player to hit 500 career homers, connecting for a solo shot in a 10-9 loss to Cincinnati.

2006
The Iraq tribunal charged Saddam Hussein and six others, accusing them of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from a 1980s crackdown against Kurds.

2007
Radio host Don Imus made offensive on-air remarks about the RutgersUniversity women's basketball team. Despite a subsequent apology, Imus was fired by CBS Radio and cable network MSNBC.

[Kestra]

On April 5, 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0405.html#article)

On April 5, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about an international marathon race. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0405.html)

1614
Pocahontas, daughter of the leader of the Powhatan tribe, married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.

1649
Elihu Yale, the English philanthropist for whom YaleUniversity is named, was born in Boston.

1792
George Washington cast the first presidential veto, rejecting a congressional measure for apportioning representatives among the states.

1856
Black educator Booker T. Washington was born in Franklin County, Va.

1887
British historian Lord Acton wrote in a letter, "All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

1887
In Tuscumbia, Ala., teacher Anne Sullivan taught her blind and deaf pupil, Helen Keller, the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet.

1895
Playwright Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, who had accused the writer of homosexual practices.

1908
Actress Bette Davis was born in Lowell, Mass.

1951
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.

1964
Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur died at age 84.

1975
Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek died at age 87.

1976
Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died at age 72.

1984
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the highest-scoring player in NBA history with 31,421 career points.

1987
Fox Broadcasting Co. made its prime-time TV debut.

1992
Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton died at age 74.

1997
Beat poet Allen Ginsberg died at age 70.

1999
Libya surrendered two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland to a U.N. representative.

2006
Katie Couric announced she was leaving NBC's "Today" show to become anchor of "The CBS Evening News."

[Kestra]

On April 7, 1862, Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0407.html#article)

On April 7, 1883, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Jay Gould and Wall Street. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0407.html)

1862
Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.

1927
An audience in New York saw an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.

1939
Italy invaded Albania.

1947
Auto pioneer Henry Ford died at age 83.

1948
The World Health Organization was founded.

1949
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific" opened on Broadway.

1953
The U.N. General Assembly elected Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden to be secretary-general.

1957
New York City's last electric trolley completed its final run from Queens to Manhattan.

1969
The Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.

1976
China's leadership deposed Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping.

1990
Former national security adviser John M. Poindexter was convicted of five counts at his Iran-Contra trial. (A federal appeals court later reversed the convictions.)

1990
A display of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs opened at Cincinnati's ContemporaryArtsCenter; the center and its director were indicted on obscenity charges.

1994
Civil war erupted in Rwanda, a day after a plane crash claimed the lives of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi.

2001
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft took off on a six-month, 286-million-mile journey to the red planet.

2001
An unarmed black man wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants was fatally shot by a white police officer in Cincinnati, sparking three days of riots.

2003
U.S. troops in more than 100 U.S. armored vehicles rumbled through downtown Baghdad and seized one of Saddam Hussein's opulent palaces.

2003
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold a 50-year-old Virginia law making it a crime to burn a cross as an act of intimidation.
just shows ta go, we have White Supremacist serving in the Supreme Court.

2007
A Russian rocket carrying American billionaire Charles Simonyi roared into the night skies over Kazakhstan, sending its three occupants on a trip to the international space station.

[Kestra]

On April 8, 1973, artist Pablo Picasso died at his home near Mougins, France, at age 91. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0408.html#article)

On April 8, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about public health administration in New York City. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0408.html)

1513
Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.

1935
The Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress.

1952
President Harry S. Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike.

1970
The Senate rejected President Richard Nixon's nomination of G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court.

1974
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record.

1977
The Clash's self-titled debut album was released in Britain.

1981
Omar N. Bradley, a World War II general and the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died at age 88.

1987
Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigned after saying on ABC's "Nightline" that blacks may lack some of the "necessities" for becoming baseball managers.

1990
Ryan White, the teen-age AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died at age 18.

1992
Tennis player Arthur Ashe announced at a news conference that he had AIDS.

1994
Rock singer-musician Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was found dead in Seattle of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; he was 27.

2002
Suzan-Lori Parks became the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play "Topdog/Underdog."

2005
World leaders joined pilgrims and prelates in St. Peter's Square for the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

[Kestra]

On April 9, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0409.html#article)

On April 9, 1870, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the first black senator. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0409.html)

1682
French explorer Robert La Salle reached the Mississippi River.

1833
The nation's first tax-supported public library was founded in Peterborough, N.H.

1939
Black singer Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her race.

1940
Germany invaded Denmark and Norway during World War II.

1942
American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces during World War II.

1959
NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.

1969
The album "Nashville Skyline" by Bob Dylan was released.

1992
Former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega was convicted in Miami of eight drug and racketeering charges.

1996
Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., the once-powerful House Ways and Means chairman, pleaded guilty to two mail fraud charges. (He served 15 months in prison.)

1996
President Bill Clinton signed a line-item veto bill into law.

2001
American Airlines' parent company acquired bankrupt Trans World Airlines, becoming America's No. 1 carrier.

2003
Jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad.

2005
Britain's Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall.

[Kestra]

On April 10, 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey announced he had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0410.html#article)

On April 10, 1880, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about plans for the Panama Canal. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0410.html)
1847
Newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer was born in Hungary.

1866
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.

1912
The luxury liner Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.

1925
"The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published.

1932
Adolf Hitler came in second in voting for German president to the incumbent, Paul von Hindenburg.

1959
Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married a commoner, Michiko Shoda.

1963
The nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher and its crew of 129 was lost off Cape Cod, Mass.

1972
Some 70 nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, signed an agreement banning biological warfare.

1981
Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands won election to the British Parliament.

1992
Financier Charles Keating Jr. was sentenced in Los Angeles to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed. (The convictions were later overturned).

1996
President Bill Clinton vetoed a bill that would have outlawed a technique that opponents call "partial-birth" abortion.

1998
Negotiators in Northern Ireland reached a landmark settlement that called for Protestants and Catholics to share power.

2001
The Netherlands legalized mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness.

2002
Eight Israelis were killed by a suicide bomber aboard a bus in Haifa.

2003
The House passed a bill creating a national Amber Alert system and strengthening child pornography laws.

2007
A woman wearing an explosives vest strapped underneath her black robe blew herself up in the midst of 200 Iraqi police recruits in Muqdadiyah, killing 16.

[Kestra]

On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0411.html#article)

On April 11, 1885, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about college sports and education. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0411.html)
1689
William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

1814
Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba.

1898
President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.

1899
The treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect.

1921
Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax.

1945
American soldiers liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.

1968
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act, a week after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

1970
Apollo 13 blasted off on a mission to the moon that was cut short when an explosion crippled the spacecraft.

1979
Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.

1980
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.

1981
President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House from the hospital, 12 days after he was wounded in an assassination attempt.

1996
Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff, who'd hoped to become the youngest person to fly cross-country, was killed with her father and flight instructor when her plane crashed after takeoff from Cheyenne, Wyo.

2001
Ending an 11-day standoff, China agreed to free the 24 crew members of an American spy plane that had collided with a Chinese fighter plane, killing its pilot.

2002
U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., D-Ohio, was convicted of taking bribes and kickbacks from businessmen and his own staff. (He was sentenced to eight years in prison.)

2003
American troops took the northern Iraqi city of Mosul without a fight.

2006
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country had succeeded in enriching uranium on a small scale for the first time.

2006
Israel's Cabinet declared Prime Minister Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated, officially ending his five-year tenure.

2007
North Carolina's top prosecutor dropped all charges against three former DukeUniversity lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a party.

2007
Author Kurt Vonnegut died at age 84.

[Kestra]

On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63. Vice President Harry S Truman became president. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0412.html#article)

On April 12, 1862, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Civil War journalism. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0412.html)

1606
England adopted the original version of the Union Jack as its flag.

1861
The Civil War began as Confederate forces fired on FortSumter in South Carolina.

1877
The catcher for Harvard's baseball team, James Tyng, wore a modified fencing mask behind the plate. It is believed to be the first time a catcher's mask was used during a game.

1955
The Salk vaccine against polio was declared safe and effective.

1961
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the Earth once before making a safe landing.

1981
The space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first test flight.

1983
Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first black mayor.

1985
Sen. Jake Garn of Utah became the first senator to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

1989
Former middleweight boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson died at age 67.

1992
Euro Disneyland, a $4 billion theme park, opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France.

1999
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for giving "intentionally false" testimony in a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

2001
Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken declared a state of emergency amid an outbreak of racial violence.

2002
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resigned under pressure from the country's divided military. (He was returned to office two days later.)

2004
Barry Bonds hit his 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career list. (Bonds is now the career leader in home runs.)

2007
A suicide bomber breached security in Iraq's parliament and blew himself up in the dining hall; a Sunni parliament member was killed.

[Kestra]

On April 13, 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. (The astronauts managed to return safely.) Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0413.html#article)
and the world was united in a single thought.

On April 13, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Horace Greeley and the 1872 presidential election. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0413.html)

1598
King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes, granting rights to the Protestant Huguenots.

1742
George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.

1743
Thomas Jefferson, statesman and third president of the United States, was born in Virginia.

1870
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in New York City.

1943
President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.

1954
Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves.

1964
Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award, for "Lilies of the Field."

1986
Pope John Paul II visited a Rome synagogue in the first recorded papal visit of its kind.

1990
The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the KatynForest, a massacre the Soviets had previously blamed on the Nazis.

1997
Tiger Woods, 21, became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first person of African heritage to claim a major golf title.

1998
NationsBank and BankAmerica announced a $62.5 billion merger.

1999
Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, Mich., to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of a man whose assisted suicide in 1998 was videotaped and shown on "60 Minutes."

2002
Venezuela's interim president, Pedro Carmona, resigned a day after taking office in the face of protests by thousands of supporters of the ousted president, Hugo Chavez.

2004
Barry Bonds hit his 661st homer, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on baseball's career list. (Bonds is now the career leader in home runs.)

2005
Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to carrying out the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and three other attacks in back-to-back court appearances in Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta.

[Kestra]

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. He died the next day. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0414.html#article)

On April 14, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about politics and public health. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0414.html)

1759
Composer George Frideric Handel died in London.

1775
The first American society for the abolition of slavery was organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.

1828
The first edition of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the English Language" was published.

1902
J.C. Penney opened his first store, in Kemmerer, Wyo.

1904
Actor John Gielgud was born in London.

1912
The British liner Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and began to sink.

1931
King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile and the SpanishRepublic was proclaimed.

1939
"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck was published.

1956
Ampex Corp. demonstrated its first commercial videotape recorder.

1981
America's first operational space shuttle, Columbia, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California after its first test flight.

1997
Whitewater figure James McDougal drew a three-year prison sentence for 18 felony fraud and conspiracy counts.

1999
NATO mistakenly bombed a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees; Yugoslav officials said 75 people were killed.

2002
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to office two days after being ousted and arrested by his country's military.

2002
Tiger Woods became only the third golfer in history to win back-to-back Masters titles.

2003
Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit fell to U.S.-led forces with unexpectedly light resistance.

2003
U.S. commandos in Baghdad captured Abul Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner Achille Lauro in 1985.

2007
Singer Don Ho died in Honolulu, Hawaii, at age 76.

[Kestra]

On April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than three hours after striking an iceberg. About 1,500 people died. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0415.html#article)

On April 15, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about P. T. Barnum and Jumbo the elephant. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0415.html)

1850
The city of San Francisco was incorporated.

1861
President Abraham Lincoln declared a state of insurrection and called out Union troops three days after the Confederate attack on FortSumter in South Carolina.

1865
Andrew Johnson became the 17th president of the United States after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

1945
British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.

1947
Jackie Robinson became baseball's first black major league player when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. (His uniform No. 42 was retired on the same date in 1997.)

1980
Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre died in Paris at age 74.

1981
Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke relinquished the Pulitzer Prize she had received two days earlier for a feature about an 8-year-old heroin addict after admitting she had fabricated the story.

1986
The United States launched an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5; Libya said 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

1989
Students in Beijing launched a series of pro-democracy protests upon the death of former Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang.

1990
Actress Greta Garbo died at age 84.

1998
Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge regime that killed an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s, died at age 72.

2000
Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles became the 24th major league player to reach 3,000 hits.

2002
Retired Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White died at age 84.

[Kestra]

On April 16, 1947, America's worst harbor explosion occurred in Texas City, Texas, when the French ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and blew up, devastating the town. Another ship, the Highflyer, exploded the following day. The explosions and resulting fires killed more than 500 people and left 200 others missing. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0416.html#article)

On April 16, 1887, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about heavyweight prizefighting champion John L. Sullivan Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0416.html)

1789
President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.

1862
A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.

1912
Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.

1917
Revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile.

1945
In his first speech to Congress, President Harry S. Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1947
Financier and presidential confidant Bernard M. Baruch said in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse, "Let us not be deceived. We are today in the midst of a cold war."

1962
Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of "The CBS Evening News."

1964
"The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers)," the band's debut album, was released.

1972
Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.

1992
The House ethics committee listed 303 current and former lawmakers who had overdrawn their House bank accounts.

1996
Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were getting a divorce.

2003
Michael Jordan played his last NBA game as his Washington Wizards ended their season with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

[Kestra]

On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0417.html#article)

On April 17, 1880, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1880. read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0417.html)

1492
Christopher Columbus signed a contract with a representative of Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, giving Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.

1524
Giovanni da Verrazano reached present-day New York harbor.

1790
American statesman Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at age 84.

1861
The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.

1951
Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.

1964
The Ford Motor Co. unveiled its new Mustang model.

1969
A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

1970
The astronauts of Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.

1969
Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek was deposed.

1975
Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's five-year civil war.

1993
A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted.

1996
Lyle and Erik Menendez were spared the death penalty by a Los Angeles jury, which recommended they serve life in prison without parole for killing their wealthy parents.

1998
Linda McCartney, wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, died at age 55.

2001
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 500th career home run, becoming the 17th major leaguer to reach the mark.

2004
Israel assassinated Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi with a missile strike on his car.

[Kestra]

On April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and set off raging fires. More than 3,000 people died. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0418.html#article)

On April 18, 1885, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the latest shoe fashion fad. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0418.html)

1923
The first baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium in New York City, with the Yankees beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

1942
An air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

1945
American war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by Japanese gunfire on an island off Okinawa.

1946
The League of Nations went out of business.

1949
The IrishRepublic was proclaimed.

1955
Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76..

1956
Actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.

1978
The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control in 1999.

1983
A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

1989
Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.

1999
Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League's all-time leading scorer, played the last professional game of his 20-year career, at MadisonSquareGarden in New York.

2002
Police arrested actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. (Blake was later acquitted of murder but found liable in a civil case.)

2004
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.

2006
Actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes had a baby girl, Suri.

2007
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003.

2007
Four large bombs exploded in mainly Shiite locations of Baghdad, killing at least 183 people.

[Kestra]

On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.) Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0419.html#article)

On April 19, 1884, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the bipartisan reform team of Theodore Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0419.html)

1775
The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

1897
The first Boston Marathon was run.

1933
The United States went off the gold standard.

1943
Tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began an uprising against Nazi forces.

1951
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell to Congress, quoting a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

1989
A white female jogger in New York's Central Park was brutally beaten and raped. Five black and Hispanic teenagers were imprisoned, but the convictions were overturned in 2003 when a serial rapist confessed and DNA evidence tied him to the crime.

1993
A 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents smashed their way in. Dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.

1994
A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to beaten motorist Rodney King.

1997
Flooding from the Red River forced more than 50,000 residents to abandon Grand Forks, N.D.

1999
The German parliament inaugurated its new home in the restored Reichstag in Berlin, its prewar capital.

2001
The Mel Brooks musical "The Producers" opened on Broadway.

2005
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope; he took the name Benedict XVI.

[Kestra]

On April 20, 1971, the United States Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0420.html#article)On April 20, 1867, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the purchase of Alaska by the United States. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0420.html)

1792
France declared war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.

1812
Vice President and former New York governor George Clinton died at age 73.

1836
The Territory of Wisconsin was established by Congress.

1889
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria.

1902
Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.

1939
Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox.

1940
RCA publicly demonstrated its new electron microscope.

1945
Allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart during World War II.

1968
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada.

1972
The manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.

1980
The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida.

1999
Two students went on a shooting rampage at ColumbineHigh School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 students and one teacher before taking their own lives.

2005
President George W. Bush signed a bill making it harder for debt-ridden people to wipe clean their financial slates by declaring bankruptcy. except for those rich corporate elitists. they can declare bankruptcy after they've screwed up and taken everyones' money. IE: subprime mortgage snafu, just to name one.

2006
Bowing to intense pressure, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari agreed to abandon his claim to another term.

[Kestra]

On April 22, 1889, the Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0422.html#article)

On April 22, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about black and white Civil War veterans. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0422.html)


1509
Henry VIII became king of England following the death of his father, Henry VII.

1864
Congress authorized the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins.

1870
Communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Simbirsk, Russia.

1898
The first shot of the Spanish-American War rang out as the USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship off Key West, Fla.

1952
An atomic test conducted in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network TV.

1954
The televised Senate Army-McCarthy hearings began.

1970
Earth Day was observed for the first time.

1983
The West German news magazine Stern announced the discovery of 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler. However, the diaries turned out to be a hoax.

1990
Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon freed American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity.

1993
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

1994
Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, died at age 81 in New York City, four days after suffering a stroke.

1997
Government commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, ending a 126-day hostage crisis. All 14 Tupac Amaru rebels were killed; 71 hostages were rescued.

2000
In a pre-dawn raid, armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami; the 6-year-old boy was reunited with his father.

2004
Pro football player Pat Tillman, who'd traded in a multimillion-dollar contract to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire; he was 27.

2005
Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers to kill Americans. (He was later sentenced to life in prison.)

2006
The Iraqi parliament elected Jalal Talabani to another term as president.

[Kestra]

On April 23, 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0423.html#article)

On April 23, 1892, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Grant's Tomb in New York City. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0423.html)

1564
This is the generally accepted birthdate of the English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare. He died on the same date 52 years later.

1616
The Spanish poet Cervantes died in Madrid.

1789
President-elect George Washington and his wife moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House in New York City.

1791
James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, was born in Franklin County, Pa
.
1896
The Vitascope system for projecting movies onto a screen was demonstrated in New York City.

1908
President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.

1940
About 200 people died in a dance-hall fire in Natchez, Miss.

1954
Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his 755 major-league home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. (Aaron's career total is second only to Barry Bonds.)

1968
The MethodistChurch and the EvangelicalUnitedBrethrenChurch merged to form the UnitedMethodistChurch.

1971
The Rolling Stones album "Sticky Fingers" was released.

1985
The Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing its secret formula for Coke. However, negative public reaction later forced the company to resume selling the original version.

1987
Twenty-six construction workers were killed when an apartment complex being built in Bridgeport, Conn., suddenly collapsed.

1992
McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Beijing.

1993
Labor leader Cesar Chavez died at age 66.

1995
Sportscaster Howard Cosell died at age 77.

1998
James Earl Ray, who confessed to assassinating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and later insisted he was framed, died at age 70.

2004
President George W. Bush eased Reagan-era sanctions against Libya in return for Moammar Gadhafi's giving up weapons of mass destruction.

2007
Boris Yeltsin, the first freely elected Russian president, died at age 76.

2007
Journalist and author David Halberstam died in a car crash in Menlo Park, Calif., at age 73.

[Kestra]

On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0424.html#article)

On April 24, 1886, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a union-sponsored boycott. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0424.html)

1792
The French national anthem, "La Marseillaise," was composed by Capt. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.

1800
Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.

1877
Federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.

1915
The Ottoman Turkish Empire began a mass deportation of Armenians during World War I.

1916
The Easter uprising began when some 1,600 Irish nationalists seized several key sites in Dublin.

1953
British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at BuckinghamPalace.

1962
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, between Camp Parks, Calif., and Westford, Mas s.

1968
Leftist students at ColumbiaUniversity in New York City began a weeklong occupation of several campus buildings.

1980
The United States launched an abortive attempt to free the American hostages in Iran; eight U.S. servicemen died.

1990
The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.

1996
The main assembly of the Palestine Liberation Organization voted to revoke clauses in its charter that called for an armed struggle to destroy Israel.

2005
Pope Benedict XVI was installed as leader of the Roman Catholic Church in cermonies at the Vatican.

[Kestra]

On April 25, 1945, United States and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, in central Europe, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0425.html#article)

On April 25, 1868, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the final American tour of Charles Dickens. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0425.html)

1507
America got its name from German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller, who first used the term on a world map to refer to the huge mass of land in the Western Hemisphere, in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.

1792
Highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by guillotine.

1859
Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

1874
Radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy.

1898
The United States declared war on Spain.

1901
New York became the first state to require automobile license plates.

1908
Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow was born in Polecat Creek, N.C.

1915
Allied soldiers invaded the GallipoliPeninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Turkish Empire out of World War I.

1945
U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the ElbeRiver, in central Europe, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany.

1959
The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.

1983
Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov invited Samantha Smith to visit his country after receiving a letter in which the Maine schoolgirl expressed fears about nuclear war.

1983
The Pioneer 10 spacecraft crossed Pluto's orbit.

1990
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua, ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule.

1990
The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.

1992
Islamic forces in Afghanistan took control of most of the capital of Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.

1998
Whitewater prosecutors questioned first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on videotape about her work as a private lawyer for a failed savings and loan.

2003
Georgia lawmakers voted to scrap the Dixie cross from the state's flag.

2007
The Dow Jones industrial average topped 13,000 for the first time, ending the day at 13,089.89.

[Kestra]

On April 28, 1947, a six-man expedition sailed from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0428.html#article)

On April 28, 1883, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the immigration of destitute Irish to the United States. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0428.html)

1758
James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, was born in Virginia.

1788
Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1789
The crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.

1937
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was born near the desert town of Tikrit.

1945
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed.

1967
Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army.

1980
President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran.

1988
The roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 peeled back during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu, killing a flight attendant and injuring 61 people.

1990
The musical "A Chorus Line" closed after 6,137 performances on Broadway.

1994
Former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had betrayed U.S.secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

1996
President Bill Clinton gave 4 1/2 hours of videotaped testimony as a defense witness in the criminal trial of his former Whitewater business partners.

1999
The House rejected on a tie vote of 213-213 a measure expressing support for NATO's five-week-old air campaign against Yugoslavia. The House also voted to limit the president's authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia.

2001
A Russian rocket lifted off from Central Asia bearing the first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito.

2004
The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' "60 Minutes II."

[Kestra]

On April 29, 1992, deadly rioting that claimed 54 lives and caused $1 billion in damage erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0429.html#article)

On April 29, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Congress and British-American relations. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0429.html)

1429
Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.

1861
Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.

1862
New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.

1899
Jazz musician Duke Ellington was born in WashingtonD.C.

1916
The Easter uprising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.

1945
Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler married his longtime mistress Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker. The couple killed themselves the next day.

1945
American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

1946
Twenty-eight former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals.

1974
President Richard Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of secretly made White House tape recordings related to the Watergate scandal. “I am not a crook!”

1981
Truck driver Peter Sutcliffe admitted in a London court to being the "Yorkshire Ripper," the killer of 13 women in northern England over five years.

1983
Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.

1996
Former CIA Director William Colby was missing and presumed drowned after an apparent boating accident in Maryland.

1996
The musical "Rent" opened on Broadway.

1997
A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.

1997
Astronaut Jerry Linenger and cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev went on the first U.S.-Russian space walk.

2002
A year after the loss of a seat it had held for over 50 years, the United States won election to the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

2003
The Palestinian parliament approved Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister.

2004
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met behind closed doors with the Sept. 11 commission. “how can we use this to give me ultimate power?”

2004
A national monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public in WashingtonD.C.

2006
Economist John Kenneth Galbraith died at age 97.

[Kestra]

On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0430.html#article)

On April 30, 1859, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a U.S. military expedition to Paraguay. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0430.html)

1789
George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.

1803
The United States purchased the LouisianaTerritory from France.

1812
Louisiana became the 18th state.

1900
Hawaii was organized as a U.S. territory.

1900
Train engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in an effort to save the passengers. (The event was immortalized in song.)

1939
The New York World's Fair, billed as a look at "the world of tomorrow," opened.

1945
Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker.

1970
President Richard Nixon announced the United States was sending troops into Cambodia.

1993
Top-ranked women's tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back by a man who ran onto the court during a match in Hamburg, Germany.

1997
ABC aired the "coming out" episode of the sitcom "Ellen," in which the title character, played by Ellen DeGeneres, admitted she is a lesbian.

2001
Chandra Levy, a federal government intern, went missing. Her remains were found more than a year later in a Washington, D.C., park.

2003
Mahmoud Abbas took office as the first Palestinian prime minister. International mediators presented Israeli and Palestinian leaders with a "road map" to peace.

2003
The U.S. Navy withdrew from its disputed Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico.

2004
Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty in Santa Maria, Calif., to a grand jury indictment that expanded the child molestation case against him. (He was later acquited.)

2004
Former NBA star Jayson Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the shotgun slaying of a limousine driver at his New Jersey mansion, but found guilty of trying to cover up the shooting.

2005
Missing Georgia woman Jennifer Wilbanks turned up in Albuquerque, N.M., originally claiming to have been abducted but then admitting she was a "runaway bride."

2007
A British judge sentenced five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison for plotting to attack London targets, including a nightclub, power plants and shopping mall, with bombs.

[Kestra]

On May 1, 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane near Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0501.html)

On May 1, 1880, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the mass migration of Southern blacks to the West. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0501.html)

1707
The Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a treaty merging England and Scotland took effect.

1786
Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" premiered in Vienna.

1931
The 102-story EmpireStateBuilding in New York City was dedicated.

1941
The Orson Welles film "Citizen Kane" premiered in New York.

1948
The People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was proclaimed.

1967
Anastasio Somoza Debayle became president of Nicaragua.

1967
Singer Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas.

1971
Amtrak went into service, combining and streamlining the operations of 18 intercity passenger railroads.

1992
On the third day of the Los Angeles riots, Rodney King appeared in public to appeal for calm, asking "Can we all get along?"

1998
Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panther leader who later renounced his past and became a Republican, died at age 62.

1999
The Mercury space capsule Liberty Bell 7 that Gus Grissom flew in 1961 was found in the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla.

2001
Thomas E. Blanton Jr. became the second ex-Ku Klux Klansman to be convicted in the 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala., that claimed the lives of four black girls. (He was later sentenced to life in prison.)

2003
President George W. Bush landed in a jet on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast and, in a speech to the nation, declared major combat in Iraq over.

2007
In only his second veto, President George W. Bush rejected legislation to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq in a showdown with Congress over whether the war should end or escalate.

for the record, it's an occupation not a war. big difference.

[Kestra]

On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0502.html#article)

On May 2, 1885, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about construction of the Statue of Liberty. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0502.html)

1519
Artist Leonardo da Vinci died.

1670
The Hudson Bay Co. was chartered by England's King Charles II.

1863
Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va. He died eight days later.

1890
The OklahomaTerritory was organized.

1895
Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart was born in New York City.

1932
Jack Benny's first radio show debuted on the NBC Blue Network.

1939
New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games played came to an end when the ailing slugger removed himself from the lineup.

1957
Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., died at age 48.

1972
J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI for 48 years, died at age 77.

1974
Former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals.

1994
Nelson Mandela claimed victory in South Africa's first democratic elections.

1997
Tony Blair became, at age 44, Britain's youngest prime minister in 185 years.

[Kestra]

On May 3, 1971, anti-war protesters calling themselves the Mayday Tribe began four days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C., aimed at shutting down the nation's capital. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0503.html#article)

On May 3, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Canada and the British Empire. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0503.html)

1802
Washington, D.C., was incorporated.

1898
Israeli founder and prime minister Golda Meir was born Goldie Mabovitch in Kiev, Ukraine.

1916
Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter uprising.

1921
West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.

1936
Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.

1937
Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel "Gone with the Wind."

1948
The Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities were legally unenforceable.

1960
The musical "The Fantasticks" opened off-Broadway, beginning a record run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 performances.

1979
Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.

1988
The White House acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice to help schedule President Ronald Reagan's activities.

2000
The archbishop of New York, Cardinal John O'Connor, died at age 80.

2001
The United States lost its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947. :hmm: good work giggles.

2005
Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in.

2006
A federal jury in Alexandria, Va., rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

2007
Astronaut Wally Schirra died at age 84.

[Kestra]

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0504.html#article)

On May 4, 1878, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Congress. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0504.html)

1626
Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on what is now Manhattan.

1776
Rhode Island declared its freedom from England, two months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

1886
A labor demonstration for an eight-hour workday at Haymarket Square in Chicago turned into a riot when a bomb exploded.

1927
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.

1932
Mobster Al Capone, convicted of income-tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

1946
A two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San FranciscoBay ended after five people were killed.

1961
A group of Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C., for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.

1980
Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito died at age 87.

1989
Fired White House aide Oliver North was convicted of shredding documents and two other charges stemming from the Iran-Contra affair. (The convictions were overturned on appeal.)

1994
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed an accord on Palestinian autonomy that granted self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

1998
Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was given four life sentences plus 30 years by a federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty.

2000
Londoners elected their mayor for the first time.

2006
A federal judge sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

2007
A judge in Los Angeles sentenced hotel heiress Paris Hilton to 45 days in jail for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case by driving with a suspended license. (Hilton served three weeks.)

[Kestra]

On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0505.html#article)

On May 5, 1860, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0505.html)

1818
Political philosopher Karl Marx was born in Prussia.

1821
Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena.

1891
Carnegie Hall (then named Music Hall) opened in New York City.

1892
Congress extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years.

1893
Panic hit the New York Stock Exchange; by year's end, the country was in the throes of a severe depression.

1904
Cy Young of the Boston Americans pitched the first perfect game in modern major league baseball history in a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.

1925
John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. :hmm:

1945
In the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on GearhartMountain in Oregon, killing the pregnant wife of a minister and five children.

1955
West Germany became a sovereign state.

1955
The baseball musical "Damn Yankees" opened on Broadway.

1981
Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland on his 66th day without food.

1985
President Ronald Reagan attended a wreath-laying ceremony at a military cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany. The visit drew worldwide condemnation because 49 members of the Waffen SS were buried there.

2000
Reformers swept Iran's run-off elections, winning control of the legislature from conservatives for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

2002
French President Jacques Chirac was re-elected in a landslide victory over extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

[Kestra]

On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0507.html#article)

On May 7, 1881, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the New York National Guard. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0507.html)

1789
The first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President George Washington and his wife, Martha.

1833
Composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany.

1840
Composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Russia.

1847
The American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.

1915
A German torpedo sank the British liner Lusitania off the Irish coast, killing nearly 1,200 people.

1939
Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

1954
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended after 55 days with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.

1960
Leonid Brezhnev replaced Marshal Kliment Voroshilov as president of the Supreme Soviet.

1977
Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, on his way to horse racing's Triple Crown.

1984
A $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans.

1992
A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.

1998
The parent company of Mercedes-Benz agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion.

1999
NATO jets struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and injuring 20; President Bill Clinton called the attack a "tragic mistake."

2000
President Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in Russia's first democratic transfer of power.

2001
Ronnie Biggs, the "Great Train Robber" who had eluded capture for decades following his prison escape in 1965, returned to Britain, where he was arrested and jailed to complete the 28 remaining years of his sentence.

[Kestra]

On May 8, 1973, militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0508.html#article)

On May 8, 1875, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about public education and the Roman Catholic Church. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0508.html)

1541
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

1794
Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was executed on the guillotine during France's Reign of Terror.

1884
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, was born in Lamar, Mo.

1846
The first major battle of the Mexican War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas, resulting in victory for Gen. Zachary Taylor's forces.

1886
Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola.

1944
The first "eye bank" was established, in New York City.

1945
President Harry S. Truman announced in a radio address that World War II had ended in Europe.

1958
Vice President Richard Nixon was shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by anti-American protesters in Lima, Peru.

1968
Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins in Oakland. Hunter also drove in three of the Athletics' four runs.

1970
Construction workers broke up an anti-war protest on New York City's Wall Street.

1970
The album "Let It Be" by the Beatles was released.

1978
David Berkowitz pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn courtroom to the "Son of Sam" killings.

1987
Gary Hart, dogged by questions about his personal life, withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1999
The Citadel, South Carolina's formerly all-male military school, graduated its first female cadet.

[Kestra]

On May 12, 1943, during World War II, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0512.html#article)

On May 12, 1877, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of Germany. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0512.html)

1820
Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was born in Florence, Italy.

1870
Manitoba entered the confederation as a Canadian province.

1932
The body of the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was found in a wooded area of Hopewell, N.J.

1937
Britain's King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1949
The Soviet Union announced an end to the Berlin blockade.

1965
West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations.

1970
The Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.

1972
The album "Exile on Main St." by the Rolling Stones was released.

1982
Security guards in Fatima, Portugal, overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who was trying to reach Pope John Paul II.

1992
Four suspects were arrested in the beating of trucker Reginald Denny at the start of the Los Angeles riots.

2002
Jimmy Carter became the first present or former U.S. president to visit Cuba since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

2003
Suicide bombers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 26 people, including nine U.S. citizens.

2003
Fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers brought the Texas House to a standstill by going into hiding in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan. which was illegal i might add. they did it to give themselves a lead. since they can't win an honest legal election, they have to cheat.

[Kestra]

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter's Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0513.html#article)

On May 13, 1882, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Mississippi River flooding. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0513.html)

1607 An English colony was settled at Jamestown in present-day Virginia.

1842 Composer Arthur Sullivan, who collaborated with William Gilbert in writing 14 comic operas, was born in London.

1846 The United States declared that a state of war existed against Mexico.

1914 Boxing champion Joe Louis was born in Lafayette, Ala.

1917 Three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary.

1940 Winston Churchill told the British House of Commons in his first speech as prime minister, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

1958 Vice President Richard Nixon's limousine was battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S. demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela.

1985 Philadelphia police dropped an explosive onto the headquarters of the radical group MOVE; 11 people died in the resulting fire.

2003 The government unveiled a new version of the $20 bill - the first to be colorized in an effort to thwart counterfeiters.
and then, spent millions of our tax dollars on advertising explaining to ppl "how to spend the new bill."

[Kestra]

On May 14, 1948, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed as British rule in Palestine came to an end. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0514.html#article)

On May 14, 1881, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the high price of gas. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0514.html)

1643 Louis XIV became King of France at age 4 on the death of his father, Louis XIII.

1787 Delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution.

1796 English physician Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination against smallpox.

1804 The Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory left St. Louis.

1904 The first Olympic games to be held in the United States opened in St. Louis.

1942 Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" was first performed, by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

1942 The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was established.

1955 Representatives from the Soviet Union and seven other Communist bloc countries signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland.

1973 The United States launched Skylab 1, its first manned space station.

1996 A tornado flattened 80 villages in nothern Bangladesh, killing more than 440 people.

1998 Singer Frank Sinatra died at age 82.

1998 The hit TV series "Seinfeld" aired its final episode after nine years on NBC.

2001 The Supreme Court ruled that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana to ease their pain from cancer, AIDS or other illnesses.

2007 DaimlerChrysler said it was selling almost all of Chrysler to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion, backing out of a troubled 1998 takeover.

2007 The trial of suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla opened in Miami. (Padilla and two co-defendants were convicted in August of terrorism conspiracy; Padilla was sentenced to 17 years in prison.)

[Kestra]

On May 15, 1911, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080515.html?th&emc=th)

On May 15, 1869, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about women's rights. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0515.html)

1886 Poet Emily Dickinson died at age 55.

1918 U.S. airmail began service between Washington, Philadelphia and New York. :Peg:

1930 Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard a United Airlines flight from San Francisco and Cheyenne, Wyo.

1940 Nylon stockings went on general sale for the first time in the United States.

1942 Gasoline rationing went into effect in 17 states.

1948 Hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

1969 Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigned amid a controversy over his past legal fees.

1970 Two black students at Jackson State University in Mississippi were killed when police opened fire during student protests.

1972 Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Laurel, Md., and left permanently paralyzed below the waist.

1981 Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game in a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

1988 The Soviet Union began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.

1995 Dow Corning Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing potentially astronomical expenses from liability lawsuits.

1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole announced he was leaving the Senate after 27 years to challenge President Bill Clinton full time.

2001 A runaway freight train rolled about 70 miles through Ohio with no one aboard before a railroad employee jumped onto the locomotive and brought it to a stop.

2003 Texas Democrats boarded two buses and returned home after a self-imposed four-day exile in Oklahoma that temporarily succeeded in killing a redistricting plan they opposed.

2003 Country musician June Carter Cash died at age 73.

2006 A defiant Saddam Hussein refused to enter a plea at his trial, insisting he was still Iraq's president as a judge formally charged him with crimes against humanity.

2006 The Pentagon disclosed the names of everyone detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison since it opened four years earlier.

2006 The United States removed Libya from its list of terrorist states and said it would restore normal diplomatic relations.

2007 The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who built the Christian right into a political force, died at age 73.

2007 Yolanda King, the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died at age 51.

[Kestra]

On May 18, 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0518.html#article)
i remember that day, i lived near the Canadian boarder, we were getting ready to go to a flea market. and heard 5 explosions, each louder than the one before.

On May 18, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Presidential election of 1872. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0518.html)

1642
The Canadian city of Montreal was founded.

1804
The French Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.

1896
The Supreme Court endorsed the concept of "separate but equal" racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, a precedent that was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

1897
A public reading of Bram Stoker's new novel "Dracula, or, The Un-dead" was staged in London.

1911
Composer Gustav Mahler died in Vienna, Austria.

1920
Pope John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland.

1933
The Tennessee Valley Authority was created.

1951
The United Nations moved out of its temporary headquarters in Lake Success, N.Y., for its permanent home in Manhattan.

1969
Apollo 10 was launched on a mission that served as a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing.

1998
The federal government filed a sweeping antitrust case against Microsoft Corp.

2003
"Les Miserables," the third-longest running show in Broadway history, closed after more than 16 years and 6,680 performances.

2004
Randy Johnson became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game; the 40-year-old lefty retired all 27 batters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0.

[Kestra]

On May 19, 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as "Lawrence of Arabia," died in England from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0519.html#article)

On May 19, 1888, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about temperance legislation in New York. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0519.html)

1536 Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery.

1588 The Spanish Armada set sail for England.

1921 Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, which established national quotas for immigrants.

1925 Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb.

1962 Actress Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" for President John F. Kennedy during a fund-raiser at New York's Madison Square Garden.

1964 The State Department disclosed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

1967 The Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear weapons from outer space.

1992 Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown" because the title character chose to have a child out of wedlock. yes, he had difficulty discerning betwixt reality and fictional characters and went to war with a fictional character. he always reminded me of a dog waiting for a ball to be thrown.

1992 Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot and seriously wounded in Massapequa, N.Y., by her husband Joey's teenage lover, Amy Fisher.

1992 The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises, went into effect.

1993 The White House set off a political storm by firing the entire staff of its travel office; five of the seven staffers were later reinstated and assigned to other duties.

1994 Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64.

2003 WorldCom Inc. agreed to pay investors $500 million to settle civil fraud charges.

2004 Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits received a year in prison and a bad conduct discharge in the first court-martial stemming from abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison.

2005 "Revenge of the Sith," the final chapter of the "Star Wars" saga, opened in movie theaters.

[Kestra]

On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0524.html#article)

On May 24, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Russia. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0524.html)

1819
Queen Victoria was born in London.

1830
The first passenger railroad in the United States began service between Baltimore and Elliott's Mills, Md.

1844
Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message, "What hath God wrought!" from Washington to Baltimore as he opened America's first telegraph line.

1935
The first major league baseball game played at night took place at Cincinnati's Crosley Field as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.

1958
United Press International was formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

1962
Astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.

1976
Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde service to Washington.

1994
Four men convicted of bombing New York's WorldTradeCenter in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

1995
"Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $1,500 for running a call girl ring that catered to the rich and famous.

1995
Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson died at age 79.

2000
Israeli troops pulled out of southern Lebanon, ending 18 years of occupation.

2001
Democrats gained control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1994 when Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont abandoned the Republican Party and declared himself an independent.

[Kestra]

On May 25, 1925, John T. Scopes was indicted in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0525.html#article)

On May 25, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about corrupt New York judges. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0525.html)

1787
The Constitutional Convention was convened in Philadelphia.

1810
Argentina began its revolt against Spain.

1844
The first telegraphed news dispatch, sent from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, appeared in the Baltimore Patriot.

1878
Song-and-dance man Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was born in Richmond, Va.

1895
Playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted of a morals charge in London and sentenced to prison.

1935
Baseball Hall of Famer Babe Ruth hit the 714th and final home run of his career.

1946
Transjordan became a kingdom as it proclaimed its new monarch, King Abdullah Ibn Ul-Hussein.

1951
Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays made his major league debut with the New York Giants.

1961
President John F. Kennedy asked the nation to work toward putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

1968
The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was dedicated.

1979
An American Airlines DC-10 crashed during takeoff at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, killing all 271 people on board and two on the ground.

1986
An estimated seven million people participated in "Hands Across America," forming a line across the country to raise money for the nation's hungry and homeless.

1992
Jay Leno debuted as host of NBC's "Tonight Show," succeeding Johnny Carson.

1997
Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, marking 41 years, 10 months in office. (Thurmond's record was surpassed in 2006 by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.)

1997
Polish voters adopted a constitution that removed the last traces of communism.

2004
The Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese announced it would close 65 of 357 parishes because of financial problems caused in part by the clergy sex abuse scandal.

2006
Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted in Houston of conspiracy and fraud for the company's downfall. (Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison; Lay died before he could be sentenced.)

2007
Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker, infected with drug-resistant tuberculosis, was quarantined by the federal government after returning from his European wedding and honeymoon.

[Kestra]

On May 26, 1868, the Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal as the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0526.html#article)

On May 26, 1860, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0526.html)

1521
Martin Luther was declared an outlaw and his writings were banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs.

1805
Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned king of Italy.

1896
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published. The average price of the 11 initial stocks was 40.94

1907
Actor John Wayne was born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa.

1908
The first major oil strike in the Middle East took place as engineers working for British entrepreneur William Knox D'Arcy hit a gusher more than 1,100 feet below ground in Masjid-i-Suleiman in present-day Iran.

1913
The Actors' Equity Association was organized.

1938
The House Un-American Activities Committee was established by Congress.

1940
The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.

1969
Apollo 10 returned to Earth after a mission that served as a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing.

1977
George H. Willig scaled the outside of the south tower of New York's WorldTradeCenter; he was arrested at the top of the 110-story building.

1978
The first legal casino in the eastern United States opened in Atlantic City, N.J.

1994
Pop star Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic. (They were divorced 19 months later.)

1998
The Supreme Court ruled that Ellis Island - historic gateway for millions of immigrants - is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

2002
Barges being pushed by a towboat crashed into the piers of the Interstate 40 bridge in Webbers Falls, Okla., causing part of the structure to fall into the Arkansas River, killing 14 people.

2004
Terry Nichols was found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing. (He later received 161 consecutive life sentences.)

[Kestra]

On May 27, 1964, independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, died. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0527.html#article)

On May 27, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the capture of Jefferson Davis at the end of the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0527.html)

1647 Alse Young became the first person executed as a witch in America when she was hanged in Hartford, Conn.

1896 A tornado struck St. Louis and East St. Louis, Ill., killing 255 people.

1935 The Supreme Court struck down the National Industrial Recovery Act.

1937 The Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, Calif., opened.

1941 The British navy sank the German battleship Bismarck off France with a loss of more than 2,100 lives.

1963 The album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," which featured the song "Blowin' in the Wind," was released.

1994 Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after spending two decades in exile.

1995 Actor Christopher Reeve was paralyzed when he was thrown from his horse during a jumping event in Charlottesville, Va. (He died in 2004.)

1996 Russian President Boris Yeltsin negotiated a cease-fire to the war in Chechnya in his first meeting with the rebels' leader.

1997 The Supreme Court ruled Paula Jones could pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton while he was in office.

1998 Michael Fortier, the government's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot.

1999 A U.N. tribunal indicted Slobodan Milosevic for crimes against humanity, holding the Yugoslav president personally responsible for the horrors in Kosovo.

2006 A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in central Indonesia killed at least 5,800 people.

[Kestra]

On May 30, 1958, unidentified soldiers killed in World War II and the Korean conflict were buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0530.html#article)

On May 30, 1868, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the failure of the Senate to remove President Andrew Johnson from office. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0530.html)

1431
Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

1539
Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto landed in Florida.

1854
The territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established.

1883
A rumor that the recently opened BrooklynBridge was in danger of collapsing triggered a stampede that led to the trampling deaths of 12 people.

1911
The first long-distance auto race in Indianapolis was run.

1922
The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C
.
1982
Spain became NATO's 16th member.

1982
Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles played in the first of a record 2,632 consecutive major league baseball games.

1989
Student demonstrators at Tiananmen Square in Beijing erected a 33-foot statue they called the "Goddess of Democracy."

1996
Britain's Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage.

1997
Child molester Jesse K. Timmendequas was convicted in Trenton, N.J., of raping and strangling a 7-year-old neighbor, Megan Kanka - a case that inspired "Megan's Law," which requires that communities be notified when sex offenders move in.

2002
A solemn, wordless ceremony marked the end of the cleanup at Ground Zero in New York, 8 1/2 months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

2005
American teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared on a trip to Aruba. Authorities there repeatedly questioned three young men but closed the case without filing charges.

2006
A jury in Rockville, Md., convicted John Allen Muhammad of six of the Washington-area sniper killings.

[Kestra]

On May 31, 1889, more than 2,000 people perished when a dam break sent water rushing through Johnstown, Pa. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0531.html#article)

On May 31, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Mississippi Valley Labor Convention. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0531.html)

1809
Composer Franz Joseph Haydn died in Vienna, Austria.

1819
Poet Walt Whitman was born in West Hill, N.Y.

1910
The Union of South Africa was founded.

1913
The 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was declared in effect.

1916
British and German fleets fought the Battle of Jutland off Denmark during World War I.

1961
South Africa became an independent republic

1962
Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel for his role in the Holocaust.

1970
An earthquake in Peru killed tens of thousands of people.
1977
The trans-Alaska oil pipeline was completed after three years of work.

1989
House Speaker Jim Wright, D-Texas, dogged by questions about his ethics, announced he would resign.

1991
Leaders of Angola's two warring factions signed a peace treaty, ending a 16-year civil war.

1994
The United States announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.

2003
Bombing suspect Eric Rudolph was arrested outside a grocery store in Murphy, N.C. (He later pleaded guilty to four bombings - including those at a Birmingham. Ala., abortion clinic and at the Atlanta Olympics - and was sentenced to four life terms.)

2005
Former FBI official W. Mark Felt stepped forward as "Deep Throat," the secret Washington Post source that helped bring down President Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

[Kestra]

On June 1, 1968, author-lecturer Helen Keller, who earned a college degree despite being blind and deaf most of her life, died in Westport, Conn. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0601.html#article)

On June 1, 1867, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the independence of Luxembourg. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0601.html)

1533
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was crowned as Queen Consort of England.

1792
Kentucky became the 15th state of the union.

1796
Tennessee became the 16th state.

1801
Mormon leader Brigham Young was born in Whitingham, Vt.

1813
The Navy gained its motto as the mortally wounded commander of the frigate Chesapeake, Capt. James Lawrence, said "Don't give up the ship" during a losing battle with a British frigate.

1868
James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, died near Lancaster, Pa., at age 77.

1925
Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig's streak of playing in 2,130 consecutive games began when he pinch hit for shortstop Pee Wee Wanniger.

1926
Actress Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortensen in Los Angeles.

1944
The British Broadcasting Corp. aired a coded message intended to inform the French resistance that the D-Day invasion was imminent.

1958
Charles de Gaulle became premier of France.

1967
The album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by the Beatles was released.

1977
The Soviet Union charged Jewish human rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky with treason.

1980
CNN made its debut.

2001
A suicide bomber attacked a Tel Aviv nightclub, killing 21 Israelis.

2001
The king, queen and seven other members of Nepal's royal family were slain by Crown Prince Dipendra, who then mortally wounded himself.

2005
Dutch voters rejected the European Union constitution.

2007
The FDA warned consumers to avoid using toothpaste made in China because it might contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze.

2007
Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian walked out of a Michigan prison, where he'd spent eight years for ending the life of a man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.

[Kestra]

On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain was crowned in Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0602.html#article)

On June 2, 1877, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about actress Kate Claxton. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0602.html)

1851 Maine became the first state to enact a law prohibiting alcohol.

1886 President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom in a White House ceremony.

1897 Mark Twain was quoted by the New York Journal as saying from London that "the report of my death was an exaggeration."

1924 Congress granted U.S. citizenship to all American Indians.

1941 Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig died at age 37 of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

1946 The Italian monarchy was abolished in favor of a republic.

1966 The U.S. space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.

1979 Pope John Paul II arrived in his native Poland on the first visit by a pope to a Communist country.

1987 President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating economist Alan Greenspan to succeed Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

1995 A U.S. Air Force F-16C was shot down by Bosnian Serbs while on a NATO air patrol in northern Bosnia; the pilot, Capt. Scott F. O'Grady, was rescued six days later.

1997 Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

1998 Voters in California passed Proposition 227, requiring that all schoolchildren be taught in English.

[Kestra]

On June 3, 1965, astronaut Edward White became the first American to ``walk'' in space, during the flight of Gemini 4. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0603.html#article)

On June 3, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about a federal scandal and the attempt to impeach President Grant. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0603.html)

1621 The Dutch West India Company received a charter for New Netherlands, present-day New York City.

1808 Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederacy, was born in Christian County, Ky.

1888 The poem "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer was first published, in the San Francisco Daily Examiner.

1937 The Duke of Windsor married American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom he had abdicated the British throne.

1963 Pope John XXIII died at age 81.

1968 Pop artist Andy Warhol was shot and critically wounded in his New York film studio, The Factory, by actress Valerie Solanas.

1981 Pope John Paul II left a Rome hospital and returned to the Vatican three weeks after an attempt on his life.

1983 Gordon Kahl, a militant tax protester wanted in the slayings of two U.S. marshals in North Dakota, was killed in a gun battle with law enforcement officials near Smithville, Ark.

1989 Chinese army troops began a sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations.

1989 Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died.

1999 Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic accepted a peace plan for Kosovo designed to end mass expulsions of ethnic Albanians and 11 weeks of NATO airstrikes.

2001 Mel Brooks' musical comedy "The Producers" won a record 12 Tony Awards.

[Kestra]

On June 4, 1989, Chinese army troops stormed Tiananmen Square in Beijing to crush the pro-democracy movement; hundreds - possibly thousands - of people died. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0604.html#article)

On June 4, 1870, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Memorial Day. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0604.html)

1647 The English army seized King Charles I as a hostage.

1878 Turkey turned Cyprus over to the British.

1892 The Sierra Club was incorporated in San Francisco.

1896 Henry Ford made a successful pre-dawn test run of his horseless carriage, called a quadricycle, through the streets of Detroit.

1940 The Allies completed the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, France.

1942 The Battle of Midway began during World War II.

1944 The U.S. Fifth Army began liberating Rome during World War II.

1947 The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows the president to intervene in labor disputes.

1954 French Premier Joseph Laniel and Vietnamese Premier Buu Loc initialed treaties in Paris according independence to Vietnam.

1984 The album "Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen was released.

1985 The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling striking down an Alabama law providing for a daily minute of silence in public schools.

1986 Jonathan Jay Pollard, a former Navy intelligence analyst, pleaded guilty in Washington to spying for Israel.

1992 The U.S. Postal Service announced the results of a nationwide vote on the Elvis Presley stamp, saying more people preferred the "younger Elvis" design.

1998 A federal judge sentenced Terry Nichols to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

2003 Martha Stewart stepped down as head of her media empire, hours after federal prosecutors in New York charged her with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, securities fraud and lying to investigators.

2007 Insurgents linked to al-Qaida issued a video in which they claimed to have killed all three U.S. soldiers captured in an ambush on May 12. (The body of Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. has been recovered; Spc. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty remain missing.)

2007 A federal indictment accused Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., of receiving more than $500,000 in bribes (Jefferson has maintained his innocence).

[Kestra]

On June 5, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded just after claiming victory in California's Democratic presidential primary. Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was immediately arrested. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0605.html#article)

On June 5, 1880, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1880. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0605.html)

1723 Economist Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.

1794 Congress passed the Neutrality Act, prohibiting Americans from enlisting in the service of a foreign power.

1883 Economist John Maynard Keynes was born in Cambridge, England.

1884 Civil War hero Gen. William T. Sherman refused the Republican presidential nomination, saying, "I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected."

1933 The United States went off the gold standard.

1940 During the World War II Battle of France, Germany attacked French forces along the Somme line.

1947 Secretary of State George C. Marshall, speaking at Harvard University, outlined an aid program for Europe that came to be known as the Marshall Plan.

1967 War erupted in the Middle East as Israel raided Egyptian military targets. Syria, Jordan and Iraq entered the conflict.

1981 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that five homosexuals in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia; they were the first recognized cases of what became known as AIDS.

1998 A strike at a General Motors parts factory near Detroit closed five assembly plants and idled workers nationwide; the walkout lasted seven weeks.

2002 Elizabeth Smart, 14, was kidnapped from her bedroom in her family's Salt Lake City home. (She was found alive in March 2003; two people accused of abducting her have been found mentally unfit to stand trial.)

2004 Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died in Los Angeles at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

2006 An Islamic militia with alleged links to al-Qaida seized Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after weeks of fighting with U.S.-backed secular warlords.

2006 Serbian lawmakers proclaimed their Balkan republic a sovereign state after Montenegro decided to split from a union and dissolve the remnants of what was once Yugoslavia.

2007 Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation. (President Bush later commuted the prison sentence.)
later, like in: ‘later that day.’

[Kestra]

On June 9, 1954, Army counsel Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during the Senate-Army Hearings over McCarthy's attack on a member of Welch's law firm, Frederick G. Fisher. Said Welch: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?'' Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0609.html#article)

On June 9, 1900, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Boxer Rebellion in China. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0609.html)

1870
Author Charles Dickens died at age 58.

1891
Composer Cole Porter was born in Peru, Ind.

1940
Norway surrendered to the Nazis during World War II.

1969
The Senate confirmed Warren Burger to be chief justice of the United States, succeeding Earl Warren.

1973
Secretariat became horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years by winning the Belmont Stakes.

1978
Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood.

1980
Comedian Richard Pryor suffered near-fatal burns at his home when a mixture of "free-base" cocaine exploded.

1985
American educator Thomas Sutherland was kidnapped in Lebanon.

1986
The Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts

1993
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito married commoner Masako Owada.

2004
The Federal Communications Commission agreed to a record $1.75 million settlement with Clear Channel to resolve indecency complaints against Howard Stern and other radio personalities.

[Kestra]

On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Miranda vs. Arizona decision, ruling that criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights prior to questioning by police. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0613.html#article)

On June 13, 1908, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1908. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0613.html)

1886
King Ludwig II of Bavaria drowned in LakeStarnberg.

1888
Congress created the Department of Labor.

1900
China's Boxer Rebellion against foreigners and Chinese Christians erupted.

1927
Aviator Charles Lindbergh was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

1967
President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1971
The New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers, a secret study of America's involvement in Vietnam.

1981
A teen-ager fired six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II during a parade in London.

1983
The U.S. space probe Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system as it crossed the orbit of Neptune.

1986
Clarinetist Benny Goodman died at age 77.

1994
A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, blamed recklessness by Exxon Corp. and Capt. Joseph Hazelwood for the Exxon Valdez disaster, allowing victims of the nation's worst oil spill to seek $15 billion in damages.

1996
An 81-day standoff ended as 16 members of the anti-government Freemen group surrendered to the FBI and left their Montana ranch.

1997
A jury voted unanimously to give Timothy McVeigh the death penalty for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

2000
Italy pardoned Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.

2004
Former President George H.W. Bush celebrated his 80th birthday with a 13,000-foot parachute jump over his presidential library in College Station, Texas.

2005
A jury in Santa Maria, Calif., acquitted Michael Jackson of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor at his Neverland ranch.

2007
In Beirut, Lebanon, a powerful car bombing killed Walid Eido, a prominent anti-Syrian legislator.

2007
Insurgents blew up the two minarets of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra, Iraq, a year after the shrine's golden dome was destroyed in a bombing.

[Kestra]

On June 14, 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0614.html#article)

On June 14, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1880. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0614.html)

1775
The United States Army was founded.

1777
The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag.

1841
The first Canadian parliament opened in Kingston.

1846
A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.

1922
Warren G. Harding became the first president heard on radio, as Baltimore station WEAR broadcast his speech dedicating the Francis Scott Key memorial at FortMcHenry.

1928
The Republican National Convention nominated Herbert Hoover for president.

1940
German troops entered Paris during World War II.

1940
The Nazis opened a concentration camp at Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland.

1943
The Supreme Court ruled schoolchildren could not be compelled to salute the flag of the United States if doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs.

1954
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

1985
A 17-day hijack ordeal began when a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized TWA Flight 847 shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece.

2002
American Roman Catholic bishops meeting in Dallas adopted a policy to bar sexually abusive clergy from face-to-face contact with parishioners but keep them in the priesthood.

2007
Ruth Graham, the wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died at age 87.

2007
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared an emergency after the Hamas militant group effectively took control of the Gaza Strip.

2007
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim died in Vienna, Austria, at age 88.

[Kestra]

On June 15, 1904, more than 1,000 people died when fire erupted aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York City's East River. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0615.html#article)

On June 15, 1907, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about airships (dirigibles). Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0615.html)

1215
King John put his seal to the Magna Carta at Runnymede, England, granting his barons more liberty.

1775
The Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army.

1836
Arkansas became the 25th state.

1844
Charles Goodyear received a patent for a process to strengthen rubber.

1846
The United States and Britain signed a treaty settling a boundary dispute between Canada and the United States in the Pacific Northwest.

1849
James Polk, the 11th president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn., at age 53.

1864
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed an order establishing a military burial ground, which became ArlingtonNationalCemetery.
1923
Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.

1978
King Hussein of Jordan married 26-year-old American Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor.

1992
Vice President Dan Quayle erroneously instructed a Trenton, N.J., elementary school student to spell potato as "potatoe" during a spelling bee.

1994
Israel and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations.

1995
During his murder trial, O.J. Simpson struggled to don a pair of gloves that prosecutors said were worn by the killer of Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

1996
Singer Ella Fitzgerald died at age 78.

2003
A jury in Houston convicted accounting firm Arthur Andersen of obstruction of justice.

2005
The autopsy on Terri Schiavo was released, backing the contention of her husband, Michael, that she was in a persistent vegetative state.

2006
A divided Supreme Court made it easier for police to barge into homes and seize evidence without knocking or waiting.

2006
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said he would transition from day-to-day responsibilities at the company to concentrate on the charitable work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

[Kestra]

On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers disappeared in Philadelphia, Miss. Their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. Eight members of the Ku Klux Klan went to prison on federal conspiracy charges; none served more than six years. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0621.html#article)

On June 21, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1880. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0621.html)

1834
Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

1905
Philosopher, author and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris.

1932
After heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling lost a title fight by decision to Jack Sharkey, Schmeling's manager, Joe Jacobs, exclaimed: "We was robbed!"

1963
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was chosen to succeed the late Pope John XXIII as head of the Roman Catholic Church. The new pope took the name Paul VI.

1788
The U.S. Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

1964
Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a perfect game in a 6-0 victory over the New York Mets.

1973
The Supreme Court ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.

1977
Menachem Begin became Israel's sixth prime minister.

1982
A jury in Washington, D.C., found John Hinckley Jr. innocent by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three others.

1985
Scientists announced that skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were those of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.

1989
The Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment.

1997
The Women's National Basketball Association made its debut.

2001
A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., indicted 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the KhobarTowers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.

2004
Connecticut Gov. John Rowland resigned amid graft allegations and a federal investigation.

2005
Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Miss., 41 years to the day earlier. (He is serving a 60-year prison sentence.)

[Kestra]

On June 22, 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0622.html#article)

On June 22, 1901, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the American steel industry. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0622.html)

1611
English explorer Henry Hudson, his son and several other people were set adrift in present-day Hudson Bay by mutineers.

1815
Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated for the second time.

1868
Arkansas was re-admitted to the Union.

1870
Congress created the Department of Justice.

1911
Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1938
Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling of Germany in the first round of their rematch in New York City's Yankee Stadium.

1941
Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II.

1944
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill of Rights, authorizing a broad package of benefits for World War II veterans.

1945
The World War II battle for Okinawa ended; 12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed in the 83-day campaign.

1969
Singer-actress Judy Garland died at age 47.

1970
President Richard Nixon signed a measure lowering the voting age to 18.

1977
Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up.

1987
Actor-dancer Fred Astaire died at age 88.

1989
The government of Angola and the anti-Communist rebels of the UNITA movement agreed to a formal truce in their 14-year civil war.

1992
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that hate-crime laws that ban cross-burning and similar expressions of racial bias violate free-speech rights.

1993
Former first lady Pat Nixon died at age 81.

2002
Syndicated advice columnist Ann Landers died at age 83.

2004
A federal judge approved a class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit representing 1.6 million female workers against Wal-Mart.

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On June 23, 1947, the Senate joined the House in overriding President Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0623.html#article)

On June 23, 1877, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about political repression during a government crisis in France. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0623.html)

1868
Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the "Type-Writer."

1892
The Democratic convention in Chicago nominated former President Grover Cleveland on the first ballot.

1923
Choreographer-director Bob Fosse was born in Chicago.

1931
Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane.

1956
Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected president of Egypt.

1967
The Senate voted to censure Democrat Thomas J. Dodd of Connecticut for using campaign money for personal uses.

1969
Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief justice of the United States.

1972
President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation.

1985
All 329 people aboard an Air-India Boeing 747 were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland, apparently because of a bomb.

1992
John Gotti, convicted of racketeering charges, was sentenced in New York to life in prison.

1993
Lorena Bobbitt of Prince William County, Va., sexually mutilated her husband, John, after he allegedly raped her.

1995
Dr. Jonas Salk, the medical pioneer who developed the first vaccine against polio, died at age 80.

2005
Former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the 1964 Mississippi slayings of three civil rights workers

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On June 24, 1997, the Air Force released a report on the so-called "Roswell Incident," suggesting the alien bodies witnesses reported seeing in 1947 were actually life-sized dummies. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0624.html#article)

On June 24, 1905, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Theodore Roosevelt's mediation to end the Russo-Japanese War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0624.html)

1314
The forces of Scotland's King Robert I defeated the English in the Battle of Bannockburn.

1497
The first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot, on a voyage for England, spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.

1509
Henry VIII was crowned king of England.

1793
The first republican constitution in France was adopted.

1908
Former President Grover Cleveland died in Princeton, N.J., at age 71.
1940
France signed an armistice with Italy during World War II.

1948
Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the United States to organize a massive airlift.

1968
"ResurrectionCity," a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor People's March on WashingtonD.C., was closed down by authorities.

1975
An Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashed while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at New York's JohnF.KennedyInternationalAirport, killing 113 people.

1987
Actor Jackie Gleason died at age 71.

1998
AT&T Corp. struck a deal to buy cable television giant Tele-Communications Inc. for $31.7 billion.

2003
President Vladimir Putin arrived in London on the first state visit to Britain by a Russian leader since the 19th century.

2004
Federal investigators questioned President George W. Bush for more than an hour in connection with the news leak of a CIA operative's name.

2006
Patsy Ramsey, who was thrust into the national spotlight by the unsolved slaying of her daughter JonBenet, died at age 49.

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On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending World War I. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0628.html)

On June 28, 1884, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the presidential election of 1884. Read Cartoon (http://Read Cartoon)

1491
England's King Henry VIII was born in Greenwich.

1836
James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, died in Montpelier, Va., at age 85.

1838
Britain's Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1894
Labor Day was established as a holiday for federal employees on the first Monday of September.

1902
Broadway composer Richard Rodgers was born in New York City.

1914
Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sofia, were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist. The event triggered World War I.

1919
Harry S. Truman married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace in Independence, Mo.

1928
New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Houston.

1944
The Republican National Convention in Chicago nominated New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey for president.

1950
North Korean forces captured Seoul, South Korea.

1967
Israel declared Jerusalem reunified under its sovereignty following its capture of the Arab sector in the Six-Day War.

1967
Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

1978
The Supreme Court ordered the medical school at the University of California at Davis to admit a white man who argued he had been a victim of reverse discrimination.

1995
Webster Hubbell, the former No. 3 official at the Justice Department, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for bilking clients of the law firm where he and Hillary Rodham Clinton were partners.

1996
The Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.

1997
Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ear during their WBA heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas.

2000
Elian Gonzalez was returned to his native Cuba seven months after he was cast adrift in the Florida Straits.

2000
The Supreme Court ruled the Boy Scouts can bar homosexuals from serving as troop leaders.

2001
Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic was handed over by Serbia to the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

2004
The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government two days ahead of schedule.

2004
The United States resumed direct diplomatic ties with Libya after a 24-year break.

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On June 29, 1995, the shuttle Atlantis and the Russian space station Mir docked, forming the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0629.html#article)

On June 29, 1861, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Kentucky's neutrality during the early months of the Civil War. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0629.html)

1767
The British Parliament approved the Townshend Revenue Acts, which imposed import duties on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea shipped to America.

1776
The Virginia state constitution was adopted.

1946
British authorities arrested more than 2,700 Jews in Palestine in an attempt to stamp out alleged terrorism.

1951
Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, was ordained as a priest.

1967
Actress Jayne Mansfield, 34, and two male companions died when their car struck a trailer truck east of New Orleans.

1972
The Supreme Court ruled the death penalty could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment."

1992
A divided Supreme Court ruled that women have a constitutional right to abortion, but the justices also weakened the right as defined by the Roe v. Wade decision.

2001
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was elected to a second term.

2002
President George W. Bush transferred presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney for more than two hours during a routine colon screening that ended in a clean bill of health.

2003
Actress Katharine Hepburn died at age 96.

2004
Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks became the fourth pitcher in major league history to record 4,000 career strikeouts.

2006
The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that President George W. Bush's plan to try GuantanamoBay detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.

2007
British police defused two car bombs left to blow up near packed nightclubs and pubs in central London.

2007
The first Apple iPhones went on sale.

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On June 30, 1997, in Hong Kong, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time over Government House as Britain prepared to hand the colony back to China after ruling it for 156 years. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0630.html#article)

On June 30, 1883, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about pollution in New York Harbor. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0630.html)


1859
French acrobat Blondin crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope as 5,000 spectators watched.

1908
An asteroid exploded above Tunguska in Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees.

1921
President Warren G. Harding appointed former President William Howard Taft chief justice of the United States.

1934
Adolf Hitler began his "blood purge" of political and military leaders in Germany. Among those killed was one-time Hitler ally Ernst Roehm, leader of the Nazi stormtroopers.

1936
The novel "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell was published.

1952
The radio soap opera "The Guiding Light" made its TV debut on CBS.

1971
The 26th Amendment to the Constitution, lowering the minimum voting age to 18, was ratified as Ohio became the 38th state to approve it.

1971
Three Soviet cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 11 were found dead inside their spacecraft after it returned to Earth.

1985
Thirty-nine American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.

1986
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states could outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.

1994
The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of the national championship and banned her from the organization for life for an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.

2001
Doctors implanted a dual-purpose pacemaker in Vice President Dick Cheney's chest.

2001
Country musician Chet Atkins died at age 77.

2004
The international Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn's orbit after a nearly seven-year journey
.
2005
Spain legalized gay marriage.

[Kestra]

On July 4, 1976, the United States celebrated its Bicentennial. In 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0704.html#article)

On July 4, 1900, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Democratic National Convention of 1900. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0704.html)

1776
The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

1802
The U.S. Military Academy opened at West Point, N.Y.

1804
Author Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Mass.

1826
Death claimed the second and third presidents of the United States: John Adams died at age 90 in Braintree, Mass., while Thomas Jefferson died at 83 at Monticello, his home near Charlottesville, Va.

1826
Songwriter Stephen Foster was born in present-day Pittsburgh.

1831
James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, died at age 73 in New York City.

1845
American writer Henry David Thoreau began a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Mass.

1872
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, was born in Plymouth, Vt.

1939
Baseball player Lou Gehrig, afflicted with a fatal illness, bid a tearful farewell at Yankee Stadium in New York, telling fans, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth."

1946
The Philippines became independent.

1958
Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was appointed auxilliary bishop of Krakow, Poland, by Pope Pius XII.

1959
A 49th star was added to the American flag to represent the new state of Alaska.

1960
The number of stars on the American flag was increased to 50 to honor the new state of Hawaii.

1966
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act into law.

1976
Israeli commandos raided Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing almost all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers.

1987
Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief known as the "Butcher of Lyon," was convicted by a French court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.

2004
A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid at the WorldTradeCenter site as the cornerstone of the FreedomTower.

[Kestra]

On July 5, 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title as he defeated Jimmy Connors. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0705.html#article)

On July 5, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0705.html)

1811
Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain.

1830
The French occupied the North African city of Algiers.

1865
William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London.

1935
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, which allowed labor to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.

1940
Britain and the Vichy government in France broke diplomatic relations.

1946
The bikini made its debut during an outdoor fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris. Ooo la la!

1948
Britain's National Health Service Act went into effect, providing government-financed medical and dental care.

1954
Elvis Presley's first commercial recording session took place at Sun Records in Memphis, Tenn.

1975
The Cape VerdeIslands officially became independent after 500 years of Portuguese rule.

1989
Former National Security Council aide Oliver North received a $150,000 fine and a suspended prison term for his part in Iran-Contra. The convictions were later overturned.

1991
Regulators in eight countries shut down the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, charging it with fraud, drug money laundering and illegal infiltration into the U.S. banking system.

1997
Martina Hingis, 16, became the youngest Wimbledom singles champion in 110 years as she beat Jana Novotna in the women's final.

2002
Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams died at age 83.

2006
North Korea test-fired seven missiles into the Sea of Japan, including at least one believed capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

2006
Enron founder Kenneth Lay, who was facing decades in prison for one of the most sprawling business frauds in U.S. history, died of heart disease at age 64.

[Kestra]

On July 6, 1957, Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0706.html#article)

On July 6, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Senator Charles Sumner, civil rights for black Americans, and the presidential election of 1872. Read Cartoon (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0706.html)

1483
England's King Richard III was crowned.

1535
Sir Thomas More was executed in England for treason.

1777
British forces captured FortTiconderoga during the American Revolution.

1835
John Marshall, the fourth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, died at age 79.

1854
The first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Mich.

1917
Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks during World War I.

1923
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed.

1928
The first all-talking movie feature, "The Lights of New York," was shown in New York.

1933
Baseball's first All-Star game was held at Chicago's ComiskeyPark. The American League beat the National League 4-2.

1944
Fire broke out in the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn., killing 169 people.

1957
Teenagers John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at a church in Liverpool, England, following a performance by Lennon's band, the Quarrymen.

1989
The U.S. Army destroyed its last Pershing 1-A missiles.

1997
The rover Sojourner rolled down a ramp from the Mars Pathfinder lander onto the Martian landscape to begin inspecting soil and rocks.

1998
Singing cowboy star Roy Rogers died at age 86.

2003
Liberian leader Charles Taylor accepted an offer of asylum in Nigeria.

2004
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry chose former rival John Edwards, a North Carolina senator, to be his running mate.

2005
New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of an undercover CIA operative's name. (She was jailed for 85 days before agreeing to testify.)

[Kestra]

On July 9, 1896, William Jennings Bryan caused a sensation at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with his "cross of gold" speech denouncing supporters of the gold standard. Bryan went on to win the party's nomination. Go To Article (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/gener