Today in History

Today in History

1492 – Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas. He believed that he had found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.

1792 – The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated in Baltimore, MD.

1810 – Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest.

1892 – In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Columbus landing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in public schools.

1895 – In Newport, RI, the first amateur golf tournament was held.

1915 – Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt criticized U.S. citizens who identified themselves by dual nationalities.

1920 – Construction of the Holland Tunnel began. It opened on November 13, 1927. The tunnel links Jersey City, NJ and New York City, NY.

1933 – The U.S. Department of Justice acquired Alcatraz Island from the U.S. Army.

1937 – 'Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons' debuted on radio.

1938 – Production began on 'The Wizard of Oz.'

1942 – During World War II, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.

1945 – Private First Class Desmond T. Doss was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman. He was the first conscientious objector in American history to win the award.

1960 – Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev pounded a shoe on his desk during a dispute at a U.N. General Assembly.

1961 – The first video memoirs by a U.S. president were made. Walter Cronkite interviewed Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1964 – The Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1 into orbit around the Earth. It was the first space flight to have a multi-person crew and the first flight to be performed without space suits.

1972 – During the Vietnam War, a racial brawl broke out aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. Nearly

50 sailors were injured.

1976 – China announced that Hua Guo-feng was named to succeed the late Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Communist Party.

1988 – Federal prosecutors announced that the Sundstrand Corp. would pay $115 million dollars to settle with the Pentagon for overbilling airplane parts over a five-year period.

1989 – The U.S. House of Representatives approved a statutory federal ban on the destruction of the American flag.

1993 – The play 'Mixed Emotions' opened at the John Golden Theatre.

1994 – Haitian military leader Raoul Cedras was granted political asylum by Panama.

1994 – The Magellan space probe ended its four-year mission to Venus for the purpose of mapping.

1997 – The St. Francis Basilica and 15th-century bell tower above Foligno city hall in Italy were damaged by

3 earthquakes.

1998 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Online Copyright Bill.

1999 – Rob Reiner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1999 – In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup that toppled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court ruled that the coup was legal but insisted that a civilian government be restored within three years.

2001 – A special episode of America's Most Wanted was aired that focused on 22 wanted terrorists. The show was specifically requested by U.S. President George W. Bush.

2006 – The Dow Jones industrial average advanced over 11,900 for the first time.

2015 – It was announced that Dell was buying EMC for around $67 billion.

History