Today in History

Today in History

1788 – Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patented the steamboat.

1790 – The U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time in New York City.

1793 – France declared war on Britain and Holland.

1793 – Ralph Hodgson patented oiled silk.

1842 – In New York City, the 'City Despatch Post' began operations. It was a private company that was the first to introduce adhesive postage stamps in the western hemisphere. The company was bought by the U.S. governemnt a few months laster and renamed 'United States City Despatch Post.'

1861 – Texas voted to secede from the Union.

1862 – 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic,' by Julia Ward Howe was first published in the 'Atlantic Monthly.'

1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed a Joint Resolution submitting the proposed 13th Amendment to the states.

1867 – In the U.S., bricklayers start working 8-hour days.

1884 – The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.

1893 – Thomas A. Edison completed work on the world's first motion picture studio in West Orange, NJ.

1896 – Puccini's opera 'La Boheme' premiered in Turin.

1898 – The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, CT, issued the first automobile insurance policy. Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, NY, paid $11.25 for the policy, which gave him $5,000 in liability coverage.

1900 – Eastman Kodak Co. introduced the $1 Brownie box camera.

1913 – Grand Central Terminal (also known as Grand Central Station) opened in New York City, NY. It was the largest train station in the world.

1919 – The first Miss America was crowned in New York City.

1920 – The first armored car was introduced.

1920 – Canada's Royal North West Mounted Police changed their name to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The organization was commissioned in 1873.

1921 – Carmen Fasanella registered as a taxicab owner and driver in Princeton, New Jersey. Fasanella retired November 2, 1989 after 68 years and 243 days of service.

1929 – Weightlifter Charles Rigoulet of France achieved the first 400 pound ‘clean and jerk’ as he lifted 402-1/2 pounds.

1930 – The Times published its first crossword puzzle.

1946 – Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations.

1951 – The first X-ray moving picture process was demonstrated.

1953 – CBS-TV debuted 'Private Secretary.'

1954 – CBS-TV showed 'The Secret Storm' for the first time.

1957 – P.H. Young became the first black pilot on a scheduled passenger airline.

1958 – The United Arab Republic was formed by a union of Egypt and Syria. It was broken 1961.

1960 – Four black college students began a sit-in protest at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. They had been refused service.

1968 – During the Vietnam War, South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. The scene was captured in a news photograph.

1976 – 'Sonny and Cher' resumed on TV despite a real life divorce.

1979 – Patty Hearst was released from prison after serving 22 months of a seven-year sentence for bank robbery. Her sentence had been commuted by U.S. President Carter.

1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was welcomed in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.

History