Today in History

Today in History

1457 – Gutenberg Bible became the first printed book.

1622 – Indians attacked a group of colonist in the James River area of Virginia. 347 residents were killed.

1630 – The first legislation to prohibit gambling was enacted. It was in Boston, MA.

1638 – Anne Hutchinsoon, a religious dissident, was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1719 – Frederick William abolished serfdom on crown property in Prussia.

1733 – Joseph Priestly invented carbonated water (seltzer).

1765 – The Stamp Act was passed. It was the first direct British tax on the American colonists. It was repealed on March 17, 1766.

1775 – Edmund Burke presented his 13 articles to the English parliament.

1790 – Thomas Jefferson became the first U.S. Secretary of State.

1794 – The U.S. Congress banned U.S. vessels from supplying slaves to other countries.

1822 – New York Horticultural Society was founded.

1841 – Englishman Orlando Jones patented cornstarch.

1871 – William Holden of North Carolina became the first governor to be removed by impeachment.

1872 – Illinois became the first state to require sexual equality in employment.

1873 – Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico.

1874 – The Young Men's Hebrew Association was organized in New York City.

1882 – The U.S. Congress outlawed polygamy.

1888 – The English Football League was established.

1894 – The first playoff competition for the Stanley Cup began. Montreal played Ottawa.

1895 – Auguste and Louis Lumiere showed their first movie to an invited audience in Paris.

1901 – Japan proclaimed that it was determined to keep Russia from encroaching on Korea.

1902 – Great Britain and Persia agreed to link Europe and India by telegraph.

1903 – Niagara Falls ran out of water due to a drought.

1903 – In Columbia, the region near Galera De Zamba was devastated by a volcanic eruption.

1904 – The first color photograph was published in the London Daily Illustrated Mirror.

1905 – Child miners in Britain received a maximum 8hour workday.

1906 – France lost the first ever rugby game ever played against Britain.

1907 – Russians troops completed the evacuation of Manchuria in the face of advancing Japanese forces.

1910 – In Liberia, a telegraph cable linked Tenerife and Monrovia.

1911 – Herman Jadlowker became the first opera singer to perform two major roles in the same day at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

1915 – A German zeppelin made a night raid on Paris railway stations.

1919 – The first international airline service was inaugurated on a weekly schedule between Paris and Brussels.

1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill legalizing the sale and possession of beer and wine containing up to 3.2% alcohol.

1934 – The first Masters golf championship began in Augusta, GA.

1935 – In New York, blood tests were authorized as evidence in court cases.

1941 – The Grand Coulee Dam in Washington began operations.

1943 – The Dutch workweek was extended to 54 hours.

1945 – The Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt.

1946 – The first U.S. built rocket to leave the earth's atmosphere reached a height of 50-miles.

1947 – The Greek government imposed martial law in Laconia and southern Greece.

1948 – The United States announced a land reform plan for Korea.

1954 – The first shopping mall opened in Southfield, Michigan.

1954 – The London gold market reopened for the first time since 1939.

1956 – Perry Como became the first major TV varietyshow host to book a rock and roll act on his program. The act was Carl Perkins.

1960 – A.L. Schawlow & C.H. Townes obtained a patent for the laser. It was the first patent for any laser.

1965 – U.S. confirmed that its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong.

1972 – The U.S. Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment. It was not ratified by the states.

1974 – The Viet Cong proposed a new truce with the U.S. and South Vietnam. The truce included general elections.

1975 – Walt Disney World Shopping Village opened.

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