Today in History

Today in History

1774 – Britain passed the Coercive Act against Massachusetts.

1797 – Nathaniel Briggs patented a washing machine.

1834 – The U.S. Senate voted to censure President Jackson for the removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States.

1854 – The Crimean War began with Britain and France declaring war on Russia.

1864 – A group of Copperheads attack Federal soldiers in Charleston, IL. Five were killed and twenty were wounded.

1865 – Outdoor advertising legislation was enacted in New York. The law banned 'painting on stones, rocks and trees.'

1885 – The Salvation Army was officially organized in the U.S.

1898 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrants was a U.S. citizen. This meant that they could not be deported under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

1903 – Anatole France's 'Crainquebille' premiered in Paris.

1905 – The U.S. took full control over Dominican revenues.

1908 – Automobile owners lobbied the U.S. Congress, supporting a bill that called for vehicle licensing and federal registration.

1910 – The first seaplane took off from water at Martinques, France. The pilot was Henri Fabre.

1911 – In New York, suffragists performed the political play 'Pageant of Protest.'

1917 – During World War I the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was founded.

1921 – U.S. President Warren Harding named William Howard Taft as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.

1922 – Bradley A. Fiske patented a microfilm reading device.

1930 – Constantinople and Angora changed their names to Istanbul and Ankara respectively.

1933 – In Germany, the Nazis ordered a ban on all Jews in businesses, professions and schools.

1938 – In Italy, psychiatrists demonstrated the use of electric-shock therapy for treatment of certain mental illnesses.

1939 – The Spanish Civil War ended as Madrid fell to Francisco Franco.

1941 – The Italian fleet was defeated by the British at the Battle of Matapan.

1942 – British naval forces raided the Nazi occupied French port of St. Nazaire.

1947 – The American Helicopter Society revealed a flying device that could be strapped to a person's body.

1962 – The U.S. Air Force announced research into the use of lasers to intercept missiles and satellites.

1963 – Sonny Werblin announced that the New York Titans of the American Football League was changing its name to the New York Jets. (NFL)

1967 – Raymond Burr starred in a TV movie titled 'Ironside.' The movie was later turned into a television series.

1968 – The U.S. lost its first F-111 aircraft in Vietnam when it vanished while on a combat mission. North Vietnam claimed that they had shot it down.

1974 – A streaker ran onto the set of 'The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.'

1979 – A major accident occurred at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Anuclear power reactor overheated and suffered a partial meltdown.

1981 – In Bangkok, Thailand, Indonesian terrorists hijacked an airplane. Four of the five terrorists were killed on March 31.

1986 – The U.S. Senate passed $100 million aid package for the Nicaraguan contras.

1986 – More than 6,000 radio stations of all format varieties played 'We are the World' simultaneously at

10:15 a.m. EST.

History