TODAY IN HISTORY
On This Day in:
1789 – The U.S. Congress authorized the office of Postmaster General. 1792 – The French Republic was proclaimed.
1862 – U.S. President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It stated that all slaves held within rebel states would be free as of January 1, 1863.
1903 – Italo Marchiony was granted a patent for the ice cream cone.
1914 – Three British cruisers were sunk by one German submarine in the North Sea. 1,400 British sailors were killed. This event alerted the British to the effectiveness of the submarine.
1927 – In Chicago, IL, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous “long-count” fight.
1949 – The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb successfully.
1955 – Commercial television began in Great Britain. The rules said that only six minutes of ads were allowed each hour and there was no Sunday morning TV permitted.
1961 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy signed a congressional act that established the Peace Corps.
1964 – “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” debuted on NBCTV.
1966 – The U.S. lunar probe Surveyor 2 crashed into the moon.
1969 – Willie Mays hit his 600th career home run.
1980 – A border conflict between Iran and Iraq developed into a full-scale war.
1986 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan addressed the U.N. General Assembly and voiced a new hope for arms control. He also criticized the Soviet Union for arresting U.S. journalist Nicholas Daniloff.
1988 – Canada’s government apologized for the internment of Japanese-Canadian’s during World War II. They also promised compensation.
