On This Day In:

1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard made the first successful balloon flight in the U.S.

1788 – Connecticut became the 5th state to join the United States.

1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduced income tax, at two shillings (10p) in the pound, to raise funds for the Napoleonic Wars.

1848 – The first commercial bank was established in San Francisco, CA.

1861 – The state of Mississippi seceded from the United States during the early days of the U.S. Civil War.

1894 – The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company put the first battery-operated switchboard into operation in Lexington, MA.

1902 – New York State introduced a bill to outlaw flirting in public.

It did not become law,

1905 – In the nation of Russia, the civil disturbances known as the Revolution of 1905 forced Czar Nicholas II to grant some civil rights.

1929 – The Seeing Eye was incorporated in Nashville, TN. The company's purpose was to train dogs to guide the blind.

1936 – The United States Army adopted the semi-automatic rifle for regular infantry use.

1937 – The first issue of 'Look' went on sale. Within a month, 'Look' became a biweekly magazine.

1940 – Television was used for the first time to present a sales meeting to convention delegates in New York City.

1951 – The United Nations headquarters officially opened in New York City.

1961 – The play, 'Rhinoceros,' opened on Broadway, running for two years..

1969 – The supersonic aeroplane Concorde made its first trial flight, at Bristol.

1972 – The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth was destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbor.

1972 – British miners went on strike for the first time since 1926 in pursuit of better working conditions and higher pay. The stike ended in the workers’ favor after 30 days.

1981 – Hockey Hall of Famer, Phil Esposito, announced that he would retire as a hockey player after the New York Rangers-Buffalo Sabres hockey game. The game ended in a tie. (NHL)

1984 – Clara Peller was first seen by TV viewers in the 'Where's the Beef?' commercial campaign for Wendy's.

1986 – Kodak got out of the instant camera business after 10 years due to a loss in a court battle that claimed that Kodak copied Polaroid patents.

1991 – U.S. secretary of state Baker and Iraqi foreign minister Aziz met for 61/2 hours in Geneva, but failed to reach any agreement that would forestall war in the Persian Gulf.

1995 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Poliakov, 51, completed his

366th day in outer space aboard the Mir space station, breaking the record for the longest continuous time spent in outer space.

1997 – Tamil rebels attacked a military base in Sri Lanka. 200 soldiers and 140 rebels were killed.

2000 – ABC-TV began airing 'The Mole.'

2002 – The U.S. Justice Department announced that it was pursuing a criminal investigation of Enron Corp. The company had filed for bankruptcy on December 2, 2001.

2003 – Archaeologists announced that they had found five more chambers in the tomb of Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor. The rooms were believed to cover about 750,000 square feet.

2006 – Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a dual ceremony.

2007 – Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.'s CEO, announced the first generation iPhone, which was released to high consumer demand in spring of 2008.