On This Day

[Raistlin]

1775 - A postal system was established by the 2nd Continental Congress of the United States. The first Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin.

1788 - New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1881 - Thomas Edison and Patrick Kenny execute a patent application for a facsimile telegraph (U.S. Pat. 479,184).

1893 - Commercial production of the Addressograph started in Chicago, IL.

1907 - The Chester was launched. It was the first turbine-propelled ship.

1908 - U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte issued an order that created an investigative agency that was a forerunner of the FBI.

1945 - Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister.

1947 - U.S. President Truman signed The National Security Act. The act created the National Security Council, the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1948 - Babe Ruth was seen by the public for the last time, when he attended the New York City premiere of the motion picture, "The Babe Ruth Story."

1948 - U.S. President Truman signed executive orders that prohibited discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and federal employment.

1952 - King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

1953 - Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. Castro eventually ousted Batista six years later.

1956 - Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

1971 - Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL.

1998 - AT&T and British Telecommunications PLC announced they were forming a joint venture to combine international operations and develop a new Internet system.

1999 - 1,500 pieces of Marilyn Monroe's personal items went on display at Christie's in New York, NY. The items went on sale later in 1999.

[Raistlin]

1214 - At the Battle of Bouvines in France, Philip Augustus of France defeated John of England.

1245 - Frederick II was deposed by a council at Lyons after they found him guilty of sacrilege.

1663 - The British Parliament passed a second Navigation Act, which required all goods bound for the colonies be sent in British ships from British ports.

1689 - Government forces defeated the Scottish Jacobites at the Battle of Killiecrankie.

1694 - The Bank of England received a royal charter as a commercial institution.

1775 - Benjamin Rush began his service as the first Surgeon General of the Continental Army.

1784 - "Courier De L’Amerique" became the first French newspaper to be published in the United States. It was printed in Philadelphia, PA.

1777 - The marquis of Lafayette arrived in New England to help the rebellious American colonists fight the British.

1778 - The British and French fleets fought to a standoff in the first Battle of Ushant.

1789 - The Department of Foreign Affairs was established by the U.S. Congress. The agency was later known as the Department of State.

1804 - The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. With the amendment Electors were directed to vote for a President and for a Vice-President rather than for two choices for President.

1866 - Cyrus Field successfully completed the Atlantic Cable. It was an underwater telegraph from North America to Europe.

1909 - Orville Wright set a record for the longest airplane flight. He was testing the first Army airplane and kept it in the air for 1 hour 12 minutes and 40 seconds.

1914 - British troops invaded the streets of Dublin, Ireland, and began to disarm Irish rebels.

1918 - The Socony 200 was launched. It was the first concrete barge and was used to carry oil.

1921 - Canadian biochemist Frederick Banting and associates announced the discovery of the hormone insulin.

1940 - Bugs Bunny made his official debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon "A Wild Hare."

1944 - U.S. troops completed the liberation of Guam.

1947 - The World Water Ski Organization was founded in Geneva, Switzerland.

1953 - The armistice agreement that ended the Korean War was signed at Panmunjon, Korea.

1955 - The Allied occupation of Austria ended.

1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson sent an additional 5,000 advisers to South Vietnam.

1965 - In the U.S., the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act was signed into law. The law required health warnings on all cigarette packages.

1967 - U.S. President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of the violence in the wake of urban rioting.

1974 - NBC-TV took "Dinah's Place" off of its daytime programming roster.

1974 - The U.S. Congress asked for impeachment procedures against President Richard Nixon.

1980 - The deposed shah of Iran, Muhammad Riza Pahlavi, died in a hospital near Cairo, Egypt.

1984 - Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb’s record for most singles in a career when he got his 3,503rd base hit.

1992 - Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis died after collapsing on a Brandeis University basketball court during practice. He was 27 years old.

1993 - IBM's new chairman, Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., announced an $8.9 billion plan to cut the company's costs.

1995 - The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC, by U.S. President Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.

1999 - The U.S. space shuttle Discovery completed a five-day mission commanded by Air Force Col. Eileen Collins. It was the first shuttle mission to be commanded by a woman.

2001 - The ribbon cutting ceremony was held for American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. The event set two new world records, one for the 3 mile long ribbon and one for the 2,000 people that cut it.

2003 - It was reported by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) that there was no monster in Loch Ness. The investigation used 600 separate sonar beams and satellite navigation technology to trawl the loch. Reports of sightings of the "Loch Ness Monster" began in the 6th century.

2006 - Intel Corp introduced its Core 2 Duo microprocessors.

[Raistlin]

1821 - Peru declared its independence from Spain.

1865 - The American Dental Association proposed its first code of ethics.

1866 - The metric system was legalized by the U.S. Congress for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States.

1868 - The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect. The amendment guaranteed due process of law.

1896 - The city of Miami, FL, was incorporated.

1914 - World War I officially began when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

1932 - Federal troops forcibly dispersed the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington, DC. They were demanding money they were not scheduled to receive until 1945.

1941 - Plans for the Pentagon were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

1942 - L.A. Thatcher received a patent for a coin-operated mailbox. The device stamped envelopes when money was inserted.

1945 - A U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York City's Empire State Building. 14 people were killed and 26 were injured.

1951 - The Walt Disney film "Alice in Wonderland" was released.

1965 - U.S. President Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

1973 - Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett were married.

1982 - San Francisco, CA, became the first city in the U.S. to ban handguns.

1991 - Dennis Martinez (Montreal Expos) pitched the 13th perfect game in major league baseball history.

1994 - Kenny Rogers (Texas Rangers) pitched the 14th perfect game in major league baseball history.

1998 - Bell Atlantic and GTE announced $52 billion deal that created the second-largest phone company.

1998 - Serbian military forces seized the Kosovo town of Malisevo.

1998 - Monica Lewinsky received blanket immunity from prosecution to testify before a grand jury about her relationship with U.S. President Clinton.

2000 - Kathie Lee Gifford made her final appearance as co-host of the ABC talk show "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee."

2006 - Researchers announced that two ancient reptiles had been found off Australia. The Umoonasaurus and Opallionectes were the first of their kind to be found in the period soon after the Jurassic era.

[Raistlin]

1588 - The English defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines.

1754 - The first international boxing match was held. The 25-minute match was won when jack Slack of Britain knocked out Jean Petit from France.

1773 - The first schoolhouse to be located west of the Allegheny Mountains was built in Schoenbrunn, OH.

1786 - "The Pittsburgh Gazette" became the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies to be published. The paper's name was later changed to "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette."

1874 - Major Walter Copton Winfield of England received U.S. patent for the lawn-tennis court.

1914 - The first transcontinental telephone service was inaugurated when two people held a conversation between New York, NY and San Francisco, CA.

1940 - John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO, completed a 292-mile swim down the Mississippi River. The swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, MO took him 89 hours and 48 minutes.

1950 - Disney's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" was released.

Disney movies, music and books

1957 - jack Paar began hosting the "Tonight" show on NBC-TV. The name of the show was changed to "The jack Paar Show." Paar was host for five years.

1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency was established.

1958 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was authorized by the U.S. Congress.

1968 - Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's stance against artificial methods of birth control.

1975 - OAS (Organization of American States) members voted to lift collective sanctions against Cuba. The U.S. government welcomed the action and announced its intention to open serious discussions with Cuba on normalization.

1981 - England's Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married.

1983 - Steve Garvey (Los Angeles Dodgers) set the National League consecutive game record at 1,207.

1985 - General Motors announced that Spring Hill, TN, would be the home of the Saturn automobile assembly plant.

1993 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquitted retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk of being Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible." His death sentence was thrown out and he was set free.

1997 - Minamata Bay in Japan was declared free of mercury 40 years after contaminated food fish were blamed for deaths and birth defects.

1998 - The United Auto Workers union ended a 54-day strike against General Motors. The strike caused $2.8 billion in lost revenues.

2005 - Astronomers announced that they had discovered a new planet (Xena) larger than Pluto in orbit around the sun.

[Raistlin]

1502 - Christopher Columbus landed at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.

1619 - The first representative assembly in America convened in Jamestown, VA. (House of Burgesses)

1729 - The city of Baltimore was founded in Maryland.

1898 - "Scientific America" carried the first magazine automobile ad. The ad was for the Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH.

1932 - Walt Disney's "Flowers and Trees" premiered. It was the first Academy Award winning cartoon and first cartoon short to use Technicolor.

1937 - The American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) was organized as a part of the American Federation of Labor.

1942 - The WAVES were created by legislation signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The members of the Women's Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service were a part of the U.S. Navy.

1945 - The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Only 316 out of 1,196 men aboard survived the attack.

1956 - The phrase "In God We Trust" was adopted as the U.S. national motto.

1965 - U.S. President Johnson signed into law Social Security Act that established Medicare and Medicaid. It went into effect the following year.

1968 - Ron Hansen (Washington Senators) made the first unassisted triple play in the major leagues in 41 years.

1974 - The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Nixon for blocking the Watergate investigation and for abuse of power.

1987 - Indian troops arrived in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, to disarm the Tamil Tigers and enforce a peace pact.

1990 - In Spring Hill, TN, the first Saturn automobile rolled off the assembly line.

1991 - In China, construction began on the Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower.

1998 - A group of Ohio machine-shop workers (who call themselves the Lucky 13) won the $295.7 million Powerball jackpot. It was the largest-ever American lottery.

2000 - Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were married.

2001 - Lance Armstrong became the first American to win three consecutive Tours de France.

2003 - In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagon Beetle rolled off an assembly line.

[Raistlin]

1498 - Christopher Columbus, on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, arrived at the island of Trinidad.

1790 - The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins for his process for making potash and pearl ashes. The substance was used in fertilizer.

1792 - The cornerstone of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, PA, was laid. It was the first building to be used only as a U.S. government building.

1919 - Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted.

1928 - MGM’s Leo the lion roared for the first time. He introduced MGM’s first talking picture, "White Shadows on the South Seas."

1932 - Enzo Ferrari retired from racing. In 1950 he launched a series of cars under his name.

1945 - Pierre Laval of France surrendered to Americans in Austria.

1948 - U.S. President Truman helped dedicate New York International Airport (later John F. Kennedy International Airport) at Idlewild Field.

1955 - Marilyn Bell of Toronto, Canada, at age 17, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel.

1959 - The Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) was founded. The group is known for being an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization.

1961 - The first tie in All-Star Game major league baseball history was recorded when it was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain at Boston's Fenway Park.

1964 - The American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon's surface.

1971 - Men rode in a vehicle on the moon for the first time in a lunar rover vehicle (LRV).

1981 - The seven-week baseball players’ strike came to an end when the players and owners agreed on the issue of free agent compensation.

1982 - Yugoslavia imposed a six-month freeze on prices.

1989 - A pro-Iranian group in Lebanon released a videotape reportedly showing the hanged body of American hostage William R. Higgins.

1989 - The Game Boy handheld video game device was released in the U.S.

1991 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

1995 - The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire Capital Cities/ABC in a $19 billion deal.

1999 - The spacecraft Lunar Prospect crashed into the moon. It was a mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface. The craft had been launched on January 6, 1998.

[Raistlin]

1498 - Christopher Columbus landed on "Isla Santa" (Venezuela).

1774 - Oxygen was isolated from air successfully by chemist Carl Wilhelm and scientist Joseph Priestly.

1790 - The first U.S. census was completed with a total population of 3,929,214 recorded. The areas included were the present states of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia

1834 - Slavery was outlawed in the British empire with an emancipation bill.

1873 - Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car. The design was done for San Francisco, CA.

1876 - Colorado became the 38th state to join the United States.

1893 - Shredded wheat was patented by Henry Perky and William Ford.

1894 - The first Sino-Japanese War erupted. The dispute was over control of Korea.

1907 - The U.S. Army established an aeronautical division that later became the U.S. Air Force.

1914 - Germany declared war on Russia at the beginning of World War I.

1936 - Adolf Hitler presided over the Olympic games as they opened in Berlin.

1944 - In Warsaw, Poland, an uprising against Nazi occupation began. The revolt continued until October 2 when Polish forces surrendered.

1946 - In the U.S., the Atomic Energy Commission was established.

1953 - The first aluminum-faced building was completed. It was the first of this type in America.

1956 - The Social Security Act was amended to provide benefits to disabled workers aged 50-64 and disabled adult children.

1957 - The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was created by the United States and Canada.

1973 - The movie "American Graffiti" opened.

1975 - The Helsinki accords pledged the signatory nations to respect human rights.

1976 - The Seattle Seahawks played their first (preseason) game. The Seahawks lost 27-20 to San Francisco.

1978 - Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) ended his streak of hitting in 44 consecutive games.

1986 - John McEnroe and Tatum O'Neal were married.

1986 - Bert Blyleven (Minnesota Twins) became only the 10th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career.

1988 - Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" opened.

1993 - Reggie Jackson was admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

1995 - Westinghouse Electric Corporation announced a deal to buy CBS for $5.4 billion.

[Raistlin]

1776 - Members of the Continental Congress began adding their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

1791 - Samuel Briggs and his son Samuel Briggs, Jr. received a joint patent for their nail-making machine. They were the first father-son pair to receive a patent.

1824 - In New York City, Fifth Avenue was opened.

1858 - In Boston and New York City the first mailboxes were installed along streets.

1861 - The United States Congress passed the first income tax. The revenues were intended for the war effort against the South. The tax was never enacted.

1887 - Rowell Hodge patented barbed wire.

1892 - Charles A. Wheeler patented the first escalator.

1921 - Eight White Sox players were acquitted of throwing the 1919 World Series.

1926 - John Barrymore and Mary Astor starred in the first showing of the Vitaphone System. The system was the combining of picture and sound for movies.

1938 - Bright yellow baseballs were used in a major league baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals. It was hoped that the balls would be easier to see.

1939 - Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging the U.S. to have an atomic weapons research program.

1939 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed the Hatch Act. The act prohibited civil service employees from taking an active part in political campaigns.

1943 - The U.S. Navy patrol torpedo boat, PT-109, sank after being attacked by a Japanese destroyer. The boat was under the command of Lt. John F. Kennedy.

1945 - The Allied conference at Potsdam was concluded.

1964 - The Pentagon reported the first of two North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

1983 - U.S. House of Representatives approved a law that designated the third Monday of January would be a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The law was signed by President Reagon on November 2.

1987 - "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was re-released. The film was 50 years old at the time of its re-release.

1990 - Iraq invaded the oil-rich country of Kuwait. Iraq claimed that Kuwait had driven down oil prices by exceeding production quotas set by OPEC.

1995 - China ordered the expulsion of two U.S. Air Force officers. The two were said to have been caught spying on military sights.

[Raistlin]

1492 - Christopher Columbus left Palos, Spain with three ships. The voyage led him to what is now known as the Americas. He reached the Bahamas on October 12.

1750 - Christopher Dock completed the first book of teaching methods. It was titled "A Simple and Thoroughly Prepared School Management."

1777 - During the Siege of Fort Stanwix the first U.S. flag was officially flown during battle.

1880 - The American Canoe Association was formed at Lake George, NY.

1900 - Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. was founded.

1914 - Germany declared war on France. The next day World War I began when Britain declared war on Germany.

1922 - WGY radio in Schenectady, NY, presented the first full-length melodrama on radio. The work was "The Wolf", written by Eugene Walter.

1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the U.S. after the sudden death of President Harding.

1933 - The Mickey Mouse Watch was introduced for the price of $2.75.

1936 - The U.S. State Department advised Americans to leave Spain due to the Spanish Civil War.

1936 - Jesse Owens won the first of his four Olympic gold medals.

1943 - Gen. George S. Patton verbally abused and slapped a private. Later, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered him to apologize for the incident.

1949 - The National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed. The league was formed by the merger between the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.

1956 - Bedloe's Island had its name changed to Liberty Island.

1958 - The Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater. The mission was known as "Operation Sunshine."

1979 - "More American Graffiti" was released.

1979 - Johnny Carson, the "Tonight Show" host, was on the cover of the Burbank, CA, telephone directory.

1981 - U.S. traffic controllers with PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, went on strike. They were fired just as U.S. President Reagan had warned.

1984 - Mary Lou Retton won a gold medal at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

1985 - Mail service returned to a nudist colony in Paradise Lake, FL. Residents promised that they'd wear clothes or stay out of sight when the mailperson came to deliver.

1988 - The Iran-Contra hearings ended. No ties were made between U.S. President Reagan and the Nicaraguan Rebels.

1988 - The Soviet Union released Mathias Rust. He had been taken into custody on May 28, 1987 for landing a plane in Moscow's Red Square.

1989 - Hashemi Rafsanjani was sworn in as the president of Iran.

1990 - Thousands of Iraqi troops pushed within a few miles of the border of Saudi Arabia. This heightened world concerns that the invasion of Kuwait could spread.

1992 - The U.S. Senate voted to restrict and eventually end the testing of nuclear weapons.

1992 - Russia and Ukraine agreed to put the Black Sea Fleet under joint command. The agreement was to last for three years.

1995 - Eyad Ismoil was flown from Jordan to the U.S. to face charges that he had driven the van that blew up in New York's World Trade Center.

2004 - In New York, the Statue of Liberty re-opened to the public. The site had been closed since the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

2004 - NASA launched the spacecraft Messenger. The 6 1/2 year journey was planned to arrive at the planet Mercury in March 2011. On April 30, 2015, Messenger crashed into the surface of Mercury after sending back more than 270,000 pictures.

2009 - Bolivia became the first South American country to declare the right of indigenous people to govern themselves.

[Raistlin]

1735 - Freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor of New York. The jury said that "the truth is not libelous."

1753 - George Washington became a Master Mason.

1790 - The Revenue Cutter Service was formed. This U.S. naval task force was the beginning of the U.S. Coast Guard.

1821 - "The Saturday Evening Post" was published for the first time as a weekly.

1914 - Britain declared war on Germany in World War I. The U.S. proclaimed its neutrality.

1921 - The first radio broadcast of a tennis match occurred. It was in Pittsburgh, PA.

1922 - The death of Alexander Graham Bell, two days earlier, was recognized by AT&T and the Bell Systems by shutting down all of its switchboards and switching stations. The shutdown affected 13 million phones.

1934 - Mel Ott became the first major league baseball player to score six runs in a single game.

1944 - Nazi police raided a house in Amsterdam and arrested eight people. Anne Frank, a teenager at the time, was one of the people arrested. Her diary would be published after her death.

1954 - The uranium rush began in Saskatchewan, Canada.

1956 - William Herz became the first person to race a motorcycle over 200 miles per hour. He was clocked at 210 mph.

1957 - Florence Chadwick set a world record by swimming the English Channel in 6 hours and 7 minutes.

1957 - Juan Fangio won his final auto race and captured the world auto driving championship. It was his the fifth consecutive year to win.

1958 - The first potato flake plant was completed in Grand Forks, ND.

1958 - Billboard Magazine introduced its "Hot 100" chart, which was part popularity and a barometer of the movement of potential hits. The first number one song was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool."

1972 - Arthur Bremer was found guilty of shooting George Wallace, the governor of Alabama. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison.

1977 - U.S. President Carter signed the measure that established the Department of Energy.

1983 - New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield threw a baseball during warm-ups and accidentally killed a seagull. After the game, Toronto police arrested him for "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal."

1984 - Carl Lewis won a gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics.

1984 - Upper Volta, an African republic, changed its name to Burkina Faso.

1985 - Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox achieved his 300th victory.

1985 - Rod Carew of the California angels got his 3,000th major league hit.

1986 - The United States Football League called off its 1986 season. This was after winning only token damages in its antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League.

1987 - The Fairness Doctrine was rescinded by the Federal Communications Commission. The doctrine had required that radio and TV stations present controversial issues in a balanced fashion.

1987 - A new 22-cent U.S. stamp honoring noted author William Faulkner, went on sale in Oxford, MS. Faulkner had been fired as postmaster of that same post office in 1924.

1989 - Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani offered to assist end the hostage crisis in Lebanon.

1990 - The European Community imposed an embargo on oil from Iraq and Kuwait. This was done to protest the Iraqi invasion of the oil-rich Kuwait.

1991 - The Oceanos, a Greek luxury liner, sank off of South Africa's southeast coast. All of the 402 passengers and 179 crewmembers survived.

1994 - Yugoslavia withdrew its support for Bosnian Serbs. The border between Yugoslavia and Serb-held Bosnia was sealed.

1996 - Josia Thugwane won a gold medal after finishing first in the marathon. He became the first black South African to win a gold medal.

1997 - Teamsters began a 15-day strike against UPS (United Parcel Service). The strikers eventually won an increase in full-time positions and defeated a proposed reorganization of the company's pension plan.

2007 - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft was launched on a space exploration mission of Mars. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008.

2009 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pardoned two American journalists, who had been arrested and imprisoned for illegal entry earlier in the year.

[Raistlin]

1833 - The village of Chicago was incorporated. The population was approximately 250.

1861 - The U.S. federal government levied its first income tax. The tax was 3% of all incomes over $800. The wartime measure was rescinded in 1872.

1864 - During the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Adm. David G. Farragut were led into Mobile Bay, Alabama.

1884 - On Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid.

1914 - The electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio.

1921 - The first play-by-play broadcast of a baseball game was done by Harold Arlin. KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, PA described the action between the Pirates and Philadelphia.

1921 - The cartoon "On the Road to Moscow", by Rollin Kirby, was published in the "New York World". It was the first cartoon to win a Pulitzer Prize.

1923 - Henry Sullivan became the first American to swim across the English Channel.

1924 - In the New York "Daily News" debuted the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," by Harold Gray.

1944 - Polish insurgents liberated a German labor camp in Warsaw. 348 Jewish prisoners were freed.

1953 - During the Korean conflict prisoners were exchanged at Panmunjom. The exchange was labeled Operation Big Switch.

1960 - For the first time two major league baseball clubs traded managers. Detroit traded Jimmy Dykes for Cleveland's Joe Gordon.

1963 - The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union. The treaty banned nuclear tests in space, underwater, and in the atmosphere.

1964 - U.S. aircraft bombed North Vietnam after North Vietnamese boats attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

1966 - In New York, groundbreaking for the construction of the original World Trade Center began.

1969 - The Mariner 7, a U.S. space probe, passed by Mars. Photographs and scientific data were sent back to Earth.

1974 - U.S. President Nixon said that he expected to be impeached. Nixon had ordered the investigation into the Watergate break-in to halt.

1974 - "Tank McNamara", the comic strip, premiered in 75 newspapers.

1981 - The U.S. federal government started firing striking air traffic controllers.

1984 - Toronto’s Cliff Johnson set a major league baseball record by hitting the 19th pinch-hit home run in his career.

1986 - It was revealed that artist Andrew Wyeth had secretly created 240 drawings and paintings of his neighbor. The works of Helga Testorf had been created over a 15-year period.

1989 - In Honduras, five Central American presidents began meeting to discuss the timetable for the dismantling of the Nicaraguan Contra bases.

1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush angrily denounced the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

1991 - An investigation was formally launched by Democratic congressional leaders to find out if the release of American hostages was delayed until after the Reagan-Bush presidential election.

1991 - Iraq admitted to misleading U.N. inspectors about secret biological weapons.

1992 - Federal civil rights charges were filed against four Los Angeles police officers. The officers had been acquitted on California State charges. Two of the officers were convicted and jailed on violation of civil rights charges.

1998 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began not cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors.

1999 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) hit his 500th career homerun. He also set a record for the fewest at-bats to hit the 500 homerun mark.

2002 - The U.S. closed its consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. The consulate was closed after local authorities removed large concrete blocks and reopened the road in front of the building to normal traffic.

2009 - Google purchased its first public company. The company was the video software maker On2 Technologies.

2011 - NASA announced that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had captured photographic evidence of possible liquid water on Mars during warm seasons.

2011 - Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a mission to Jupiter. It was the first solar-powered spacecraft to go to Jupiter.

2011 - Standard & Poor's Financial Services lowered the United States' AAA credit rating by one notch to AA-plus.

[Raistlin]

1787 - At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia debate began on the first draft of the U.S. Constitution.

1806 - The Holy Roman Empire went out of existence as Emperor Francis II abdicated.

1825 - Bolivia declared independence from Peru.

1879 - The first Australian rules football game to be played at night took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game was to promote the introduction of electricity to the city of Melbourne.

1890 - Cy Young achieved his first major league victory. He would accumulate 511 in his career.

1914 - Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia. Serbia declared war against Germany.

1926 - Gertrude Ederle became the first American woman to swim the English Channel. She was 19 years old at the time. The swim took her 14 1/2 hours.

1926 - Warner Brothers premiered its Vitaphone system in New York. The movie was "Don Juan," starring John Barrymore.

1939 - Dinah Shore started her own show on the NBC Blue radio network.

1945 - The American B-29 bomber, known as the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on an inhabited area. The bomb named "Little Boy" was dropped over the center of Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 people were killed. (8:16am Japanese time)

1949 - Chicago White Sox player Luke Appling played in the 2,154th game of his 19-year, major league career.

1952 - Satchel Paige, at age 46, became the oldest pitcher to complete a major league baseball game.

1960 - Nationalization of U.S. and foreign-owned property in Cuba began.

1962 - Jamaica became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.

1965 - The Voting Rights Act was signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

1969 - The first fair ball to be hit completely out of Dodger Stadium occurred. Willie "Pops" Stargell, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit the ball 506 feet from home plate.

1981 - Fire fighters in Indianapolis, IN, answered a false alarm. When they returned to their station it was ablaze due to a grease fire.

1981 - Lee Trevino was disqualified from the PGA Championship in Duluth, GA when he had his scorecard signed by Tom Weiskopf instead of himself.

1985 - The 40th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing brought tens of thousands of Japanese and foreigners to Hiroshima.

1986 - William J. Schroeder died. He lived 620 days with the Jarvik-7 manmade heart. He was the world's longest surviving recipient of a permanent artificial heart.

1986 - Timothy Dalton became the fourth actor to be named "James Bond."

1989 - Jaime Paz Zamora was inaugurated as the president of Bolivia.

1990 - The U.N. Security Council ordered a worldwide trade embargo with Iraq. The embargo was to punish Iraq for invading Kuwait.

1993 - The U.S. Senate confirmed Louis Freeh to be the director of the FBI.

1993 - Morihiro Hosokawa was elected prime minister of Japan.

1995 - Thousands of glowing lanterns were set afloat in rivers in Hiroshima, Japan, on the 50th anniversary of the first atomic bombing.

1996 - NASA announced the discovery of evidence of primitive life on Mars. The evidence came in the form of a meteorite that was found in Antarctica. The meteorite was believed to have come from Mars and contained a fossil.

1997 - Apple Computer and Microsoft agreed to share technology in a deal giving Microsoft a stake in Apple's survival.

1998 - Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky spent 8 1/2 hours testifying before a grand jury about her relationship with U.S. President Clinton.

2012 - The Mars rover Curiosity landed on the floor of Gale Crater. The Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on November 26, 2011.

[Raistlin]

1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by the U.S. Congress.

1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.

1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel received a patent for the revolving door.

1914 - Germany invaded France.

1928 - The U.S. Treasure Department issued a new bill that was one third smaller than the previous U.S. bills.

1934 - The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling striking down the government's attempt to ban the controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses."

1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.

1947 - The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago.

1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.

1960 - The Cuban Catholic Church condemned the rise of communism in Cuba. Fidel Castro then banned all religious TV and radio broadcasts.

1964 - The U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

1974 - French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.

1976 - Scientists in Pasadena, CA, announced that the Viking 1 spacecraft had found strong indications of possible life on Mars.

1981 - After 128 years of publication, "The Washington Star" ceased all operations.

1983 - AT&T employees went on strike.

1987 - The presidents of five Central American nations, met in Guatemala City, and signed an 11-point agreement designed to bring peace to their region.

1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard against a possible invasion by Iraq.

1999 - Tony Gwynn (San Diego Padres) got his 3,000th hit of his major league career.

2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would run for the office of governor.

2003 - Stephen Geppi bought a 1963 G.I. Joe prototype for $200,000

[Raistlin]

1356 - Edward "the Black Prince" began a raid north from Aquitaine.

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic. The remainder of his life was spent there in exile.

1844 - After the killing of Joseph Smith on June 27, Bringham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons.

1876 - Thomas Edison received a patent for the mimeograph. The mimeograph was a "method of preparing autographic stencils for printing."

1899 - The refrigerator was patented by A.T. Marshall.

1900 - In Boston, the first Davis Cup series began. The U.S. team defeated Great Britain three matches to zero.

1911 - The number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives was established at 435. There was one member of Congress for every 211,877 residents.

1940 - The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Great Britain.

1945 - The United Nations Charter was signed by U.S. President Truman.

1945 - During World War II, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.

1950 - Whataburger opened its restaurant in Corpus Christi, TX.

1953 - The U.S. and South Korea initiated a mutual security pact.

1956 - Japan launched an oil tanker that was 780 feet long and weighed 84,730 tons. It was the largest oil tanker in the world.

1966 - Michael DeBakey became the first surgeon to install an artificial heart pump in a patient.

1974 - U.S. President Nixon announced that he would resign the following day.

1978 - The U.S. launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.

1988 - It was announced that a cease-fire between Iraq and Iran had begun.

1989 - The space shuttle Columbia took off from Cape Canaveral, FL. The trip was said to be a secret five-day military mission.

1990 - American forces began positioning in Saudia Arabia.

1991 - John McCarthy, a British TV producer, was released by his Lebanese kidnappers. He had been held captive for more than five years. A rival group abducted Jerome Leyraud in retaliation and threatened to kill him if any more hostages were released.

1991 - The U.N. Security Council approved North and South Korea for membership.

1992 - The "Dream Team" clinched the gold medal at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. The U.S. basketball team beat Croatia 117-85.

1994 - The first road link between Israel and Jordan opened.

1994 - Representatives from China and Taiwan signed a cooperation agreement.

1995 - Saddam Hussein's two eldest daughters, their husbands, and several senior army officers defected.

1999 - Wade Boggs (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) got his 3,000th hit of his major league baseball career.

2000 - The submarine H.L. Hunley was raised from ocean bottom after 136 years. The sub had been lost during an attack on the U.S.S. Housatonic in 1864. The Hunley was the first submarine in history to sink a warship.

[Raistlin]

1790 - The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage. It was the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.

1831 - The first steam locomotive began its first trip between Schenectady and Albany, NY.

1842 - The U.S. and Canada signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which solved a border dispute.

1848 - Martin Van Buren was nominated for president by the Free-Soil Party in Buffalo, NY.

1854 - "Walden" was published by Henry David Thoreau.

1859 - The escalator was patented by Nathan Ames.

1892 - Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.

1893 - "Gut Holz" was published. It was America's first bowling magazine.

1910 - A.J. Fisher received a patent for the electric washing machine.

1930 - Betty Boop had her beginning in "Dizzy Dishes" created by Max Fleischer.

1936 - Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics. He was the first American to win four medals in one Olympics.

1942 - Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested Britain. He was not released until 1944.

1942 - CBS radio debuted "Our Secret Weapon."

1944 - The Forest Service and Wartime Advertising Council created "Smokey the Bear."

1945 - The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The bombing came three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. About 74,000 people were killed. Japan surrendered August 14.

1945 - The first network television broadcast occurred in Washington, DC. The program announced the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.

1956 - The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

1965 - Singapore proclaimed its independence from the Malaysian Federation.

1973 - The U.S. Senate committee investigating the Watergate affair filed suit against President Richard Nixon.

1974 - U.S. PresidentRichard Nixon formally resigned. Gerald R. Ford took his place, and became the 38th president of the U.S.

1975 - The New Orleans Superdome as officially opened when the Saints played the Houston Oilers in exhibition football. The new Superdome cost $163 million to build.

1981 - Major league baseball teams resumed play at the conclusion of the first mid-season players’ strike.

1984 - Daley Thompson, of Britain, won his second successive Olympic decathlon.

1985 - Arthur J. Walker, a retired Navy officer, was found guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.

1988 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) was traded. The trade was at Gretzky's request. He was sent to the Los Angeles Kings.

1996 - Boris Yeltsin was sworn in as president of Russia for the second time.

1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and his entire cabinet for the fourth time in 17 months.

2001 - U.S. President George W. Bush announced he would support federal funding for limited medical research on embryonic stem cells.

2004 - Donald Duck received the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2004 - Trump Hotel and Casion Resorts announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

[Raistlin]

1792 - King Louis XVI was taken into custody by mobs during the French Revolution. He was executed the following January after being put on trial for treason.

1809 - Ecuador began its fight for independence from Spain.

1821 - Missouri became the 24th state to join the Union.

1846 - The Smithsonian Institution was chartered by the U.S. Congress. The "Nation's Attic" was made possible by $500,000 given by scientist Joseph Smithson.

1859 - In Boston, MA, the first milk inspectors were appointed.

1869 - The motion picture projector was patented by O.B. Brown.

1881 - Thomas Edison's exhibit opened the Paris Electrical Exhibition.

1885 - The first electric streetcar, to be used commercially, was operated in Baltimore, MD, by Leo Daft.

1914 - Austria-Hungary invaded Russia.

1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio.

1927 - Mount Rushmore was formally dedicated. The individual faces of the presidents were dedicated later.

1944 - U.S. forces defeated the remaining Japanese resistance on Guam.

1945 - The day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced they would surrender. The only condition was that the status of Emperor Hirohito would remain unchanged.

1947 - William Odom completed an around-the-world flight. He set the solo record by completing the flight in 73 hours and 5 minutes.

1948 - On ABC, "Candid Camera" made its TV debut. The original title was "Candid Microphone."

1949 - In the U.S., the National Military Establishment had its name changed to the Department of Defense.

1954 - Construction began on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

1965 - In Austin, TX, a fire burned part of the 20th floor of the 27-story University of Texas main building. A collection that contained items once owned by escape artist Harry Houdini and circus magnate P. T. Barnum were damaged by smoke and water.

1973 - Arnold Palmer did not make the cut for the final two rounds of the PGA Golf Championship. It was the first time in his career.

1981 - Pete Rose hit a single and broke the National League all-time hit record with his 3,630 hit.

1988 - U.S. President Reagan signed a measure that provided $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were interned by the U.S. government during World War II.

1993 - A massive deficit-reduction bill was signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

1994 - U.S. President Clinton claimed presidential immunity when he asked a federal judge to dismiss, at least for the time being, a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Corbin Jones.

1995 - Norma McCorvey, "Jane Roe" of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, announced that she had joined the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

1999 - Near an India-Pakistan border area an Indian fighter jet shot down a Pakistani naval aircraft. Sixteen people were killed.

2003 - Ekaterina Dmitriev and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were married. Malenchenko was about 240 miles above the earth in the international space station. It was the first-ever marriage from space.

[Raistlin]

1860 - The first successful silver mill in America began operations. The mill was in Virginia City, NV.

1874 - A patent for the sprinkler head was given to Harry S. Parmelee.

1877 - The two moons of Mars were discovered by Asaph Hall, an American astronomer. He named them Phobos and Deimos.

1896 - Harvey Hubbell received a patent for the electric light bulb socket with a pull-chain.

1909 - The American ship Arapahoe became the first to ever use the SOS distress signal off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC.

1924 - Newsreel pictures were taken of U.S. presidential candidates for the first time.

1934 - Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay, received federal prisoners for the first time.

1941 - The Atlantic Charter was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

1942 - During World War II, Pierre Laval publicly announced "the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war."

1945 - The Allies informed Japan that they would determine Emperor Hirohito's future status after Japan's surrender.

1951 - The first major league baseball game to be televised in color was broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1.

1954 - Seven years of fighting came to an end in Indochina. A formal peace was in place for the French and the Communist Vietminh.

1962 - Andrian Nikolayev, of the Soviet Union, was launched on a 94-hour flight. He was the third Russian to go into space.

1965 - The U.S. conducted a second launch of "Surveyor-SD 2" for a landing on the Moon surface test.

1971 - Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins got his 500th and 501st home runs of his major league baseball career.

1975 - The U.S. vetoed the proposed admission of North and South Vietnam to the United Nations. The Security Counsel had already refused to consider South Korea's application.

1984 - Carl Lewis won his fourth gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast when, during testing of the microphone, the President said of the Soviet Union, "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

1984 - The Cincinnati Reds honored major league All-Star and Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench by retiring his uniform (#5).

1988 - Dick Thornburgh was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the next attorney general. He succeeded Edwin Meese III.

1990 - Egyptian and Moroccan troops joined U.S. forces in Saudia Arabia to help protect from a possible Iraqi attack.

1991 - The space shuttle Atlantis ended its nine-day journey by landing safely.

1992 - In Bloomington, MN, the Mall of America opened. It was the largest shopping mall in the United States.

1994 - The Tenth International Conference on AIDS ended in Japan.

1994 - A U.S. federal jury awarded $286.8 million to about 10,000 commercial fishermen for losses as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

1995 - All U.S. nuclear tests were banned by President Clinton.

1997 - U.S. President Clinton made the first use of the line-item veto approved by Congress, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills.

1998 - British Petroleum became No. 3 among oil companies with the $49 billion purchase of Amoco. It was the largest foreign takeover of a U.S. company.

2002 - US Airways announced that it had filed for bankruptcy.

2002 - Jason Priestly crashed his car during practice for a race in the Infiniti Pro Series. He suffered a spinal fracture, a moderate concussion, a broken nose, facial lacerations and broken bones in both feet.

2003 - Charles Taylor, President of Liberia, flew into exile after ceding power to his vice president, Moses Blah.

2003 - In Kabul, NATO took command of the 5,000-strong peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

[Raistlin]

1676 - "King Phillip's War" came to an end with the killing of Indian chief King Phillip. The war between the Indians and the Europeans lasted for two years.

1851 - Isaac Singer was issued a patent on the double-headed sewing machine.

1865 - Disinfectant was used for the first time during surgery by Joseph Lister.

1867 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him when he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

1877 - Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and made the first sound recording.

1879 - The first National Archery Association tournament took place in Chicago, IL.

1898 - The Spanish-American War was ended with the signing of the peace protocol. The U.S. acquired Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Hawaii was also annexed.

1915 - "Of Human Bondage", by William Somerset Maugham, was first published.

1918 - Regular airmail service began between Washington, DC, and New York City.

1937 - Red Skelton appeared on network radio for the first time on the "Rudy Vallee Show" on NBC.

1939 - "The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Oconomowoc, WI. Judy Garland became famous for the movie's song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The movie premiered in Hollywood on August 15th.

1944 - In France, Pierre Laval released Edouard Herriot.

1953 - The Soviet Union secretly tested its first hydrogen bomb.

1960 - The balloon satellite Echo One was launched by the U.S. from Cape Canaveral, FL. It was the first communications satellite.

1962 - The Soviet Union launched Pavel Popovich into orbit. Popovich and Andrian Nikolayev, who was launch a day before, both landed on August 15.

1964 - Mickey Mantle set a major league baseball record when he hit home runs from both the left and ride sides of the plate in the same game.

1969 - The Boston Celtics were sold for $6 million. At the time it was the highest price paid for a pro basketball team.

1973 - jack Nicklaus won his 14th major golf title. The win broke the record that had been held by Bobby Jones for 50 years.

1977 - The space shuttle Enterprise passed its first solo flight test.

1981 - IBM unveiled its first PC.

1985 - A Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashed into a mountain killing 520 people.

1986 - It was announced by NASA that they had selected a new rocket design for the space shuttle. The move was made in an effort at correcting the flaws that were believed to have been responsible for the Challenger disaster.

1986 - Rod Carew became the first player in the history of the California Angels franchise to have his uniform (#29) retired.

1988 - "The Last Temptation of Christ" opened.

1992 - The U.S., Canada, and Mexico announced that the North American Free Trade Agreement had been created after 14 months of negotiations.

1993 - U.S. President Clinton lifted the ban on rehiring air traffic controllers that had been fired for going on strike in 1981.

1994 - Major league baseball players went on strike rather than allow team owners to limit their salaries. The strike lasted for 232 days. As a result, the World Series was wiped out for the first time in 90 years.

1998 - Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion as restitution to World War II Holocaust victims.

1999 - Hang Thu Thi Ngyuen shot an arrow from a bow with her feet on "Guinness World Records: Primetime" and hit a target that was 16 feet and 5 inches away.

[Raistlin]

1521 - Present day Mexico City was captured by Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez from the Aztec Indians.

1704 - The Battle of Blenheim was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English and Austrian forces.

1792 - French revolutionaries took the entire French royal family and imprisoned them.

1784 - The United States Legislature met for the final time in Annapolis, MD.

1846 - The American Flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles, CA.

1867 - "Under the Gaslight", by Augustin Daly, opened in New York City, NY.

1876 - The Reciprocity Treaty between the U.S. and Hawaii was ratified.

1889 - A patent for a coin-operated telephone was issued to William Gray.

1912 - The first experimental radio license was issued to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia, PA.

1931 - The first community hospital in the U.S. was dedicated in Elk City, OK.

1932 - Adolf Hitler refused to take the post of vice-chancellor of Germany. He said he was going to hold out "for all or nothing."

1934 - Al Capp's comic strip "L'il Abner" made its debut in newspapers.

1942 - Henry Ford unveiled his "Soybean Car." It was a plastic-bodied car that weighed about 1000 lbs. less than a steel car.

1942 - Walt Disney's "Bambi" opened at Radio City music Hall in New York City, NY.

1959 - In New York, ground was broken on the $320 million Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

1960 - "Echo I," a balloon satellite, allowed the first two-way telephone conversation by satellite to take place.

1961 - Berlin was divided by a barbed wire fence to halt the flight of refugees. Two days later work on the Berlin Wall began.

1979 - Lou Brock (St. Louis Cardinals) got his 3,000th career hit.

1985 - The engagement of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenagger was announced.

1986 - United States Football League standout Herschel Walker signed to play with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League.

1990 - Iraq transferred $3-4 billion in bullion, currency, and other goods seized from Kuwait to Baghdad.

1992 - Woody Allen began legal action to win custody of his three children. A judge ruled against Allen in 1993.

1994 - It was reported that aspirin not only helps reduce the risk of heart disease, but also helps prevent colon cancer.

[Raistlin]

1248 - The rebuilding of the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, began after being destroyed by fire.

1805 - A peace treaty between the U.S. and Tunis was signed on board the USS Constitution.

1848 - The Oregon Territory was established.

1880 - The Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany was completed after 632 years of rebuilding.

1888 - A patent for the electric meter was granted to Oliver B. Shallenberger.

1896 - Gold was discovered in Canada's Yukon Territory. Within the next year more than 30,000 people rushed to the area to look for gold.

1900 - An international force, consisting of eight nations, lifted the siege of Peking. It was the end to the Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at purging China of foreigners.

1917 - China declared war on Germany and Austria during World War I.

1919 - About 1 million tons of ice and rock broke off of a glacier near Mont Blanc, France. Nine people were killed in the incident.

1935 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. The act created unemployment insurance and pension plans for the elderly.

1936 - The first basketball competition was held at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. The U.S. defeated Canada, 19-8.

1941 - The U.S. Congress appropriated the funds to construct the Pentagon (approximately $83 million). The building was the new home of the U.S. War Department.

1941 - U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter. The charter was a statement of principles that renounced aggression.

1944 - The federal government allowed the manufacture of certain domestic appliances to resume on a limited basis.

1945 - It was announced by U.S. President Truman that Japan had surrendered unconditionally. The surrender ended World War II.

1947 - Pakistan became independent from British rule.

1953 - The whiffle ball was invented.

1959 - The first meeting was held to organize the American Football League.

1962 - A U.S. mail truck was held up in Plymouth, MA. The robbers got away with more that $1.5 million dollars.

1969 - British troops arrived in Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

1973 - The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ended. The halt marked the official end to 12 years of combat in Indochina by the U.S.

1976 - A charity softball game began for the Community General Hospital in Monticello, NY. The game was eventually called off due to weather after 30 hours. The final score was Gager's Diner's 491 to Bend 'n Elbow Tavern's 467.

1980 - People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was incorporated.

1984 - Patricia Ann Reagan and Paul Grilley were married on a movie set in California.

1986 - U.S. officials announced that a U.S. Drug Enforcement agent had been abducted, interrogated and tortured by Mexican police.

1987 - Mark McGwire set the record for major league home runs by a rookie when he connected for his 49th home run of the season.

1992 - The U.S. announced that emergency airlifts of food to Somalia would begin. The action was being taken to stop mass deaths due to starvation.

1995 - Shannon Faulkner became the first female cadet in the history of The Citadel, South Carolina's state military college. She quit the school less than a week later.

1997 - William Friedkin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 - A U.S. federal appeals court in Richmond, VA, ruled that the Food and Drug Administration had no authority to regulate tobacco. The FDA had established rules to make it harder for minors to buy cigarettes.

2000 - Valujet was ordered to pay $11 million in fines and restitution for hazardous waste violations in the crash that killed 110 people in 1996.

2000 - It was announced that Charles Grodin would be joining CBS' "60 Minutes II" as a commentator.

[Raistlin]

1057 - Macbeth, the King of Scotland, was killed by the son of King Duncan.

1848 - The dental chair was patented by M. Waldo Hanchett.

1877 - Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA. The letter stated that the word, "hello" would be a more appropriate greeting than "ahoy" when answering the telephone.

1911 - The product Crisco was introduced by Procter & Gamble Company.

1914 - The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic as an American ship sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The first vessel to pass through the canal was the American cargo and passenger ship SS Ancon.

1918 - Diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Russia were severed.

1935 - Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed in an airplane crash in near Point Barrow, AK.

1939 - "The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA. Judy Garland became famous for the movie's song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

1943 - Because of his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes, the U.S. War Department awarded Sgt. Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit.

1944 - The Allied forces of World War II landed in southern France.

1945 - The Allies proclaimed V-J Day a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

1947 - India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been under British about 200 years.

1948 - The Republic of Korea was proclaimed.

1948 - CBS-TV inaugurated the first nightly news broadcast with anchorman Douglas Edwards.

1949 - In San Francisco, a stunt leap off the Golden Gate Bridge was performed for the first time.

1961 - East German workers began construction of the Berlin Wall.

1970 - Mrs. Pat Palinkas became the first woman to ‘play’ in a pro football game when she held the ball for the Orlando, FL, Panthers.

1971 - U.S. President Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, rents and prices.

1983 - Six-month-old Lisa Harap of Queens Village, NY became the youngest identifiable living person to appear on a cover of "TIME" magazine.

1986 - The U.S. Senate approved a package of economic sanctions against South Africa. The ban included the importing of steel, uranium, textiles, coal, and produce from South Africa.

1992 - Vietnam blamed Hollywood for creating the "myth" concerning the issue of U.S. servicemen still being held prisoner in Indochina.

1994 - The U.S. Social Security Administration became an independent government agency. It had been a part of the Department of Health and Human Services agency.

1997 - The U.S. Justice Department decided not to prosecute FBI officials in connection with the deadly 1992 Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho. The investigation dealt with an alleged cover-up.

2000 - A group of 100 people from North Korea arrived in South Korea for temporary reunions with relatives they had not seen for half a century. Also, a group of 100 South Koreans visited the North.

2001 - Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own. They had discovered two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.

2011 - Google announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.

[Raistlin]

1777 - During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bennington took place. New England's minutemen routed the British regulars.

1812 - Detroit fell to Indian and British troops in the War of 1812.

1829 - The "Siamese twins," Chang and Eng Bunker, arrived in Boston, MA. They had come to the Western world to be exhibited. They were 18 years old and joined at the waist.

1842 - In New York City, the U.S. government took over operations of the City Despatch Post. This was the first congressionally authorized local postage delivery.

1858 - A telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to U.S. President Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.

1861 - U.S. President Lincoln prohibited the Union states from trading with the states of the Confederacy.

1923 - Carnegie Steel Corporation put into place the eight-hour workday for its employees.

1930 - The first British Empire Games were held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event is now called the British Commonwealth Games.

1937 - Harvard University became the first school to have graduate courses in traffic engineering and administration.

1954 - Sports Illustrated was published for the first time. It was claimed that 250,000 subscriptions had been sold before the first issue came off of the presses.

1954 - jack Paar replaced Walter Cronkite as host of "The Morning Show" on CBS-TV.

1960 - Cyprus was granted independence by Britain.

1960 - The free-fall world record was set by Joseph Kittinger. He fell more than 16 miles (about 84,000 feet) before opening his parachute over New Mexico.

1978 - Xerox was fined for excluding Smith-Corona Mfg. from the copier market. The fine was $25.6 million.

1984 - The U.S. Jaycees voted to admit women to full membership in the organization.

1995 - Voters in Bermuda rejected independence from Great Britain.

1999 - In Russia, Vladimir V. Putin was confirmed as prime minister by the lower house of parliament.

[Raistlin]

1790 - The capital city of the U.S. moved to Philadelphia from New York City.

1807 - Robert Fulton's "North River Steam Boat" (known as the "Clermont") began heading up New York's Hudson River on its successful round-trip to Albany.

1815 - Napoleon began serving his exile when he arrived at the island of St. Helena.

1859 - A hot air balloon was used to carry mail for the first time. John Wise left Lafayette, IN, for New York City with 100 letters. He had to land after only 27 miles.

1863 - Federal batteries and ships bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC, harbor during the Civil War.

1894 - John Wadsworth of Louisville set a major league record when he gave up 28 base hits in a single game.

1896 - The Klondike gold rush was set off by George Carmack discovering gold on Rabbit Creek in Alaska.

1903 - Joseph Pulitzer donated a million dollars to Columbia University. This started the Pulitzer Prizes in his name.

1915 - Charles F. Kettering received a patent for the first electric ignition device.

1939 - The movie "Wizard of Oz" premiered in New York. It had premiered in Hollywood on August 15.

1943 - The Allied conquest of Sicily was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina.

1945 - The nationalists of Indonesia declared their independence from the Netherlands.

1961 - The Communist East German government completed the construction of the Berlin Wall.

1973 - Lee Trevino got the first hole in one of his career at the U.S.I. Golf Classic, in Sutton, MA.

1977 - Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD) reported that in one day the number of orders for flowers to be delivered to Graceland had surpassed the number for any other event in the company's history.

1978 - Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman became the first to land after a successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight. The voyage began in Presque Isle, ME and ended in Miserey, France.

1982 - The U.S. Senate approved an immigration bill that granted permanent resident status to illegal aliens who had arrived in the United States before 1977.

1985 - A year-long strike began when 1,400 Geo. A. Hormel and Co. meat packers walked off the job.

1987 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 2,700 for the first time.

1992 - Woody Allen admitted to being romantically involved with Soon-Yi Previn. The girl was the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, Allen's longtime companion.

1996 - A military cargo plane crashed in Wyoming killing eight crewmembers and a Secret Service employee. The plane was carrying gear for U.S. President Clinton.

1996 - Ross Perot was announced to be the Reform Party's presidential candidate. It was the party's first-ever candidate.

1998 - U.S. President Clinton admitted to having an improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern.

1998 - NationsBank and BankAmerica merge to create the largest U.S. bank.

1998 - Russia devalued the ruble.

2002 - In Santa Rosa, CA, the Charles M. Schulz Museum opened to the public.

[Raistlin]

1227 - The Mongol conqueror Ghengis Khan died.

1587 - Virginia Dare became the first child to be born on American soil of English parents. The colony that is now Roanoke Island, NC, mysteriously vanished.

1735 - The "Evening Post" of Boston, MA, was published for the first time.

1840 - The American Society of Dental Surgeons was founded in New York City, NY.

1846 - Gen. Stephen W. Kearney and his U.S. forces captured Santa Fe, NM.

1894 - The Bureau of Immigration was established by the U.S. Congress.

1914 - The "Proclamation of Neutrality" was issued by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. It was aimed at keeping the U.S. out of World War I.

1916 - Abraham Lincoln's birthplace was made into a national shrine.

1919 - The "Anti-Cigarette League of America" was formed in Chicago IL.

1920 - Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Amendment guaranteed the right of all American women to vote.

1937 - The first FM radio construction permit was issued in Boston, MA. The station went on the air two years later.

1938 - The Thousand Islands Bridge was dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bridge connects the U.S. and Canada.

1940 - Canada and the U.S. established a joint defense plan against the possible enemy attacks during World War II.

1958 - Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" was published.

1963 - James Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi. He was the first black man to accomplish this feat.

1966 - The first pictures of earth taken from moon orbit were sent back to the U.S.

1980 - George Brett (Kansas City Royal) had his batting average reach the .400 mark.

1981 - Herschel Walker of the University of Georgia took out an insurance policy with Lloyd’s of London. The all-American was insured for one million dollars.

1982 - The volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped the 100-million level for the first time at 132.69 million shares traded.

1982 - The longest baseball game played at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL, went 21 innings before the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cubs 2-1.

1987 - Earl Campbell announced his retirement from the National Football League (NFL).

1990 - The first shots were fired by the U.S. in the Persian Gulf Crisis when a U.S. frigate fired rounds across the bow of an Iraqi oil tanker.

1991 - An unsuccessful coup was attempted in against President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. The Soviet hard-liners were responsible. Gorbechev and his family were effectively imprisoned for three days while vacationing in Crimea.

1992 - Larry Bird, after 13 years with the Boston Celtics, announced his retirement.

1997 - Beth Ann Hogan became the first coed in the Virginia Military Institute's 158-year history.

1997 - Patrick Swayze received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 - Mrs. Field's Original Cookies announced that they would acquire the Great American Cookie Co.

2004 - Donald Trump unveiled his board game (TRUMP the Game) where players bid on real estate, buy big ticket items and make billion-dollar business deals

[Raistlin]

1812 - "Old Ironsides" (the USS Constitution) won a battle against the British frigate Guerriere east of Nova Scotia.

1848 - The discovery of gold in California was reported by the New York Herald.

1856 - Gail Borden received a patent for his process of condensing milk by vacuum.

1909 - The first car race to be run on brick occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

1917 - Team managers John McGraw and Christy Matthewson were arrested for breaking New York City's blue laws. The crime was their teams were playing baseball on Sunday.

1919 - Afghanistan gained independence from Britain.

1929 - "Amos and Andy," the radio comedy program, made its debut on NBC starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.

1934 - Adolf Hitler was approved for sole executive power in Germany as Fuehrer.

1940 - The new Civil Aeronautics Administration awarded honorary license #1 to Orville Wright.

1942 - About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France. They suffered about 50 percent casualties.

1960 - Francis Gary Powers, an American U-2 pilot, was convicted of espionage in Moscow.

1960 - Two dogs were launched in a satellite into Earth's orbit by the Soviet Union.

1962 - Homero Blancas shot a 55 at the Premier Invitational Golf Tournament held in Longview, TX. It was the lowest score in U.S. competitive golf history.

1974 - During an anti-American protest in Nicosia, Cyprus, U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet while in the American embassy.

1981 - Two Libyan SU-22s were shot down by two U.S. Navy F-14 fighters in the Gulf of Sidra.

1991 - Soviet hard-liners announced that President Mikhail Gorbachev had been removed from power. Gorbachev returned to power two days later.

1998 - The first piece of the 351 foot bronze statue of Christopher Columbus arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1999 - Lorne Michaels received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1999 - In Belgrade, thousands of Serbs attended a rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslavia's President Slobodan Milosevic.

2004 - Google Inc. stock began selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The initial price was set at $85 and ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded.