Today In History...

In 1521 Magellan discovers Guam.

In 1665 "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society" is published.

In 1810 Illinois passes the first U.S. state vaccination legislation.

In 1834 The Canadian city of York is renamed Toronto.

In 1836 Davy Crockett, James Bowie, Col. William Travis and 184 Texas soldiers are wiped out as the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, falls into the hands of the Mexican Army.

In 1857 The U.S. Supreme Court declares in its "Dred Scott" decision that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in a federal court.

In 1906 Nora Blatch is the first woman elected to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In 1930 Clarence Birdseye develops the quick freezing food method.

In 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt proclaims a 10-day bank holiday.

In 1935 Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes dies.

In 1944 During World War II, U.S. bombers stage the first American raid on Berlin.

In 1950 Silly Putty is invented.

In 1957 Former British African colonies of the Gold Coast and Togoland become the independent state of Ghana.

In 1965 The first nonstop helicopter crossing of North America is made by J.R. Willford.

In 1967 The daughter of Josef Stalin, Svetlana Alliluyeva, appears at the U.S. embassy in India and announces her intentions to defect.

In 1971 The first Women's Lib demonstration is held in London, England.

In 1981 Soyuz 39 returns to Earth.

In 1981 Walter Cronkite anchors "The CBS Evening News" for the last time.

In 1982 The record for the loudest recorded human shout is set at 120 dB by Susan Birmingham.

In 1983 A woman in New Bedford, MA, reports that she was gang-raped atop a pool table in a tavern called Big Dan's. Four men were later convicted of the crime.

In 1983 The now defunct U.S.F.L. plays its first football games.

In 1983 Australian Christopher Massey sets the water ski speed record at 143 mph.

In 1985 Authorities find the body of kidnapped U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena, who was tortured and killed by a Mexican drug cartel at a ranch east of Guadalajara.

In 1986 The Soviet Vega 1 probe passes within 5,270 miles of Halley's comet, sending back TV images.

In 1987 189 die when a British ferry capsizes off Zeebrugge, Belgian.

In 1989 With nearly 90% of its pilots honoring picket lines of striking machinists, Eastern Airlines shut down operations on all but three routes.

In 1990 The Soviet parliament approves legislation allowing people to own factories and hire workers for the first time in nearly 7 decades.

In 1991 Following Iraq's capitulation in the Persian Gulf conflict, President Bush told a cheering joint session of Congress that "aggression is defeated. The war is over."

In 1992 Personal computer users brace for a virus known as "Michelangelo," set to trigger on March 6, but only scattered cases of lost files were reported.

In 1994 Greek actress-turned-politician Melina Mercouri dies at age 70.

In 1996 A federal appeals court strikes down Washington state's ban on doctor-assisted suicide.

In 1996 Three U.S. servicemen are convicted in rape of 12-year-old Okinawan girl and are sentenced to 6 1/2-to-7 years in prison.

In 1997 A gunman swipes a million dollar Picasso from London gallery.

In 1997 China introduces laws against dissent, ethnic separatism, and subversive Western ideals.

In 1997 Queen Elizabeth II launches the official royal web site.

In 1998 A Connecticut state lottery accountant guns down three supervisors and the lottery chief before killing himself.

In 1999 The emir of Bahrain, Sheik Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, 65, ies shortly after a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

In 2000 Three white New York City officers are convicted of a cover-up in a brutal police station attack on Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.

In 2001 42 people, mostly students, are killed in a schoolhouse explosion in southern China.

In 2013 Microsoft is fined 561M Euros by the Euro Commission for not providing alternative web browsers.

In 2016 Former First Lady Nancy Reagan dies of heart failure. She was 94.

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