Today In History...

In 1804 The Louisiana Purchase is divided into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana.

In 1845 A patent is awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, the precursor of the bandaid.

In 1872 Thomas J. Martin is awarded a patent for the fire extinguisher.

In 1885 Eastman Film Company manufactures the first motion picture film.

In 1892 Poet Walt Whitman dies in Camden, New Jersey.

In 1934 Driving tests are introduced in Britain.

In 1937 Spinach growers of Crystal City, TX, erect a 6-foot-tall concrete statue of Popeye.

In 1950 South Dakota's then 24-hour snowfall record is set at 38 inches.

In 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announces a new vaccine against polio.

In 1958 The U.S. Army launches America's third successful satellite, Explorer III.

In 1962 The U.S. Supreme Court issues the decision that supports the "one man one vote" apportionment of seats in state legislatures.

In 1964 "Funny Girl" opens on Broadway starring Barbara Striesand.

In 1971 East Pakistan proclaims independence taking the name Bangladesh.

In 1973 The daytime soap "The Young And The Restless" debuts on CBS-TV.

In 1979 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat sign a peace treaty on the White House lawn with President Jimmy Carter as a witness.

In 1982 Groundbreaking takes place in Washington, DC, for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a pair of 200-foot black granite walls bearing the names of Americans killed or missing in the war.

In 1982 The daytime saop "Search For Tomorrow" last airs on CBS-TV.

In 1983 Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov denounces President Reagan's proposal for a U.S. defense system against missiles, calling it a "bid to disarm the Soviet Union."

In 1985 The U.S. House of Representatives votes, 219-213, in favor of authorizing funds for the MX missile.

In 1986 Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev accuses the U.S. of carrying out planned aggression against Libya, and proposed talks on withdrawal of Soviet and American fleets from the Mediterranean.

In 1987 Jessica Hahn, who admitted to a sexual encounter with former PTL head Jim Bakker, said she had not tried to blackmail Bakker, and expressed concern about "innocent bystanders who have been hurt" by the scandal.

In 1988 Jesse Jackson stuns fellow Democrats by defeating Michael Dukakis in Michigan's Democratic presidential primary.

In 1989 Soviet voters participate in the first free election since 1917.

In 1989 The sci-fi adventure series "Quantum Leap" debuts on NBC-TV.

In 1990 Designer Halston dies in San Francisco at age 57.

In 1990 "Driving Miss Daisy" wins Best Picture at the 62nd annual Academy Awards and captured the Best Actress for Jessica Tandy. Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for "My Left Foot."

In 1991 A divided U.S. Supreme Court rules that criminal defendants whose coerced confessions were improperly used as evidence are not always entitled to new trials.

In 1992 A judge in Indianapolis sentences former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant.

In 1994 The U.S. Senate passes President Clinton's education reform measure, the "Goals 2000" bill, 63-22.

In 1995 The National Labor Relations Board, in an extraordinary Sunday session, vote 3-to-2 to seek an injunction against baseball owners as a 7 1/2-month-old strike by players continued.

In 1996 Amid public fears of mad cow disease, British farmers demanded their government order the destruction of old cattle, but Prime Minister John Major refused, blaming the crisis on his political opponents.

In 1996 Former senator and Secretary of State Edmund Muskie dies two days before his 82nd birthday.

In 1997 39 members of Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult are found dead after a mass suicide.

In 1997 John G. Bennett Jr. pleads no contest to charges of a $100 million charity fraud, the biggest in U.S. history.

In 1998 The federal government endorses a new HIV test that yields instant results.

In 1998 Unisys Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. pay a $3.15 million fine for selling spare parts at inflated prices to government.

In 1998 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio files a lawsuit against Playgirl magazine to prevent it from publishing nude photos of him. (The suit was later settled and the photos ran in the magazine's October issue.)

In 1999 Right-to-die advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian is convicted in Pontiac, MI, of second-degree murder for giving a patient with Lou Gehrig's disease a lethal injection, an action videotaped and broadcast on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes."

In 1999 The computer virus "Melissa" infects computers across the country.

In 2000 Vladimir Putin is elected Russia's second democratically chosen president.

In 2000 "American Beauty" wins five Academy Awards, including the Best Picture Oscar and Best Actor for Kevin Spacey. Hilary Swank won Best Actress for "Boys Don't Cry."

In 2001 Comair pilots walk off the job, beginning a 3-month strike after contract talks with the regional airline broke off.

In 2001 A fire at a Kenyan secondary school dormitory kills 67 students.

In 2002 President Bush nominates Dr. Richard Carmona to be surgeon general.

In 2012 Canadian Filmmaker, James Cameron, becomes the first person to visit the Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth in over 50 years.

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