Today In History...

In 1520 Martin Luther publicly burns the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication.
In 1817 Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
In 1869 Wyoming passes the first law giving women the right to vote.
In 1898 The Spanish-American War ends and the U.S. acquires Guam from Spain.
In 1901 The first Nobel Peace Prizes are handed out.
In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt is the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping to mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
In 1931 Jane Addams is the first U.S. woman to be named co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1947 Female pilot Jackie Cochran sets the world speed record.
In 1948 The United Nations General Assembly adopts its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
In 1950 Ralph J. Bunche is the first black American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1958 The first domestic passenger jet flight takes place when a National Airlines Boeing 707 flies 111 passengers from New York to Miami.
In 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King receives the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1975 Andrei Sakharov's wife Yelena Bonner accepts his Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1977 Soyuz 26 carries 2 cosmonauts to the Salyut 6 space station.
In 1982 Soyuz T-5 returns to Earth, 211 days after blast-off.
In 1983 Raul Alfonsin is Argentina's first civilian president after 8 years of military rule.
In 1984 South African Bishop Desmond Tutu receives the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1985 The American Medical Association votes for a total ban on tobacco advertising.
In 1985 The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the American and Soviet co-founders of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
In 1986 Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel accepts the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1987 President Reagan and Soviet Leader Gorbachev conclude three days of summit talks in Washington, during which they signed a historic treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
In 1988 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev visits the republic of Armenia, where a devastating earthquake that had killed an estimated 25,000.
In 1990 A stand-in for Mikhail Gorbachev accepts the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1990 Industrialist Armand Hammer dies at age 92.
In 1990 The Food and Drug Administration approves Norplant, a long-acting contraceptive implant.
In 1991 William Kennedy Smith, accused of raping Patricia Bowman, proclaims his innocence during the trial in West Palm Beach, Florida.
In 1992 President-elect Clinton announces his first Cabinet selections, including Lloyd Bentsen as treasury secretary and Leon Panetta as budget director.
In 1992 Senator Bob Packwood (R-OR) apologizes for what he called "unwelcome and offensive" actions toward women, but refused to resign.
In 1993 South African President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela accept their Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
In 1993 The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour deploy the repaired Hubble Space Telescope into Earth orbit.
In 1994 Thomas J. Mosser is killed in New Jersey by mail bomb linked to the 16-year-old series of bombings code-named "Unabom" by FBI.
In 1994 Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin receive the Nobel Peace Prize, pledging to pursue their mission of healing the anguished Middle East.
In 1995 The first group of U.S. Marines arrive in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo to join NATO soldiers sent to enforce peace in former Yugoslavia.
In 1996 Shipping tycoon Tung Chee-hwa takes 80 percent of the votes of China-organized committee of 400 Hong Kong notables to become Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader.
In 1997 The U.S. Supreme Court narrow double-jeopardy protections for people who face both civil fines and criminal prosecution for the same conduct.
In 1998 The U.S. Army charges retired Major General David Hale with improper sexual relationships with the wives of four military officers.
In 1999 Computer scientist Wen Ho Lee is arrested and charged with removing secrets from secure computers at the Los Alamos weapons lab.
In 1999 More than 2 million people march in Cuba to demand the return of Elian Gonzalez.
In 1999 Death claimes Croatian President Franjo Tudjman at age 77.
In 2000 Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel submits his resignation.
In 2001 Federal authorities charge Golden State Transportation, a Los Angeles-based bus company, with illegally transporting thousands aliens from staging areas near the U.S.-Mexico border.
In 2002 Former President Jimmy Carter accepts the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomacy in the Middle East in the 1970's.