Today In History...
Today In History...
In 1452 The first book is published, Johann Guttenberg's Bible.
In 1787 The sailing ship Columbia leaves Boston on the first voyage around
the world by an American vessel.
In 1777 The Congress of the United States, forced to flee in the face of
advancing British forces, moves to York, Pennsylvania.
In 1846 Dr. William Morton of Charleston, MA, uses an experimental
anesthetic, known as ether, for the first time on one of his
patients.
In 1880 Henry Draper takes the first photograph of the Orion Nebula.
In 1902 The patent for Rayon is issued.
In 1927 Babe Ruth hits his 60th homerun of the season to break his own
major-league record.
In 1935 "Porgy & Bess" premieres in Boston.
In 1938 British, French, German and Italian leaders end the Munich
Conference with a decision to appease Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi
annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.
In 1939 The first manned rocket flight is made by auto maker Fritz von Opel.
In 1939 The first televised college football game - Fordham vs Waynesburg.
In 1946 An international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, finds 22
top Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes.
In 1949 The Berlin Airlift comes to an end.
In 1954 The first atomic-powered vessel, the submarine Nautilus, is
commissioned by the Navy at Groton, CT.
In 1955 Actor James Dean is killed when his sports car collides with another
automobile near Cholame, California.
In 1958 The Soviet Union resumes nuclear testing.
In 1960 On the last "Howdy Doody Show," Clarabelle finally talks and says,
"Goodbye Kids."
In 1960 The animated series "The Flintstones" premieres on ABC-TV.
In 1962 Black student James Meredith succeeds on his fourth try in
registering for classes at the University of Mississippi.
In 1967 USSR's Kosmos 186 and 188 complete the first automatic docking.
In 1971 The U.S. and the Soviet Union sign a pact designed to avoid
accidental nuclear war.
In 1981 The Postal Service announces it will raise the cost of a first class
stamp from 18 to 20 cents.
In 1985 Four Soviet diplomats are kidnapped in west Beirut; one is killed
and the other three are later released.
In 1986 The U.S. releases accused Soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov, one day
after the Soviets released Nicholas Daniloff.
In 1987 Two top campaign aides to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis
resign after one of them, campaign manager John Sasso, admitted
leaking an attack videotape that helped bring down the presidential
candidacy of Delaware Senator Joseph Biden.
In 1988 Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev retires President Andrei A.
Gromyko from the Politburo and fires other old-guard leaders in a
Kremlin shake-up.
In 1991 The military in Haiti overthrows Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the
country's first freely elected president. (He was later returned to
power.)
In 1992 Moscow banks begin distribution of privataion vouchers as part of
the government's economic reform to turn millions of Russians into
capitalists.
In 1992 George Brett of the Kansas City Royals reaches 3,000 career hits
during a game against the California Angels.
In 1993 An estimated 10,000 people are killed when an 6.4 earthquake struck
southern India.
In 1993 Colin Powell steps down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
a retirement ceremony at Fort Myer, VA.
In 1995 Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine other defendants are convicted in a
seditious conspiracy plot to attack the U.S. through bombings,
assassinations and kidnappings.
In 1997 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu frees Hamas spiritual
leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, in a goodwill gesture to the
Palestinians.
In 1997 France's Roman Catholic Church apologizes for its silence during the
systematic persecution and deportation of Jews by the pro-Nazi Vichy
regime.
In 1998 The U.S. government posts a budget surplus of some $70 billion, the
first since 1969.
In 2000 A Catholic priest smashes his car into an abortion clinic in
Rockford, IL, then chops at the building with an ax until the owner
fires shotgun blasts to stop him. (The Rev. John Earl later pleaded
guilty to damaging property, and was sentenced to 30 months'
probation and two days in county jail.)
In 2000 In Sydney, Australia, Marion Jones wins Olympic gold in the U.S.
women's 1600-meter relay and bronze with the 400-meter squad. She
became the only woman to win 5 track medals at one Olympics.
In 2003 The FBI begins a full-scale criminal investigation into whether
White House officials had illegally leaked the identity of an
undercover CIA officer.
Music Calendar...
In 1791 "The Magic Flute," a "singspiel" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
premieres at the Theatre auf der Wieden in Vienna.
In 1950 The Grand Ole Opry is televised for the first time on WSM-TV in
Nashville.
In 1957 Bobby Helms records "Jingle Bell Rock."
In 1957 "Wake Up Little Susie" by the Everly Brothers enters on the U.S.
top 40 chart.
In 1961 Bob Dylan signs with Columbia Records.
In 1965 Donovan makes his U.S. television debut on "Shindig."
In 1967 On "The David Frost Show," John Lennon and Paul McCartney espouse
the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's doctrines of transcendental meditation.
In 1967 "Incense & Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock enters the
U.S. top 40 chart.
In 1968 The Beatles' biography "The Long And Winding Road" is published.
In 1969 David Crosby's girlfriend Christine Gail Hinton is killed in a
head-on auto accident north of San Francisco, the same day the
"Crosby, Stills & Nash" album is certified gold.
In 1971 Jefferson Airplane appears on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
In 1972 "If You Don't Know Me By Know" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
enters the U.S. top 40 chart.
In 1977 Foghat plays a benefit concert at New York City's Palladium to fund
the purchase and preservation of rare blues records by Rodgers and
Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound of the New York Public
Library at Lincoln Center.
In 1978 "Time Passages" by Al Stewart enters the U.S. top 40 chart.
In 1978 "Kiss You All Over" by Exile hits #1 on the U.S. top 40 chart and
stayed there for 4 weeks.
In 1986 Eddie Money launches his first concert tour in three years.
In 1987 Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt
jam with Roy Orbison during the taping of the Texan's cable TV
special. A soundtrack of the show is released as a live album.
In 1987 Terence Trent D'Arby makes his U.S. debut with a show at the Roxy in
Los Angeles.
In 1987 U2's album "The Joshua Tree" is certified triple platinum.
In 1988 John Lennon receives a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
In 1989 The Rolling Stones shoot the video "Rock And A Hard Place" at
Foxboro-Sullivan Stadium outside Boston.
In 1991 The albums "Out Of The Cellar" by Ratt and "Straight Shooter" by Bad
Company are both certified triple platinum.
In 1992 George Jones is elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1993 B-52's member Kate Pierson is arrested in New York during a sit-in
at Vogue magazine's offices. Pierson and others were protesting the
use of animal fur in the magazine's ads.
In 1993 George Harrison and David Crosby make guest voice appearances on
the Fox's animated series "The Simpsons."
In 1994 Meat Loaf's album "Bat Out Of Hell" is certified platinum for the
12th time.
In 1995 R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe signs a movie development deal with New
Line Cinema.
In 1995 "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey becomes the seond single to debut at #1 on
Billboard's Hot 100 chart. It stayed there for 8 weeks.
In 1996 Smashing Pumpkins play a surprise concert for 300 contest winners in
Calgery, Alberta.
In 1996 Creedence Clearwater Revival's album "Creedence Gold" is certified
double platinum, while Natalie Merchant's album "Tigerlily" goes
triple platinum.
In 1997 Fleetwood Mac's reunion show at the Continental Airlines Arena in
East Rutherford, NJ, grosses a house record of $1.09 million.
In 1997 Randy Travis becomes the first artist to sign with DreamWorks
Records/Nashville.
In 1997 During their show in Tel Aviv, U2 frontman Bono appeals for the
release of nuclear secrets traitor Mordechai Vanunu from prison.
In 1997 The Rolling Stones' album "Bridges To Babylon" is released, as is
Hanson's single "I Will Come To You."
In 1997 "You Light Up My Life" by Leann Rimes is certified gold, while
"You Make Me Wanna..." by Usher goes platinum.
In 1998 Marc Anthony's album "Contra La Corriente" is certified gold.
In 1999 The lyrics to John Lennon's "I Am The Walrus" sell for $129,000 in
an auction at Christie's. The lyrics are believed to have been
inspired by the Lewis Carroll poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter."
In 1999 Britney Spears' album "Baby One More Time" is certified platinum for
the seventh time.
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