Today In History...

Today In History...

   In 1765 The Stamp Act Congress convenes in New York to draw up colonial

           grievances against England.

   In 1777 The second Battle of Saratoga begins during the American Revolution.

   In 1826 The Granite Railway, the first chartered railway in the U.S., begins

           operations.

   In 1849 Writer Edgar Allen Poe dies in Baltimore at age 40.

   In 1868 Cornell University is inaugurated in Ithaca, New York.

   In 1916 In a lopsided college football victory, Georgia Tech defeats

           Cumberland University, 222-0, in Atlanta.

   In 1931 The first infra-red photograph is taken at Rochester, New York.

   In 1949 The Republic of East Germany is formed.

   In 1950 U.S. forces invade Korea by crossing the 38th parallel.

   In 1955 Annette Funicello appears on the "Mickey Mouse Club" for the first

           time.

   In 1960 Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican

           opponent Richard Nixon hold the second of their broadcast debates.

   In 1960 "Route 66" premieres on CBS-TV.

   In 1963 President Kennedy signs the documents of ratification for a nuclear

           test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union.

   In 1968 The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopts a film

           rating system, ranging fromn "G" for "general" audiences to "X" for

           adults only.

   In 1975 America's military services go co-educational.

   In 1979 Pope John Paul II concludes his week-long tour of the U.S. with a

           Mass on the Washington Mall.

   In 1981 Egypt's parliament names Vice President Hosni Mubarak to succeed

           Anwar Sadat, who had been assassinated the day before.

   In 1982 The British musical "Cats" opens on Broadway.

   In 1985 Palestinian gunmen hijack the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in

           the Mediterranean with more than 450 people aboard.

   In 1986 President Reagan meets at the White House with recently freed Soviet

           dissident Yuri Orlov.

   In 1987 President Reagan's advisory commission on AIDS is left seemingly in

           disarray as its chairman, Dr. W. Eugene Mayberry, and its vice

           chairman, Dr. Woodrow A. Myers Jr., resigned.

   In 1989 Hungary's Communist Party renounces Marxism in favor of democratic

           socialism during a party congress in Budapest.

   In 1991 University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill publicly accuses

           Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually

           inappropriate comments in her presence when she worked for him, and

           urged the U.S. Senate to investigate her claims.

   In 1992 A secret military tribunal in Peru sentences the Shining Path

           guerrilla movement leader Abimael Guzman to life in prison.

   In 1992 Trade representatives of the U.S., Canada and Mexico initial the

           North American Free Trade Agreement in San Antonio, Texas.

   In 1993 President Clinton orders more troops to Somalia, but also said he

           would pull out all Americans by the end of March 1994.

   In 1994 Iraq begins massing troops along border with Kuwait.

   In 1995 A 7.0 earthquake strikes Sungaipenuh, Indonesia, killing at least

           100 people and injuring 700.

   In 1995 New York's Central Park is transformed into a giant open-air

           cathedral as Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass before 130,000.

   In 1996 Effects of a Canadian Auto Workers strike against General Motors

           spread as 1,850 workers are laid off at two U.S. parts plants.

   In 1996 The Irish Republican Army detonates two car bombs inside the British

           army's headquarters in Northern Ireland, wounding 31 people.

   In 1998 The U.S. government files an antitrust suit, alleging Visa and

           MasterCard inhibited competition by preventing banks from offering

           other cards.

   In 2000 Vojislav Kostunica is sworn in as Yugoslav president.

   In 2001 The U.S. and Britain launch military strikes in Afghanistan.

   In 2001 The Emmy Awards telecast, delayed 3 weeks by the September 11th

           attacks, is again postponed.

   In 2001 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants concludes his

           record-breaking season with his 73rd homerun.

   In 2001 Herbert Block, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist known as

           "herblock," dies at age 91.

   In 2002 The space shuttle "Atlantis" lifts off on a mission to the 

           international space station.