Today In History..

Today In History...

   In 1820 Britain's King George III dies insane at Windsor Castle.

   In 1845 Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is published under a pseudonym in the

           New York Evening Mirror.

   In 1850 Henry Clay introduces in the Senate a compromise bill on slaverey

           which included the admission of California into the Union as a free

           state.

   In 1861 Kansas becomes the 34th U.S. state.

   In 1886 Carl Benz patents the first successful gas-engine car, a 3-wheel

           machine with a top speed of 10mph.

   In 1900 The American League is organized with 8 baseball teams in

           Philadelphia.

   In 1904 The University of Chicago football team receives the first athletic

           letters.

   In 1920 Walt Disney starts his first job as an artist at $40 a week.

   In 1924 The ice cream cone rolling machine is patented.

   In 1936 The first members of Baseball's Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and

           Babe Ruth, are named in Cooperstown, New York.

   In 1939 Irish poet-dramatist William Butler Yeats dies in Menton, France.

   In 1956 Editor-essayist H.L. Mencken dies in Baltimore.

   In 1958 Actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are married.

   In 1959 Walt Disney's animated feature "Sleeping Beauty" is released.

   In 1963 The Football Hall Of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio.

   In 1963 Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Frost dies in Boston.

   In 1979 President Carter formally welcomes Chinese Vice Premier Deng

           Xiaoping to the White House, following the establishment of

           diplomatic relations.

   In 1985 The White House confirms reports that Robert Latta of Denver had

           breached security and roamed the executive mansion on the day of

           President Reagan's second inaugural.

   In 1987 The U.S. Senate issues a report on the Iran/Contra affair, charging

           that administration officials deceived Congress.

   In 1987 3 workers at the DuPont Hotel in Puerto Rico were arrested on murder

           and arson charges in connection with a fire that killed 96.

   In 1987 The State Department bars deposed Philippines President Ferdinand E.

           Marcos from returning to his homeland from Honolulu amid reports he

           was preparing to rally supporters trying to topple the Aquino

           government.

   In 1988 A boston-bound Amtrak train derails in Chester, PA, injuring 25.

   In 1990 Former Exxon Valdez captian Joseph Hazelwood goes on trial in

           Anchorage, AK, on charges stemming from the U.S.'s worst oil spill.

           (Hazelwood was acquitted of the major charges, and convicted of a

           misdemeanor.)

   In 1991 In his State of the Union address, President Bush assures Americans

           that the war against Iraq would be won and that the recession at

           home would end in short order.

   In 1992 Russian President Boris Yeltsin announces his republic's nuclear

           weapons would no longer be aimed at U.S. targets.

   In 1992 President Bush presents a $1.2 trillion budget plan.

   In 1994 In South Africa, Nelson Mandela kicks off his party's campaign for

           the country's first multi-racial elections.

   In 1995 The San Francisco 49ers defeat the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, to win

           Super Bowl XXIX. The 49ers became the first team in NFL history to

           win five Super Bowls.

   In 1996 A Navy F-14 fighter jet crashes in Nashville, TN, demolishing three

           houses and killing five people, including three on the ground.

   In 1996 French president Jacques Chirac orders an early end to underground

           nuclear tests in South Pacific.

   In 1997 America Online agrees to millions of dollars in compensation for

           subscribers facing network traffic jams.

   In 2000 Delegates meeting in Montreal reach an international agreement on

           the trade of genetically modified food and other products.

   In 2000 Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott are among the five players elected to

           the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

   In 2001 President Bush directs Vice President Dick Cheney to head a task

           force to develop a strategy that would address the nation's energy

           problems.

   In 2001 DaimlerChrysler said it would eliminate 26,000 jobs at its

           money-losing Chrysler division.

   In 2002 In his first State of the Union address, President Bush warns of "an

           axis of evil" consisting of North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

   In 2008 Margaret Truman, the only child of former President Harry S. 

           Truman, dies in Chicago. She was 83.