Today In History...

Today In History...

   In 1765 Britain enacts the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to

           provide housing for British soliders.

   In 1882 German scientist Robert Koch discovers bacillus, the cause of

           tuberculosis.

   In 1883 Long-distance telephone service is enacted between Chicago and

           New York City.

   In 1932 WABC/New York broadcasts a variety program from a moving train.

   In 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill granting future

           independence to the Philippines.

   In 1944 In occupied Rome, the Nazis execute more than 300 civilians in

           reprisal for an attack by Italian partisans the day before that

           killed 32 German soldiers.

   In 1949 "Hamlet" wins the Best Picture Academy Award for 1948.

   In 1955 The first sea-going oil drilling rig is placed in service.

   In 1955 The Tennessee Williams play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opens on

           Broadway.

   In 1964 The U.S. mint issues the Kennedy half-dollar coin.

   In 1965 U.S. Ranger IX impacts on the moon 10 miles northeast of crater

           Alphonsus.

   In 1972 Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.

   In 1976 Argentine president Isabel Peron is deposed by her country's

           military.

   In 1980 El Salvador's most respected Roman Catholic Church leaders,

           Archbishop Oscar Romero, is shot to death by gunmen as he celebrated

           Mass in San Salvador.

   In 1981 "Nightline" with Ted Koppel premieres on ABC-TV.

   In 1984 Burglars steal $22 million from a Brink's vault in Rome.

   In 1986 The U.S. and Libya clash in the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean.

           Libya fired two missles that missed U.S. aircraft; the U.S.

           retaliated hitting two Libyan patrol boats.

   In 1986 The film "Out of Africa" wins seven Oscars, including Best Picture.

   In 1987 French Premier Jacques Chirac signs a contract with Disney for the

           creation of EuroDisney, the first Disneyland amusement park in

           Europe.

   In 1988 Former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M.

           Poindexter pleaded innocent to Iran-Contra charges.

   In 1989 The nation's worst oil spill occurs when the Exxon tanker Valdez

           runs aground on a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and began

           leaking 11 million gallons of crude.

   In 1991 In liberated Kuwait, banks reopen for the first time since Iraqi

           troops had shut them down the previous December.

   In 1992 The space shuttle Atlantis blasts off with seven astronauts on the

           first shuttle mission devoted to the enviroment.

   In 1993 Ezer Weizman is elected Israel's seventh president.

   In 1993 South African President F.W. de Klerk admits for the first time that

           his country had built six nuclear bombs, but said the weapons had

           been dismantled.

   In 1993 A cab driver believed to have organized the World Trade Center

           bombing is flown back to the United States from Egypt.

   In 1994 President Clinton acknowledges he had significantly overstated the

           loss in his Whitewater land investment and promised to release late

           1970's tax returns to answer questions on the land deal.

   In 1995 For the first time in 20 years, no British soldiers patroled the

           streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

   In 1995 The U.S. House of Representatives passes, 234-199, a welfare reform

           package calling for the most profound changes in social programs

           since the New Deal.

   In 1996 NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid transferrs from the space shuttle

           Atlantis to the Russian space station Mir, beginning a 5-month stay.

   In 1997 At the 69th Annual Academy Awards, "The English Patient" wins Best

           Picture, Geoffrey Rush wins Best Actor for "Shine" and Frances

           McDormand wins Best Actress for "Fargo."

   In 1997 Vice President Gore arrives in China for the highest-level U.S.

           visit in eight years.

   In 1998 A former FBI agent says papers found in James Earl Ray's car support

           a conspiracy theory in the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.

   In 1998 Two students, ages 13 and 11, open fire outside their school in

           Jonesboro, AR, killing four classmates and a teacher.

   In 2001 Three car bombs explode almost simultaneously in southern Russia,

           killing 23 people.

   In 2001 A Twin Otter plane crashes into a mountainside house on the

           Caribbean island of St. Barthelemy, killing all 19 people on board

           and one person in the home.

   In 2001 U.S. skater Michelle Kwan wins her 4th World Figure Skating title.

   In 2002 At the 74th Academy Awards, "A Beautiful Mind" wins Best Picture and

           Best Director for Ron Howard. Denzel Washington takes Best Actor for

           "Training Day" and Halle Berry becomes the first black actress to

           win Best Actress for "Monster's Ball."

   In 2004 The European Union slaps Microsoft with a $613 million fine.

   In 2002 The 74th Oscars were held with Best Picture going to "A Beautiful 

           Mind," Best Actress Halle Berry, Best Actor Denzel Washington and 

           Best Director Ron Howard.