Today In History...

In 1780 Pennsylvania becomes the first U.S. state to abolish slavery.

In 1781 The Articles of Confederation are adopted by Continental Congress.

In 1790 The first U.S. Census is authorized by Congress. (When completed the following August, it showed the U.S. population at 3.9 million.)

In 1803 Ohio becomes the 17th U.S. state.

In 1845 President Tyler signs a congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.

In 1864 A patent is issued for the movie projector.

In 1864 Rebecca Lee becomes the first black woman to receive a medical degree, from the New England Female Medical College in Boston.

In 1867 Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state.

In 1872 Congress authorizes the creation of Yellowstone National Park.

In 1890 Sherlock Holmes makes his American book debut as J.P. Lippincott publishes the first U.S. edition of "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Coan Doyle.

In 1912 Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump over Jefferson, Missouri.

In 1913 The Federal Income Tax takes effect according to the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In 1932 The infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh is kidnapped from the family's home near Hopewell, New Jersey. (Remains identified as those of the baby were found the following May.)

In 1937 The first permanent automobile license plates are issued in Connecticut.

In 1940 The Richard Wright novel "Native Son" is first published.

In 1954 The U.S. explodes a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll.

In 1954 An armed group of Puerto Rican nationalists, firing wildly from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wound 5 congressmen.

In 1961 Mattel places Ken dolls on sale as Barbie's boyfriend.

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.

In 1962 The first K-Mart opens.

In 1966 Venera III is the first manmade object to impact a planet (Venus).

In 1967 U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell of New York, accused of misconduct, is denied his seat in the 90th Congress. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that Powell had to be seated.

In 1969 Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball.

In 1981 Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later.

In 1982 Soviet Venus 13 soft lands on Venus.

In 1983 President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan treat Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to a Mexican lunch at the president's California ranch.

In 1983 A freak tornado rips through downtown Los Angeles, injuring 33.

In 1985 A Pentagon report endorses the theory an atomic war would block the sun causing a "nuclear winter."

In 1985 CBS stock rises four points on the New York Stock Exchange amid reports Ted Turner was considering a bid to buy control of the network.

In 1988 President Ronald Reagan arrives in Brussels, Belgium, for the first NATO summit in six years.

In 1988 Iraq says it had fired 16 missiles into Tehran in the first long-range rocket attack on the Iranian capital since the Iran-Iraq war began.

In 1989 Texas Senator, John Tower tells the National Press Club that rumors of his womanizing were true. Despite his candor, his nomination for Secretary of Defense is rejected by the Senate on March 9th.

In 1989 The U.S. Senate approves Dr. Louis W. Sullivan to be secretary of health and human services and Admiral James D. Watkins to be secretary of energy.

In 1990 The controversial Seabrook, NH, nuclear power plant wins federal permission to go online after two decades of protests and legal battles.

In 1991 The U.S. embassy in Kuwait officially reopens.

In 1991 Edwin H. Land, inventor of the Polaroid camera, dies at age 81.

In 1992 Senator Brock Adams abandoned his re-election campaign after eight women accused him in a Seattle Times report of sexual abuse.

In 1993 Authorities near Waco, TX, continue negotiating with Branch Davidians holed up in their compound, a day after a gun battle between the Davidians and federal agents that left 10 people dead.

In 1994 Lebanese gunman open fire on busload of Hasidic students driving on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing one and injuring three.

In 1995 Somalia militiamen loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid seize control of the Mogadishu airport after peacekeepers withdrew.

In 1996 An international tribunal indicts Bosnian Serb General Djordje Djukic for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In 1996 The FDA approves powerful new AIDS drug, saying ritonavir can prolong slightly the lives of severely ill patients.

In 1997 Severe storms hit Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and spawned tornadoes in Arkansas blamed for two dozen deaths.

In 1997 Rescue teams fight snow and high winds as they tried to bring help to an earthquake-devastated region in northwest Iran, where the death toll was estimated at 3,000.

In 1998 In Germany, Lower Saxony Governor Gerhard Schroeder wins a sweeping re-election that paved the way for his successful campaign to oust Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

In 1999 An attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels in a Ugandan national park leaves 8 foreign tourists, including two Americans, and a park guard dead.

In 2000 Ronald Taylor kills two people and critically wounds three in Wilkinsburg, PA, before surrendering during a hostage standoff.

In 2000 Classes are canceled at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, MI, a day after 6-year-old Kayla Rolland was fatally shot by a fellow first-grader.

In 2003 Suspected September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is captured by CIA and Pakistani agents.

In 2004 The California Supreme Court rules a Roman Catholic charity had to offer birth-control coverage to its employees.

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