Today In History...

   In 1639 Jonas Bronck settled in what is now Bronx, New York.
   In 1778 Captain Cook passes through the Bering Strait.
   In 1790 The Columbia returns to Boston Harbor after a 3-year voyage,
           becoming the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.
   In 1842 A border dispute between the U.S. and Canada is resolved by the
           Webster-Ashburton Treaty.
   In 1848 The Free-Soil Party nominates Martin Van Buren for president at its
           convention in Buffalo, New York.
   In 1854 Henry David Thoreau publishes "Walden," in which he described his
           experiences while living in a small cabin near Walden Pond in
           Massachusetts.
   In 1902 Edward VII is crowned King of England following the death of his
           mother, Queen Victoria.
   In 1930 The cartoon character Betty Boop debuts in Max Fleischer's animated
           short "Dizzy Dishes."
   In 1936 Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal in the Berlin Olympics as the
           U.S. took first place in the 400-meter relay.
   In 1942 Britain arrests Indian nationalist Mohandas K. Gandhi; he was not
           released until 1944.
   In 1944 258 black American sailors based at Port Chicago, CA, refuse to load
           a munitions ship three weeks after another ship exploded, killing
           320 men, two-thirds of them black.
   In 1945 An American B-25 drops the second atomic bomb on Japan destroying
           part of Nagasaki and killing an estimated 74,000 people.
   In 1956 South African women demonstrate against pass laws.
   In 1965 Singapore gains its independence from Malaysia (National Day).
   In 1965 A missle silo explosion kills 53 at Searcy, Arkansas.
   In 1969 Actress Sharon Tate and four other people are found brutally
           murdered in Tate's Los Angeles home. Cult leader Charles Manson and
           a group of his young disciples were convicted of the crime.
   In 1973 The USSR launches Mars 7.
   In 1974 President Richard Nixon's resignation takes effect and Gerald R.
           Ford becomes the 38th U.S. president.
   In 1978 After 11 years, "The Carol Burnett Show" airs for the last time on
           CBS-TV.
   In 1985 A federal judge in Norfolk, VA, found retired Navy officer Arthur J.
           Walker guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.
   In 1988 President Reagan nominates Lauro Cavazos to be U.S. Secretary of
           Education, the first Hispanic to serve in the Cabinet.
   In 1988 Hockey star Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers is traded, at his
           request, to the Los Angeles Kings.
   In 1989 President Bush signs a Savings And Loan rescue bill estimating to
           cost $166 billion over a 10-year period to clean up the S&L mess.
   In 1989 Toshiki Kaifu is elected prime minister of Japan, succeeding Sousuke
           Uno.
   In 1989 In Mexico, a train falls into the San Rafael River after a bridge
           collapsed, killing 112 people.
   In 1990 A week after Iraq invades Kuwait, Western European diplomats and
           Arab witnesses report that Iraq had virtually sealed its borders,
           preventing thousands of foreigners from leaving Iraq or Kuwait.
   In 1991 In South Africa, hundreds of police battle neo-Nazis as extremists
           tried to stop a speech by President F.W. de Klerk.
   In 1992 Closing ceremonies are held for the Barcelona Summer Olympics, with
           the Unified Team of former Soviet Republics winning 112 medals, the
           U.S., 108.
   In 1993 Reputed "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss, accussed of running a
           high-priced prostitution ring, pleads innocent in a Los Angeles
           courtroom. (Fleiss eventually pleaded guilty to attempted
           pandering.)
   In 1994 A divided U.S. Senate opens formal debate on legislation to provide
           health insurance for millions of Americans without it.
   In 1997 An Amtrak train with nearly 350 people aboard derails on bridge near
           Kingman, AZ; more than 100 injured.
   In 1998 Engineers dynamite levees along the Yangtze River to ease worst
           floods in 44 years that killed more than 2,000 Chinese.
   In 1999 Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismisses Prime Minister Sergei
           Stepashin and the entire Cabinet, marking the fourth time in 17
           months he had fired the government.
   In 2000 Bridgestone/Firestone announces a voluntary safety recall of 6.5
           million tires implicated in at least 46 deaths.
   In 2002 Oscar-winner Charlton Heston, 78, reveals that doctors had told him
           he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.
   In 2002 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits his 600th homer,
           becoming the fourth major leaguer to reach the mark.
   In 2003 Dancer/actor, Gregory Hines dies at age 57.
   In 2004 Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, addressing a court
           for the first time, asked victims of the blast for forgiveness as a
           judge sentences him to 161 consecutive life sentences.