Today In History...

In 1533 England's King Henry VIII secretly marries his second wife, Anne Boleyn (who later gave birth to Elizabeth I).

In 1579 The Treaty of Utrecht is signed, marking the beginning of the Dutch Republic.

In 1787 Shay's Rebellion suffers a setback when debt-ridden farmers led by Captain Daniel Shays fail to capture an arsenal at Springfield, MA.

In 1890 Reporter Nellie Bly of the New York World receives a tumultuous welcome home after she completed a round-the-world journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes.

In 1890 The United Workers of America is founded.

In 1915 The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service when he calls Thomas Watson in San Francisco from New York.

In 1925 The largest diamond, Cullinan (3106 carats), found in South Africa.

In 1940 The first social security checks are mailed.

In 1945 Grand Rapids becomes the first city to fluoridate its public water supply.

In 1946 The United Mine Workers rejoin the American Federation of Labor.

In 1949 The first Emmy Awards are presented.

In 1959 The first transcontinental commercial jet flight is made by aBoeing 707 from Los Angeles to New York for $301.00 on American Airlines.

In 1961 President Kennedy holds the first live, nationally televised, presidential news conference.

In 1961 Walt Disney's animated film "101 Dalmatians" is released.

In 1964 Echo II, a U.S. communications satellite, is launched.

In 1971 Charles Manson and three young women followers are convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.

In 1978 Muriel Humphrey is appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of her husband, Hubert H. Humphrey ofMinnesota.

In 1979 Pope John Paul II begins his first overseas trip as pontiff, traveling to the Dominican Republic.

In 1981 The 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days arrive back in the United States.

In 1984 President Reagan announces the plans for a permanent manned space space station by 1994.

In 1985 In a surprise announcement, Pope John Paul II said he would convene a synod of Roman Catholic bishops to review the results of the Second Vatican Council.

In 1988 President Bush and Dan Rather have a loud on-camera encounter over the Iran/Contra affair on "The CBS Evening News."

In 1988 Columbia's Attorney General, a drug trafficking opponent, is kidnapped and murdered along with his driver and bodyguard.

In 1989 The Episcopal Church makes Barbara Harris the first woman bishop.

In 1989 The Senate Armed Services Committee opens confirmation hearings on the nomination of John Tower to be secretary of defense.

In 1990 An Avianca Boeing 707 runs out of fuel in Cove Neck, New York, while attempting to land Kennedy International Airport and crashes killing 73 of the 161 people aboard.

In 1990 Actress Ava Gardner dies in London at age 67.

In 1991 During the Gulf War, missiles fired from western Iraq strike in the Tel Aviv and Haifa areas, killing one Israeli and injuring more than 40 others.

In 1993 A gunman shot and killed two CIA employees outside agency headquarters in Virginia.

In 1993 President Clinton appoints his wife, Hillary, to head a committee on health-care reform.

In 1993 President Clinton appoints his wife, Hillary, to head a committee on health-care reform.

In 1994 President Clinton delivers his first State of the Union address, promising forceful effort to enact health and welfare reform, and a ban on assault weapons.

In 1994 The U.S. launches Clementine I, an unmanned spacecraft that was to study the moon before it was "lost and gone forever."

In 1995 The defense gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles.

In 1997 Astrologer Jeane Dixon dies in Washington, DC, at age 79.

In 1998 Pope John Paul II ends his historic journey to Cuba.

In 1998 American astronaut Andrew Thomas moves from the space shuttle Endeavour into the Russian space station Mir.

In 1998 Britain doubles its troop strength in the Persian Gulf as America confronts Iraq.

In 1998 The Denver Broncos defeat the Green Bay Packers, 34-27, in Super Bowl XXXII. It was the first victory for the AFC in 13 years.

In 1999 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that the 2000 census could not use statistical sampling to enhance its accuracy.

In 1999 A Louisville, KY, man receives the first hand transplant in theU.S.

In 1999 Jury selection begins in Jasper, TX, in the trial of John William King, charged in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr.

In 1999 A powerful earthquake rocks Colombia, killing more than 1,000.

In 2000 Ten Myanmar insurgents who had captured a hospital and its staff are killed by Thai security forces.

In 2000 Martina Navratilova enters the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

In 2003 NASA launches a spacecraft into orbit to measure all the radiation streaming toward Earth from the sun.

In 2003 Marcus Allen is elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In 2004 NASA's Opportunity rover sends its first pictures of Mars to Earth, showing a surface smooth and dark red in some places, and strewn with fragmented slabs of light bedrock in others.

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