Today In History...

In 1620 The first merry-go-round is seen at a fair in Philippopolis, Turkey.
In 1792 The New York Stock Exchange is founded by brokers meeting under a tree located on what is now Wall Street.
In 1814 Norway's constitution is signed, providing for a limited monarchy.
In 1845 The rubber band is patented.
In 1875 The first Kentucky Derby is run at Churchill Downs in Louisville. The winner was Aristides.
In 1883 "Buffalo Bill" Cody presents the first wild west show in Omaha, NE.
In 1904 Western Union stops wire service to pool rooms to prevent illegal gambling.
In 1938 The radio quiz show "Information Please!" makes its debut on the NBC Blue Network.
In 1938 Congress passes the Vinson Naval Act, providing funds for a two-ocean navy.
In 1939 Britain's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrive in Quebec on the first visit to Canada by reigning British sovereigns.
In 1939 First sports telecast - Columbia vs Princeton - College baseball.
In 1940 The Nazis occupy Brussels, Belgium, during World War II.
In 1946 President Truman seizes control of the nation's railroads, delaying a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.
In 1948 The Soviet Union recognizes the new state of Israel.
In 1954 The U.S. Supreme Court issues its landmark Brown-vs-the Topeka Board of Education ruling, declaring racially segregated public schools inherently unequal.
In 1961 Cuban leader Fidel Castro offers to exchange prisoners captured in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion for American heavy tractors.
In 1962 U.S. troops go to Thailand to "prevent a possible communist invasion."
In 1971 Washington becomes the first state to ban sex discrimination.
In 1973 The Senate Select Committee of Presidential Campaign Activities opens its hearing into the Watergate scandal.
In 1978 For the first time, women are included in the White House honor guard as President Carter welcomed Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.
In 1979 The temperature fell to 12 degrees at Mauna Kea, setting a Hawaiian low temperature record.
In 1980 Rioting that claimed 18 lives erupts in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City hours after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted four former Miami police officers in the fatal beating of Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive.
In 1983 Israel and Lebanon sign a U.S.-sponsored agreement providing for the withdrawl of Israeli troops from Lebanon.
In 1984 A Continental Illinois Bank failure is prevented by a $7.5 billion federal bailout, the largest in history.
In 1985 Pilots at United Airlines go on a 29-day strike, forcing the carrier to drastically curtail service.
In 1986 The southeastern U.S. is hit by the worst drought in history.
In 1987 Modernization of the Air Traffic Controller system begins.
In 1987 An Iraqi warplane fires 2 missles into the U.S. Navy frigate "Stark" in the Persian Gulf, killing 37 seamen.
In 1988 The Commerce Department reports a record level of export sales giving the U.S. its lowest monthly trade deficit in 3 years.
In 1989 The government of Poland approves freedom of religion, giving legal status to the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1989 A court in Frankfurt, West Germany, sentences Mohammed Ali Hamadi to life in prison for his role in the 1985 TWA hijacking.
In 1990 Soviet President Mikhail Grobachev meets in Moscow with Lithuanian Prime Minister Kazimiera Prunskiene, Gorbachev's first face-to-face meeting with an official of the defiant Baltic republics.
In 1993 President Clinton visits the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb to promote a 5-year, $20 billion defense-conversion plan.
In 1994 Israel's three decades of occupation in Gaza Strip ends with handover of military's government and bases to Palestinians.
In 1994 The UN Security Council approves a peacekeeping force and an arms embargo for violence-racked Rwanda.
In 1994 The UN Security Council approves a peacekeeping force and an arms embargo for violence-racked Rwanda.
In 1995 The Senate ethics committee said Senator Bob Packwood (R-OR) had to face a full-scale Senate investigation of charges that included making improper advances toward women.
In 1995 Jacques Chirac is sworn in as president of France, ending the 14-year tenure of Socialist Francois Mitterrand.
In 1996 President Clinton signs a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in.
In 1997 Rebel leader Kabila declares himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire.
In 1997 Russia's Mir space station receives a new oxygen generator and a fresh American astronaut, courtesy of space shuttle Atlantis.
In 1998 New York Yankees pitcher David Wells becomes the 13th player in modern major league baseball history to throw a perfect game in a 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
In 1999 The U.S. Supreme Court bans states from paying lower welfare benefits to newcomers than to longtime residents.
In 1999 Labor Party leader Ehud Barak unseats Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli elections.
In 2000 Former Klansmen surrender to face charges in 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls and helped galvanize the civil rights movement.
In 2003 A German tour bus overturns on a highway in France, killing 28 people.
In 2003 More than 260 people die in Sri Lanka's worst flooding in 5 decades.
In 2004 Massachusetts becomes the first state to allow legal same-sex marriages.
In 2004 Actor Tony Randall dies in New York at age 84.

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