Today In History

In 1842 Abraham Lincoln married Marry Todd in Springfield, Illinois.

In 1862 Dr. Gatling patented the machine gun.

In 1880, James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio, patented the first cash register.

In 1884 Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected to his first term as President, defeating Republican James G. Blaine.

In 1904 Harvard stadium was the first facility built for football.

In 1922 Howard Carter discovered the entrance of King Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt.

In 1924 Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first female governor so that she could serve the remaining term of her late husband, William B. Ross.

In 1939 The Packard, the first air-conditioned automobile, was exhibited in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1939 The U.S. modified its neutrality stance in World War II, allowing "cash and carry" purchases of arms by belligerents, a policy that favored Britain and France.

In 1942 During World War II, Axis forces retreated from El Alamein in North Africa in a significant victory for British forces commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

In 1946 The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization were formed.

In 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected the 34th U.S. president, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson.

In 1956 Israeli troops reached the Suez Canal for the first time.

In 1956 Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian Revolution.

In 1979 500 students seized the U.S. embassy in Iran and took 90 hostages. For 52 of them, it is the start of 444 days in captivity.

In 1980 Republican Ronald Reagan was elected President in a landslide over President Jimmy Carter.

In 1981 The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery was scrubbed with 31 seconds left in the countdown because of problems with auxiliary power.

In 1982 The FDA required tamper-proof packaging on certain drugs.

In 1983 President Reagan attended a ceremony at the Camp Lejeune Marine base and paid homage to the U.S. service members killed in Lebanon and Grenada.

In 1984 Nicaragua held its first free elections in 56 years.

In 1985 Soviet defector Vitaly Yurchenko announced he was returning to the Soviet Union, charging the CIA had kidnaped him.

In 1986 Democrats win a majority of the U.S. Senate during general elections, ending up with 55 seats.

In 1987 6-year-old Lisa Steinberg was pronounced legally dead at a New York City hospital in a child-abuse case sparking national outrage.

In 1988 In a ceremony at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, President Reagan signed a measure providing for U.S. participation in an anti-genocide treaty signed by President Truman in 1948.

In 1990 Douglas Wakiihuri of Kenya and Wanda Panfil of Poland won the New York City Marathon.

In 1991 Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley, CA, with a dedication ceremony attended by President Bush and former presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald R. Ford, and Richard M. Nixon.

In 1992 Iran announced the arrest of American businessman Milton Meier, who had lived in Iran for 17 years, on charges of illegal business dealings and espionage.

In 1993 The White House challenged Ross Perot to a debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement with Vice President Al Gore.

In 1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Law student Yigal Amir is arrested and confesses.

In 1996 Pakistan's President dismissed the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

In 1997 Iraq agreed to postpone the expulsion of American weapons inspectors until after UN envoys finished their mission.

In 2000 Yugoslavia's parliament approved the country's first communist-free government in more than half a century.

In 2000 President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have criminalized the leaking of government secrets.

In 2001 Hurricane Michelle hit Cuba, forcing the government to shut down power for much of the island's 750,000 people.

In 2001 The Arizona Diamondbacks won their first World Series, beating the New York Yankees, 3-2, in game seven.
In 2003 Firefighters in San Diego County contained the most extensive and deadliest of Southern California's wildfires.

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