Today In History...

1586 English colonists sailed from Roanoke Island (North Carolina) after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America.

In 1862 Slavery is outlawed in the U.S. territories.

In 1905 The first nickelodeon opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1910 Father's Day was celebrated for the first time in Spokane, WA.
In 1917 During World War I, King George V ordered the British royal family to dispense with German titles and surnames. The family took the name, Windsor.
In 1934 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created.
In 1940 "Brenda Starr," the first cartoon strip drawn by a woman, appeared in Chicago.
In 1945 Millions of New Yorkers turned out to cheer General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was honored with a parade.
In 1952 The celebrity-panel game show "I've Got A Secret" debuts on CBS-TV with Garry Moore as its host.
In 1953 Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, convicted of passing U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, were executed at Sing Sing Prison in New York.
In 1961 The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision in Maryland's constitution requiring state officeholders to believe in the existence of God.
In 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova returned to Earth after spending nearly 3 days as the first woman in space.
1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 survives an 83-day filibuster in the U.S. Senate and is approved by a vote of 73-27.
In 1970 Soyuz 9 returned to Earth.
In 1972 Hurricane Agnes began an 8-day sweep from Florida up the East Coast, claiming more than 120 lives and causing damage to Maine.
In 1973 The "Rocky Horror Picture Show" opened in London.
In 1973 Baseball greats Pete Rose and Willie Davis got career hit number 2000.
In 1976 U.S. Viking I orbited Mars after a 10-month flight from Earth.
In 1977 Pope Paul VI proclaimed 19th-century Philadelphia bishop John Neumann the first male U.S. saint.
In 1977, the Space Shuttle Challenger crew launched the Indonesian-owned Palapa B communications satellite into orbit.
In 1978 The comic strip "Garfield," created by Jim Davis, first appeared in newspapers.
In 1984 A new movie rating, PG-13, went into effect.
In 1985 Leftist guerrillas in El Salvador shot and killed 13 people, including six Americans, four of whom were U.S. Marines.
In 1986 Artificial heart recipient Murray P. Haydon died in Louisville, KY.
In 1986 Len Bias, the first pick of the NBA basketball team Boston Celtics, died of a cocaine overdose.
In 1987 The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring any public school teaching the theory of evolution to teach creationism science as well.
In 1988 Leaders of the world's seven wealthiest industrial democracies opened a 3-day economic summit in Toronto.
In 1989 "Batman," starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, premiered.
In 1989 Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose sued baseball, arguing that Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti should be prevented from hearing allegations that Rose gambled on baseball games.
In 1990 Opening statements were presented in the drug and perjury trial of Washington, DC, Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. (Barry was later convicted of a single count of misdemeanor drug possession and sentenced to six months in prison.)
In 1991 Newly elected Russian President Boris Yeltsin lobbied Congress during a Washington visit as he sought closer ties.
In 1991 Pablo Escobar, head of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, surrendered to authorities.
1991 Actress Jean Arthur ("Mr. Smith Goes To Washington") died at age 90.
In 1992 "Batman Returns" opened nationally.
In 1992 Russian President Boris Yeltsin addressed the Canadian Parliament, saying his country had abandoned totalitarianism for democracy.
In 1992 Irish voters overwhelmingly approved the Maastricht Treaty on a European union.
In 1993 Nobel Prize-winning author Sir William Golding dies at age 81.
In 1994 Former President Jimmy Carter, who had just returned from North Korea, said he believed the crisis with Pyongyang was over following talks with North Korean President Kim Il Sung.
In 1995 Harry Wu, a Chinese-born American human rights activist, was detained as he tried to enter China. He was jailed for 66 days before being expelled.
In 1996 Chief executives from seven states, police, state attorneys general, and members of Congress meet with President Clinton to discuss ways of stopping the recent torching of black churches.
In 1997, McDonald's won a libel case against two vegetarian activists in London.
In 1998, Gateway was fined over $400,000 for illegally shipping personal computers to 16 countries subject to U.S. export controls.
In 1999 Britain's Prince Edward married commoner Sophie Rhys-Jones in Windsor, England.
In 1999 The Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1, in Game 6, which had gone into triple overtime.
In 1999 Italy was chosen as the 2006 Winter Olympic Games site.
In 2000 Hundreds of fans torched police cars, vandalized businesses, and set bonfires in streets during the celebration of the Los Angeles Lakers' first NBA championship in 12 years.
In 2000 The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed, 6-3, that prayer in public schools had to be private, barring officials from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayer before football games.
In 2000 Former Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita died at age 76.
In 2001 Drug kingpin Juan Raul Garza received a chemical injection and became the second inmate in 8 days to be executed by the U.S. government (following Timothy McVeigh).
In 2001 A jury in San Jose, CA, convicted Andrew Burnett of tossing a little dog to its death on a busy highway in a bout of road rage. He was sentenced to three years in prison.