This Day In History
- 1291 A pact was made to form the Swiss Confederation. The anniversary of this founding has been celebrated as National Day in Switzerland since 1891, the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation.
- 1790 The first U.S. census was completed, showing a population of nearly 4 million people.
- 1873 Inventor Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car he had designed for the city of San Francisco.
- 1876 Colorado, the 38th state, entered the United States of America this day. It is the only state to enter the union in the one hundredth year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Consequently, Colorado is called the Centennial State. The Rocky Mountains are Colorado’s most famous feature; which explains why the Rocky Mountain columbine is the state flower. The lark bunting is the state bird. Denver, Colorado’s largest city, is also the state capital.
- 1943 Race-related rioting erupted in New York City's Harlem section, resulting in several deaths.
- 1944 An uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation.
- 1944 13-year-old Anne Frank made the last entry in her diary; a diary she had kept for two years while hiding with her family to escape Nazi deportation to a concentration camp. Three days later the Grune Polizei raided the secret annex in Amsterdam, Holland, where the Jewish family was in hiding. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at age 15.
- 1946 President Harry S. Truman signed the Fulbright Program into law, establishing the scholarships named for Sen. J. William Fulbright.
- 1946 The Atomic Energy Commission was established.
- 1957 The United States and Canada reached agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
- 1958 After 26 years at 3 cents, the cost of mailing a first-class letter in the United States went up a penny.
- 1966 Charles Joseph Whitman shot and killed 15 people at the University of Texas before he was gunned down by police.
- 1978 Pete Rose's 44-game hitting streak the second longest in major league history came to an end as the Cincinnati Reds star went hitless in a game against the Atlanta Braves.
- 1981 The music video cable channel MTV made its debut.
- 1995 Westinghouse Electric Corp. struck a deal to buy CBS for $5.4 billion.
- 2001 Pro Bowl tackle Korey Stringer died of heat stroke, a day after collapsing at the Minnesota Vikings' training camp.
- 1770 William Clark (explorer: Lewis and Clark Expedition; died Sep 1, 1838)
- 1779 Francis Scott Key (attorney, poet: The Star-Spangled Banner: U.S. national anthem; died Jan 11, 1843)
- 1818 Maria Mitchell (astronomer: 1st woman to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; 1st U.S. woman to become a professor of astronomy; died June 28, 1889)
- 1819 Herman Melville (author: Moby Dick, Redburn, Typee, Omoo, White-Jacket; died Sep 28, 1891)
- 1843 Robert Todd Lincoln (son of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln; rescued from train accident by Edwin Booth, brother of man who assassinated President Lincoln; died July 26, 1926)
- 1933 Dom Deluise (comedian, actor: Dean Martin Show, Loose Cannons, Cannonball Run 1 & 2, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, Smokey and the Bandit, Part 2, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; host: New Candid Camera)
- 1936 Yves St. Laurent (Henry Mathieu) (fashion designer)
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