This Day In History
- 1886 An earthquake rocked Charleston, S.C., killing up to 110 people.
- 1852 The United States Congress passed legislation creating the first prestamped envelopes.
- 1887 Thomas A. Edison received a patent for his ''Kinetoscope,'' a device that produced moving pictures.
- 1888 Mary Ann Nicholls was found murdered in London's East End. She is generally regarded as the first victim of Jack the Ripper.
- 1903 The first automobile trip from San Francisco to New York City was completed. A Packard made the trip in 52 days.
- 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an act prohibiting the export of U.S. arms to belligerents.
- 1954 Hurricane Carol hit the northeastern United States, resulting in nearly 70 deaths and millions of dollars in damage.
- 1962 The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became independent within the British Commonwealth.
- 1963 Walter Cronkite started showing up in living rooms during the dinner hour as anchor of the "CBS Evening News", a job he took over from Douglas Edwards on April 16, 1962. Previous to this night, "CBS Evening News" had been shown from 7:30-7:45 p.m. and 7:15-7:30 p.m.
- 1964 California officially became the most populated of the United States.
- 1969 Boxer Rocky Marciano died in a light airplane crash in Iowa, the day before his 46th birthday.
- 1980 Poland's Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement signed in Gdansk that ended a 17-day strike.
- 1985 Richard Ramirez, later convicted of California's ''Night Stalker'' killings, was captured by residents of an East Los Angeles neighborhood.
- 1986 An Aeromexico jetliner and a small private plane collided over Cerritos, Calif., killing 82 people.
- 1992 White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that claimed the lives of Weaver's wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal.
- 1994 The Irish Republican Army declared a cease-fire.
- 1994 Russia officially ended its military presence in the former East Germany and the Baltics after half a century.
- 1997 Diana, Britain’s Princess of Wales, was killed in an early-morning car crash in Paris, France. Also killed was her millionaire companion, Harrods department store heir, Dodi Fayed. The couple was being chased by aggressive paparazzie (photographers) on motorcycles at the time of the crash.
- 2001 A Bronx, N.Y., team's third-place finish in the Little League World Series was ruled invalid because pitching star Danny Almonte was found to be two years older than the age limit of 12.
- 2002 Jazz musician and bandleader Lionel Hampton died at age 94.
- 1870 Maria Montessori (educator: first woman to attend medical school, first female Doctor of Medicine in Italy, worked with handicapped and socially deprived children, developed unique educational method known as the Montessori method; Montessori Schools named for her; died May 6, 1952)
- 1903 Arthur (Morton) Godfrey (ukulele playing, TV/radio entertainer: Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, Arthur Godfrey and Friends; Lipton Tea commercials; died Mar 16, 1983)
- 1908 William Saroyan (Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright)
- 1916 Daniel Schorr (journalist)
- 1924 Buddy Hackett (Leonard Hacker) (comedian, actor)
- 1928 James Coburn (actor)
- 1935 Eldridge Cleaver (black activist; died May 1, 1998)
- 1945 Itzhak Perlman (violinist: recorded with Andre Previn and Scott Joplin)
- 1949 Richard Gere (actor)
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