Today in History
Today in History
1610 – Sir Thomas Gates institutes 'laws divine moral and marshal,' a harsh civil code for Jamestown.
1624 – After years of unprofitable operation Virginia’s charter was revoked and it became a royal colony.
1689 – The English Parliament passed Act of Toleration, protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics were specifically excluded from exemption.
1738 – The Methodist Church was established.
1764 – Bostonian lawyer James Otis denounced 'taxation without representation' and called for the colonies to unite in demonstrating their opposition to Britain’s new tax measures.
1798 – Believing that a French invasion of Ireland was imminent, Irish nationalists rose up against the British occupation.
1816 – Emamual Leutze was born in Germany. He was most famous for his paintings 'Washington Crossing the Delaware' and 'Columbus Before the Queen'.
1822 – At the Battle of Pichincha, Bolivar secured independence of the Quito. 1830 – The first passenger railroad service in the U.S. began service.
1844 – Samuel F.B. Morse formally opened America's first telegraph line. The first message was sent from Washington, DC, to Baltimore, MD. The message was 'What hath God wrought?'
1859 – Charles Gounod's 'Ave Maria' was performed by Madame Caroline Miolan-Carvalho for the first time in public.
1863 – Bushwackers led by Captain William Marchbanks attacked a U.S. Federal militia party in Nevada, Missouri.
1878 – The first American bicycle race was held in Boston.
1881 – About 200 people died when the Canadian ferry Princess Victoria sank near London, Ontario.
1883 – After 14 years of construction the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to traffic.
1899 – The first public garage was opened by W.T. McCullough.
1913 – The U.S. Department of Labor entered into its first strike mediation. The dispute was between the Railroad Clerks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
1930 – Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly from England to Australia.
1931 – B& O Railroad began service with the first passenger train to have air conditioning throughout. The run was between New York City and Washington, DC.
1935 – The Cincinnati Reds played the Philadelphia Phillies in the first major league baseball game at night. The switch for the floodlights was thrown by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.
1941 – The HMS Hood was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic. Only three people survived.
1950 – ‘Sweetwater’ (Nat) Clifton’s contract was purchased by the New York Knicks. Sweetwater played for the Harlem Globetrotters.
1954 – The first moving sidewalk in a railroad station was opened in Jersey City, NJ.
1958 – United Press International was formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
1961 – The Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi.
1962 – The officials of the National Football League ruled that halftime of regular season games would be cut to 15 minutes.
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