TODAY IN HISTORY

1784 – The first balloon was flown in Ireland.

1794 – “Courrier Francais” became the first French daily newspaper to be published in the U.S.

1813 – U.S. troops under James Wilkinson attacked the Spanish-held city of Mobile that would be in the future state of Alabama.

1817 – The first American school for the deaf was opened in Hartford, CT.

1850 – The city of San Francisco was incorporated.

1858 – At the Battle of Azimghur, the Mexicans defeated Spanish loyalists.

1861 – U.S. President Lincoln mobilized the Federal army.

1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln died from injuries inflicted by John Wilkes Booth.

1871 – “Wild Bill” Hickok became the marshal of Abilene, Kansas.

1880 – William Gladstone became Prime Minister of England.

1892 – The General Electric Company was organized.

1899 – Thomas Edison organized the Edison Portland Cement Company.

1912 – The ocean liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg the evening before. 1,517 people died and more than 700 people survived.

1917 – The British defeated the Germans at the battle of Arras.

1923 – Insulin became generally available for people suffering with diabetes.

1934 – In the comic strip “Blondie,” Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead welcomed a baby boy, Alexander. The child would be nicknamed, Baby Dumpling.

1940 – French and British troops landed at Narvik, Norway.

1945 – During World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen- Belsen.

1947 – Jackie Robinson played his first major league baseball game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Previously he had only appeared in exhibition games.

1948 – The Arabs were defeated in the first Jewish-Arab battle.

1951 – The first episode of the “Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok” radio show aired.

1952 – U.S. President Harry Truman signed the official Japanese peace treaty.

1952 – The first B-52 prototype was tested in the air.

1953 – In Buenos Aires, six people were killed by a bomb at a rally addressed by President Peron.