TODAY IN HISTORY

On This Day in:

1296 – The Scots were defeated by Edward I at the Battle of Dunbar.

1509 – Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice.

1521 – Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.

1565 – The _rst Spanish settlement in Philippines was established in Cebu City.

1805 – A force led by U.S. Marines captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli.

1813 – Americans under Gen. Pike capture York (present day Toronto) the seat of government in Ontario.

1861 – West Virginia seceded from Virginia after Virginia seceded from the Union during the American Civil War.

1861 – U.S. President Lincoln issued an order to General Win_eld Scott that authorized him to suspend the writ of habeas corpus between Philadelphia and Washington at or near any military line.

1863 – The Army of the Potomac began marching on Chancellorsville.

1865 – In the U.S. the Sultana exploded while carrying 2,300 Union POWs. Between 1,400 – 2,000 were killed.

1880 – Francis Clarke and M.G. Foster patented the electrical hearing aid. 1897 – Grant’s Tomb was dedicated.

1899 – The Western Golf Association was founded in Chicago, IL.

1903 – Jamaica Race Track opened in Long Island, NY.

1909 – The sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, was overthrown.

1938 – Geraldine Apponyi married King Zog of Albania. She was the _rst American woman to become a queen.

1938 – A colored baseball was used for the _rst time in any baseball game. The ball was yellow and was used between Columbia and Fordham Universities in NewYork City.

1945 – The Second Republic was founded in Austria.

1946 – The SS African Star was placed in service. It was the _rst commercial ship to be equipped with radar.

1947 – “Babe Ruth Day” was celebrated at Yankee Stadium.

1950 – South Africa passed the Group Areas Act, which formally segregated races.

1953 – The U.S. offered $50,000 and political asylum to any Communist pilot that delivered a MIG jet.

1953 – Five people were killed and 60 injured when Mt. Aso erupted on the island of Kyushu.

1960 – The submarine Tullibee was launched from Groton, CT. It was the _rst sub to be equipped with closed-circuit television.

1961 – The United Kingdom granted Sierra Leone independence.

1965 – “Pampers” were patented by R.C. Duncan.

1967 – In Montreal, Prime Minister Lester Pearson lighted a ame to open Expo 67.