On This Day in:
1784 – The first hot-air balloon was flown in Ireland.
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 – General Electric 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.
1953 – Pope Pius XII gave his approval of psychoanalysis but warned of possible abuses.
1953 – Charlie Chaplin surrendered his U.S. reentry permit rather than face proceedings by the U.S. Justice Department. Chaplin was accused of sympathizing with Communist groups.
1956 – The worlds’ first, all-color TV station was dedicated. It was WNBQ-TV in Chicago and is now WMAQ-TV.
1956 – General Motors announced that the first free piston automobile had been developed.
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