On This Day in History 6-1
1533 – Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s new queen, was crowned.
1774 – The British government ordered the Port of Boston closed.
1789 – The first U.S. congressional act on administering oaths became law.
1792 – Kentucky became the 15th state of the U.S.
1796 – Tennessee became the 16th state of the U.S.
1861 – The first skirmish of the U.S. Civil War took place at the Fairfax Court House, Virginia.
1869 – Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric voting machine.
1877 – U.S. troops were authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico.
1892 – The General Electric Company (GE) began operations after the merging of the Edison General Electric and the Thomson-Houston Electric companies.
1896 – In Paris, France, the first recorded automobile theft occurred. The Peugeot of Baron de Zuylen de Nyevelt was stolen by his mechanic.
1915 – Germany conducted the first zeppelin air raid over England.
1916 – The National Defense Act increased the strength of the U.S. National Guard by 450,000 men.
1921 – A race riot erupted in Tulsa, OKlahoma. 85 people were killed.
1935 – The Ingersoll-Waterbury Company reported that it had produced 2.5 million Mickey Mouse watches during its 2-year association with Disney.
1938 – Baseball helmets were worn for the first time.
1939 – The Douglas DC-4 made its first passenger flight from Chicago to New York.
1941 – The German Army completed the capture of Crete as the Allied evacuation ended.
1942 – The U.S. began sending Lend-Lease materials to the Soviet Union.
1943 – During World War II, Germans shot down a civilian flight from Lisbon to London.
1944 – The French resistance was warned by a coded message from the British that the D-Day invasion was imminent.
1944 – Siesta was abolished by the government of Mexico.
1953 – Raymond Burr made his network-TV acting debut. It was in “The Mask of Medusa” on ABC-TV’s “Twilight Theater.”
1954 – In the Peanuts comic strip, Linus’ security blanket made its debut.
1958 – Charles de Gaulle became the premier of France.
1958 – IBM ended its design of machines that contained electronic tubes.
1961 – Radio listeners in New York, California, and Illinois were introduced to FM multiplex stereo broadcasting. A year later the FCC made this a standard.
1963 – Governor George Wallace vowed to defy an injunction that ordered the integration of the University of Alabama.
1970 – Zimbabwe came into existence. It was formerly known as Rhodesia.
1972 – In Iraq, The Ba’athist government nationalized the western-owned Iraq Petroleum Company and turned operations over to the Iraq National Oil Company.
1977 – The Soviet Union formally charged Jewish human rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky with treason. He was imprisoned until 1986.
1978 – The U.S. reported the finding of wiretaps in the American embassy in Moscow.
1979 – In the U.S., the government-controlled ceiling on oil prices ends. The control was phased out over 28 months.
1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) made its debut as the first all-news station.
1989 – Disney World’s “Typhoon Lagoon” opened.
1995 – At Disneyland Paris, the attraction “Space Mountain: From The Earth to the Moon” opened.
1998 – In the U.S., the FDA approved a urine-only test for the AIDS virus.
1998 – A $124 million suit was brought against Goodyear Tire & Rubber that alleged discrimination towards black workers.
1999 – Merrill Lynch chairman David Komansky announced that the firm would soon allow its customers to buy and sell stocks over the Internet.
2008 – The Phoenix Mars Lander became the first NASA spacecraft to scoop Martian soil.
2009 – The first event, a George Strait concert, was held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.
Today in Texas History
2009 – General Motors filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The filing made GM the largest U.S. industrial company to enter bankruptcy protection.
