Today in history, Writer Emile Zola is imprisoned in France for his letter J’accuse in which he accuses the French government of anti-semitism and the wrongful imprisonment of army captain Alfred Dreyfus in 1898.
Today in history, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibits a collection of Hapsburg art; the first showing of this collection in the United States in 1950.
Today in history, Whites join Black students in a sit-in at a Winston-Salem, N.C. Woolworth store in 1960.
Today in history, French forces unofficially start the Persian Gulf ground war by crossing the Saudi-Iraqi border in 1991.
Today in history, Constantine’s three sons, already Caesars, each take the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans share the west while Constantius II takes control of the east in 337.
Today in history, The term “United States” is adopted by the Continental Congress to be used instead of the “United Colonies” in 1776.
Today in history, Elvis Presley (see picture below) makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; cameras focus on his upper torso and legs to avoid showing his pelvis gyrations, which many Americans—including Ed Sullivan—thought unfit for a family show in 1956.
9/10/2017:
Today in history, Elias Howe patents the first practical sewing machine in the United States in 1846.
Today in history, Jules Vedrines becomes the first pilot to break the 100 m.p.h. barrier in 1912.
Today in history, Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica (see picture below) is returned to Spain and installed in Madrid’s Prado Museum. Picasso stated in his will that the painting was not to return to Spain until the Fascists lost power and democracy was restored in 1981.
9/11/2017:
Today in history, The first mention of an African American doctor or dentist in the colonies is made in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1740.
Today in history, Stephen Foster’s “Oh! Susanna” (see picture below) is first performed in a saloon in Pittsburgh in 1847.
Today in history, The “Star Spangled Banner” is sung at the beginning of a baseball game for the first time in Cooperstown, New York in 1916.
Today in history, In an unprecedented, highly coordinated attack, terrorists hijack four U.S. passenger airliners, flying two into the World Trade Center towers in New York and one into the Pentagon, killing thousands. The fourth airliner, headed toward Washington likely to strike the White House or Capitol, is crashed just over 100 miles away in Pennsylvania after passengers storm the cockpit and overtake the hijackers in 2001.
Today in history, One of the five ships that set out in Ferdinand Magellan’s trip around the world makes it back to Spain. Only 15 of the original 265 men that set out survived. Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines in 1522.
Today in history, French General Jean Houchard and his 40,000 men begin a three-day battle against an Anglo-Hanoveraian army at Hondschoote, southwest Belgium, in the wars of the French Revolution in 1793.
Today in history, Lee Roy Young (see picture below) becomes the first African-American Texas Ranger in the force’s 165-year history in 1988.
Today in history, The Baltimore Orioles’ Cal Ripken Jr. (see picture below) plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking a 56-year MLB record held by Lou Gehrig; in 2007 fans voted this achievement the most memorable moment in MLB history in 1995.
9/7/2017:
Today in history, The earliest known printed reference to the United States by the nickname “Uncle Sam” occurs in the Troy Post in 1813.
Today in history, An incubator is used for the first time on a premature infant in 1888.
Today in history, The first heavyweight-title boxing match (see picture below) fought with gloves under Marquis of Queensbury rules ends when James J. Corbett knocks out John L. Sullivan in the 21st round in 1892.
Today in history, The Rainbow Bridge (see picture below), an 1,870-foot suspension bridge over Tokyo Bay, is completed in 1993.
Today in history, Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing within 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) in 2003.
Today in history, Democrats nominate Barack Obama (see picture below) for president, the first African American nominated by a major political party for the office of President of the United States in 2008.
8/28/2017:
Today in history, Three German cruisers are sunk by ships of the Royal Navy in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first major naval battle of World War I in 1914.
Today in history, Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-Tung arrives in Chunking to confer with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek in a futile effort to avert civil war in 1945.
Today in history, One of the largest demonstrations in the history of the United States, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, takes place and reaches its climax at the base of the Lincoln Memorial when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (see picture below) delivers his “I have a dream” speech in 1963.
