Today in history, 13 civil rights activists, dubbed Freedom Riders, begin a bus trip through the South in 1961.
5/5/2021:
Today in history, Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica, which he names Santa Gloria in 1494.
Today in history, The first mainland railway line opens in Belgium in 1834.
Today in history, Mexican forces loyal to Benito Juarez defeat troops sent by Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Today in history, Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing in 1912.
Today in history, Eugene Jacques Bullard (see picture below) becomes the first African-American aviator when he earns a flying certificate with the French Air Service in 1917.
Today in history, Alan Shepard (see picture below) becomes the first American in space in 1961.
Today in history, 173rd Airborne Brigade arrives in Bien Hoa-Vung, Vietnam, the first regular U.S. Army unit deployed to that country in 1965.
Today in history, Pulitzer Prize awarded to Norman Mailer for his ‘nonfiction novel’ Armies of the Night (see picture below), an account of the 1967 anti-Vietnam War march on the Pentagon in 1969.
Today in history, The Sun, Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn align – Earth’s moon is also almost in this alignment – leading to Doomsday predictions of massive natural disasters, although such a ‘grand confluence’ occurs about once in every century in 2000.
5/6/2021:
Today in history, German troops begin sacking Rome. Libraries are destroyed, the Pope is captured and thousands are killed in 1527.
Today in history, Babur defeats the Afghan Chiefs in the Battle of Ghaghra, India in 1529.
Today in history, U.S. Army troops from Fort Tejon and Fort Miller prepare to ride out to protect Keyesville, California, from Yokut Indian attack in 1856
Today in history, The dirigible Hindenburg (see picture below) explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937.
Today in history, Bob Hope (see picture below) gives his first USO show at California’s March Field in 1941.
Today in history, British runner Roger Bannister breaks the four minute mile in 1954.
Today in history, Congress divides the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part will becomes the Indiana Territory and the eastern section remains the Northwest Territory in 1800.
Today in history, Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” premieres in Vienna in 1824.
Today in history, The American Medical Association is formed in Philadelphia in 1847.
Today in history, In the Battle of the Coral Sea (see picture below). Japanese and American navies attack each other with carrier-launched warplanes. It is the first time in the history of naval warfare where two fleets fought without seeing each other.Two crucial battles in 1942 marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
Today in history, The Salvation Army is officially organized in the United States in 1885.
Today in history, Automobile owners lobby Congress in support of a bill that calls for vehicle licensing and federal registration in 1908.
Today in history, The first seaplane takes off from water at Martiniques, France in 1910.
Today in history, The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is founded, Great Britain’s first official service women in 1917.
Today in history, President Warren Harding names William Howard Taft (see picture below) as chief justice of the United States in 1921.
Today in history, Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara respectively in 1930.
Today in history, English novelist Virginia Woolf throws herself into the River Ouse near her home in Sussex. Her body will not be found until April 18 in 1941.
Today in history, The U.S. Air Force announces research into the use of lasers to intercept missiles and satellites in 1962.
Today in history, A major accident occurs at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979.
Today in history, Jesse Owens (see picture below) receives the Congressional Gold Medal from President George Bush in 1990.
3/29/2021:
Today in history, Led by Ragnar Lodbrok (see picture below), Viking raiders sack Paris. In exchange for leaving, the Vikings collect a large ransom from the Frankish defenders in 845.
Today in history, The armies of two kings, Henry VI and Edward IV, collide at Towton in 1461.
Today in history, A permanent European colony is established in present-day Delaware in 1638.
Today in history, The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars in 1867.
Today in history, Coca-Cola goes on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton (see picture below), claims it can cure anything from hysteria to the common cold in 1886.
Today in history, A regular news service begins between New York and London on Marconi’s wireless in 1903.
Today in history, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical The King and I opens on Broadway starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner in 1951.
Today in history, The 23rd amendment, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote for president, is ratified in 1961.
3/30/2021:
Today in history, Hyman L. Lipman (see picture below) of Philadelphia patents the pencil with an eraser attached on one end in 1858.
Today in history, Russian Baron Stoeckl and U.S. Secretary of State Seward complete the draft of a treaty ceding Alaska to the United States. The treaty is signed the following day in 1867.
Today in history, The Easter Offensive begins with North Vietnamese forces cross into Demilitarized Zone of South Vietnam. The offensive is the largest since the Korean War in 1972.
Today in history, Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is bought for $39.85 million.
3/31/2021:
Today in history, Abigail Adams (see picture below) writes to husband John that women are “determined to foment a rebellion” if the new Declaration of Independence fails to guarantee their rights in 1776.
Today in history, Russia and Turkey sign a treaty by which they promise to take no military action in the Crimea in 1779.
Today in history, The first monthly installment of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (see picture below) is published in London in 1836.
Today in history, The Eiffel Tower in Paris officially opens on the Left Bank as part of the Exhibition of 1889.
Today in history, Daylight Savings Time goes into effect throughout the United States for the first time in 1918.
Today in history, President Lyndon Johnson signs the Consular Treaty, the first bi-lateral pact with the Soviet Union since the Bolshevik Revolution in 1967.
Today in history, President Jimmy Carter deregulates the banking industry in 1980.
4/1/2021:
Today in history, The Sea Beggars under Guillaume de la Marck (see picture below) land in Holland and capture the small town of Briel in 1572.
Today in history, Oliver Pollock (see picture below), creates the dollar sign in 1778.
Today in history, The first wartime conscription law goes into effect in the United States in 1863.
Today in history, The Hampton Institute is founded in Hampton, Va. in 1868.
Today in history, Berlin and Paris are linked by telephone in 1905.
Today in history, United Nations forces again move northward across the 38th Parallel in Korea in 1951.
Today in history, The U.S. Air Force Academy is founded in Colorado in 1954.
Today in history, The United States transfers control of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama in 1982.
4/2/2021:
Today in history, The United States authorizes the minting of the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins as well as the silver dollar, dollar, quarter, dime & half-dime in 1792.
Today in history, The British navy defeats the Danish at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
Today in history, Karl Harris perfects the process for the artificial synthesis of rubber in 1910.
Today in history, The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announces plans to divide the country into 12 districts in 1914.
Today in history, Jeannette Pickering Rankin (see picture below) is sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1917.
Today in history, Virne “Jackie” Mitchell (see picture below) becomes the first woman to play for an all-male pro baseball team. In an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, she strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931.
Today in history, Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands in 1982.
4/3/2021:
Today in history, In Persia, Kavadh sues for peace with the Byzantines in 628.
Today in history, John of Gaunt and Edward the Black Prince win the Battle of Najera, in Spain in 1367.
Today in history, Philip II of Spain and Henry II of France sign the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, ending a long series of wars between the Hapsburg and Valois dynasties in 1559.
Today in history, Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States after a twenty-year absence in 1972.
Today in history, Coach John Thompson (see picture below) of Georgetown University becomes the first African-American coach to win an NCAA basketball tournament in 1984.
4/4/2021:
Today in history, In Constantinople, Justin, seriously ill, crowns his nephew Justinian as his co-emperor in 527.
Today in history, Francis Drake (see picture below) completes circumnavigation of the world in 1581.
Today in history, The territory of Orleans becomes the 18th state and will become known as Louisiana in 1812.
Today in history, President William Henry Harrison, aged 68, becomes the first president to die in office, just a month after being sworn in in 1841.
Today in history, Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire in 1834.
Today in history, San Francisco’s first cable cars begin running, operated by Hallidie’s Clay Street Hill Railroad Company in 1873.
Today in history, A machine for making shredded wheat breakfast cereal is patented in 1893.
Today in history, Synthetic vitamin K is produced for the first time in 1939.
Today in history, Singer Chubby Checker (see picture below) releases “The Twist,” creating a new dance craze. The song had been released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters the previous year but got little attention in 1960.
Michael Morse's Blog 