Category: Today In History

1370 – Building begins of the Bastille in Paris 1500 – Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers Brazil and claims it for Portugal 1838 – English steamship Sirius docks in New York after Atlantic crossing. The journey lasted longer than expected, and when coal ran low the crew burned cabin furniture, spare yards, and even one mast. Home of...

1867 – The United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000, or 2 cents an acre 1909 – Queensborough Bridge, a double-decked cantilever bridge, opens linking Manhattan and Queens 1950 – Phototransistor invention announced in Murray Hill, New Jersey. 1961 – The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed in New York. The treaty updates the Paris Convention, signed on July...

1795 Beethoven debuts as pianist in Vienna at age 24. Thirty-two years later he is buried in Vienna, 20,000 people attended his funeral. 1798 Republic of Switzerland forms 1867 Congress approves building of Lincoln Memorial 1941 First performance of Benjamin Britten’s “Requiem Symphony” 1961 After a 4½ year trial, Nelson Mandela is acquitted on treason charge 1974 Mariner 10’s, first fly-by of Mercury, returns photos 1976 Eight Ohio National Guardsmen indicted...

1840  Dr. John William Draper takes first photo of the Moon The first ever photo of the moon, taken by John Williams Draper 1903 Wright brothers obtain airplane patent 1919 Benito Mussolini forms Fascist movement in Milan, Italy 1942 US move native-born of Japanese ancestry into detention centers 1944 Nicholas Alkemade falls 5,500 meters (18,000 feet) without a parachute and lives. That number was surpassed...

37 – The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius’ will and proclaims Caligula emperor. 1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake. 1673 – Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers 1881 – Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth opens in Madison Square Garden 1891 – Britain is...

 Samuel Cole opens the first tavern in Boston. 1791 – First US internal revenue act, which taxed distilled spirits and carriages. 1803 – First impeachment trial of a federal judge, John Pickering, begins. He was officially the first judge to be impeached in 1804 on the grounds of drunkenness and unlawful rulings. 1845 – Florida became the 27th U.S. state....