Historical Events can also be a reason to celebrate. As we remember the past, we can celebrate the effects that events have had on our current lives. These events can serve as a theme for our party!
For example, the initial operation of a passenger train can be the impetus to have a party that revolves around historical events impacting various aspects of transportation. A game at this party could be one of trivia that revolves around all kinds of transportation questions.
The debut of a particular movie in history could evolve into a party recognizing stars of a by-gone era and the movies they starred in. Be sure to check out our Birthday pages as well for specific birth dates that can be used.
History buffs might like to take a date out of History and have it turn into a “This Date in History” party. Complete with trivia and memorabilia to supplement the fun. In fact, how about taking your own birthday or that of a friends and tie in anything related to that day and use it as a base for your special celebration. Historical happenings, famous birthdays, etc. can be entwined to make the event one that will stand out for years to come. The ideas are only limited by your own lack of imagination. Ideas abound! Just look around you, explore this site and others like it and let your creativity explode. It may take a while, but once you get going, you will have a hard time stopping utilizing historical events. Let the creative juices flow, dare to be different. You may just be the one to start a “fad” in party etiquette. You may be the one to start a new tradition or two (or three) within your social network of family and friends.
There is no time like the present to get started. What are you waiting for? Start reviewing these Historical Events and get your party mojo going.
JANUARY
01.
02.
(1788) Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the Constitution.
(1893) The post office issued the first commemorative stamps, depicting events in the life of Christopher Columbus.
(1929) The U.S. and Canada agreed on join action to preserve Niagara Falls.
(1983) The musical "Annie" closed after 2,377 Broadway performances.
03.
(1521) Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
(1938) The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.
(1959) President Dwight Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state.
(1995) The Postal Service raised the price of a first-class stamp to 32 cents.
(2000) The last new daily "Peanuts" strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.
04.
05.
(1896) An Austrian newspaper reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen of a type of radiation now known as X-ray.
(1925) Nellie Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Whoming, becoming the first female governor in U.S. history.
(1975) "The Wiz" a musical version of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" with an all-black cast, opened on Broadway.
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(1987) The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 2,000 for the first time, ending the day at 2,002.25
09.
(1788) Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
(1861) Mississippi seceded from the Union.
(1959) The Western series "Rawhide" premiered on CBS-TV.
(1968) The Surveyor 7 space probe made a soft landing on the moon, marking the end of the American series of unmanned explorations of the lunar surface.
(2006) "The Phantom of the Opera" passed "Cats" to become the longest running sow in Broadway history.
10.
(1776) Thomas Paine published the pamphlet, "Common Sense."
(1861) Florida seceded from the Union.
(1863) London's Metropolitan, the world's first underground passenger railway, opened.
(1946) The first man-made contact with the moon was made as radar signals were bounced off the lunar surface.
(1971) "Masterpiece Theatre" premiered on PBS.
(1978) The Soviet Union launched two cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz capsule for a rendezvous with the Salyut 6 space laboratory.
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(1915) The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.
(1971) The television sitcom "All in the Family" premiered on CBS.
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(1847) Ivan the Terrible was crowned czar of Russia.
(1883) The U.S. Civil Service Commission was established.
(1919) Nebraska, Wyoming and Missouri became the 36th, 37th and 38th states to ratify Prohibition, which went into effect a year later.
(1964) The musical "Hello, Dolly!" opened on Broadway; beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
(1969) Two manned Soviet Soyuz spaceships became the first vehicles to dock in space and transfer personnel.
17.
(1806) Thomas Jefferson's daughter, Martha, gave birth to James Madison Randolph, the first child born in the White House.
(1917) The United States paid Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
(1920) Prohibition began in the United States as the 18th Amendment to the Consitituion took effect. (It as later repealed by the 21st Amendment.)
18.
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(1861) Georgia seceded from the Union.
(1955) A presidential news conference was filmed for television for the first time, with the permission of president Dwight Eisenhower.
20.
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(1938) Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" as performed publicly for the first time, in Princeton, NJ.
(1968) The television comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" premiered on NBC.
(1970) The fist regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 began in New York and ended in London some 6 1/2 hours later.
23.
(1789) Georgetown University was established in what now is Washington.
(1845) Congress decided that all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of each November.
(1849) Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive an M.D. degree. The Bristol, England, native was awarded her degree by the Medical Institution of Geneva, N.Y.
(1977) The TV miniseries "Roots," based on Alex Haley's novel, began airing on ABC.
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(1845) Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.
(1861) Kansas BECAME THE 34TH STATE OF THE uNION.
(1900) Baseballs original American League was organized with teams in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas city, Minneapolis AND Buffalo.
30.
(1964) The U.S. launched Ranger 6, an unmanned spacecraft carrying television cameras; as planned, it crash-landed on the moon.
31.
(1958) The United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer 1.
(1971) Astronauts Alan Shepard Jr., Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.
(1990) McDonald's Corp. Opened its first fast-food restaurant in Moscow.
FEBRUARY
01.
02.
(1536) The Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.
(1653) New Amsterdam, now New York City, was incorporated.
03.
04.
05.
06.
(1778) The United States won official recognition from France with the signing of treaties in Paris.
(1788) Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
(1933) The Constitution's 20th Amendment took effect, designating January 20th as the date of presidential inaugurations and moving the start of congressional terms from March to January.
(1971) The Apallo 14 astronauts prepared to head back to Earth after a 33 hour stay on the moon.
07.
(1827) The first ballet performed in the United States, "The Deserter," was presented at the Bowery Theater in New York.
(1964) The Beatles began their first American tour as they arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
(1971) Women in Switzerland won the right to vote.
(1984) Space shuttle Challenger astronaut Bruce McCandless II along with Robert Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk which lasted nearly six hours.
08.
09.
(1870) The U.S. Weather Bureau was established.
(1964) The Beatles made their first live American TV appearance, on CSB' "The Ed Sullivan Show."
10.
11.
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13.
(1635) Boston Latin School was founded, making it the first secondary school in North America.
(2005) Ray Charles' final album, "Genius Loves Company" won eight Grammy awards.
14.
(1776) The American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the fist time as it arrived in France.
(1903) The Department of Commerce and Labor was established. (It was divided into separate departments of Commerce and Labor in 1913.)
(1912) Arizona became the 48th state.
(1920) The League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago, IL.
(1929) The St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone's gang were gunned down.
(1962) The first lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of the White House.
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MARCH
01.
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APRIL
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02.
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(1492) Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to finance Christopher Columbus' voyage to seek out a westward ocean passage to Asia
(1861) The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union
(1964) Ford Motor Co. introduced the Mustang
(1964) Jerrie Mock of Columbus, OH became the first female pilot to make a solo flight around the world
(1970) The astronauts of Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft
(1991) The Down Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time
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(1792) Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a young French military officer, wrote the words and music to "La Marseillaise", which would become his country's national anthem
(1898) Spain declared war on the U.S. after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba
(1953) British statesman, Winston Churchill, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. The former prime minister also won the Nobel Prize in literature later that year "for his mastery of historical and biographical description."
(1970) China launched its first satellite
(2005) Pope Benedict XVI took over as leader of the Roman Catholic Church
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MAY
01:
(1707) A union between England and Scotland was formed and it was named Britain
(1786) Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" premiered in Vienna
(1893) President Grover Cleveland opened the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago's Jackson Park
(1931) The Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City
(1931) The Baha'i House of Worship was opened in Wilmette, IL
(1941) The Orson Welles motion picture "Citizen Kane" opened in New York
(1951) Minnie Minoso made his Chicago White Sox baseball debut becoming the first black player to play for the Chicago South Siders
(1967) Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vega
(1971) Amtrak, the national passenger rail service began operation
(1978) Ernest Morial was inaugurated as the first black mayor of New Orleans, LA
02:
(1890) The Oklahoma Territory was organized
(1936) "Peter and the Wolf" a symphonic tale for children by Sergei Prokofiev, had its world premier in Moscow
(1945) The Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin, and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.
(1965) The "Early Bird" satellite was used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic Ocean
(1987) Alysheba won the 113th Kentucky Derby to earn a record $618,600
(1997) Labor Party leader Tony Blair, at age 44, became Britain's youngest prime minister in 185 years
(2000) Jockey, Julie Krone, became the first female elected to thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame
03:
(1802) Washington was incorporated as a city
(1979) Margaret Thatcher and Britain's Conservative Party won a general election, making Thatcher her nation's first female prime minister.
(2003) The state of New Hampshire awoke to find its granite symbol of independence and stubbornness, the Old Man of the Mountain, had collapsed into rubble
04:
05:
(1494) During his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus first sighted Jamaica
(1961) Astronaut, Alan Shepard, became America's first space traveler with a 15 minute suborbital flight
06:
07:
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(1541) Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River south of present day Memphis, TN
09:
(1502) Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere
(1754) A cartoon in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette showed a snake cut into sections, each part representing an American colong; the caption read, "Join or Die"
(1926) Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first men to fly over the North Pole
10:
(1775) Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured the British held fortress at Ticonderoga, NY
(1869) A golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States
(1908) The Nation's first Mother's Day observances were held in Philadelphia, PA and Grafton, WV
(1940) British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill formed a new government
11:
12:
(1978) The Commerce Department said hurricanes no longer would be given female names exclusively
13:
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(1602) Cape Cod was discovered by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold
(1918) U.S. airmail began service between Washington, Philadelphia and New York
(1930) Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard a United Airlines flight between San Francisco and Cheyenne, WY
(1940) Nylon stockings went on sale for the first time in the United States
(1963) Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper blasted off on the final mission of the Mercury space progam. He circled the Earth 22 times in 34 hours
16:
(1866) Congress authorized minting of the 5 cent piece.
(1929) The first Academy Awards were presented during a banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (The movie "Wings" won "Best Production" while Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor were named Best Actor and Best Actress
(1975) Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest
(1992) The space shuttle, Endeavour, completed its maiden voyage with a safe landing in California.
17:
(1792) The New York Stock Exchange was founded by brokers meeting under a tree on what is now Wall Street.
(1875) The first Kentucky Derby was run; the winner was Aristides.
(2012) The US Census Bureau announced that for the first time, Latino, Asian, mixed-race and Africa-American babies made up the majority of the births in the US.
18:
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(1536) Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery.
(1588) The Spanish Armada set sail for England.
(1999) The much anticipated movie prequel "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" opened.
20:
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(1761) The first U.S. life insurance policy was issused in Philadelphia
(1868) Seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000. in cash, gold and bonds in the Great Train Robbery near Seymour, IN
(1969) The lunar module of Apollo 10 flew to within 9 miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing
(1992) After a reign of nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson stepped down as host of NBC's "Tonight" show
23:
(1868) Christopher Latham Sholes, a Wisconsin journalist and state senator, received a patent for an invention he call the Type-Writer
(1947) Congress over-rode the veto of President Harry Truman and enacted the Taft-Hartley Act, which limited some activities of labor unions
24:
(1844) Samuel Morse transmitted the message, "What hath God wrought!" from Washington to Baltimore as he opened America's first telegraph line.
(1883) The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic.
(1962) Astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.
(1992) Al Unser Jr. became the first second-generation winner of the Indianapolis 500.
25:
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(1805) Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned king of Italy.
(1864) The Montana Territory was organized.
(1969) the Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful eight day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.
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(1790) Rhode Island became the 13th original colony to ratify the U.S. Constitution
(1848) Wisconsin joined the Union as the 30th state
(1942) Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra recorded Irving Berlin's "White Chrristmas" in Los Angeles for Decca Records
(1943) Norman Rockwell's portrait of "Rosie the Riveter" appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post
(1953) Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the top of Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak
(1999) The space shuttle, Discovery, completed the first-ever docking with the International Space Station.
30:
(1431) Joan of Arc was condemned as a heretic and was burned to death at the stake in Rouen, France
(1539) Spanish explorer, Hermando de Soto, landed in Florida
(1854) the territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established
(1922) The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. by Chief Justice William Howard Taft
(1935) Babe Ruth played his final major league game, finishing his baseball career in a Boston Braves uniform
(1971) The American space probe, Mariner Nine, blasted off from Cape Kennedy, FL on a journey to Mars
31:
(1977) The trans-Alaska oil pipeline was completed after three years of work
JUNE
01.
02.
(1886) President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom in a White House ceremony. He remains the only president to marry in the Executive Mansion while in office.)
(1924) Congress granted citizenship to all American Indians.
(1966) The U.S. space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.
03.
(1775) George Washington took command of the Continental Army in Cambridge, Mass.
(2005) A NASA space probe, Deep Impact, hit its comet target in a mission to learn how the solar system formed.
04.
05.
(1783) Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier demonstrated their hot-air balloon in a 10 minute flight over Annonay, France.
06.
07.
(1769) Frontiersman Daniel Boone began his exploration of present day Kentucky.
(1972) The musical "Grease" opened on Broadway.
08.
09.
(1973) Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths to become horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.
10.
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12.
(1939) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated in Cooperstown, N.Y.
(1997) Major League Baseball began interleague play during the regular season.
13.
(1888) Congress created the Department of Labor.
(1927) Aviation hero Charles Lindbergh was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York.
(1983) The U.S. space probe Pioneer 10 launched in 1972 became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system as it crossed the orbit of the system's outermost planet.
14.
(1775) The Continental Army was founded.
(1777) The Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag.
(1954) President Dwight Eisenhower signed an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
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(1963) Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go into space after being launched into orbit aboard Vostok 6.
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(1975) The Steven Spielberg shark thriller "Jaws" was released.
21.
(1788) The U.S. Constitution took effect when New Hampshire became the ninth state ot ratify it.
(1834) Inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick was granted a patent on his reaping machine.
(1948) Peter Goldmark of the Columbia Broadcasting System demonstrated his "long-playing" record which revolutionized the recording industry.
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(1870) The first completed section of the famed Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J. was opened to the public.
(1925) Charlie Chaplin's comedy "The Gold Rush" premiered in Hollywood.
27.
(1847) New York and Boston were linked by telegraph wires.
28.
(1894) Congress made Labor Day a holiday for federal employees and the District of Columbia, designating the first Monday in September for observance.
(1996) The Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153 year old men only policy at the South Carolina military school.
(2007) The American bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list.
29.
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(1936) The novel "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell was published in New York.
(1952) "The Guiding Light", a popular radio program, made its debut as a television soap opera.
JULY
01.
02.
03.
04.
(1776) The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
(1802) The U.S. Military Academy opened at West Point, N.Y.
(1845) Author Henry David Thoreau began his two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Mass.
(1959) America's 49 star flat honoring Alaska statehood was officially unfurled.
(1960) America's 50 star flag honoring Hawaii statehood was officially unfurled.
05.
(1865) William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London.
(1946) The bikini bathing suit made its debut at a fashion show in Paris
(1954) Elvis Presley's first commercial recording session took place in Memphis, TN.
06.
07.
(1898) The United States annexed Hawaii.
(1958) President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill.
(1999) Bill Clinton toured the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, making him the first president since Franklin Roosevelt to visit an Indian reservation.
08.
09.
10.
(1890) Wyoming became the 44th state.
(1938) Industrialist Howard Hughes, who was accompanied by a crew of four, completed a flight around the world.
(1973) The Bahamas became independent after three centuries of British rule.
(2003) Astronomers announced they had found the oldest and most distant planet yet, a huge, gaseous sphere 13 billion years old and 5,600 light years away from the earth.
11.
(1798) the U.S. Marine Corps were formally re-established by a congressional act that also created the U.S. Marine Band.
(1934) President Franklin Roosevelt became the first commander in chief to travel through the Panama Canal.
(1977) The Medal of Freedom was awarded post-humously to Martin Luther King Jr.
(1979) The abandoned U.S. space station Skylab made a spectacular return to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere and showering debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.
(1985) Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball to strike out 4,000 Batters as he fanned Danny Heep of the New York Mets.
(2001) The Democratic-led Senate voted to bar coal mining and oil and gas drilling on pristine federally protected land in the western United States.
12.
(1862) Congress authorized the Medal of Honor.
(2003) The USS Ronald Reagan, the first carrier named for a living president, was commissioned in Norfolk, VA.
13.
14.
(1789) Igniting the French Revolution, the citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released seven inmates.
(1881) Outlaw William Bonney Jr., alias Billy the Kid, was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, NM.
(1965) The American space probe Mariner 4 flew by Mars, sending back photographs of the planet.
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(1821) Spain ceded Florida to the United States.
(1955) Disneyland was opened in Anaheim, CA.
(1975) An Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in the first orbital linkup between the two superpowers.
(1989) White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk recorded his 2,000th career hit, against the New York Yankees at Comiskey Park.
18.
(A.D. 64) The Great Fire of Room began.
(1872) Britain introduced the concept of voting by secret ballot.
(1927) Ty Cobb hit safely for the 4,000th time in his career.
(1936) The Spanish Civil War began.
(1940) The Democratic National Convention in Chicago nominated President Franklin Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term in office.
(2012) It as announced that the John Hancock Observatory in Chicago was being sold to Montparnasse 56 Group, a Paris-based observation-deck operator.
19.
(1969) Apollo 11 and its astronauts - Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buss" Aldrin and Michael Collins - went into orbit around the moon.
(1975) The Apollo and Soyuz space capsules separated after being linked in orbit for two days.
20.
21.
(1861) The First Battle of Bull Run was fought at Manassas, VA; it was a Confederate victory.
(1969) Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin blasted off from the moon.
22.
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24.
(1866) Tennessee became the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War.
(1915) The excursion charter boat, Eastland, capsized at a dock along the Chicago River, drowning 844 of the 2,573 people aboard.
(1969) The Apollo 11 astronauts - two of whom had been the first men to set foot on the moon - splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
(1975) An Apollo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, completing a mission that included the first-ever docking with a Soyuz capsule from the Soviet Union.
25.
(1866) Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to the rank of general of the Army.
(1868) Congress passed an act creating the Wyoming Territory.
(1878) The first Chinese diplomatic mission to the United States arrived in Washington.
(1952) Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
(1984) Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space.
26.
(1775) Benjamin Franklin became the first postmaster general.
(1908) U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte issued an order creating an investigative agency that was a forerunner of the FBI.
(1971) Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL.
(1996) Swimmer, Amy Van Dyken, became the first U.S. woman to win four gold medals at an Olympics as she captured the 50-meter freestyle in Atlanta.
27.
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(1868) The 14th Amendment to the Constitution took effect, guaranteeing due process of law.
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AUGUST
01.
(1790) The first U.S. census was completed, showing a population of nearly 4 million people.
(1876) Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.
(1936) The Olympic Games opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.
(1981) The rock music video channel MTV made its debut.
02.
(1776) Members of the Continental Congress began signing the Declaration of Independence.
(1790) The enumeration for the first U.S. census began; the final total was 3,929,214.
(1876) "Wild Bill" Hickok was fatally shot from behind while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. Hickok was holding two aces and two eights, a combination that became known as the "dead man's hand."
03.
04.
(1830) Surveyor James Thompson completed the first survey and plan for the city of Chicago.
(1985) Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox gained his 300th victory.
05.
06.
07.
(1782) George Washington established the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers.
(1789) The War Department was established by Congress.
(1959) The satellite Explorer 6 transmitted the first view of Earth from space.
(1971) Apollo 15 returned to Earth safely despite the failure of one of its three parachutes during splash down.
(1974) French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the World Trade Center towers in New York.
08.
(1963) Britain's "Great Train Robbery" took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.
(1992) The U.S. basketball "Dream Team" clinched the gold at the Barcelona Summer Olympics, defeating Croatia 117-85.
09.
(1790) The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage, becoming the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.
(1854) Henry David Thoreau published "Walden" which described his experiences living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.
(1902) Edward VII was crowned king of England following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
(1930) A forerunner of the cartoon character Betty Boop made her debut in Max Fleischer's animated short "Dizzy Dishes."
(2002) Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 600th homer, becoming the fourth major leaguer to reach the mark.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
(1848) The Oregon Territory was established.
(1935) The Social Security Act became law, creating unemployment insurance and pension plans for the elderly.
15.
(1914) The Panama Canal was opened to traffic.
(1939) The film "The Wizard of Oz" premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA
(1969) The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.
(2001) Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own.
16.
(1861) President Abraham Lincoln prohibited the states of the Union from trading with the seceding states of the Confederacy.
17.
18.
(1587) Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, NC
(1894) Congress established the Bureau of Immigration
(1938) President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the United States and Canada.
19.
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21.
(1680) Pueblo Indians captured Santa Fe in present-day New Mexico after driving out the Spanish.
(1858) Senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held the first of their seven famous debates.
(1878) The American Bar Association was founded in Saratoga, N.Y.
(1959) President Dwight Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state.
22.
(1762) Ann Franklin became the first female editor of an American newspaper, the Newport, R.I. Mercury.
(1775) England's King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of open rebellion.
(1787) Inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates of the Continental Congress.
(1846) The United States annexed New Mexico.
(1851) The schooner American outraced the Aurora off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup.
(1902) President Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. chief executive to ride in an automobile, in Hartford. CT.
23.
(1775) Britain's King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of "open and avowed rebellion."
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25.
(1718) Hundreds of French immigrants arrived in Louisiana, some settling at what is now New Orleans
(1875) Matthew Webb Became the first person to swim the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France in 22 hours.
(1981) The U.S. spacecraft Voyager 2 came within 63,000 miles of Saturn's cloud cover, sending back pictures and data about the ringed planet.
26.
27.
28.
(1609) English navigator Henry Hudson discovered Delaware Bay.
(1774) Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint, was born in New York.
(1833) England's Parliament banned slavery in the British empire.
(1917) 10 suffragists were arrested as they picketed outside the White House.
(1922) Radio Station WEAF in New York City aired the first radio commercial, a 10-minutes ad for a real estate company. The station charged $100.
(1963) Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous, "I Have a Dream" speech to 200,000 people at a peaceful civil rights rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
(1996) The troubled 15-year marriage of Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana ended officially with the issuance of a divorce decree.
29.
(1965) Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad, splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after eight days in space.
(1966) The Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
30.
(30 B.C.) By some estimates, the seventh and most famous queen of ancient Egypt known as Cleopatra committed suicide.
(1963) The hotline communications link between Washington and Moscow went into operation.
(2002) With just hours to spare, baseball averted a strike; it was the first time since 1970 that players and owners had agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement with a work stoppage.
31.
SEPTEMBER
01.
(1878) The first woman hired as a telephone operator, Emma Nutt, took over a switchboard in Boston.
(1897) The first section of Boston's new subway system was opened.
(1905) Alberta and Saskatchewan became the eighth and ninth provinces of Canada.
(1995) A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, OH
02.
03.
04.
(1609) British explorer Henry Hudson discovered the island of Manhattan.
(1781) Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers.
(1882) The Pearl Street electric power station, built by Thomas Edison, began operation in New York City.
(1888) George Eastman patented a roll-film camera and registered his Kodak trademark.
(1951) President Harry Truman spoke to the nation from San Francisco in the first coast to coast live television broadcast.
(1957) Ford Motor Company introduced its ill-fated Edsel line.
05.
(1698) Russia's Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.
(1882) The nation's first Labor Day parade was held in New York.
(1958) The novel, "Doctor Zhivago" by Russian author Boris Pasternak was first published in the United States.
06.
(1909) American explorer Robert Peary sent word he had reached the North Pole five months earlier.
(1916) The first self-serve grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was opened in Memphis, TN by Clarence Saunders. (The store was set up to allow customers to hand-pick their groceries, rather than request them from a clerk.)
(1952) Canadian television broadcasting began in Montreal.
07.
08.
(1865) A Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in North America at present day St. Augustine, FL
(1892) An early version of the Pledge of Allegiance appeared in "The Youth's Companion."
(1930) Scotch cellophane tape made its debut as a sample of the tape, invented by Richard Drew of 3M, was shipped to a Chicago firm that specialized in wrapping bakery goods in cellophane.
(1966) The science-fiction TV series "Star Trek" premiered on NBC.
09.
10.
11.
(1677) Maine became the first American colony to pass a law against liquor sales.
(1777) American forces under Gen. George Washington were defeated by the British in the Battle of Brandywine near Wilmington, Delaware.
(1789) Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first treasury secretary.
(1841) All but one member of President John Tyler's Cabinet resigned to protest Tyler's veto of a banking bill. (Only Secretary of State DAniel Webster remained.)
(1954) The Miss America Pageant was shown on television for the first time.
(1961) The children's program "Bozo's Circus" made its TV debut on WGN.
(1962) The Beatles recorded their first single ("Love Me Do" and "P.S., I Love You") at Abbey Road Studios in London.
12.
(1609) English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river than now bears his name.
(1953) Massachusetts Sen. John Kennedy married Jcqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, RI.
(1966) "The Monkees" debuted on NBC.
(1998) Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa became the fourth player in major league baseball history to reach 60 homers in a single season.
13.
(1948) Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Mine was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.
14.
15.
(1776) The British forces occupied New York City during the American Revolution.
(1949) "The Lone Ranger" premiered on ABC television with Clayton Moore as the masked hero and Jay Silverheels as Tonto.
16.
17.
18.
(1793) President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol
(1851) The first edition of The New York Times was published.
(1927) The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System, later called CBS, made its debut with a network of 16 radio stations.
(1999) Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa became the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit 60 home runs twice.
19.
(1777) During the Revolutionary War, American soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga.
(1934) Bruno Hauptmann was arrested in New York and charged with the kidnap-murder of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.
(1957) The United States conducted its first underground nuclear test in the Nevada desert.
(1970) "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" debuted on CBS.
20.
(1519) Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain to find a western passage to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. (He would die on the voyage, but one of his ships eventually became the first to circle the Earth.)
(1873) Panic swept the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of railroad bond defaults and bank failures.
21.
22.
(1776) Nathan Hale was hanged as a Revolutionary War spy by the British in New York. (His last words: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
(1862) President Abraham Lincoln unveiled his Emancipation Proclamation, in which he called for freedom for slaves in all rebel states by January 2, 1863.
(1927) Heavyweight boxing champion, Gene Tunney, defeated Jack Dempsey in the famous "long-count" bout in Soldier Field.
(1969) Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hit his 600th career home run during a game in San Diego.
(1985) Rock and country artists staged "FarmAid" in Champaign, IL to aid debt-ridden U.S. farmers.
23.
24.
25.
(1493) Christopher Columbus sailed from Cadiz, Spain with a flotilla of 17 ships on his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere.
(1513 Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama to reach the Pacific Ocean.
(1789) The nation's first Congress, meeting in New York, adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of them would become the Bill of Rights.)
(1956) The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable went into service.
(1981) Sandra Day O'Conner was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court.
26.
(1087) William II, the son of William the Conqueror, was crowned King of England.
(1777) British forces captured Philadelphia in the Revolutionary War.
(1960) The first of four televised debates between presidential candidates Richard Nixon and John Kennedy was held in Chicago.
(1969) The album, "Abbey Road" by The Beatles was released.
27.
(1779) John Adams was named to negotiate the Revolutionary War's peach terms with Britain.
(1854) The firs great disaster involving an Atlantic liner occurred when the steamship Arctic sank with 300 people.
(1954) "Tonight" with hose Steve Allen premiered on NBC.
(1998) St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire hit his 69th and 70th home runs of the season to establish a major league record, surpassing Roger Maris' 38 year old mark. (The Cubs' Sammy Sosa finished the season behind him with 66 homes.)
(1999) Detroit's Tiger Stadium closed after 87 years, after the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-2.
28.
29.
(1829) London's reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty.
(1957) the New York giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds, losing to Pittsburgh 9-1, before moving to San Francisco.
30.
OCTOBER
01.
02.
(1950) The comic strip "Peanuts", created by Charles Schulz, was first published in nine newspapers.
(1967) Thurgood Marshall became the first black member of the U.S. Supreme Court when he was sworn in as an associate justice.
03.
(1863) President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day.
(1955) "Captain Kangaroo" premiered on CBS.
(1955) "The Mickey Mouse Club" premiered on ABC.
(1960) "The Andy Griffith Show" premiered on CBS.
(1961) "The Dick Van Dyke Show," also starring Mary Tyler Moore, made its debut on CBS.
(1962) Astronaut Wally Schirra blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard the Sigma 7 on a nine-hour flight.
(1974) Frank Robinson became major-league baseball's first black manager as he was named to lead the Cleveland Indians.
(2003) A tiger attacked magician Roy Horn of the duo Siegfried & Roy during a performance in Las Vegas, leaving the illusionist in critical condition on his 59th birthday.
04.
(1931) The comic strip "Dick Tracy", created by Chester Gould, made its debut.
(1957) The television series "Leave It To Beaver" premiered on CBS.
(1958) The first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service was begun by British Overseas Airways Corp. with flights between London and New York.
(1965) Pope Paul VI became the first reigning pope to visit the Western Hemisphere as he addressed the United Nations.
(1995) Pope John Paul II arrived in the United States for a five-day visit.
(1997) Hundreds of thousands of men attended a Promise Keepers rally on the Mall in Washington in one of the largest religious gatherings in U.S. history.
(2001) Rickey Henderson homered to pass Ty Cobb and become baseball's career leader in runs scored with 2,246 during San Diego's 6-3 win over Los Angeles.
05.
06.
(1979) Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit the White House.
07.
08.
09.
(1002) Leif Ericson, the Norse mariner and adventurer, landed in what is now North America.
(1776) A group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.
(1855) I.M. Singer registered a patent in New York for the first sewing machine motor.
(1888) Washington Monument was opened to the public.
(1930) Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States when she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field in New York to Glendale, CA.
(1936) The first generator at Boulder (now Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.
(1946) The first electric blanket was manufactured in Petersburg, VA.
10.
(1845) The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis MD.
(1886) The tuxedo dinner jacket made its debut at a ball in Tuxedo Park, NY.
(1935) George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess" debuted on Broadway
(1970) Fiji gained its independence from Great Britain.
11.
(1779) Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski was killed at the Battle of Savannah while fighting for American independence.
(1811) The first steam ferry was put into operation between new York City and Hoboken, NJ by inventor John Stevens.
(1890) The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington.
(1968) Apollo 7, the first manned mission of the Apollo series, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham.
(1975) "Saturday Night Live" premiered on NBC with comic George Carlin as guest host.
(1984) Space shuttle astronaut Kathy Sullivan became the first American woman to perform a space walk.
12.
13.
(54) Roman Emperor Claudius I died after being poisoned by his wife.
(1775) The Continental Congress ordered construction of a naval fleet, thereby launching the Navy.
(1792) The cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.
(1845) Texas ratified a state constitution.
14.
(1066) The Normans, under William the Conqueror, defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
(1947) U.S. Air Force Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager became the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound.
(1964) Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded the Nobel Peach Prize for his work in civil rights.
(1968) The first live telecast from a staffed U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
15.
(1860) Eleven-year -old Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y., wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he could improve his appearance by growing a beard.
(1914) With the support of President Wilson, the Clayton Antitrust Act, which made it illegal for companies to buy competitors' stock, was passed.
(1951) "I Love Lucy". starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, had its television debut.
(1966) The U.S. Department of Transportation was created.
(2003) China became the third country to launch a staffed space mission.
16.
(1846) Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston was the site of the first surgical operation in which ether was used.
(1943) Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly officially opened the subway system.
(1793) French queen Marie Antoinette was guillotined for treason.
(1962) The Cuban Missile Crisis began.
(1964) China detonated its first atomic bomb.
(1978) John Paul II was elected pope.
(1995) Hundreds of thousands of black men gathere in Washington for the "Million Man March" led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
17.
(1777) British General Burgoyne surrendered in Saratoga, N.Y. during the American Revolution.
(1931) Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
(1933) Albert Einstein arriaved in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
(1979) Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peach Prize for her work with the poor in Calcutta, India.
(1989) An earthquake measuring 7.1 in magnitude killed 67 and injured over 3,000 in San Francisco, CA.
18.
(1767) The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon line, was agreed upon.
(1867) The United States took possession of Alaska from Russia.
(1892) the first long-distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was formally opened.
19.
20.
(1803) The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
(1903) A joint commission ruled in favor of the U.S. in a boundary dispute between the District of Alaska and Canada.
(1992) In the first World Series game to be played outside the United States, the host Toronto Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2.
21.
22.
23.
(1910) Blanche Scott became the first woman to fly solo when her airplane rose 12 feet over a park in Fort Wayne, IN
(1915) 25,000 women marched in New York to demand the right to vote.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
NOVEMBER
01.
(1512) Michelangelo finished painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.
(1604) William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London.
(1776) The Stamp Ac went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.
(1870) The U.S. Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.
02.
03.
(1903) Panama proclaimed its independence from Colombia.
(1957) The Soviet Union launched Sputnik II, the second manmade satellite, into orbit; on board was a dog named Laika that died in the experiment.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08.
(1793) The Louvre began admitting the public even though the French museum had been officially open since August.
(1965) The soap opera "Days of Our Lives" premiered on NBC.
(1980) Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, announced that the U.S. space probe Voyager I had discovered a 15th moon orbiting the planet Saturn.09.
10.
(1775) The U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress.
(1919) The American Legion held its first national convention, in Minneapolis, MN.
(1969) The children's educational program "Sesame Street" made its debut on PBS.
11.
12.
13.
(1789) Benjamin Franklin sent a letter to a friend in which he wrote that "in this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes."
(1927) The Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River was opened, linking New York and New Jersey.
(1942) The minimum draft age was lowered to 18.
(1971) The unmanned U.S. spacecraft mariner 9 rocketed into orbit around Mars.
14.
(1851) Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" was first published.
(1889) Inspired by Jules Verne, New York World reporter, Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) set out to travel around the world in less than 80 days. (She made the trip in 72 days.)
(1922) The British Broadcasting Corp. began its domestic radio service.
(1944) Tommy Dorsey and Orchestra recorded "Opus No. 1" for RCA Victor.
(1968) Yale University announced it was going c0-educational.
(1969) Apollo 12 blasted off for the moon.
(1972) The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 1,000 level for the first time.
15.
(1777) The Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation precursor to the Constitution. (Ratification by the 13 states was completed in 1781.)
(1806) Army officer and explorer Zebulon Pike found the 14,110 foot Colorado mountain that would be named Pikes Peak in his honor.
(1926) The National Broadcasting Co. debute with a radio network of 24 stations.
(1966) The flight of Gemini 12 ended as astronauts James Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. splashed down safely in the Atlantic.
16.
17.
(1800) Congress held its first session in Washington in the partly completed Capitol.
(1869) the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.
(1889) the Union Pacific Railroad Co. began direct daily service between Chicago and Portland, Oregon and between Chicago and San Francisco.
18.
(1789) Benjamin Franklin sent a letter to a friend in which he wrote that "in this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes."
(1927) The Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River was opened, linking New York and New Jersey.
(1942) The minimum draft age was lowered to 18.
(1971) The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Mariner 9 rocketed into orbit around Mars.
19.
20.
(1620) Peregrine White was born aboard the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay 0 the first child born of English parents in present-day New England.
(1789) New Jersey ecame the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
(1929) The radio program "The Rise of the Goldbergs" debuted on the NBC Blue Network.
21.
(1789) North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
(1934) The Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes," starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney, opened in New York.
(1942) The Alaska highway across Canada was formally opened.
(1980) An estimated 83 million TV viewers tuned in to the CBS primetime soap opera "Dallas" to find out "who shot J.R." (The shooter turned out to be J.R. Ewing's sister-in-law, Kristin.)
(1995) The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time.
22.
(1906) the SOS signal for ships in distress was adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.
(1963) President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as his successor.
23.
24.
(1859) British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.
(1871) the national Rifle Association was incorporated.
25.
26.
27.
(1910) New York's Pennsylvania Station opened.
28.
29.
(1929) Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard Byrd radioed that he had made the first airplane flight over the South Pole.
(1961) A chimpanzee named Enos was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited the Earth twice before returning.
30.
DECEMBER
01.
02.
03.
04.
(1965) The United States launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. James Lovell aboard.
05.
(1776) The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA.
(1978) The American space probe Pioneer Venus 1, orbiting Venus, began beaming back its first information and picture of the planet.
06.
(1790) Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia.
(1884) Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument.
(1947) Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman.
07.
08.
(1863) President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan for the reconstruction of the South.
(1941) The United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
09.
10.
11.
(1816) Indiana became the 19th state.
(1946) The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.
(2005) Paramount Pictures announced it was buying independent film studio DreamWorks SKG Inc.
12.
(1787) Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
(1889) George Grant patented the golf tee.
(1897) "The Katzenjammer Kids," the pioneering comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks, made its debut in the New York Journal.
(1925) The first motel -- the Motel Inn -- opened in San Luis Obispo, CA.
13.
(1577) Sir Francis Drake of England set out with five ships on a nearly three-year journey that would take him around the world.
(1993) Space shuttle Endeavour returned from its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
14.
15.
(1791) The Bill of Rights went into effect after ratification by Virginia.
(1938) Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial took place in Washington.
(1939) The movie "Gone With the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta, Georgia.
16.
17.
18.
(1787) New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
(1892) Tchailkovsky's "The Nutcracker" publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.
(1956) Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
19.
(1842) The United States recognized the independence of Hawaii.
(1843) "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.
(1932) The British Broadcasting Corp. began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia.
20.
(1790) The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
(1820) Missouri imposed a $1 per year bachelor tax on unmarried men 21 to 50.
(1860) South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.
(1946) The Frank Capra film "It's A Wonderful Life" had a preview showing for charity at new York City's Globe Theatre, a day before its official world premiere.
21.
22.
(1864) During the Civil War, Union Gemeral William T. Sherman sent a message to President Abraham Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."
(2005) Astronomers announced the discovery of two more rings encircling the planet Uranus, the first additions to the planet's ring system in nearly two decades.
23.
24.
25.
(336) The first recorded celebration of Christmas on December 25th took place in Rome.
(1066) William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.
(1818) "Silent Night" was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria.
26.
(1865) James Nason, of Franklin, Massachusetts received a patent for a coffee percolator.
(1944) Tennessee Williams' play "The Glass Menagerie" was first performed publicly, in Chicago.
27.
(1831) Naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. (Darwin's discoveries during the trip helped to form the basis of his theories on natural selection and evolution.)
(1904) James Barries play "Peter Pan: the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow UP" opened at the Duke of York's Theater in London.
(1927) the musical play "Show Boat," with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York.
(1932) Radio City Music Hall opened in New York.
(1947) The children's television program "Howdy Doody" debuted on NBC.
(1968) Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.
(1970) "Hello, Dolly!" closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.
(1999) space shuttle Discovery and its seven member crew returned to Earth after fixing the Hubble Space Telescope.
28.
29.
(1845) Texas was admitted as the 28th state.
(1913) The first movie serial, "The Adventures of Kathlyn," premiered in Chicago.
30.
31.
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