From the ArcaMax Publishing, History & Quotes Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/quotes/s-569505-767200
In 1847, the first U.S. postage stamps were issued.
In 1859, the first intercollegiate baseball game was played in
Pittsfield, Mass. Amherst beat Williams, 66-32.
In 1867, Canada was granted its independence by Great Britain. It
consisted at the time of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and future
provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
In 1874, the Philadelphia Zoological Society, the first U.S. zoo,
opened to the public.
In 1893, U.S. President Grover Cleveland underwent secret surgery to
remove a cancerous growth in his mouth. The operation didn't become
public knowledge until a newspaper article about it was published on
Sept. 22, 1917 -- nine years after Cleveland's death.
In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders led the charge up Cuba's
heavily fortified San Juan Hill in a key Spanish-American War battle.
In 1916, in the worst single day of casualties in British military
history, 20,000 soldiers were killed, 40,000 wounded in a massive
offense against German forces in France's Somme River region during
World War I.
In 1932, the Democrats nominated Franklin Delano Roosevelt for
president. FDR eventually was elected to four consecutive terms.
In 1941, NBC broadcast the first FCC-sanctioned TV commercial, a spot
for Bulova watches shown during a Dodgers-Phillies game. It cost
Bulova $9.
In 1946, the United States conducted its first post-war test of the
atomic bomb, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, known as the Soundabout, in U.S.
stores. It sold for about $200.
In 1990, the West and East German economies were united as the
deutsche mark replaced the mark as currency in East Germany.
In 1991, the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist.
In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton unveiled a plan for logging in
federal old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest that would also
protect the northern spotted owl.
In 1994, the U.N. Security Council authorized a commission to
investigate "acts of genocide" in Rwanda.
In 1996, a dozen members of a paramilitary organization were arrested
in Arizona and charged with plotting to bomb government buildings.
In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China after 99 years as a British
territory.
In 2002, cannon fire and bombs from a U.S. Air Force AC-130 struck a
town in southern Afghanistan, killing about 50 people, including
members of a wedding party. U.S. officials said the plane had been
fired on.
Also in 2002, in a rare high-altitude accident, a passenger airliner
collided with a cargo plane over Germany, killing all 71 aboard.
In 2004, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, looking tired and
shaky, appeared before a special tribunal in Baghdad for the first
time to face charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.
Also in 2004, dynamic Hollywood legend Marlon Brando died of lung
failure. He was 80.
In 2005, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the U.S.
Supreme Court, announced she planned to retire.
In 2006, a car bomb killed 62 people and injured another 114 at a
popular market in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in northwest
Baghdad.
Also in 2006, Israel launched an air strike that hit the Gaza office
of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and set the building on
fire. Haniyeh wasn't in the building at the time.
In 2007, British authorities arrested six doctors in the botched
bombings in London and at the Glasgow airport in Scotland. The
doctors, who worked at Britain's National Health Service, were
reported to be from the Middle East or India.
Also in 2007, Moshe Katsav stepped down as president of Israel, a post
he had held since 2000. Rape charges against him were dropped in
exchange for a guilty plea to sexual harassment.
And, violent deaths were reported on the increase in Afghanistan where
officials said NATO airstrikes over the last two days of June had
claimed 45 civilians and 62 Taliban fighters.
In 2008, the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver agreed to pay more than
$5.5 million to settle lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse by priests.