This Date in History

959

Edgar I is declared King of all England, setting the Brittans in rule for the next 100 years, before William the Conqueror comes in and takes control.
1207
King Henry III of England is born.
1795
Belgium surrenders to Napoleon, making them a French territory until 1815, when Napoleon's defeat put them back in the hands of the Dutch.
1800
Spain cedes Louisiana to France in the Treaty of San Ildefonso, paving the way for Thomas Jefferson's Louisana Purchase three years later.
1869
The world's first postcard is issued by the Austrian government, postage paid.
1880
Thomas Edison opens the first electric lamp factory in America.
1881
Engineer William Boeing, whose work on aerodynamics ushered in a new era of planes and jets, is born.
1890
The United States Congress officially establishes Yosemite National Park as a federal park.
Actor Stanley Holloway (My Fair Lady, The Lavender Hill Mob, Hamlet) is born.
1891
Stanford University opens for enrollment.
1903
The first game of the modern World Series is played between the Boston Pilgrims and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The great pianist Vladimir Horowitz is born.
1908
Henry Ford introduces his Model T car, which will revolutionize the automaking industry within the decade.
1910
The Los Angeles Times building is destroyed by a large bomb. Twenty workers and citizens are killed. Two union men confess to the bombing, a reaction to anti-labor editorials in the paper.
Outlaw and bank robber Bonnie Parker, of Bonnie and Clyde fame, is born.
1918
The eminent soldier and exaggerator T.E. Lawrence overthrows the city of Damascus.
1920
Oscar-winning actor Walter Matthau (The Bad News Bears, Charade, The Odd Couple) is born.
1921
Actor James Whitmore (Kiss Me, Kate, Them!, Shawshank Redemption) is born.
1924
Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist is born.
Former United States President Jimmy Carter is born.
1927
Actor and spokesperson Tom Bosley ("Happy Days", "Father Dowling Mysteries") is born.
1928
Actor Laurence Harvey, who turned in a chilling performance in 1962's The Manchurian Candidate as the hypnotized Raymond Shaw, is born.
Actor George Peppard, star of Breakfast at Tiffany's and How the West Was Won but most famous for his role as Hannibal Smith on TV's "The A-Team", is born.
1930
Actor Richard Harris (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Gladiator, Camelot) is born.
1931
The George Washington Bridge opens for traffic, connecting New York and New Jersey for the first time by bridge.
1935
Broadway and movie icon Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music) is born.
1936
Generalissimo Francisco Franco is named head of the Nationalist government in Spain, directly leading to the Spanish Civil War.
Actress Stella Stevens, most famous for her role in the Irwin Allen disaster epic The Poseidon Adventure, is born.
1938
Nazi Germany annexes the Sudetenland, part of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement strategy.
1945
Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew is born.
1947
Actor Stephen Collins, who plays the father on the acclaimed TV series "7th Heaven", is born.
1949
Mao Zedong declares himself ruler of the People's Republic of China.
1950
Comedic actor Randy Quaid (National Lampoon's Vacation, Independence Day, Kingpin) is born.
1958
NASA is officially created by Congress in order to further America's quest to visit outer space.
1960
Nigeria and Cyprus are both granted independence by the United Kingdom.
1962
Johnny Carson sits behind the desk of the Tonight Show for the first time, a late-night tradition that would last for thirty years.
Actor Esai Morales (La Bamba, "NYPD Blue") is born.
1963
Home run-swatting first baseman Mark McGwire, who briefly held the record for most home runs in a single season with 70, is born.
1969
Concorde 001, the first jet built by the new French air company, breaks the sound barrier, the first commercial plane to do so.
1971
Walt Disney World opens for business in Orlando, Florida.
1975
The "Thrilla in Manila" takes place, with Muhammad Ali defeating Joe Frazier in a highly-publicized boxing match.
1979
Sovereignty of the Panama Canal is returned to Panama by the United States, but it will be ten years and an invasion before the canal is fully in Panama's control.
1982
Eleven years after the park opened, Walt Disney World announces the opening of its newest extension, EPCOT Center, a stunning vision of the world of tomorrow.
1985
Children's author E.B. White, most famous for his books Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, passes away.
British garage rapper Dizzee Rascal is born.

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