Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1636

Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts. The original name was Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was the first school of higher education in America.

1776

The Battle of White Plains took place during the American Revolutionary War.

1793

Eli Whitney applied for a patent for the cotton gin.

1886

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland. The statue weighs 225 tons and is 152 feet tall. It was originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World."

1904

The St. Louis Police Department became the first to use fingerprinting.

1919

Congress enacted the Volstead Act, which provided for enforcement of Prohibition, over President Wilson's veto.

1922

Fascism came to Italy as Benito Mussolini took control of the government.

1940

Italy invaded Greece during World War II.

1949

U.S. President Harry Truman swore in Eugenie Moore Anderson as the U.S. ambassador to Denmark. Anderson was the first woman to hold the post of ambassador.

1958

The Roman Catholic patriarch of Venice, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was elected Pope, taking the name John XXIII.

1962

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

1965

Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

1965

The Gateway Arch along the waterfront in St. Louis, MO, was completed.

1976

Former Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman entered a federal prison camp in Safford, Ariz., to begin serving his sentence for Watergate related convictions.

1984

The New York City Marathon was marred by its first fatality when a French runner collapsed and died.

1985

John A. Walker Jr. and his son, Michael Lance Walker, pled guilty to charges of spying for the Soviet Union.

1993

Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, called for a complete blockade of Haiti to force out the military leaders.

1994

U.S. President Clinton visited Kuwait and implied that all the troops there would be home by Christmas.

1996

The Dow Jones Industial Average gained a record 337.17 points (or 5%). The day before the Dow had dropped 554.26 points (or 7%).

1998

An Air China jet was hijacked and flown to Taiwan by pilot Yuan Bin. He was upset with his pay and working conditions. The plane arrived safely and Yuan Bin was taken into custody.