- 1619: America's first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Virginia.
- 1674: French Jesuit explorer Father Marquette established a mission
at what is now Chicago.
- 1791: Britain's Observer newspaper, the oldest Sunday newspaper in
the world, was first published.
- 1812: The power mower was patented by Peter Gaillard of Lancaster,
Pa.
- 1816: James Monroe was elected fifth president of the United States.
- 1829: Britain abolished the practice of "suttee" in India - the
widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre.
- 1839: The Whig Party opened a national convention in Harrisburg,
Pa., during which delegates nominated William Henry Harrison for
president.
- 1844: James K. Polk was elected to be the 11th U.S. President.
- 1875: William Marcy Tweed, the "Boss" of New York City's Tammany
Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled the country.
- 1892: Gen.Francisco Franco, Spanish dictator, was born.
- 1915: F.F. Fletcher became the first admiral to receive the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
- 1915: The Ku Klux Klan received a charter from Fulton County, Ga.
- 1923: Cecil B. DeMille's first version of "The Ten Commandments"
premiered in Hollywood.
- 1927: Duke Ellington's big band opened the famed Cotton Club in
Harlem.
- 1930: The Vatican approved the rhythm method for birth control.
- 1931: "Frankenstein" opened at the Mayfair. Boris Karloff received
fourth billing at the end of the movie.
- 1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Federal Alcohol
Control Administration.
- 1942: U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time
in World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the
dismantling of the Works Progress Administration, which had been
created to provide jobs during the Great Depression.
- 1943: Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis announced any
baseball club may sign blacks.
- 1945: The Senate approved American participation in the United
Nations.
- 1976: Elizabeth Taylor married future senator John Warner in her
seventh trip down the aisle.
- 1976: Tommy Bolin, the lead guitarist with Deep Purple, died of a
heroin overdose at a Miami hotel.
- 1978: Dianne Feinstein was named San Francisco's first female mayor.
- 1980: Two months after the death of drummer John Bonham, the
remaining members of Led Zeppelin announced the end of the group.
- 1982: China adopted its constitution.
- 1991: Florida resident Patricia Bowman testified at William Kennedy
Smith's trial in West Palm Beach that Smith had raped her the
previous Easter weekend.
- 1991: Pan American World Airways ceased operations.
- 1991: Journalist Terry Anderson, the last American and longest-held
Western hostage in Lebanon, was freed by his Islamic Jihad captors
after being held for 2,454 days.
- 1996: The Orlando Magic scored 57 points in 27-point loss to
Cleveland Cavaliers, matching NBA record for fewest points since
inception of the 24-second clock in 1954-55.
- 1996: NASA's first Mars rover was launched from Cape Canaveral; it
landed successfully on July 4, 1997.
*Happy Birthday*
----------------
- Max Baer Jr., 61, actor, "The Beverly Hillbillies"
- Tyra Banks, 25, model/actress
- Jeff Bridges, 49, actor
- Wink Martindale, 64, game show host
- Marisa Tomei, 34, actress
- Patricia Wettig, 47, actress, "thirtysomething"
- Cassandra Wilson, 43, jazz singer