Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1846

U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.

1865

Four of the conspirators in Abraham Lincoln's assassination - Lewis Powell, Mary Surratt, George Atzerodt and Samuel Arnold- were executed by hanging at what is now Fort McNair in Washington D.C.

1898

The United States annexed Hawaii.

1928

Sliced bread was sold for the very first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.

1930

Construction began on Boulder Dam on the Colorado River. It is now known as Hoover Dam.

1946

Italian-born Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini was canonized as the first American saint.

1949

The police drama ''Dragnet,'' starring Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough, premiered on NBC radio.

1954

Elvis Presley made his radio debut as station WHBQ in Memphis, Tenn., played his first recording for Sun Records, ''That's All Right (Mama).''

1958

Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state as President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into law.

1969

Canada's House of Commons gave final approval to a measure making the French language equal to English throughout the national government.

1981

President Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the United States Supreme Court.

1983

Eleven-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, left for a visit to the Soviet Union at the personal invitation of Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov.

1987

Lt. Col. Oliver North began his long-awaited public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing, telling Congress that he had ''never carried out a single act, not one'' without authorization.

1990

Martina Navratilova won a record ninth women's title at Wimbledon, defeating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1.

1998

A jury in Santa Monica, Calif., convicted Mikail Markhasev of murdering Ennis Cosby, comedian Bill Cosby's only son, during a roadside robbery.

1999

In the first class-action lawsuit by smokers to go to trial, a jury in Miami held cigarette makers liable for making a defective product that causes emphysema, lung cancer and other illnesses.

1999

President Clinton became the first president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to visit an Indian reservation as he toured the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

2007

The "Live Earth" concert series was held in 12 countries across the world in order to raise awareness about climate change. Famous performers included The Police, Madonna, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Linkin Park and many others.