Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1793

The Louvre Museum, in Paris, opened to the public for the first time.

1805

The "Corps of Discovery" reached the Pacific Ocean. The expedition was lead by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis. The journey had begun on May 14, 1804, with the goal of exploring the Louisiana Purchase territory.

1889

Montana became the 41st state.

1892

Former President Cleveland beat incumbent Benjamin Harrison and became the first (and, to date, only) president to win non-consecutive terms in the White House.

1895

Wilhelm Roentgen while experimenting with electricity discovered the scientific principle involved and took the first X-ray pictures.

1910

William H. Frost patented the insect exterminator.

1923

Adolf Hitler launched his first attempt to seize power with a failed coup in Munich, Germany, that came to be known as the Beer-Hall Putsch.

1932

New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover for the presidency.

1933

President Roosevelt created the Civil Works Administration, designed to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed.

1942

American and British forces landed in French North Africa during World War II.

1950

During the Korean conflict, the first jet-plane battle took place as U.S. Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown shot down a North Korean MiG-15.

1954

The American League approved the transfer of the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team to Kansas City, MO.

1956

After turning down 18,000 names, the Ford Motor Company decided to name their new car the "Edsel," after Henry Ford's only son.

1959

Elgin Baylor of the Minneapolis Lakers, scored 64 points and set a National Basketball Association scoring record.

1960

Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency.

1966

Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts became the first black to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote.

1966

Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California.

1979

U.S. Senators John Warner (R-VA) and Mac Mathias (R-MD) introduced legislation to provide a site on the National Mall for the building of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1980

Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California announced that they had discovered a 15th moon orbiting the planet Saturn.

1981

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek asserted that Egypt was "an African State" that was "neither East nor West".

1985

A letter signed by four American hostages in Lebanon was delivered to The Associated Press in Beirut. The letter, contained pleas from Terry Anderson, Rev. Lawrence Jenco, David Jacobsen and Thomas Sutherland to President Reagan to negotiate a release.

1987

A bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded as crowds gathered in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, for a ceremony honoring Britain's war dead. Eleven people were killed.

1988

Vice President George Bush won the presidential election, defeating Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

1990

U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered more troop deployments in the Persian Gulf, adding about 150,000 soldiers to the multi-national force fighting against Iraq.

1991

The European Community and Canada imposed economic sanctions on Yugoslavia in an attempt to stop the Balkan civil war.

1992

About 350,000 people rallied in Berlin against racist violence.

1993

Five Picasso paintings and other artwork were stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, Sweden. The works were valued at $52 million.

1994

Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 40 years and won a majority in the Senate in midterm elections.

1997

Chinese engineers diverted the Yangtze River to make way for the Three Gorges Dam, the most ambitious construction project in modern China's history.

2000

A statewide recount began in Florida, which emerged as critical in deciding the winner of the 2000 presidential election. Early that day, VicePresident Al Gore telephoned Texas Gov. George W. Bush to concede, but called back about an hour later to retract

2000

Waco special counsel John C. Danforth released his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.

1656

Edmond Halley was born. Halley, an astronomer-mathmatician, was the first to calculate the orbit that was named after him. The comet makes an appearance every 76 years.

1887

Doc Holliday died at the age of 35. The gun fighting dentist died from tuberculosis in a sanitarium in Glenwood Springs, CO.

1986

Vyacheslav M. Molotov died at age 96. During World War II, Molotov ordered the mass production of bottles filled with flammable liquid later called the "Molotov cocktail."