Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1775

Benjamin Franklin became postmaster-general.

1788

New York became the 11th state to ratify the Constitution.

1903

Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson and Sewall K. Crocker, along with their dog Bud, became the first people to drive a car across the United States, going from San Francisco to New York in 63 days.

1908

U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte issued an order creating an investigative agency that was a forerunner of the FBI.

1945

Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labor Party. Clement Attlee became the new prime minister.

1947

President Truman signed the National Security Act, creating the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1948

President Truman signed executive orders prohibiting discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and federal employment.

1952

Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; John J. Sparkman was nominated for vice president.

1952

King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

1953

Fidel Castro began a revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. Castro ousted Batista six years later.

1956

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

1964

Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.

1968

Pop band the Jackson 5, who had 9-year-old Michael Jackson as their lead singer, was signed by Motown Records. Less than two years later, they would reach #1 on the Billboard charts with their hit songs "I Want You Back" and "ABC."

1986

Kidnappers in Lebanon released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months.

1990

The U.S. House of Representatives reprimanded Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., for ethics violations.

1990

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a young woman, later identified as Kimberly Bergalis, had been infected with the AIDS virus, apparently by her dentist.

1990

President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, public accommodations and other categories.

1998

AT&T and British Telecommunications PLC announced they were forming a joint venture to combine international operations and develop a new Internet system.

2016

Hilary Clinton was officially nominated by the Democratic Party as their candidate for President, making her the first woman to be nominated by a major political party.

2016

Hillary Clinton becomes the first female nominee for President of the United States by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

2016

Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth.

1952

Argentina's first lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires at age 33.

2023

Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer, songwriter, and activist. Her 1990 album, with it' lead single, "Nothing Compares 2 U", was honored as the top world single of the year at the Billboard Music Awards. (b. 1966