Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1507

Leonardo DaVinci was commissioned by the husband of Lisa Gherardini to paint her. The work is known as the Mona Lisa.

1631

The Reverend John Eliot arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the first Protestant minister to dedicate himself to the conversion of Native Americans to Christianity.

1796

John Adams was elected the 2nd U.S. President.

1839

The first Opium War between China and Britain broke out.

1868

Republican Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential election over Democrat Horatio Seymour.

1892

The first automatic telephone went into service at LaPorte, IN. The device was invented by Almon Strowger.

1896

Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency.

1900

The first automobile show in the United States opened at Madison Square Garden in New York under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.

1903

Panama proclaimed its independence from Colombia.

1908

Republican William Howard Taft was elected president, outpolling William Jennings Bryan.

1934

The first race track in California opened under a new pari-mutuel betting law.

1936

President Roosevelt was re-elected in a landslide over Republican challenger Alfred M. "Alf" Landon.

1941

U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Grew warned that the Japanese may be planning a sudden attack on the U.S.

1952

Frozen bread was offered for sale for the first time in a supermarket in Chester, NY.

1953

The Rules Committee of organized baseball restored the sacrifice fly. The rule had not been used since 1939.

1957

The Soviet Union launched into orbit Sputnik 2, the second manmade satellite; a dog on board named Laika was sacrificed in the experiment.

1964

Lyndon B. Johnson soundly defeated Republican challenger Barry Goldwater to win a White House term in his own right, winning 61% of the vote and 44 states.

1964

Washington D.C. residents are able to vote in a presidential election for the first time, casting the majority of their votes for Lyndon Johnson.

1969

U.S. President Richard M. Nixon addresses the nation on television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity on the Vietnam War effort and to support his policies.

1970

Salvador Allende was inaugurated as president of Chile.

1973

NASA launches the Mariner 10 toward Mercury. On March 29, 1974, it becomes the first space probe to reach that planet.

1975

"Good Morning America" premiered on ABC-TV.

1975

Four Bangladeshi politicians are killed in the Dhaka Central Jail.

1978

Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1979

Five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot dead and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis during a "Death to the Klan" anti-Ku Klux Klan rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.

1982

The Salang Tunnel fire in Afghanistan kills 150-2000 people.

1986

The Compact of Free Association becomes law, granting the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands independence from the United States.

1986

The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been secretly selling weapons to Iran in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

1987

China told the U.S. that it would halt the sale of arms to Iran.

1988

Sri Lankan Tamil mercenaries attempt to overthrow the Maldivian government. At President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's request, the Indian military suppresses the rebellion within 24 hours.

1991

Israeli and Palestinian representatives held their first-ever face-to-face talks in Madrid, Spain.

1992

William Jefferson Clinton was elected the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President Bush.

1992

Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

1992

Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeats Republican President George H. W. Bush and Independent candidate Ross Perot in the 1992 United States presidential election.

1994

Susan Smith of Union, S.C., was arrested for drowning her two young sons, nine days after claiming the children had been abducted by a black carjacker.

1995

Typhoon Angela ripped through the Philippines, killing more than 880 people.

1995

U.S. President Clinton dedicated a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to the 270 victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

1997

Attorney General Janet Reno said there was no evidence that President Clinton broke the law with White House coffees and overnight stays for big contributors.

1997

The Supreme Court let stand California's groundbreaking Proposition 209, a ban on race and gender preference in hiring and school admission.

1997

The United States imposes economic sanctions against Sudan in response to its human rights abuses of its own citizens and its material and political assistance to Islamic extremist groups across the Middle East and East Africa.

1998

Former pro wrestler Jesse ''The Body'' Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota.

1998

A state-run newspaper in Iraq urged the country to prepare for to battle "the U.S. monster."

1999

Aaron McKinney was convicted of murder in the beating of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard.

2003

In Kabul, Afghanistan, a post-Taliban draft constitution was unveiled.

2014

One World Trade Center officially opens in New York City, replacing the Twin Towers after they were destroyed during the September 11 attacks.

2020

The 2020 United States presidential election takes place between Democratic Joe Biden and Republican incumbent President Donald Trump. On November 7, Biden was declared the winner amid reports of election irregularies.

1793

Stephen F. Austin was born. He was the principal founder of Texas.

1998

Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, died at the age of 83.