1828 – A patent was issued to Robert Turner for the self-regulating wagon brake.

1833 – The "Factory Act" was passed in England to settle child labor laws.

1842 – The Treaty of Nanking was signed by the British and the Chinese. The treaty ended the first Opium War and gave the island of Hong Kong to Britain.

1885 – The first prizefight under the Marquis of Queensberry Rules was held in Cincinnati, OH. John L. Sullivan defeated Dominick McCaffery in six rounds.

1886 – In New York City, Chinese Ambassador Li Hung-chang’s chef invented chop suey.

1892 – Pop (Billy) Shriver (Chicago Cubs) caught a ball that was dropped from the top of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.

1944 – During the continuing celebration of the liberation of France from the Nazis, 15,000 American troops marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris.

1945 – U.S. General Douglas MacArthur left for Japan to officially accept the surrender of the Japanese.

1949 – At the University of Illinois, a nuclear device was used for the first time to treat cancer patients.

1957 – Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina set a filibuster record in the U.S. when he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes.

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DATES

1609 – Delaware Bay was discovered by Henry Hudson.

1619 – Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor. His policy of "One church, one king" was his way of trying to outlaw Protestantism.

1774 – The first American-born saint was born in New York City. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975.

1811 – Percy Bysshe Shelley and Harriet Westbrook eloped.

1830 – "The Tom Thumb" was demonstrated in Baltimore, MD. It was the first passenger-carrying train of its kind to be built in America.

1833 – Slavery was banned by the British Parliament throughout the British Empire.

1907 – "American Messenger Company" was started by two teenagers, Jim Casey and Claude Ryan. The company’s name was later changedto "United Parcel Service."

1916 – Italy’s declaration of war against Germany took effect duringWorld War I.

1917 – Ten suffragists were arrested as they picketed the White House.

1922 – The first radio commercial aired on WEAF in New York City. The Queensboro Realty Company bought 10 minutes of time for $100.

1922 – The Walker Cup was held for the first time at Southampton, NY. It is the oldest international team golf match in America.

1939 – The first successful flight of a jet-propelled airplane took place. The plane was a German Heinkel He 178.

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1660 – The books of John Milton were burned in London due to his attacks on King Charles II.

1789 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man was adopted by the French National Assembly.

1828 – Uruguay was formally proclaimed to be independent during preliminary talks between Brazil and Argentina.

1858 – The first cabled news dispatch was sent and was published by "The New York Sun" newspaper. The story was about the peace demands of England and France being met by China.

1859 – The first oil well was successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, PA.

1889 – Charles G. Conn received a patent for the metal clarinet.

1889 – Boxer Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey was defeated for the first time of his career by George LaBlanche.

1892 – The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York was seriously damaged by fire.

1894 – The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. The provision within for a graduated income tax was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1912 – Edgar Rice Burroughs’ "Tarzan of the Apes" was published for the first time.

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1057 – Macbeth, the King of Scotland, was killed by the son of King Duncan.

1848 – The dental chair was patented by M. Waldo Hanchett.

1877 – Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA. The letter stated that the word, "hello" would be a more appropriate greeting than "ahoy" when answering the telephone.

1911 – The product Crisco was introduced by Procter & Gamble Company.

1914 – The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic as an American ship sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

1918 – Diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Russia were severed.

1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed in an airplane crash in near Point Barrow, AK.

1939 – "The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA. Judy Garland became famous for the movie’s song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

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1248 – The rebuilding of the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, began after being destroyed by fire.

1756 – Daniel Boone married 16-year-old Rebecca Bryan.

1805 – A peace treaty between the U.S. and Tunis was signed on board the USS Constitution.

1848 – The Oregon Territory was established.

1873 – "Field and Stream" magazine published its first issue.

1880 – The Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany was completed after 632 years of rebuilding.

1888 – A patent for the electric meter was granted to Oliver B. Shallenberger.

1896 – Gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Within the next year more than 30,000 people rushed to the area to look for gold.

1900 – An international force, consisting of eight nations, lifted the siege of Peking. It was an end to the Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at purging China of foreigners.

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1521 – Present day Mexico City was captured by Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez from the Aztec Indians.

1704 – The Battle of Blenheim was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English and Austrian forces.

1792 – French revolutionaries took the entire French royal family and imprisoned them.

1784 – The United States Legislature met for the final time in Annapolis, MD.

1846 – The American Flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles, CA.

1867 – "Under the Gaslight", by Augustin Daly, opened in New York City, NY.

1876 – The Reciprocity Treaty between the U.S. and Hawaii was ratified.

1889 – A patent for a coin-operated telephone was issued to William Gray.

1907 – The first taxicab started on the streets of New York City.

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1676 – "King Phillip’s War" came to an end with the killing of Indian chief King Phillip. The war between the Indians and the Europeans lasted for two years.

1851 – Isaac Singer was issued a patent on the double-headed sewing machine.

1865 – Disinfectant was used for the first time during surgery by Joseph Lister.

1867 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him when he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

1877 – Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and made the first sound recording.

1879 – The first National Archery Association tournament took place in Chicago, IL.

1898 – Hawaii was annexed by the U.S. Hawaii was later given territorial status and was given Statehood in 1959.

1898 – The Spanish-American War was ended with the signing of the peace protocol. The U.S. acquired Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Hawaii was also annexed.

1915 – "Of Human Bondage", by William Somerset Maugham, was first published.

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1860 – The first successful silver mill in America began operations. The mill was in Virginia City, NV.

1874 – A patent for the sprinkler head was given to Harry S. Parmelee.

1877 – The two moons of Mars were discovered by Asaph Hall, an American astronomer. He named them Phobos and Deimos.

1896 – Harvey Hubbell received a patent for the electric light bulb socket with a pull-chain.

1909 – The American ship Arapahoe became the first to ever use the SOS distress signal off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC.

1924 – Newsreel pictures were taken of U.S. presidential candidates for the first time.

1934 – Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay, received federal prisoners for the first time.

1941 – The Atlantic Charter was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

1942 – During World War II, Pierre Laval publicly announced "the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war."

1945 – The Allies informed Japan that they would determine Emperor Hirohito’s future status after Japan’s surrender.

1951 – The first major league baseball game to be televised in color was broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1.

1954 – Seven years of fighting came to an end in Indochina. A formal peace was in place for the French and the Communist Vietminh.

1962 – Andrian Nikolayev, of the Soviet Union, was launched on a 94-hour flight. He was the third Russian to go into space.

1965 – The U.S. conducted a second launch of "Surveyor-SD 2" for a landing on the Moon surface test.

1971 – Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins got his 500th and 501st home runs of his major league baseball career.

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1678 – American Indians sold the Bronx to Jonas Bronck for 400 beads.

1790 – The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage. It was the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.

1831 – The first steam locomotive began its first trip between Schenectady and Albany, NY.

1842 – The U.S. and Canada signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which solved a border dispute.

1848 – Martin Van Buren was nominated for president by the Free-Soil Party in Buffalo, NY.

1854 – "Walden" was published by Henry David Thoreau.

1859 – The escalator was patented by Nathan Ames.

1892 – Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.

1893 – "Gut Holz" was published. It was America’s first bowling magazine.

1910 – A.J. Fisher received a patent for the electric washing machine.

1930 – Betty Boop had her beginning in "Dizzy Dishes" created by Max Fleischer.

1936 – Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics. He was the first American to win four medals in one Olympics.

1942 – Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested Britain. He was not released until 1944.

1942 – CBS radio debuted "Our Secret Weapon."

1944 – The Forest Service and Wartime Advertising Council created "Smokey the Bear."

1945 – The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The bombing came three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. About 74,000 people were killed. Japan surrendered August 14.

1945 – The first network television broadcast occurred in Washington, DC. The program announced the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.

1956 – The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

1965 – Singapore proclaimed its independence from the Malaysian Federation.

1973 – The U.S. Senate committee investigating the Watergate affair filed suit against President Richard Nixon.

1974 – U.S. President Richard Nixon formally resigned. Gerald R. Ford took his place, and became the 38th president of the U.S.

1975 – The New Orleans Superdome was officially opened when the Saints played the Houston Oilers in exhibition football. The new Superdome cost $163 million to build.

1981 – Major league baseball teams resumed play at the conclusion of the first mid-season players’ strike.

1984 – Daley Thompson, of Britain, won his second successive Olympic decathlon.

1985 – Arthur J. Walker, a retired Navy officer, was found guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.

1988 – Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) was traded. The trade was at Gretzky’s request. He was sent to the Los Angeles Kings.

1996 – Boris Yeltsin was sworn in as president of Russia for the second time.

1999 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and his entire cabinet for the fourth time in 17 months.

2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush announced he would support federal funding for limited medical research on embryonic stem cells.

2004 – Donald Duck received the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2004 – Trump Hotel and Casion Resorts announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

from On-This- Day.com

1498 – Christopher Columbus landed on "Isla Santa" (Venezuela).

1619 – The first black Americans (20) land at Jamestown, VA.

1774 – Oxygen was isolated from air successfully by chemist Carl Wilhelm and scientist Joseph Priestly.

1790 – The first U.S. census was completed with a total population of 3,929,214 recorded. The areas included were the present states of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.

1834 – Slavery was outlawed in the British empire with an emancipation bill.

1873 – Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car. The design was done for San Francisco, CA.

1876 – Colorado became the 38th state to join the United States.

1893 – Shredded wheat was patented by Henry Perky and William Ford.

1894 – The first Sino-Japanese War erupted. The dispute was over control of Korea.

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1502 – Christopher Columbus landed at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.

1619 – The first representative assembly in America convened in Jamestown, VA. (House of Burgesses)

1729 – The city of Baltimore was founded in Maryland.

1733 – The first Freemasons lodge opened in what would later become the United States.

1898 – "Scientific America" carried the first magazine automobile ad. The ad was for the Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH.

1932 – Walt Disney’s "Flowers and Trees" premiered. It was the first Academy Award winning cartoon and first cartoon short to use Technicolor.

1937 – The American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) was organized as a part of the American Federation of Labor.

1942 – The WAVES were created by legislation signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The members of the Women’s Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service were a part of the U.S. Navy.

1945 – The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Only 316 out of 1,196 men aboard survived the attack.

1956 – The phrase "In God We Trust" was adopted as the U.S. national motto.

1965 – U.S. President Johnson signed into law Social Security Act that established Medicare and Medicaid. It went into effect the following year.

1968 – Ron Hansen (Washington Senators) made the first unassisted triple play in the major leagues in 41 years.

1974 – The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Nixon for blocking the Watergate investigation and for abuse of power.

1987 – Indian troops arrived in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, to disarm the Tamil Tigers and enforce a peace pact.

1990 – In Spring Hill, TN, the first Saturn automobile rolled off the assembly line.

1998 – A group of Ohio machine-shop workers (who call themselves the Lucky 13) won the $295.7 million Powerball jackpot. It was the largest-ever American lottery.

2000 – Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were married.

2001 – Lance Armstrong became the first American to win three consecutive Tours de France.

2003 – In Mexico, the last ‘old style’ Volkswagon Beetle rolled off an assembly line.

from On-This- Day.com

1821 – Peru declared its independence from Spain.

1865 – The American Dental Association proposed its first code of ethics.

1866 – The metric system was legalized by the U.S. Congress for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States.

1868 – The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect. The amendment guaranteed due process of law.

1896 – The city of Miami, FL was incorporated.

1914 – World War I officially began when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

1932 – Federal troops forcibly dispersed the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington, DC. They were demanding money they were not scheduled to receive until 1945.

1941 – Plans for the Pentagon were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

1942 – L.A. Thatcher received a patent for a coin-operated mailbox. The device stamped envelopes when money was inserted.

1945 – A U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York City’s Empire State Building. 14 people were killed and 26 were injured.

1951 – The Walt Disney film "Alice in Wonderland" was released.

1965 – U.S. President Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

1973 – Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett were married.

1982 – San Francisco, CA became the first city in the U.S. to ban handguns.

1991 – Dennis Martinez (Montreal Expos) pitched the 13th perfect game in major league baseball history.

1994 – Kenny Rogers (Texas Rangers) pitched the 14th perfect game in major league baseball history.

1998 – Bell Atlantic and GTE announced $52 billion deal that created the second-largest phone company.

1998 – Serbian military forces seized the Kosovo town of Malisevo.

1998 – Monica Lewinsky received blanket immunity from prosecution to testify before a grand jury about her relationship with U.S. President Clinton.

2000 – Kathie Lee Gifford made her final appearance as co-host of the ABC talk show "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee."

2006 – Researchers announced that two ancient reptiles had been found off Australia. The Umoonasaurus and Opallionectes were the first of their kind to be found in the period soon after the Jurassic era.

from On-This- Day.com

1765 – Prime Minister of England Lord Greenville resigned and was replaced by Lord Rockingham.

1774 – Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the treaty of Kuchuk-Kainardji, ending their six-year war.

1779 – American troops under General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, NY.

1790 – The District of Columbia, or Washington, DC, was established as the permanent seat of the United States Government.

1791 – Louis XVI was suspended from office until he agreed to ratify the constitution.

1845 – The New York Yacht Club hosted the first American boating regatta.

1862 – David G. Farragut became the first rear admiral in the U.S. Navy.

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1096 – Crusaders under Peter the Hermit reached Sofia, Bulgaria. There they met their Byzantine escort, which brought them safely the rest of the way to Constantinople. by August 1.

1543 – England’s King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.

1690 – Protestant forces led by William of Orange defeated the Roman Catholic army of James II.

1691 – William III defeated the allied Irish and French armies at the Battle of Aughrim, Ireland.

1790 – The French Assembly approved a Civil Constitution providing for the election of priests and bishops.

1806 – The Confederation of the Rhine was established in Germany.

1862 – The U.S. Congress authorized the Medal of Honor.

1864 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln witnessed the battle where Union forces repelled Jubal Early’s army on the outskirts of Washington, DC.

1912 – The first foreign-made film to premiere in America, "Queen Elizabeth", was shown.

1931 – A major league baseball record for doubles was set as the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs combined for a total of 23.

1933 – A minimum wage of 40 cents an hour was established in the U.S.

1941 – Moscow was bombed by the German Luftwaffe for the first time.

1946 – "The Adventures of Sam Spade" was heard on ABC radio for the first time.

1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a highway modernization program, with costs to be shared by federal and state governments.

1954 – The Major League Baseball Players Association was organized in Cleveland, OH.

1957 – The U.S. surgeon general, Leroy E. Burney, reported that there was a direct link between smoking and lung cancer.

1960 – The first Etch-A-Sketch went on sale.

1974 – John Ehrlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Nixon, and three others were convicted of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Daniel Ellsberg’s former psychiatrist.

1982 – "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" broke all box-office records by surpassing the $100-million mark of ticket sales in the first 31 days of its opening.

1982 – The last of the distinctive-looking Checker taxicabs rolled off the assembly line in Kalamazoo, MI.

1984 – Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale named U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York to be his running mate. Ferraro was the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket.

1990 – Russian republic president Boris N. Yeltsin announced his resignation from the the Soviet Communist Party.

1998 – 1.7 billion people watched soccer’s World Cup finals between France and Brazil. France won 3-0.

1999 – Walt Disney Co. announced that it was merging all of its Internet operations together with Infoseek into Go.com.

2000 – Russia launched the Zvezda after two years of delays. The module was built to be the living quarters for the International Space Station (ISS.)

2000 – The movie "X-Men" premiered in New York.

from On-This- Day.com

1609 – The Catholic states in Germany set up a league under the leadership of Maximillian of Bavaria.

1679 – The British crown claimed New Hampshire as a royal colony.

1776 – The statue of King George III was pulled down in New York City.

1778 – In support of the American Revolution, Louis XVI declared war on England.

1821 – U.S. troops took possession of Florida. The territory was sold by Spain.

1832 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoed legislation to re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.

1866 – Edison P. Clark patented his indelible pencil.

1890 – Wyoming became the 44th state to join the United States.

1900 – ‘His Master’s Voice’, was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. The logo of the Victor Recording Company, and later, RCA Victor, shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone machine.

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0118 – Hadrian, Rome’s new emperor, made his entry into the city.

0455 – Avitus, the Roman military commander in Gaul, became Emperor of the West.

1540 – England’s King Henry VIII had his 6-month-old marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled.

1609 – In a letter to the crown, the emperor Rudolf II granted Bohemia freedom of worship.

1755 – General Edward Braddock was killed when French and Indian troops ambushed his force of British regulars and colonial militia.

1776 – The American Declaration of Independence was read aloud to Gen. George Washington’s troops in New York.

1789 – In Versailles, the French National Assembly declared itself the Constituent Assembly and began to prepare a French constitution.

1790 – The Swedish navy captured one third of the Russian fleet at the naval battle of Svensksund in the Baltic Sea.

1792 – S.L. Mitchell of Columbia College in New York City became the first Professor of Agriculture.

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