1867 – Alaska purchase: US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,300,000 ($109 million in 2018), roughly 2 cents an acre.
1870 – 15th Amendment to the US constitution is adopted, guarantees right to vote regardless of race.
1909 – New York’s Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan & Queens.
1945 – World War II: a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1 to Americans.
1955 – 27th Academy Awards: “On the Waterfront”, Marlon Brando & Grace Kelly win.
1964 – Astronaut John Glenn withdraws from Ohio senate race.
1970 – “Applause” opens at Palace Theater for 900 performances.
1981 – 43rd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Indiana beats North Carolina, 63,50; Hoosiers’ future Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas is named Tournament Most Valuable Player.
1981 – US President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, three others are also wounded.
1982 – 3rd space shuttle mission – Columbia 3 lands at White Sands, NM.
1984 – World’s most valuable tip – New York police detective Robert Cunningham offers waitress Phyllis Penzo half of $1 lottery ticket, next day they win $6 million.
1985 – PGA Tournament Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: John Mahaffey wins by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Larry Mize.
1990 – Jack Nicklaus makes his debut on the Senior PGA Tour with a 71 (-1) in the first round of The Tradition at Desert Mountain; wins the event by 4 strokes from Gary Player.
1997 – 16th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Old Dominion, 68-59; Volunteers 5th national title.
2001 – At 15 years, 9 months American swimmer Michael Phelps breaks 200m butterfly world record at the US World Championship trials at Austin, Texas; becomes youngest male to set a world mark.
2012 – Mastercard and Visa announce a massive breach in security with over ten million compromised credit card numbers.
2017 – North Carolina repeals its controversial bathroom law that restricted transgender use.
2020 – Three out of four Americans now ordered to stay home due to COVID-19 as states of Virginia, Maryland, Arizona and Florida State lockdowns.
2020 – International Olympic Committed announces postponed 2020 Summer Olympic Games will be held July 23 – August 8 in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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