1775 – American Revolution begins – Lexington Common, shot “heard round the world.”
1837 – Cheyney University forms as the Institute for Colored Youth.
1861 – Lincoln orders blockade of Confederate ports (Civil War).
1892 – Charles Duryea takes 1st American-made auto out for a spin (Mass).
1897 – 1st Boston Marathon won by John J. McDermott in 2:55:10. Becomes the world’s oldest annual marathon.
1919 – Leslie Irvin of US makes 1st parachute jump & free fall.
1924 – “National Barn Dance” premieres on WLS Chicago.
1932 – President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week.
1934 – Shirley Temple appears in her 1st movie, “Stand Up & Cheer.”
1945 – Rodgers & Hammerstein musical “Carousel” opens on Broadway.
1945 – US offensive against Shuri-barrier on Okinawa.
1955 – The German automaker Volkswagen, after six years of selling cars in the United States, founds Volkswagen of America in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to standardize its dealer and service network.
1960 – Comiskey Park’s famed “exploding” scoreboard begins operating.
1965 – At a cost of $29,000, the outer Astrodome ceiling is painted because of sun’s glare, this causes the grass to die.
1967 – “Casino Royale” James Bond comedy film starring David Niven and Peter Sellers premieres. Based on the Ian Fleming novel.
1972 – “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” opens at Playhouse NYC for 1,065 performances.
1982 – Sally Ride announced will be 1st American woman astronaut.
1989 – Violet assault and rape of jogger Trisha Meili in NYC’s Central Park. Known as the Central Park jogger incident it became according to the NY Times “one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980s.”
1993 – After a 51 day siege by the FBI 76 Branch Davidians die in a fire near Waco, Texas (accident, suicide, tear gas are disputed causes).
1994 – Supreme Court outlaws excluding people from juries because of gender.
2011 – Fidel Casto resigns from the Communist Party of Cuba’s central committee after 45 years of holding the title.
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