1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fought his last gun battle, confronting Al Updegraff and A.J. Peacock, who were feuding with Masterson’s brother, Jim.
1900 – United States Post Office issued its first stamp booklets, containing 12, 24 or 48 two-cent stamps.
1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument established in Lake Powell, Utah, making it the state’s first national monument.
1922 – Annie Oakley set a women’s record by breaking 100 clay targets in a row from 16 yards away.
1929 – The New York Yankees became the first major league team to consistently wear numbers on the backs of their jerseys with numbers corresponding to the position in the batting order.
1935 – The first radio broadcast of “Fibber McGee & Molly” was aired on NBC and remained popular until it ended in 1959.
1940 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller hurled the first and only Opening Day no-hitter in major league history, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0 at Comiskey Park.
1945 – Battle of Okinawa: United States troops landed and seized the Shima Airfield on le Shima Island near Okinawa during World War II.
1947 – Fire aboard the French-flagged cargo ship SS Grandchamp, which was docked at Port of Texas City, Texas, and loaded with 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate, caused a massive explosion that spread to nearby ships and oil facilities, becoming the deadliest industrial accident in United States history, killing 581 people, including all but one member of the city’s fire department.
1961 – 15th Tony Awards: “Becket” won for Best Play and “Bye Bye Birdie” won for Best Musical.
1962 – Walter Cronkite began anchoring the CBS Evening News. He held the jo until 1981 and was known for his trademark sign-off “And that’s the way it is.”
1972 – Apollo 16 was launched and was the fifth mission to land humans on the Moon. The crew of Commander John Young, Ken Mattingly and Charles Duke spent 71 hours in the Decartes Highlands.
1978 – NBC’s premiered its miniseries “Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss”
1983 – Steve Garvey set a National League record by playing in his 1,118th consecutive game, breaking the record held by Billy Williams.
1993 – A jury reached a guilty verdict in the federal case against two Los Angeles police officers for violating Rodney King’s civil rights. Two officers were acquitted in the beating of King.
2003 – The Washington Wizards’ Michael Jordan played his final NBA game, receiving a 3 minute standing ovation and scoring 15 points in a 107-87 loss at Philadelphia.
2012 – For the first time since 1977 no Pulitzer Prize was awarded for fiction.
2019 – Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson became the highest paid player in NFL history with a 4-year, $140 million extension which included a record $65 million signing bonus.
2020 – A study published in the journal “Science” claimed a multi-decade megadrought was “already under way” in the western United States.
Author: Sonny Jones
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