02/08/2025
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This Day In History archive

1916 – Battle of Verdun, longest of World War I, officially ends in German defeat after nine months of fighting and almost 1 million total casualties.

1917 – The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorizing prohibition of alcohol, is approved by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.

1920 – First postage stamps printed without the words United States or US.

1944 – US Destroyers Hull, Spence & Monaghan sink in a typhoon off the Philippines.

1946 – TV’s first network dramatic serial “Faraway Hill” ends a 2-month run.

1956 – “To Tell the Truth” debuts on CBS-TV.

1956 – Phil Rizzuto signs as a New York Yankees radio-TV announcer.

1957 – World’s first full scale nuclear power plant, for peacetime use only, begins to generate electricity at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania.

1961 – For the second consecutive year, The Association Press names Wilma Rudolph its female athlete of year.

1963 – “The Pink Panther” film premieres, directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Peter Sellers and David Niven, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini.

1965 – Frank Borman and Jim Lovell splash down in the Atlantic after a two-week Gemini 7 mission.

1971 – First Candlelight Processional at EPCOT Center at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

1972 – The United States launches Operation Linebacker II, its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam, as negotiations to end the Vietnam War collapse.

1989 – “I Love Lucy” Christmas episode is shown for the first time in over 30 years.

1996 – TV industry executives agree to adopt a rating system.

2002 – Fashion designer Calvin Klein announces he is selling his company to shirt-maker Phillips-Van Heusen for $430 million.

2011 – The last US troops withdraw from Iraq, formally ending the Iraq War.

2019 – House of Representatives vote to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198)

2023 – British Petroleum joins other companies in pausing transit of ships through the Red Sea, amid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial vessels, with serious implications for global shipping.

Sonny Jones
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