1869 – The Charles, considered the world’s first “oil tanker”, departs from the United States headed for Europe with a bulk capacity of 7,000 gallons of oil.
1916 – German saboteurs blow up a munitions plant on Black Tom Island, New Jersey.
1928 – George Eastman shows first amateur color motion picture to guests at his New York house including Thomas Edison.
1932 – X Summer Olympic Games open in Los Angeles, USA.
1937 – 1st Penquin book is published, starting the paperback revolution.
1942 – FDR signs bill creating women’s Navy auxiliary agency (WAVES)
1945 – After delivering the Atomic Bomb across the Pacific, the cruiser USS Indianapolis is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-58. 880 of the crew died, many after being attacked by sharks, the inspiration for the movie Jaws.
1948 – Professional wrestling premieres on prime-time network TV (DuMont)
1954 – Elvis Presley joins the Memphis Federation of Musicians, Local 71.
1956 – US motto “In God We Trust” authorized.
1965 – LBJ signs Medicare bill, which goes into effect in 1966.
1966 – US airplanes bombs demilitarized zone in Vietnam.
1971 – US Apollo 15 (Scott & Irwin) lands on Mare Imbrium on the Moon.
1975 – US Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa disappears in suburban Detroit; Hoffa legally declared dead in 1982.
1982 – Atlanta Braves remove Chief Noc-A-Homa to make rooms for more seats.
1984 – Holly Roffey, age 11 days, is the youngest ever to receive a heart transplant.
1990 – Five Bank of Credit & Commerce members found guilty of money laundering.
2002 – The accounting law referred to as “The Sarbanes Oxley Act” signed into law by President George W. Bush.
2003 – The last ‘old style’ Volkswagon Beetle rolls off the assembly line in Mexico.
2013 – Wikileaks discloser Bradley (later Chelsea) Manning convicted of 17 espionage charges.
2017 – Russian President Vladimir Putin announces American diplomats in Russia cut by 755 in response to American sanctions.
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