1497 – John Cabot claims Eastern Canada for England (believes he has found Asia in Nova Scotia)
1853 – US President Franklin Pierce signs the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 square-miles from Mexico for $10 million (now southern Arizona and New Mexico)
1882 – National League expels umpire Richard Higham for dishonesty.
1894 – Decision to hold modern Olympics every 4 years.
1916 – Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract.
1930 – 1st radar detection of planes, Washington, D.C.
1938 – 500 ton meteorite lands near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1947 – Flying saucers sighted over Mount Rainier by pilot Ken Arnold.
1947 – Jackie Robinson swipes home for 1st of 19 times in his career.
1949 – “Hopalong Cassidy” becomes 1st network western (NBC)
1957 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment in Roth v. United States.
1961 – Beatles record “If You Love Me Baby”
1972 – Wake Island becomes unincorporated territory of US (US Air Force)
1975 – Eastern 727 crashes at JFK Airport, NY, kills 113.
1982 – US Supreme Court rules president can’t be sued for actions in office.
1986 – US Senate approves “tax reform”
1992 – Commissioner Fay Vincent permanently bans Steve Howe from baseball.
2004 – Capital punishment is declared unconstitutional in New York.
2018 – Women drive for the first time in Saudi Arabia after ban is lifted.
2019 – US President Donald Trump imposes sanctions on Iran, targeted at Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in response to the shooting down of a US drone.
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