1881 – Barnum & Bailey Circus, traveling as “The Greatest Show on Earth”, debuts at Madison Square Garden in New York City following the merger of two existing circus groups.
1911 – North Dakota enacts a hail insurance law.
1922 – WBT AM in Charlotte, NC begins radio transmissions.
1925 – Great Tri-State Tornado: Monstrous F5 (over 300 mph) tornado roars 219 miles across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana; kills 695, injures over 2000, and destroys 15,000 homes.
1931 – 1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Shick)
1938 – NY 1st requires serological blood tests of pregnant women.
1942 – 2 black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox, they are allowed to work out.
1945 – US Army Air Force completes largest bombing raid on Berlin Germany; Over 1200 bombers drop 3,000 tons of explosives.
1952 – 1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia)
1959 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill.
1965 – Poppin’ Fresh Pillsbury DoughBoy introduced.
1972 – Memphis’ Larry Miller sets ABA record of 67 points in a game.
1982 – Singer Teddy Pendergrass’ spinal cord severed in a car accident.
1985 – Capital Cities Communications Inc acquires ABC for $3.5 billion, first transfer of ownership of a TV network.
1987 – Gerber survey finds most popular names for newborns are Jessica and Mathew.
1992 – American businesswoman Leona Helmsley sentenced to 4 years for tax evasion…”We don’t pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes”
2002 – 17th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Isaac Hayes; Brenda Lee; Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers; Gene Pitney; Ramones; Talking Heads; Chet Atkins; and Jim Stewart.
2003 – FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company’s top executives.
2014 – US closes the Syrian embassy in Washington & expels all Syrian diplomats.
2019 – “Historic to catastrophic flooding” faced by Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota according to the US National Weather Service.
About Author
