1880 – Best selling American novel “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” by soldier Lew Wallace is published.
1910 – 1st possible movie stunt: man jumps into the Hudson river from a burning balloon.
1925 – US & Italy sign peace accord about war debt.
1926 – The first recorded aerial bombing on US soil took place in Williamson County, Illinois, during a feud between rival liquor gangs, the Sheltons and the Birgers.
1933 – 1st Sunday football game in Philadelphia (previously illegal)
1936 – Oakland Bay Bridge opens.
1941 – Alma Heflin, the first American female test pilot for commercial aircraft, made her first test flight for the Piper Aircraft Corporation, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
1946 – Walt Disney’s “Song Of South” released.
1952 – Philadelphia A’s pitcher Bobby Shantz wins AL MVP.
1956 – Largest observed iceberg, 208 by 60 miles, 1st sighted.
1966 – Buzz Aldrin takes the first ‘space selfie’, a photo of himself performing extravehicular activity in space during the Gemini program.
1972 – 22nd NASCAR Sprint Cup: Richard Petty wins.
1980 – NYC Mayor Ed Koch admits to trying marijuana.
1984 – Space shuttle astronauts snared a satellite, 1st space salvage.
1987 – Heavy snow closes schools from DC to Maine.
1995 – Dan Marino breaks Fran Tarkenton’s NFL all-time passing yardage mark of 47,003.
1998 – Vice-President of the United States Al Gore symbolically signs the Kyoto Protocol.
2001 – In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 on its way to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 160 on board and five on the ground.
2018 – Former US First Lady Michelle Obama publishes her memoir “Becoming”
2019 – Former Houston Astro MLB pitcher Mike Fiers reveals team secretly “stole signs” via camera from visiting teams 2015-17; communication between opposing pitcher & catchers intercepted and relayed to Astros batters.
2019 – Disney launches its streaming service Disney+.
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