Also on this day
Lead Story
1789
The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to...
American Revolution
1776
On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress prepares instructions and guidance for the agents appointed to negotiate a treaty between the United States and France. The agents were also instructed to request immediate assistance in securing arms.
Covert French aid began filtering into the colonies soon after the outbreak of...
Automotive
1948
On this day, motorcycle builder Soichiro Honda incorporates the Honda Motor Company in Hamamatsu, Japan. In the 1960s, the company achieved worldwide fame for its motorcycles (in particular, its C100 Super Cub, which became the world’s best-selling vehicle); in the 1970s, it achieved worldwide fame for its affordable, fuel-efficient cars....
Civil War
1827
Union General Henry Slocum is born in Delphi, New York.
In 1852, Slocum graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, seventh in his class of 42. He remained in the military for just four years, serving in Florida and South Carolina. In 1856, he left the service to study law, and by...
Cold War
1953
In a speech that is by turns confrontational and sarcastic, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles declares that the United States will not “cringe or become panicky” in the face of Soviet nuclear weapons. Dulles’ speech indicated that although the Korean War had finally reached a peaceful conclusion, the United...
Crime
1971
Neil LaFeve, the game warden at Sensiba Wildlife Area in Wisconsin, is reported missing. When LaFeve, who was celebrating his 32nd birthday, did not show up to his own party, his wife called the police.
The next morning, authorities found LaFeve’s truck. A pool of blood and two .22-caliber shells...
Disaster
1966
Hurricane Inez slams into the islands of the Caribbean, killing hundreds of people, on this day in 1966. The storm left death and destruction in its wake from Guadeloupe to Mexico over the course of its nearly three-week run. Inez was the most destructive hurricane of the 1966 storm season.
On...
General Interest
622
On this day in 622, the prophet Muhammad completes his Hegira, or “flight,” from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution. In Medina, Muhammad set about building the followers of his religion–Islam–into an organized community and Arabian power. The Hegira would later mark the beginning (year 1) of the Muslim calendar.Muhammad,...
Hollywood
1975
On this day in 1975, Three Days of the Condor, a political thriller directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, opens in New York City. In the film, Redford, one of the biggest movie stars of the 1970s, played a low-level C.I.A. employee being stalked by an assassin. Based...
Literary
1996
On this day in 1996, blockbusting bestselling author Stephen King releases two new novels at once. The first, Desperation, was released under King’s name, while the second, The Regulators, was published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman.
King was born in Portland, Maine, in 1947. His father abandoned the family when King...
Music
1966
When producers Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson conceived a situation comedy called The Monkees in 1965, they hoped to create a ratings success by blurring the line between pop music and television. Instead, they succeeded in obliterating that line entirely when the pop group that began as a wholly fictional...
Old West
1890
On this day in 1890, faced with the eminent destruction of their church and way of life, Mormon leaders reluctantly issue the “Mormon Manifesto” in which they command all Latter-day Saints to uphold the anti-polygamy laws of the nation. The Mormon leaders had been given little choice: If...
Presidential
1964
On this day in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson receives a special commission’s report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which had occurred on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.
Since the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed by a man named Jack Ruby almost immediately after murdering Kennedy,...
Sports
1988
On this day in 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson runs the 100-meter dash in 9.79 seconds to win gold at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Johnson’s triumph, however, was temporary: He tested positive for steroids three days later and was stripped of the medal.
Ben Johnson moved with his...
Vietnam War
1963
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Gen. Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrive in Vietnam. At President John F. Kennedy’s request, they were to determine whether South Vietnam’s military situation had deteriorated as a result of the continuing clash between the Ngo Dinh Diem government...
1967
In Saigon, Hue, and Da Nang, demonstrations are staged against the recent election of President Nguyen Van Thieu and Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky, led by the militant Buddhist faction, who charge that the elections were rigged and demand that the Constituent Assembly cancel the results. In the United...
World War I
1918
On September 24, 1918, the government of Bulgaria issues an official statement announcing it had sent a delegation to seek a ceasefire with the Allied powers that would end Bulgaria’s participation in World War I.
After being secretly courted as an ally by both sides in the opening months of the...
World War II
1941
On this day in 1941, the Japanese consul in Hawaii is instructed to divide Pearl Harbor into five zones and calculate the number of battleships in each zone—and report the findings back to Japan.
Relations between the United States and Japan had been deteriorating quickly since Japan’s occupation of Indo-China and...
