1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
1794 – The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic. It will be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.
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1825 – The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
1859 – German archeologist Constantin von Tischendorf discovers the Codex Sinaiticus
The “Sinai Bible”, a handwritten copy of the Greek Bible is discovered in Egypt. It is considered a great historical treasure.
1861 – American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.
1899 – The Philippine-American War begins with the Battle of Manila.
1936 – Radium becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
1948 – Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.
1950 – On this day a British Atomic scientist was arrested and charge of gathering information that would be useful to enemy forces. He was the holder of some of the most classified (top secret) information regarding the A-bomb. He was found out by American FBI agents, and these agents reported the info to the Scotland Yard.
1967 – Lunar Orbiter program: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.
1992 – A coup d’état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
2004 – The Web site Facebook was launched (as TheFacebook.com); later it would become the largest social network in the world.
2020 – Kenyan politician Daniel Arap Moi, who served as his country’s president for almost 25 years, died at age 95.
2012 – Florence Beatrice Green was an English woman who at the time of her death was thought to have been the last surviving veteran of the First World War from any country. She was a member of the Women’s Royal Air Force.
Famous Birthdays:
Fernand Léger (1881- 1955),
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style. His boldly simplified treatment of modern subject matter has caused him to be regarded as a forerunner of pop art. Died: 17 August (age 74 years).
Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005)
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”.
Died: 24 October 2005 (age 92 years)
1894 Adolphe Sax (1814 -1894)
Antoine-Joseph “Adolphe” Sax was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba, and redesigned the bass clarinet in a fashion still used to the present day. He played the flute and clarinet.
Died: 7 February 1894 (age 79 years).
