Sunday, April 30, 2006

On This Day In History

1492 - Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.

1789 - On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.

1803 - The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France, for $15 million, more than doubling – overnight – the size of the nation.

1900 - Casey Jones dies in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express.

1927 - The Federal Industrial Institute for Women, opens in Alderson West Virginia as the first women's federal prison in the United States, inadvertantly inspiring dozens of soft-core B-movies for years to come.

1938 - The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Bugs Bunny.

1943 - Operation Mincemeat: The submarine HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man dressed as a British Military intelligence officer and planted with false invasion plans.

1945 - Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day.

1947 - In Nevada, the Boulder Dam is officially renamed Hoover Dam again.

1973 - Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aids H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and others have resigned.

1975 - The image of the overloaded Helicopter on the roof of the embassy, the fall of Saigon: Communist forces gains control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.

1993 - The World Wide Web was born at CERN .

2001 - Mikey unexpectedly gets laid off from his job as a stock and options trader at Charles Schwab, along with almost 1000 other brokers around the country. His buddy Ed gets demoted the same day. The following day, the first payment is due on his brand new truck.

Famous Birthdays on April 30th:

Queen Mary II of England
Robert Shaw
Willie Nelson
Burt Young
Jill Clayburgh
Phil Garner
Isiah Thomas
Elliot Sadler
Kirsten Dunst
Hurricane Mikey

No comments: