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1897 –
Amelia Earhart (pictured), known both for accomplishments as an aviation pioneer and for her disappearance over the central Pacific Ocean, was born.
1943 –
Operation Gomorrah , a massive bombing campaign targeting the city of
Hamburg , begins. American airplanes bomb the city by day, and British and Canadian airplanes bomb the city by night. By the end of the operation in
November , 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.
1950 –
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , the military base adjacent to the civilian run
Kennedy Space Center , launches its first rocket, a
Bumper V-2 .
1959 – At the opening of the
American National Exhibition in
Moscow , Vice President
Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev hold the "
Kitchen Debate ".
1974 – The Supreme Court unanimously rules that President
Richard Nixon does not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed
White House tapes, and that Nixon must surrender the tapes to the special prosecutor investigating the
Watergate scandal .
On this day for the United States
Events
1814 –
War of 1812 :
General
Phineas Riall advances toward the
Niagara River to halt
Jacob Brown 's
American invaders.
1832 –
Benjamin Bonneville leads the first
wagon train across the
Rocky Mountains by using
Wyoming 's
South Pass .
1847 – After 17 months of travel,
Brigham Young leads 148
Mormon pioneers into
Salt Lake Valley , resulting in the establishment of
Salt Lake City . Celebrations of this event include the
Pioneer Day
Utah state holiday and the
Days of '47 Parade .
1864 –
American Civil War :
Battle of Kernstown –
Confederate
General
Jubal Early defeats
Union army troops led by General
George Crook in an effort to keep them out of the
Shenandoah Valley .
1866 –
Reconstruction :
Tennessee becomes the first
U.S. state to be readmitted to the
Union following the
American Civil War .
1901 –
O. Henry is released from prison in
Austin, Texas , after serving three years for
embezzlement from a bank.
1915 – Passenger ship
Eastland capsizes in central
Chicago , with the loss of 845 lives.
1931 – A fire at a home for aged people in
Pittsburgh kills 48 people.
1935 – The
Dust Bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to 109°F (44°C) in
Chicago and 104°F (40°C) in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin .
1937 –
Alabama drops
rape charges against the so–called "
Scottsboro Boys ."
1943 –
World War II :
Operation Gomorrah begins:
British and
Canadian aeroplanes bomb
Hamburg by night, those of the
Americans by day. By the end of the operation in
November , 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.
1950 – A
V-2 rocket makes the first launch from
Kennedy Space Center
1956 – At
New York City 's
Copacabana Club ,
Dean Martin and
Jerry Lewis perform their last
comedy show together which started on July 25, 1946.
1959 – At the opening of the American National Exhibition in
Moscow ,
US vice president
Richard Nixon and
Soviet
Premier
Nikita Khrushchev have a "
Kitchen Debate ."
1965 –
Vietnam War : Four
F-4C Phantoms escorting a bombing raid at Kang Chi are the targets of
antiaircraft missiles in the first such attack against
American planes in the war. One is shot down and the other three sustain damage.
1966 –
Michael Pelkey made the first
BASE jump from
El Capitan along with Brian Schubert. Both came out with broken
bones . BASE jumping is now been banned from El Cap.
1969 –
Apollo program :
Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the
Pacific Ocean .
1974 –
Watergate Scandal : The
United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that
President
Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed
White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.
1983 –
George Brett , batting for the
Kansas City Royals against the
New York Yankees , has a game–winning home run nullified in the "
Pine Tar Incident ".
1998 –
Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the
United States Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial.
2002 –
James Traficant is expelled from the
United States House of Representatives on a vote of 420 to 1.
2005 –
Lance Armstrong wins his seventh consecutive
Tour de France .