this day in history

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1881 – Charles J. Guiteau shoots President James Garfield, who dies two months later (More info) 1890 – Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1863 – The Battle of Gettysburg begins (More info) 1867 – Canada becomes a self-governing dominion of Great Britain under the British North America Act (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope (More info) 1921 – President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States; Taft is the only person to have ever held both offices (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1894 – Labor Day becomes an official US holiday (More info) 1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife are assassinated, setting off World War I (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1844 – Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, is murdered by a mob (More info) 1950 – President Harry S. Truman orders the Air Force and Navy into the Korean War (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1870 – Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States (More info) 1948 – In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine that comes to be known as the Berlin Airlift (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1876 – Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his men are killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn (More info) 1947 – ‘The Diary of a Young Girl,’ better known as ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ is published (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1868 – Christopher Latham Sholes receives a patent for the typewriter (More info) 1960 – Enovid becomes the first officially-approved oral contraceptive pill in the world (More info)

1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo to recant his view that the Sun is the center of the Universe (More info) 1944 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill into law (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1788 – The US Constitution is ratified and goes into effect (More info) 1948 – Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1215 – King John of England puts his seal on the Magna Carta (More info) 1775 – George Washington accepts an assignment to lead the Continental Army (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1775 – The United States Army is founded (More info) 1777 – The Stars and Stripes is adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States (More info)