This Day in History – July 8, 2011

1663 King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island 1693 NYC authorizes 1st police uniforms in American colonies 1776 Col John Nixon gave 1st public reading of Declaration of Independence 1777 Vermont becomes 1st state abolishing slavery, adopts male sufferage 1796 US State Dept issues 1st American passport 1797 1st US senator (William Blount of Tennessee) expelled by impeachment 1816 Frost in Waltham, MA 1835 Liberty Bell cracks (again) 1849 St Paul’s Place in the Bronx named 1870 Congress authorizes registration of trademarks 1889 John L Sullivan wins by KO in 75 rounds in last bare-knuckle bout 1889 Wall Street Journal begins publishing 1891 61ø F, the highest temp for July 1891, in Baltimore & Philadelphia 1892 American Psychological Association organized, Worcester, Mass 1896 William Jennings Bryan “cross of gold” speech at Dem convention 1905 Part of Angel Island allocated for Immigration Detention Center 1907 Florenz Ziegfeld staged 1st `Follies’ on NY Theater roof 1911 Nan Aspinwall is 1st woman to make solo transcontinental trip by horse 1919 Pres Wilson returns to NYC from Versailles Peace Conference 1923 Harding becomes 1st sitting president to visit Alaska (Metlakahtla) 1932 Depression low point of Dow Jones Industrial Average, 41.22 1947 Demolition begins in NYC for UN HQ in NYC 1950 Gen Douglas MacArthur named commander-in-chief, UN forces in Korea 1950 Leroy Deans awarded 1st Order of Purple Heart in Korea 1957 CDC incorporates 1969 US troop withdrawal begins in Vietnam 1975 Pres Ford announced he’ll seek Republican nomination for president 1975 Quake damages over 2,000 temples in Pagan, Burma. 20-foot-high seated Buddha of Thandawgya decapitated 1977 Sabra Starr finishes longest recorded belly dance (100 hrs) 1979 Voyager 2 takes 1st ever photo of Jupiter’s moon Adrastea (J14) 1981 Senate confirms Sandra Day O’Conner to Supreme Court (99-0) 1986 Farthest thrown object-an “Aerobie” flying ring, 383 m (1,257′) 1986 NASA establishes Safety, Reliability Maintain & Quality Assurance 1987 Kitty Dukakis, revealed addiction to amphetamines for 26 years 1988 Stevie Wonder announces he will run for mayor of Detroit in 1992 1990 12:34:56 on 7/8/90 (1234567890)]]]]> ]]>